Wade Hampton Haislip
General, U.S. Army

Wade Hampton Haislip was born on 9 July 1889 in Woodstock, VA; at age two his family moved to Staunton, VA.

Military Career

He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy with the Class of 1912 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry.

Haislip served in Veracruz, Mexico in 1914 after the Tampico Affair. From 1917 to 1921, he served with the American Expeditionary Forces, first in World War I, then in the occupation of Germany. During his time overseas his assignments included being on the General Staff of V Corps; Division Machine Gun Officer for the 3rd Division, and General Staff, U.S. Forces in Germany.

During World War I he participated in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He returned to West Point as an instructor from 1921 to 1923. After that, he attended a series of schools, beginning with the U.S. Army Infantry School in 1923-24; the Command and General Staff School in 1924-25; and lastly, he attended the French Ecole Superieure de Guerre from 1925-27. He returned to the U.S. as Assistant Executive in the Office of Assistant Secretary of War from 1928-31, followed by the Army War College in 1931-32, and an assignment as an instructor at the Command and General Staff School from 1932-36.

Prior to World War II, he held a series of staff assignments, including time in the Budget and Legislative Planning Branch of the War Department General Staff from 1938 to 1941, and Assistant Chief-of-Staff for Personnel.

World War II

Haislip organized the 85th Infantry Division and served as its commander from April 1942 to February 1943. He next took command of XV Corps and served with it through the Normandy, France, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns. He became Commander of Seventh United States Army and was in that billet when World War II ended in August 1945.

Post-World War II

Following the war he was on the Secretary of War's Personnel Board from September 1945 to April 1946, and a senior member of the Chief-of-Staff's Advisory Group from 1946 to 1948. Prior to his selection in 1949 as Vice Chief of Staff, he was Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Administration, during 1948-49.

He retired from active duty in 1951.

Retirement

After retirement, Haislip became Governor of the Soldier's Home in Washington, DC, a position he held from 1951 to 1966.

Trivia

Wade Haislip was responsible for introducing Dwight D. Eisenhower to his future wife, Mamie Doud. At the time, Eisenhower was a Second Lieutenant, and Haislip a First Lieutenant, at Fort Sam Houston.

Wade Haislip also served as a pall-bearer at Eisenhower's funeral.

Death and Burial

General Wade Hampton Haislip died on 23 December 1971 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after suffering a stroke. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA, in Section 7, Grave 8200-B, Map grid V-24.

His wife, the former Alice Jennings Shepherd (1897-1987), whom he married on 14 July 1932, was later buried beside him.