George R. Spalding
Brigadier General, U.S. Army

George R. Spalding was born on 25 January 1877.

Spalding graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1901 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. By 1915, he was a Major serving as a Reconnaissance and Training Officer in Washington, DC.

In 1917, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and served as Divisional Engineer Officer in charge of defense and offensive training on the staff of General Pershing. On General Pershing's staff in Europe during WW I, he organized Engineer Corps Administration, was promoted to Colonel and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in November 1918. After the armistice, he was a member of the Superior Board which was in charge of the occupation of Germany and the demobilization of U.S. Forces from Europe until July 1919.

Back in the U.S. he continued to work with the War Department on postwar issues and was a member of the Mississippi River Commission 1933-35. In 1936, he was promoted to Brigadier General; he retired on disability in 1938. He was recalled to active duty in 1941, as Executive Officer for the Division of Defense Shipping and Storage Section to co-ordinate requests for aid submitted by foreign countries. He resigned from his post at the end of WW II.

Death and Burial

Brigadier General George R. Spalding died on 28 June 1962. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.