Background
Henry Aurand was born 21 Apr 1894 in Pennsylvania.
Henry Aurand was born 21 Apr 1894 in Pennsylvania.
Henry Aurand attended the United States Military Academy and was a member of the class of 1915, "the class the stars fell on". During his military career he went on to attend the Army Ordnance School (1916), the Command and Staff College (1928), the Army War College (1931), and the Army Industrial College (1940).
Aurand enjoyed several major commands because of his logistical expertise. During World War II he was Commanding General of the Sixth Service Command in Chicago. After US forces landed in France he became Commanding General for Normandy Base Section, overseeing critical supply missions during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he was the final Commanding General in the China Theater and the Africa-Middle East Theater in order to preside over retrograde operations to the States.
Additional major duty assignments for General Aurand included the Director for Research and Development for the War Department and Director of Logistics for the Department of the Army.
General Aurand's Hawaiian command was marked by the dedication of the National Cemetery of the Pacific, the deployment of the 5th RCT to Korea, and the establishment of the Hawaii Infantry Training Center. He received many decorations, among which are the Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, the Mexican Service Medal, the World War I Victory Medal, the American Defense Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asian-Pacific Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He died in 1980.
Quotes from others about the person
This quote from General Wade McManus best summarizes Aurand's pioneering contribution to military logistics: "General Aurand was a skilled logistician who served as a catalyst in reforming the U.S. Army's logistical systems. He was directly involved in many changes pertaining to logistics and ordnance. As early as 1935 he was developing logistics principles that sound familiar to modern Ordnance officers."