Ernest H. Wallace

Ernest H. Wallace, (Ret.) United States Army Colonel, 94, passed away on Tuesday, January 21, 2014. He was born November 3, 1919 in Wyandotte, Oklahoma; he was the son of John R. Wallace and Grace (Peterson) Wallace. He married Gladys A. Davis April 30, 1941 in Jonesboro, Georgia. They were the parents of two sons, Wayne L. Wallace and George M. Wallace. Mr. Wallace was preceded in death by his two sons, his parents, and two brothers Leonard (Hazel) and John J. Wallace, and his sister Levina Wallace Wilson and her husband Alvin. He is survived by his wife of seventy-two years, Gladys; his daughter in law, Eileen (Wayne) Wallace, a daughter Peggy Curtis (James) of Atlanta and four nieces and nephews he and Gladys raised after the death of his sister and her husband. They are Bill Wilson, wife Patty, of Las Vegas, Nevada, John Wilson, Oklahoma City, Pat Grubb and Brenda Wilson, Miami. Grandsons: John Wallace (Liz), Wyandotte, Tim Wallace (Marla), Tallahassee, FL, Keeling Grubb (Chloe) of Miami, Chuck Beddingfield (Tina) of Georgia and granddaughters, Jessica Wallace, Springfield, Missouri, Natalie Wilson of Houston, Texas, Monica Kimbler (James), Lynn Osbold, Elaine Hill (Mike) all from the Atlanta area as well as numerous other Step-grandchildren and great grandchildren. He graduated from Wyandotte High School in 1937 and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for two years. He enlisted in the Regular Army in 1939 as a private and was promoted through all enlisted ranks to Master Sergeant. He then attended the Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School after which he was commissioned a second Lieutenant. He was then assigned to the 31st Medical Group as Adjutant and S1 and S4. He fought WWII with this unit and participated in the landings on Utah Beach in the Normandy Campaign. His unit was charged with the triage and transportation and the treatment of the wounded during that war. By the end of the war they had handled over 250, 000 wounded during notable battles such as Normandy, Northern France, Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes), Rhineland and Central Europe. After the war he was executive officer of three different military hospitals and was on the medical staff of Headquarters First Army on Governors Island, New York. He later commanded the 48th Armored Medical Battalion of the famous Second Armored Division. He transferred to the Infantry in 1949 and graduated from both the basic and advanced courses at The Infantry School, the regular course of the Command and General Staff College and the Nuclear Weapons School where he became a specialist in the tactical employment of nuclear weapons. During the Korean War he was sent to the Republic of Turkey where he became a military advisor to our ally in the Korean War. After the Korean War he was assigned as Senior Army Instructor to the Iowa Reserves. This was followed by three years in Alaska where he was Assistant G3 for two years and commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment for one year. While in Alaska he participated in an artic expedition of 1000 men in Northern Alaska where the temperatures ranged from 30 degrees to 60 degrees below zero. After the Alaska assignment he was assigned to the US Army Artillery and Missile School where he was chief of the Infantry for three years and Chief of Nuclear Weapons for two years. He retired from the Army in 1963 as a Colonel having been commander at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and subsequently taught ROTC at McDonald County High School in Missouri. In addition to the four battle stars earned during the campaigns in Europe he was also awarded the good conduct medal, the American Campaign Medal, American Defense Service Medal, Army Occupation Medal (Germany), European African-Middle Easter Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal with Metal Pendant. Colonel Wallace was not only an amateur historian but was a witness to some memorable events such as the invasion of Normandy. On a visit to Africa in May 1951 while attending a military parade on the streets of Tripoli, Libya he witnessed the attempted assassination of the then King of Libya. Later in December of that year he sought and obtained an audience with Pope Pius XII. Although he was with about eight other in the audience, the Pope singled him out in greeting him at his Castle Gondolpho outside Rome which was his winter quarters. On April 16, 2013 he was able to take an Honor Flight to Washington, DC. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Wyandotte, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers memorial contributions be made to the First United Methodist Church in Wyandotte or any Veterans Organization. There will be a time for viewing from 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM on Friday, January 24, 2014 at Brown-Winters Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Miami. Services are 10:30 AM, Saturday, January 25, 2014 at the First United Methodist Church in Wyandotte with Reverend Jon Bates officiating. Interment will follow at Wyandotte Cemetery under the care of Brown-Winters Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Miami. Military rites will be provided by Fort Sill Honor Guard. Casketbearers will be John Riley Wallace, Tim Wallace, Richard Wallace, Jack Wallace, Keeling Grubb and Lonnie Lankford. Friends and family may send the family notes of encouragement by viewing Mr. Wallace's Tribute Page at www.brown-winters.com.

Ernest H. Wallace

November 3, 1919 - January 21, 2014