Below you find a listing of all USMCA Augsburg Community Commanders (VII Corps until 1991, V Corps from 1991) from 1951until 1998, very artistically recorded by a local national employee of the USMCA. The following amendment covers the first post-war years:
It must be assumed that prior to the official setting up of the Augsburg Military Post in December 1946, the respective Commanding Generals were also the de facto Community Commanders (71st and 9th Infantry Division). For a short time, Colonel Sevier R. Tupper (87th Infantry Division) was provisional Commander. Already in January 1947, he was replaced by Brigadier General Clinton A. Pierce*, who was Commander probably until 1951. Then Brigadier General Robert G. Gard comes foremost among the VII Corps Commanders.
With the exception of the final three Colonels, all Community Commanders had the rank of a Brigadier General or Major General. Most of the time, Community Commanders changed annually. Only since 1980, their tour lasted two years. Personal capacities of the Community Commanders often left their mark on the reputation and appearance of the U.S. troops. Some took great care of integration and esteem on the part of the German public, others sponsored sports or stopped racial discrimination emphatically.
(* On April 15, 1948, Pierce made an entry in the guest book of the - after its destruction by allied air raids in 1944 - partially repaired ‘Drei Mohren’ hotel. On November 28, 1948 the committee of the German Youth Activities (GYA) was set up in the presence of his spouse at the ‘Kaiserhof’ hotel. In the summer of 1949, he supported an early ‘Seifenkistenrennen’ (soapbox racing). During WW II, he fought in the Bataan campaign, Philippines, and became a Japanese POW from May 1942 until September 1945. In February 1951, Pierce retired. He passed away in Arkansas in August 1966.)
Translation: Heinz Strüber
