President Dwight D. Eisenhower may
be the most famous Kansan General to serve during World War II, but while
Eisenhower called Abilene home, there was another WWII General who called
Junction City home. General John C.H. Lee, known both as “Courthouse”
because of his strict adherence to
rules and regulations (as well as a play on his middle initials C.H.) and as “The Bishop”
due to his strong Episcopalian
beliefs, served as one of Eisenhower’s top Generals on the Western front.
But before he could become a decorated General, John C.H. Lee started as a
local Junction City boy. Known as Clifford (his middle name) as a child,
General Lee was born and raised in his grandparents’ home on Fourth and Adams. In his memoir he recalled, “The
Old family home at Fourth and Adams Street in Junction City had been
re-constructed by our step-Grandfather, James Streeter…Across Fourth Street was
the little stone Church of the Covenant, the oldest in Kansas.”
Before entering the service, General
Lee was an upstanding Geary County citizen. He graduated Junction City High
School in 1905 and recalled working at Rockwell General Store as a young man. “The
pay was small but it was helpful. Moreover, it gave me an opportunity later to
get a steady job when mother was faced by a real emergency [and] Mr. George
Rockwell, gave me a steady position in the grocery department of the big
store.”
As a child, General Lee reenacted
moments from the ongoing Spanish War of 1898. “We played many games of a
military nature, had constructed models of the naval ships and fought over
again and again the campaigns as reported in Cuba.” But it wasn’t until his
visit to West Point in the summer of 1899, that his interest in becoming a
soldier was crystalized. As if further proof was needed that General Lee was
meant to be a soldier, later that same year he met Dr. Fred O’Donnell, who
cared for his aged grandmother in her final days, and who would continue to
encourage young Lee throughout his military career. When he entered West Point
in 1905, he credited Dr. Fred for persuading him to apply for the prestigious
military academy. Both men would serve
with the United States Army during the First World War in 1917 and remained
close friends for the remainder of their lives.
When he graduated from West Point in
1909, a write up was done in the Junction City Sentinel praising him. General
Lee ranked 12 out of 103 fellow graduates and received an assignment into the
Engineer corps. The Sentinel declared “he has gone through the four years’
course with credit to himself and his state. He always stood among those at the
head of his class, receiving many honors and distinctions.” This distinction
would continue through his military career, which covered both World Wars. In
WWI he received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Silver Star. In WWII, he was named deputy commander of
Allied Forces in the European Theater by General Eisenhower. He was charged
with the supply of American Forces in Europe, which included the unprecedented
buildup of men and supplies in preparation for the invasion of Normandy in
1944.
In 1945, Lee was honored in Junction
City with a celebration and a parade through downtown Junction City. General
Lee retired in 1947 with the permanent rank of Major General and settled with
his wife in York, Pennsylvania where he took an active role in his religious
community until his death in 1958.
In 2017, the Geary County Historical
Society will be celebrating the Year of the Soldier. The goal is to share the
many stories of our military community from the founding of the county in 1855
to the present. Do you have a story to share? Are you a soldier? Was your
ancestor a local soldier? Stop into the museum to share the story. Loans of
military artifacts and photographs are also welcome. Contact Heather at the
museum for more information at 785-238-1666 or stop in the museum
Tuesday-Sunday from 1-4.
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