More detail on this person: Army Aviation Hall
of Fame Member Was a Veteran of Three Wars
Retired Army Maj. Gen. George W. Putnam helped
develop plans to retrieve injured troops in
Vietnam.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
George W. Putnam, 89, a retired Army major
general who was a veteran of World War II, Korea
and Vietnam and who held command positions with
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and with a
cavalry unit in Vietnam, died Aug. 6 at his home
in Arlington County. He had congestive heart
failure and cancer. Gen. Putnam served in the
Army for 46 years, beginning as a draftee in 1941
during World War II. He retired in 1987 as a
two-star general, based in southern Europe for
NATO. He received his officer's commission early
in World War II and served as operations officer
for a howitzer battalion in France and Germany.
After the war, he was a part of the occupation
force in Japan. He later served a tour in Korea
and did three tours in Vietnam, the final one as
commander of the 1st Air Cavalry Division during
the Tet Offensive in 1968. In his career, he also
oversaw the Army aviation school in Fort Rucker,
Ala., and helped develop plans for using
helicopters to go behind enemy lines in Vietnam
and retrieve injured troops.
After his retirement, Gen. Putnam returned to the
Pentagon to work as a civilian adviser until 1991.
George Washington Putnam was born in Fort
Fairfield, Maine, and began his military service
as a member of the Maine National Guard in 1936.
In Japan after World War II, he met and married
his first wife, Elaine Anderson Putnam, who died
in 1973. In 1995, Gen. Putnam married Helen
Guerin, the widow of a close friend, Army Col.
Vince Guerin, who had died in 1976. Gen. Putnam
was a member of the Army Aviation Historical
Society and Army Aviation Association of America,
where he worked in the association's scholarship
programs. A member of the Army Aviation Hall of
Fame, with more than 1,600 hours flown in combat,
Gen. Putnam was a judge in helicopter and aviation
competitions around the world.
A son from his first marriage, Dr. James M.
Putnam, died in 2005.
Survivors include his wife, of Arlington; a son
from his first marriage, J. Glenn Putnam of
Yardley, Pa.; four stepchildren, Leslie MacCallum
of Alexandria, Philip Mahine of New York, Jeanne
Duffie of Lovettsville and Vincent A. Guerin of
Richmond; six grandchildren; and seven
great-grandchildren.
From: Rick Rojas, The Washington Post
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
Please send additions or corrections to: HQ@vhpa.org VHPA Headquarters
Return to the Helicopter Pilot DAT name list
Return to VHPA web site
Date posted on this site: 10/23/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association