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First Name: John

Last Name: Dillard

Birthplace: Corte Madera, CA, USA

Gender: Male

Branch: Army (1784 - present)



Middle Name: Albert Broadus



Date of Birth: 01 September 1919

Date of Death: 12 May 1970

Rank: Major General

Years Served: 1942 - 1970
John Albert Broadus Dillard, Jr.

   
Engagements:
•  World War II (1941 - 1945)
•  Korean War (1950 - 1953)
•  Vietnam War (1960 - 1973)

Biography:

John Albert Broadus Dillard, Jr.
Major General, U.S. Army

John Albert Broadus Dillard, Jr. was born on 1 September 1919 in Corte Madera, CA. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering with the Class of 1942.

In World War II, Dillard served as a Platoon Leader and Company Commander in the European Theater of Operations and participated in the Normandy invasion under General George Patton on D-Day, 6 June 1944. From July 1952 until July 1953, he served as a Battalion Operations Officer with the 25th Infantry Division in Korea.

As a Brigadier General, Dillard was the South Pacific Division Commander of the US Army Corps of Engineers in San Francisco, CA.

BG Dillard was assigned to South Vietnam in November 1969 as Chief of the Engineer Command and received a promotion to Major General during that assignment.

On 12 May 1970, MG Dillard was killed when his helicopter was shot down while he was reconnoitering Highway 509 about ten miles southwest of Pleiku. Colonel Carroll E. Adams, Jr., Commanding Officer, 937th Engineer Group [Honoree Record ID 231017]; Lieutenant Colonel Fred V. Cole, Commanding Officer, 20th Engineer Battalion; Captain William D. Booth, Aide-de-Camp; Command Sergeant Major Griffith A. Jones of U.S. Army Engineer Command, Vietnam; and five others also perished in the crash. Command Sergeant Major Robert W. Elkey was the sole survivor.

At the time of his death he was a veteran of 28 years' Army service.

Newspaper Article

SAIGON, South Vietnam -13 May 1970 - Major General John A. B. Dillard, head of the United States Army Engineer Command in South Vietnam, was killed yesterday when the helicopter in which he was flying was shot down, the United States Command announced today.

General Dillard was the sixth American General killed in action in the Vietnam War and the second in little more than a month.

General Dillard, 50 years old, of Corte Madera, California, and nine other Americans including other officers were aboard the UH-1 hit by enemy fire in the Central Highlands, 10 miles southwest of Pleiku and 220 miles northwest of Saigon. One American survived, but was seriously injured.

Medals and Awards

Legion of Merit with Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster
Purple Heart
Air Medal with Award Numeral 2
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Service Medal with 2 Bronze Stars
Korean Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Republic of Korea War Service Medal
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation

Honors

● The name John Albert B Dillard Jr is inscribed on Panel 10W Line 023 on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
● A large personnel services building at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, was named Dillard Hall in his honor.
● In June 2010, the U.S. Army named a new command-and-control marine vessel, the John A.B. Dillard Jr. in his honor.

Death and Burial

Major General John Albert Broadus Dillard, Jr. was killed in action on 12 May 1970 when his helicopter was shot down near Pleiku, South Vietnam. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA, in Section 5.

He was survived by his wife, the former Bette L. Hawkins, and their three children, John A. B. 3rd, Gerry and Revalee.

Bette Dillard died on 26 February 1991 and is buried with her husband.



Honoree ID: 2428   Created by: MHOH

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