WWII: KOREA: US ARMY, COL Devere Parker Armstrong, Born: 15 Dec 1906, Died: 2 Apr 1980 Service Start Date: 13 Jun 1929, Interment Date: 14 Mar 2000 Cemetery: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA, Buried: Section 11 Site 472-1
"DE VERE PARKER ARMSTRONG Honor School Cambridge, Massachusetts "ARMY, " well known as " that dam ' Limey, " is an energetic young man who has managed to make quite a name for himself in spite of the nationality of his ancestors. By judicious selection of noble and considerate Hibernian wives, he has been able to overcome this prenatal handicap, and as an immediate result, we find the " K " Co. snake rising to the heights in many lines of endeavor. His weaknesses are four — Blondes, polo, the stock market, and blondes. Anybody who saw him in action in Virginia knows that fragile feminie are as the moth to the flame, as far as our Little Joe is concerned. A dashing horseman, indeed, is our Limey, and verily he swingeth a mean polo mallet. He wins prizes in horse shows in his spare moments. The Limey is a real soldier, and he can handle men. Acting Corporal (3), Corporal (2) , Lieutenant (1), Polo (3), Board of Governors. Rifle Expert. Pistol.

Major Devere P. Armstrong, son of Professor and Mrs Floyd Armstrong, has been chosen to attend field officers course No. 6 at the Field Artillery school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. A West Point graduate, Major Armstrong is one of the youngest Majors in the U. S. Army. Gladwin County Record 6/3/1942

Former Gladwin Boy Promoted to Lt.-Colonel in U. S. Army, DeVere Parker Armstrong, one of Gladwin's native sons, has been promoted from the rank of Major to that of Lieutenant-Colonel in the United States Army, according to word received here recently. Colonel Armstrong is the son of Professor and Mrs Floyd Armstrong and the grandson of Mrs. Emma Armstrong, of Gladwin. Stationed in Oregon for the past month, Devere has been ordered to report for duty with the War Department General Staff' in Washington. He will be attached to the Operations Division whereit is understood that his duties will be with the Strategy and Policy group. On his way East he is enjoying a brief visit with his father and mother and grandmother here. His wife and sons, Peter and Alan, preceded him to Gladwin and will leave with him Thursday for Washington on his new assignment.

Interesting Career Colonel Armstrong has had a varied and interesting military career since his graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point in June of 1929. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Field Artillery on his graduation from the Academy and was assigned to service in the Philippines. He traveled to that post with his father and mother, Professor and Mrs Floyd E. Armstrong, visiting Hawaii, Japan and China en route. Returning to the United States in 1932, after two years service in the Islands, he was sent as a student to the Field Artillery school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for a year of specialized military training. While there he met and married Miss Susie Lane Hoyle, whose father is now a Major General in command of the Ninth Division.

Instructor at Academy After graduating from the Fort Sill Field Artillery School, DeVere was ordered to duty at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont. From that station he went back to the Military Academy at West Point as instructor in Government and Economics. He remained there for five years, attaining the military rank of Captain and the academic rank of Assistant Professor. In June of 1940 he was returned to troop duty at Fort Hoyle, Maryland, where he was a Battery Commander. In April of 1941 he was again ordered back to school, being assigned to study at the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was given special training in the service of supply. He returned to troops on completion of the course and was attached to the staff at General Headquarters of the Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and promoted to the rank of Major. In April of this year he was ordered back to school, for more advanced training and has recently completed an intensive course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in the duties of Staff Officers. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on the completion of this training course. Gladwin County Record 7/8/1942

Lieut.-Col. Devere P. Armstrong, of Gladwin, was among a group of six army general staff, officers who were dispatched on dangerous missions last week to get first-hand pictures of frontline conditions for General Geo. C. Marshall, chief of staff. An article in the October 31st New York Herald Tribune" says that Devere's assignment is to the Middle East war front. He will be accompanied by Colonel John E. Upton, of Tekonsha, Michigan. Gladwin County Record 11/11/1942

Lt.-Colonel Devere Armstrong, son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Armstrong, recently returned from a General Staff mission in the Middle Eastern war theater. Devere is stationed at General Staff headquarters in Washington, D.C, at the present time. Gladwin County Record 1/13/1943

LT.-COL. DEVERE Armstrong, son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Armstrong and grandson of Mrs. Emma Armstrong, of Gladwin, is one of the United States general staff officers who has been conferring, with President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Quebec this past week. A graduate of the XL S. Military Academy at West Point, Devere has been assigned to the U. S. general staff for the past several months. Gladwin County Record 8/25/1943

Promoted to the rank of full Colonel last week was DeVere Armstrong, son of Prof, and Mrs. Armstrong, former Gladwin residents. DeVere is now in France and is attached to the staff of General Omar Bradley. Prior to his assignment with U.S. invasion forces he spent two year's on the general staff of the Army in Washington, D. C. Gladwin County Record 8/30/1944

Lt. Col. and Mrs. D. P. Armstrong and sons Alan and Peter arrived at the Armstrong cottage, Pratt's Lake, Tuesday for a two week visit. Col. Armstrong, who has been assigned to the Headquarters Staff of the First Army, recently arrived in this country from Europe. He is the son of Floyd and Mrs. Armstrong, now of Mt. Pleasant, and the grandson of Mrs. Emma Armstrong of this city. Gladwin County Record 6/20/1945

Colonel DeVere Armstrong, who has just returned from service in Japan, spoke to about 60 Gladwin Rotarians and their friends at a special meeting Monday evening. Drawing from his three years experience on the general headquarters staff of Generals MacArthur and Ridgeway, Col. Armstrong traced the relationship of the Japanese Islands to the United States national security. He stressed that Japan is our Far Eastern frontier and is of equal importance to our positions in Europe. He pictured the United States as sitting in the middle between the two points and called Japan "our protector islands" against Russia and Red China. The Japanese are well aware that the U.S. is fighting their battle against Asia, he said. Col. Armstrong stated that after the treaty is signed and the U.S. army is no longer in occupation, he believes that Japan will be peaceful and orderly. Providing, democratic government progresses and no serious economic disturbances occur. It is possible for general economic order in the entire Far East if Japan is O.K., he said. His observations on MacArthur and Ridgeway are interesting. He said he first met General MacArthur in Manila, soon after his (DeVere's) graduation from West Point, as a second lieutenant, and their first conversation was about polo. MacArthur has a great deal of personality, but maintains an aloof attitude. His office hours were rigid, with no consideration for his officers, but the loyalty of his staff was of the highest. This attitude was like and approved by the Japanese. Ridgeway, he related, is the complete opposite. Like MacArthur, he has five commands. But unlike MacArthur, he is all over his command and holds briefing sessions 16 hours each week. Armstrong rated him as a very great commander. Colonel Armstrong has completed his service in Japan, and has been assigned to the Artillery Center, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he will command an artillery group of five field artillery battalions. A quick resume of Armstrong's career reads like this: He was born in Gladwin, Dec. 15, 1906, and graduated from West Point in the class of 1929: Served in the Philippine Islands, 1929-31, in Field Artillery; Fort Sill, Okla. 1931-32, troop duty and student, Field Artillery School; Fort Ethan Allen Vt., 1933-35, troop duty: Instructor in Economics and Government at U.S.M.A. (West Point) 1935-40; Troop duty in Maryland and North Carolina, 1940-42; War Department General Staff, 1942-43, (Delegate to Roosevelt-Churchill meetings at Quebec and Cairo); First Army Hq. (Ex. To Artillery Officer) 1944-45; Editor, Field Artillery Journal, 1945-47; Editor, The Army Almanac (book of facts about the Army) 1947-48; Chief, Plans Division of the Plans and Operations Section of General MacArthur's and General Ridgeway's General Headquarters in Tokyo from Oct. 1948 to Dec. 1951. Gladwin County Record 1/9/1952

Devere Armstrong to Fire First Atomic Gun: Col. Devere Armstrong, commanding officer at Ft. Sill, Okla., of the 52nd Field Artillery group, will superintend the firing of the first atomic projectile from the Army's new 280 millimeter gun on the Nevada proving grounds soon. He is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Floyd E. Armstrong and well known in Gladwin, where he was born and received his early education. Col. Armstrong, in a press interview at Ft. Sill, expressed the opinion that if the new atomic cannon is to be a complete success in actual combat, it will have to be used as a hit-and-run weapon despite its tremendous size. He brought out the idea as a crew from the 867th Field Artillery Battalion fired 11 rounds of conventional ammunition in a preview of the Nevada tests for newsmen. "This is a great big gun, physically speaking," Col. Armstrong said of the 85-ton 280 MM. gun, "and when you combine that with its unprecedented potential when it shoots an atomic round you will appreciate how vitally the enemy will want to locate it on the battlefield and then do everything possible to knock it out before it sends an atomic round into a critical target within his lines. "We are likewise vitally interested in preventing the enemy from finding the gun; hence we inquire into every known possibility from his viewpoint. "The optimum solution from our viewpoint, would be to be able, when a suitable target for an atomic round is located by intelligence agencies, to send this weapon forward from a sheltered rear area and under cover of darkness to a previously prepared position, deliver the atomic shell without prior registration or other firing that would alert the enemy, and then remove the gun back to a sheltered position." Armstrong said the atomic shell would be fired about seven miles, in Nevada and would be timed to burst 500 feet above ground. This was the range and air burst used in yesterday's firing of convention ammunition, some of which was designed to simulate an atomic shell. The big gun, which has a maximum range of around 20 miles, fires a projectile weighing 800 pounds. Col. Armstrong, 46, visited his parents in January, 1952, just prior to his assignment to Fort Sill. He had been assigned to the same post 20 years previously and during the 20-year span he had seen extensive foreign service, including the period October, 1948, to December 8, 1951, in Japan with Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur's headquarters. Gladwin County Record 3/25/1953

Col. DeVere Armstrong and son Allan, of Carlisle, Pa. and Mrs Bruce M. Bigelow of Providence, R. I. spent last week at Pratts Lake with Prof, and Mrs Floyd Armstrong and Mr and Mrs Wayne Wagar. The former with Mr and Mrs W E Parker spent a day at Bellaire visiting Mr and Mrs Kenneth Parker. Gladwin County Record 6/29/1955

Colonel DeVere Armstrong, son of Dr. and Mrs. Floyd Armstrong, of Mt. Pleasant, has been appointed Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. The Colonel, a former Gladwin boy and well known here, is now completing a three year tour of duty on the staff and faculty of the Army War College at Carlisle, Pa. Gladwin County Record 4/4/1956

COL Devere Parker Armstrong USA
Susie Lane Hoyle Armstrong
Arlington National Cemetery
Section 11 Site 472-1

COL Devere Parker Armstrong USA
Susie Lane Hoyle Armstrong
Arlington National Cemetery
Section 11 Site 472-1

COL Devere Parker Armstrong USA
Susie Lane Hoyle Armstrong
Arlington National Cemetery
Section 11 Site 472-1