Ridgway, Matthew Bunker

(1895–1993)

Soldier–Statesman

Matthew Ridgway was a hero of World War II and the Korean War. He replaced Gen. Douglas MacArthur when MacArthur was relieved by Pres. Harry Truman in the famous Truman–MacArthur controversy, but later resigned as chief of staff of the Army because of differences in thinking about policy and force structure.

Ridgway was born in 1895 at Fort Monroe, Virginia. His father, Thomas, was a West Point graduate; his mother, Ruth, was a concert pianist. After growing up on Army posts, Ridgway enrolled at West Point, graduating on April 20, 1917, two weeks after the United States had declared war on Germany. He was eager to test his mettle in the trenches of France, but by the luck of the draw he was ordered back to West Point as an instructor in Romance languages—a bitter pill for him to swallow.

During the ensuing years, Ridgway ascended the Army ladder. Within the small peacetime Army he was noted as a comer. As the years rolled by, he was selected for all the right professional schools, a two-year tour at the Army command and staff school, and a year at the Army War College. His facility with words enabled him to draft complicated war plans and analytical staff papers and speeches with comparative ease. He mastered Spanish and, during the 1920s and 1930s, was one of only a dozen Army officers fluent in that language. This led to several military assignments in Latin America, which broadened and enriched his career.

Fundamentally, Ridgway was a soldier. He much preferred life in the field to a desk or a classroom. However, his talent for paperwork, his fluency in Spanish, and the shortage of peacetime field units led him to many staff jobs prior to World War II. During that period, he spent only two years in the field directly in command of troops (five different [Page 743]companies and a battalion), but on these occasions he excelled. He demonstrated a talent for getting his men to perform. His working motto was: Haven’t Got the Time—We’ll Get Up Early, Stay Up Later at Night. The standard joke among the GIs about him was: There Is a Right Way, a Wrong Way, and a Ridgway.

During his long career, Ridgway had the good fortune to work often for George Marshall. When appointed chief of staff, Marshall assigned Ridgway to the War Department to serve in the War Plans Division—first as a detail officer, then as chief of the Latin American section. When war came, Ridgway was promoted to brigadier general and assigned to the 82nd Infantry Division.

Marshall envisioned a plan of making the famous invasion of France an airborne operation. This grand design was not implemented, but Ridgway was chosen to pioneer the operation; Ridgway's infantry division was converted to airborne, and he led the introduction of American forces into combat with the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The operation was at best mediocre. However, in subsequent airborne operations—Salerno, Normandy, Holland, and Germany—and during the battle of the Bulge, his command performed so brilliantly that his leadership in battles became legendary. Despite having a bad back, Ridgway made five jumps, including the D-Day jump into Normandy. After the Normandy invasion he was promoted to command the 18th Airborne Corps, which was made up of units from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.

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