Luther R. Stevens Explained

Luther R. Stevens
Birth Date:3 July 1889
Birth Place:Wesson, Mississippi
Death Place:St. Petersburg, Florida
Serviceyears:1910–1948
Rank:Colonel (PC)
Brigadier General (PA)
Colonel (USA)
Commands:91st Division (Philippines)
Philippine Constabulary Academy
Battles:
Awards:

Luther Rea Stevens (3 July 1889 – 7 February 1973) was a military officer who served in the Philippine Constabulary, Philippine Army and United States Army. During World War II, he commanded the 91st Division during the Philippines campaign and then spent more than three years as a prisoner of war after surrendering at Bataan in April 1942.

Early life and education

Stevens was born and raised in Wesson, Mississippi. He earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the A&M College of Mississippi in 1910, where he was a classmate of William E. Brougher. Stevens graduated from the Philippine Constabulary School in December 1910. He completed the Infantry School advanced course at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1939 and the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1940.[1] [2] [3]

Career

Stevens accepted a commission as a third lieutenant in the Philippine Constabulary in July 1910.[2] [4] He was also commissioned in the United States Army Officers' Reserve Corps.[5]

Stevens was promoted to major in January 1922 and subsequently received a temporary promotion to lieutenant colonel in March 1924. He then served as constabulary commander in the District of Mindanao and Sulu from March 1924 to July 1927. Permanently promoted to lieutenant colonel in January 1927,[2] Stevens led the response to Moro uprisings in January and February 1927.[6] [7] [8]

Stevens served as superintendent of the Philippine Constabulary Academy from July to December 1927 before resuming command in the District of Mindanao and Sulu in January 1929.[2] He again led the response to a Moro uprising in October 1932.[9] Stevens was promoted to colonel in February 1933.[10] He was honorably discharged from his U.S. Army Reserve commission in March 1936 when the Philippine military forces were reorganized.[5]

After the Philippine Constabulary was absorbed into the United States Army Forces in the Far East in 1941, Stevens became a colonel in the Philippine Army. He was given command of the 91st Division and then promoted to brigadier general in December 1941. During subsequent combat with Japanese forces, Stevens earned the Distinguished Service Cross.[11] After capture, he survived the Bataan Death March. As a non-Filipino general officer, Stevens was interned with senior U.S. Army officers.[12] His wife Lula and daughter Betty were imprisoned at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. His three sons were studying in the United States at the time of the Japanese invasion.

After his liberation from Hoten Camp, Manchuria in 1945, President Harry S. Truman nominated him for permanent appointment as a brigadier general in the United States Army along with sixteen other prisoner-of-war camp survivors who already held temporary appointments as U.S. Army major or brigadier generals.[13] [14] When the original nomination expired at the end of the congressional session, it was resubmitted in January 1946 but failed to obtain Senate confirmation.[15] [16] Stevens instead accepted an appointment as a temporary U.S. Army colonel in July 1946.[5] He retired from active duty as a U.S. Army Reserve colonel on 31 August 1948.[17]

Later life

Stevens and his wife lived in West Palm Beach, Florida after his retirement. They died in an automobile accident in St. Petersburg, Florida and were interred in his family's plot at the Wesson Cemetery in Mississippi.[18] [19]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Reveille . 1910 . VI . 35, 57 . Mississippi A&M College . 2024-07-23.
  2. News: 30th Year Anniversary . July 1931 . XI . 7 . 103, 148 . Khaki and Red . 2023-02-11.
  3. Book: Meixsel, Richard Bruce . Frustrated Ambition: General Vicente Lim and the Philippine Military Experience, 1910–1944 . 15 February 2018 . 273 . University of Oklahoma Press . 978-0806160764 . 2023-02-12.
  4. News: Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File . U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
  5. Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=-lBClhUCLx8C&pg=RA111-PP7 . Report No. 936 (To accompany H.R. 2993): Appointment of Certain Additional Permanent Major Generals and Brigadier Generals . 80th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives . 16 July 1947 . U.S. Government Printing Office . 2023-02-11.
  6. News: 35 Moros Die In Fight; Princess Is Removed: Constabulary Attacks Datu Tahil's Fortress; Fighting Continues Hour: Rebel Chief Escapes . 1 February 1927 . 1 . The Washington Post . 2023-02-11. .
  7. News: New Moro Uprising Held More Serious: 500 Men Defying Government in Philippines; Governor Calls for Help . 18 February 1927 . 4 . The Washington Post . 2023-02-11. .
  8. News: Philippine Rebellion Is Reported Checked: Demands of Chiefs Main Grievance of Tribes, American Officer Says . 2 March 1927 . 9 . The Washington Post . 2023-02-11. .
  9. News: Troops Will Rush Moro Stronghold: Constabulary Chief Plans Assault After 42 Die in Encounters . 11 October 1932 . 3 . The Washington Post . 2023-02-11. .
  10. News: The Insular Police Observes Its 32nd Year of Service . Robt. G. . Woods . July 1933 . XIII . 7 . 11 . Khaki and Red . 2023-02-11.
  11. Web site: Luther R. Stevens . Military Times . Sightline Media Group . 2023-02-11.
  12. Book: Brougher, Edward W. . South to Bataan, North to Mukden: The Prison Diary of Brigadier General W. E. Brougher . 1 December 2010 . University of Georgia Press . 978-0820337951 . 2023-02-11.
  13. Book: Congressional Record — Senate . 26 October 1945 . 10111 . U.S. Government Printing Office . 2023-02-11.
  14. News: Promotions Asked For War Leaders: Truman Names 105 in Army, Navy for Higher Permanent Rank—Many Are Famed . 27 October 1945 . 9 . The New York Times . 2023-02-11.
  15. Book: Congressional Record — Senate . 23 January 1946 . 260 . U.S. Government Printing Office . 2023-02-11.
  16. News: Renominate Army Regulars . 26 January 1946 . LXXXIII . 22 . 711 . Army and Navy Journal . 2023-02-11.
  17. Book: U.S. Army Register: Army of the United States and Other Retired Lists . 1 January 1966 . II . 366 . U.S. Government Printing Office . 2023-02-11.
  18. News: General And Wife Killed In Accident . 14 February 1973 . 9 . Clarion-Ledger . Jackson, Mississippi . 2023-02-11.
  19. News: VFW wants to honor two WWII POWs in Wesson . Brett . Campbell . 26 April 2021 . The Daily Leader . Brookhaven, Mississippi . 2023-02-11.