Posted on 07/18/2007 10:11:18 AM PDT by STARWISE
PEORIA - Retired four-star Gen. Wayne Downing, the former commander of the country’s special forces and the president’s point man for counterterrorism in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, died Tuesday evening after a bout with meningitis, news outlets are reporting.
MSNBC, whose newscasts Downing, 64, acted as a military advisor for, is reporting that he died after a brief bout with the bacterial infection.
Peorian and Medal of Honor recipient, Hal Fritz said he heard from another Medal of Honor recipient that Downing had passed away. Fritz called Downing an unassuming man who never forgot his Peoria roots.
"You could tell when you met him that he didn’t have an aloofness about him. But you could tell from talking to him, that he had that command authority. That’s rare," Fritz said.
His rank alone, Fritz said, showed how special Downing was.
"For a person to be able to move above the 2-star rank, that is difficult. To get a 4th star, that is almost impossible as they almost certainly don’t’ have the credentials to have that pinnacle position," Fritz said.
Downing retired as the head of the U.S. Special Operations Command in 1996. As special operations commander, Downing was in charge of the special operations forces of each service, such as the Navy’s SEALs and the Army’s Green Berets. At the time, he commanded 47,000 soldiers requiring an annual budget of more than $3 billion.
Weeks after the World Trade Center was destroyed, President Bush asked Downing to come out of retirement and serve as his principal adviser on efforts to detect, disrupt and destroy international terrorist groups and their support networks. He served in that capacity for nine months before handing the job over to someone else.
A 1958 Spalding Institute and later a West Point graduate, Downing was just in Peoria as the keynote speaker for the World War I and II memorial at the Peoria County Courthouse.
"It was somewhat of a personal event for him because his father was killed during the Battle of the Bulge. His father’s name is etched on the memorial," said Peoria County Clerk Steve Sonnemaker.
Downing was approached in March to speak at the ceremony, and immediately said yes, Sonnemaker said.
"He was very good to us. He was just the kind of guy you would want as your neighbor. Certainly he was one of Peoria’s heroes."
Read more on this in Thursday’s Journal Star. Posted on
We received word today that Gen. Wayne A. Downing has died. Downing was a brilliant warrior, a true patriot and a great friend. He was also a trusted adviser to NBC News. We will have more here on General Downing's life and career, but in the meantime we wanted to share these photos with you.
With Brian Williams in Iraq this year
God rest his soul, and God bless and protect all our awesome military.
PING !
My blessings go out to his family.
Shame
very sad news!
I have a feeling he went head to head with Rumsfeld and he lost. MSNBC playing a Brian Williams tribute to General Downing now.
“Weeks after the World Trade Center was destroyed, President Bush asked Downing to come out of retirement and serve as his principal adviser on efforts to detect, disrupt and destroy international terrorist groups and their support networks. He served in that capacity for nine months before handing the job over to someone else.”
http://www.droitvp.org/Dossier-USgen-resignation.html
MSNBC is saying he was 67. Still too young.
Didn’t know him but always liked to hear his comments.
MSNBC, in the video at the link below, is saying he collapsed at his home in Peoria on Monday, and doctors found he had multiple myeloma and bacterial meningitis. Sad .. my Lord, was that ever a quick exit. God be with his grieving family.
http://video.msn.com/v/us/fv/msnbc/fv.htm??g=046e64cb-a1a7-4df8-a8c2-0af67008b718&f=00&fg=copy
Myeloma:
http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/about_myeloma/index.php
I hate f*#king cancer.
Thank you. General Downing was a gentle man.
Condolences to the family of General Downing, a true patriot and a genuine leader , RIP General.
Met him. Nice unassuming man.
Oh no.
Godspeed, soldier.
I remember watching him take on Chris Matthews- in one of Chrissy’s hysterical rants on the war- the general was unflappable, never lost his temper or his cool...just quietly and thoroughly put Matthews in his place.
General Downing planned to be in Atlanta on November 11 to help us celebrate Veterans Day. At his request he wanted Rangers from Fort Benning to accompany him in the parade. He was a great soldier, a friend to officers and all military regardless of rank. He was truely one of our finest military leaders in a generation. We shall miss him very much. Our condolances to his family and his military family.
Gee, this is very sad. If he had been diagnosed and treated, he probably would have stood a good chance of making it. Geraldine Ferraro, for one, has had it for several years.
General Downing was and will always be a great hero and inspiration to me and my support to the family will hold as long, hard and true, and as dedicated as he was in his lifetime, I follow in his achievements!
Rest In Peace
USA forever
RANGER-AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY!!!!
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