Major General Laurence B. Keiser 1917

Cullum No. 5719 • Oct 20, 1969 • Died in San Francisco, California Interred in West Point Cemetery, West Point, NY

I have never known an officer who more deserved recognition as a "soldier’s soldier” than Laurence Bolton Keiser. He was a man who embodied in the highest degree the cherished traditions of his Alma Mater—military bearing and dignity, forthright moral courage, tactical brilliance and dynamic leadership and, most of all, an understanding and loyalty for those who served under him.

Dutch knew soldiers, and he had the attribute of inspiring them by simple affection and superb example. He was blessed with that rare quality which endeared him to his troops and, yet, never permitted him to transcend the propriety of relationship between commander and men, or the exigencies of military requirements. These qualities were reciprocated by a fierce desire within his subordinates to respond with every ounce they could muster.

Dutch was born in Pennsylvania, 1 June 1895. His father, Dr. Elmer Keiser, was a prominent physician and an especially remarkable man who continued his practice even when in his eighties. I remember well how proud Dr. Keiser was to see his son become a general officer.

Dutch entered the United States Military Academy as a cadet in June of 1913. He was graduated in April 1917; commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Infantry; and one year later sailed for France with the 6th Infantry as part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). There he participated in the Meuse-Argonne and St. Mihiel offensives.

Initially, he commanded an Infantry company but soon became commander of the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry—still a Captain and the youngest battalion commander in the 5th Infantry Division. For displaying great courage, inspirational leadership, and initiative in leading his battalion, he was awarded the Silver Star. The citation states that during the Romagne operation, he successfully organized what was left of his battalion in the face of a terrific barrage with utter disregard for his life.

From March 1920 to June 1922, he was stationed with the 15th Infantry Regiment in Tientsin, China. In 1923 he graduated from the Company Officers’ Course at the Infantry School at Fort Benning. During the following year he served as a battalion commander in the 23d Infantry Regiment at Fort Sam Houston, thus beginning his close relationship with the 2d "Indianhead” Division. Then for four years (1924-1928) he was a "Tac” at West Point.

He returned to Fort Sam Houston and the 2d Infantry Division as a company commander in the 9th Infantry, having been reverted to the grade of Captain following the World War I reduction of Army strength. In 1932 he pursued the Advanced Course at the Infantry School and then, once again, was assigned to San Antonio—this time with the Army Reserves.

After graduating from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in June 1939, he was again assigned to Fort Benning. There he served as Regimental Executive Officer of the 29th Infantry, and then assumed command of the regiment in October 1941. In April 1942 he became Chief of Staff of the III Corps at Fort McPherson.

In October 1943, he became Chief of Staff of the VI Corps in the North African Theatre of Operations and in Italy. For his service in Italy in World War II, he was awarded his first Legion of Merit. In January 1944, he was promoted to Brigadier General, one of the youngest looking generals ever seen—alert, dignified, tactful, and an independent thinker.

In April 1944, he returned to San Antonio for the fourth time, and there he served two years as Chief of Staff to the Commanding General, Fourth Army. He often thought of San Antonio as his home rather than Philadelphia. In July 1948, Dutch was again ordered to China, this time for duty with the United States Military Advisory Group in Nanking. While there, the Chinese Government conferred upon him two of their highest decorations.

In November 1948, he returned to the United States and rejoined the 2d Infantry Division with which he had had such close association—this time as Assistant Division Commander and at Fort Lewis. He favored the Great Northwest as an especially excellent place to train troops.

In February 1950, he was promoted to Major General, assumed command of his beloved Indianhead Division and deployed with it to Korea in July of that year—the first of the CONUS divisions to enter the Korean War. Here, he again demonstrated that special brand of physical bravery and moral courage found in but a few, often putting himself at key points in the front lines to be with his battalions. For gallantry in action in Korea, he was awarded his second Silver Star.

In Korea, Dutch experienced disappointment, adversity, and hurt beyond any man’s deserves, but he never complained; he never submitted to emotion, and he never weakened in providing the inspirational leadership and tactical direction so necessary to his men in the desperate fighting along the Pusan perimeter and during the initial Chinese intervention.

Following his tour in Korea, Dutch was assigned to command the 5th Infantry Division at Indiantown Gap. While there, he was honored by the State of Pennsylvania for his leadership and for the contributions he made to that great state. Dutch was retired on 28 January 1953 and settled in San Francisco.

Dutch had been awarded two Silver Stars, three Legion of Merits, three Bronze Star Medals, three Commendation Medals, six Air Medals, and many theatre ribbons. His service ribbons reflected eleven campaign stars—four in World War I, four in World War II, and three in the Korean War.

In his retirement, Dutch often recalled vividly and pleasantly his days as a Kaydet, his early service as a Lieutenant when he knew so much more than when he was a general, his tour as a "Tac” at West Point, his duty in the 29th Infantry at Fort Benning, and his thirty-seven years of active military service with its many yesterdays spent in distant areas of the world, including China. But it was the friends he made in all walks of life, military and civilian, fellow countrymen and foreign, who were most important in his life. He had those qualities which one admires and respects the most and which caused others to admire him greatly. He believed that success in the military service was not just a matter of personal performance. There were so many others on his team, and he remembered the officers and noncommissioned officers around him, who through the years, were so much a part of his service life.

Dutch is survived by his wife Marion P. Keiser; a brother, Hubert Keiser of Tucson, Arizona; and by his long time friend and Enlisted Aide, Master Sergeant John H. Cook of San Francisco.

Master Sergeant John H. Cook was General Reiser’s devoted driver and senior Enlisted Aide in Korea and ex-officio his advocate, bodyguard, and constant shadow. Cookie, as he is known to Dutch’s old friends, is a legendary figure in his own right who never fully recovered from severe wounds he received in battle. Cookie had other fine assignments, including serving as driver and Enlisted Aide to General "Bus” Wheeler when he was Deputy Commanding General, United States European Command, and then Chief of Staff, United States Army. Not long after Dutch retired, Cookie retired, the better to look after both Dutch and Marion Keiser for whom he, Cookie, had the greatest affection. As circumstances would have it, Dutch died in Cookie's arms during the night of 20 October 1969.

Dutch was blessed with good fortune and never more so than when he married Marion, his companion for forty-three years. Dutch would say that she heartened him when he was discouraged, praised him when he deserved it, and perhaps even sometimes when he did not. There is no doubt about it—she is his most cherished of all memories which he has taken with him to his final resting place in those hallowed grounds at his Alma Mater—West Point.

An interesting comment from an EM who knew MG Keiser very late in his life:

David Dunakey • 3 months ago I met General Keiser in in 1968, I was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco after returning from Viet Nam. He was long retired by then and he and his wife lived in an apartment outside the back gate of the base. His eyesight had failed and I was asked to drive for him. After the first day he asked for me again and I drove for him and Mrs Keiser everyday until I got out of the service in August 1968. Sergeant Cook was a frequent visitor at the house. I had the privilege of spending every day with them for a year and the above memorial does remarkable justice to the Generals character. I have had the opportunity to meet important men, powerful men, and charismatic men - men who could engender respect and loyalty without commanding it; but I have never met anyone who had these qualities to the extent of General Keiser. I returned home in August 1968 but was able to talk with the General and Mrs Keiser regularly up until his death. He had a great influence on me and for that I owe him a great deal.

MG Keiser is a controversial figure in some quarters as his command of the 2nd Division in Korea ended with its virtual destruction by the Chinese in late November 1950. The Army as a whole does not like to remember what went on in Korea in the last weeks of 1950 and the first part of 1951. I wasn't there so I don't have the right to comment but as a lifelong student of military history it appears to me a crisis graver than that which faced the US Army in Europe in Dec 1944 occurred during those dark cold days amid the frozen snow covered hills of NW Korea.

MG Keiser is a controversial figure in some quarters as his command of the 2nd Division in Korea ended with its virtual destruction by the Chinese

MacArthur deserves full credit for that fiasco. It was the third time he'd been caught flat footed by the enemy. MacArthur was really adept at leaving others holding the bag.

The Army as a whole does not like to remember what went on in Korea in the last weeks of 1950 and the first part of 1951.

MacArthur's intelligence officer, General Willoughby, chose to tell MacArthur exactly what he wanted to hear: that the Chinese threat to us in Korea was minimal. Keiser bore the brunt of that mistake, as his troops were the first to be attacked en masse by overwhelming CHICOM forces, and were routed with very heavy casualties.

MacArthur, despite many warnings, used Willoughby's flawed intelligence to devise an extremely foolhardy strategy, which divided his army into two units that were unable to support each other as they were separated by many miles of high mountains, placing overall command in the hands of General Salmon, who screwed up even further. The JCS had immediately seen the military error of MacArthur's plans, but were mesmerized and awed by MacArthur and did not object. It was a disaster, and only the US Marines prevented it from becoming a massacre. The mistake ended MacArthur's career and soured his legacy.

MacArthur wanted nuclear intervention in China, The Truman Administration and the UN did not. Our troops and the UN contingent were battered for months until General Ridgeway assumed command ... but in the end, all that was achieved was a bitter stalemate and equally bitter recrimination that continues to this day about MacArthur. IMNVHO, MacArthur should be honored for his accomplishments, but not forgiven for his last military blunders in Korea.

...and just imagine what would have happened to the 2d Infantry Division and they been comprised of 18% females with service battalions well over 40%. The institutional knowledge of that kind of war has disappeared and the focus now is to put the gals through Ranger School and pretend everything is the same.

IMNVHO, the American military decline began with Truman when his advisors, especially those left over in the State Department from the Roosevelt régime, urged him to limit MacArthur. MacArthur's overall idea of rolling back the communists out of the Korean Peninsula was a good one, but he must always take the blame for seriously underestimating the Chinese and directly causing the greatest defeat in our military history. The Communists were quick to observe that we would no longer finish a war if they inflicted heavy casualties on us.

After the catastrophic retreat, MacArthur lost much support and was replaced. We were forced to completely withdraw from North Korea, which again was a military error because we had a secure defensive base of operations within the Wonsan Perimeter, dominated from the air and by naval support.

We caused the Chinese well over a million casualties before the armistice, but Korea can hardly be called a victory.

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