William Benjamin Kean (July 9, 1897 – March 10, 1981) was a general in the United States Army.

Early life

He was born William Benjamin Kean Jr. in Buffalo, New York on July 9, 1897. Kean graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1918 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of infantry.

World War I

After receiving his commission, Kean was assigned to the U.S.M.A. as a student officer. He then carried out an observation tour of battlefronts in Italy, Belgium and France, and was an observer of the Allied occupation in Germany. In late 1919 he returned to the United States and completed the Infantry Officer Course at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Inter-war period

Kean carried out numerous assignments of increasing rank and responsibility, including a posting to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. In 1925 he graduated from the Signal Officer Course, and in 1939 he was a graduate of the Command and General Staff College.

World War II

In March, 1943 Kean was assigned as chief of staff of the 28th Infantry Division. Just a month later he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned as chief of staff for the U.S. II Corps, then fighting in North Africa under the command of Omar Bradley. In late 1943 he was assigned as chief of staff for the First U.S. Army, commanded by Courtney Hodges, receiving promotion to major general. Kean served in this position until the end of the war, and remained in Europe during the post-war occupation of Germany.

While with II Corps Kean played a role in the incident in which General George S. Patton was accused of slapping a soldier. After Bradley had investigated, he entrusted the only copy of the written report to Kean, who was directed not to show it to anyone without Bradley's permission.

During his assignment with First Army, Kean was one of the key planners of the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Post-World War II

From October 1947 to June 1948 Kean commanded the 5th Infantry Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Korean War

In August 1948 Kean became commander of the 25th Infantry Division. Under his command the division successfully blocked the approaches to the port city Pusan in the summer of 1950, for which it received the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.

In October 1950 the 25th Division participated in the breakout from the Pusan perimeter and drive into North Korea. In November, Chinese Communist troops crossed the Yalu River and pushed back the United Nations troops. Kean's division carried out a systematic withdrawal and took up defensive positions, first on the south bank of the Chongchon River, and then south of Osan.

After planning and reorganization a new offensive was launched in January 1951. By February Inchon and Kimpo Air Base had been recaptured, the first of several successful assaults on the Chinese/North Korean force that helped turn the tide in the United Nation's favor.

Later in 1951 the 25th Division participated in Operation Ripper, driving the enemy across the Han River. Although the 25th Division, for the most part, performed well under Kean's leadership, Lt. Gen. Matthew Ridgway, who had recently assumed command of the Eighth Army, relieved him as part of an overall 'shakeup' of the Army's frontline generals.

In Korea, Kean assessed the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment, one of his subordinate commands, as being ineffective during its early combat operations, primarily due to the tendency of many soldiers to 'cut and run' during battle. Although he readily admitted that many individual soldiers had demonstrated competency and courage, he felt the regiment was so ineffective that it threatened the entire United Nations effort in Korea. Kean recommended that the 24th Regiment be disbanded and its soldiers assigned as 'fillers' in white units at a ratio of one to ten.

Gen. Ridgway had embraced Kean's assessment of the 24th Infantry Regiment. After relieving Kean, he asked him, before leaving Korea, to officially propose the elimination of the black units and propose the complete integration of white and black troops. Kean complied with his request and Ridgway used that proposal to help win Washington's approval for the complete desegregation of the entire Far Eastern Command.

Post-Korean War

In 1951 Kean was assigned to command the III Corps, first at Camp Roberts, California and later at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro. In October of that year he led a 5,000 man task force as it took part in an exercise at the Nevada Test Site. During this event, atomic weapons tests were conducted to measure the effects on military members in close proximity.

In July 1952 Kean was named commander of Fifth United States Army in Chicago, Illinois, and promoted to lieutenant general. He remained in this assignment until retiring from the Army in 1954.

Kean's decorations included multiple awards of the Distinguished Service Medal, including two during World War II. He also received the Silver Star for heroism in the Korean War. In addition, Kean received multiple awards of the Legion of Merit, and was a recipient of the Bronze Star.

Subsequent career

In October 1954, Kean was appointed Executive Director of the Chicago Housing Authority. He remained in this position until 1957.

At the C.H.A., Kean was the subject of controversy for his emphasis on reducing vacancy rates over racial integration of the authority's housing projects.

After resigning from the housing authority, he moved to Florida, where he was employed as Public Relations Director for the Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater.

Retirement and death

After retiring Kean lived in Belleair and Winter Park, Florida. He died in Winter Park on March 10, 1981.

Sources
 Normandy to Victory: the War Diary of General Courtney H. Hodges and the First U.S. Army, by William C. Sylvan and Francis C. Smith, edited by John T. Greenwood, 2008, page 400
 Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944, by Joseph Balkoski, 2006, page 142
 "63 Officers Move Up In Rank", The New York Times, p. 11, May 5, 1943 
 
 Official U.S. Army Register, published by U.S. Army Adjutant General's Office, 1946, Volume 1, page
 War in Peacetime: the History and Lessons of Korea, Joseph Lawton Collins, 1969, page 90
 Letters from a Soldier: 1941-1945, by Jim Larson, 2002, page 286
 The Korean War, by Matthew B. Ridgway, 1967, page 192
 Lightning Forward: a History of the 25th Infantry Division, Melvin C. Walthall, 1978
 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, October 1951
 Military Times, Hall of Valor, Index of Recipients of U.S. Major Military Awards
 "Gen. Kean Retires", The New York Times, p. 12, October 1, 1954 
 Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, 1940–1960, by Arnold Richard Hirsch, 1983, page 235

References

External links 

Arlington National Cemetery
Generals of World War II

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1897 births
1981 deaths
United States Army Infantry Branch personnel
United States Army personnel of World War I
United States Army personnel of the Korean War
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)
Recipients of the Silver Star
Recipients of the Legion of Merit
United States Military Academy alumni
United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni
Military personnel from Buffalo, New York
Military personnel from Chicago
People from Belleair, Florida
People from Winter Park, Florida
United States Army generals of World War II
United States Army generals
Military personnel from New York (state)
윌리엄 벤자민 킨(William Benjamin Kean, 1897년 7월 9일 ~ 1981년 3월 10일)은 미국의 군인이다. 육군 중장으로 퇴역했다.

생애

생애 초기와 2차 세계 대전 
1897년 7월 9일 뉴욕주 버펄로에서 태어났다. 1918년 미국 육군사관학교를 졸업했다. 제2차 세계대전 발발 후 1943년 3월 제28보병사단의 참모장으로 임명되었다. 그로부터 불과 한 달 후 준장으로 승진했고 미국 제2군단의 참모장으로 임명된 후 오마르 브래들리(Omar Bradley) 지휘하에 북아프리카에서 싸웠다. 1943년 말에 그는 커트니 호지스(Courtney Hodges)가 지휘한 미국 제1군의 참모장으로 임명되어 소장으로 승격되었다. 킨은 전쟁이 끝날 때까지 이 직책을 맡았고 전후 독일 점령 동안 유럽에 남아있었다.
1947년 10월부터 1948년 6월까지 킨은 사우스캐롤라이나주 포트 잭슨에서 제5보병사단을 지휘했다.

한국 전쟁 
1948년 8월, 킨은 제25보병사단의 지휘관이 되었다. 1950년 한국 전쟁 발발 이후 부산으로 진격하는 북한군을 성공적으로 막아 내어 한국 대통령 표창을 받았다.
1950년 10월 제25사단은 부산을 벗어나 북한으로 진격했다. 11월 중공군의 참전으로 유엔군은 후퇴한다. 킨의 부대는 체계적인 철수를 수행하기 위해 처음에는 청천강 남쪽 제방에서, 그리고 오산의 남쪽에서 방어 임무를 맡았다.

1951년 후반 25사단은 한강을 가로질러 적군을 몰아가는 리퍼 작전에 참가했다. 비록 대부분의 25사단은 킨의 지휘 하에 잘 수행되었지만, 최근 미8군 사령부를 지휘했던 매튜 리지웨이 중장은 그를 전체적인 '조화'의 일환으로 해임했다.

한국에서 킨은 그의 사단 휘하 부대 중 하나인 흑인으로만 구성 된 제24보병연대의 주로 많은 군인들이 전투 중에 '황급히 도망치는' 경향 때문에 그것의 초기 전투 작전 동안 효과적이지 못하다고 평가했다. 비록 그는 많은 개별적인 군인들이 능력과 용기를 보여줬다는 것을 기꺼이 인정했지만, 그는 그 연대가 너무 비효과적이라고 느꼈기 때문에 그것이 한국에서 유엔 전체의 노력을 위협했다고 생각했다. 그는 제24연대 해체와 충원병들을 1 대 10의 비율로 백인으로 배치해 줄 것을 권고했다.

리지웨이 장군은 킨의 24 보병 연대에 대한 평가를 수용했다. 그는 킨을 교체한 후 한국을 떠나기 전에 흑인 부대의 제거를 공식 제안하고 백인과 흑인 부대의 완전한 통합을 제안했다. 킨은 그의 요청을 받아들였고 리지웨이는 전체 극동 사령부의 완전한 분리에 대한 미국의 승인을 얻기 위해 그 제안을 이용했다.

생애 후반 
1951년 킨은 제3군단을 지휘하도록 임명되었다. 처음에는 캘리포니아의 캠프 로버츠와 그 후에 산 페드로에 있는 맥아서요새에 배치되었다.
1952년 7월, 킨은 일리노이주 시카고에서 미국 제5군 사령관으로 임명되어 중장으로 승진했다. 그는 1954년 군대에서 은퇴할 때까지 이 임무를 계속 수행했다.
1954년 10월, 킨은 시카고 주택청의 전무이사로 임명되었다. 그는 1957년까지 이 자리에 머물렀다.시카고 주택청(C.H.A.)에서, 킨은 당국의 주택 사업의 인종적 통합보다 공석율을 낮추는 것을 강조함으로써 논란의 대상이 되었다.
그는 주택 관계 당국으로부터 사임한 후 플로리다로 이주하여 클리어워터 모턴 공장 병원의 홍보 부장으로 일했다.
은퇴한 후 킨은 플로리다주 벨에어와 윈터파크에 살았다. 1981년 3월 10일 윈터파크에서 사망했으며, 알링턴 국립묘지에 안장되었다.

포상과 훈장 
킨에게 주어진 훈장으로는 육군 공로 훈장, 은성 훈장, 훈공장, 동성 훈장이 있다.

각주

참고 문헌 
 Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, by George Washington Cullum, 1920, Volume 6, page 2128
 Normandy to Victory: the War Diary of General Courtney H. Hodges and the First U.S. Army, by William C. Sylvan and Francis C. Smith, edited by John T. Greenwood, 2008, page 400
 Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944, by Joseph Balkoski, 2006, page 142
 Newspaper article, 63 Officers Move Up In Rank, New York Times, May 5, 1943
 Newspaper article, Narrow Escape On the Bulge , by Harold Denny, New York Times, published in Milwaukee Journal, June 11, 1945
 Official U.S. Army Register, published by U.S. Army Adjutant General's Office, 1946, Volume 1, page
 War in Peacetime: the History and Lessons of Korea, Joseph Lawton Collins, 1969, page 90
 Letters from a Soldier: 1941-1945, by Jim Larson, 2002, page 286
 The Korean War: an Encyclopedia, by Stanley Sandler, 1995, page 160
 The Korean War, by Matthew B. Ridgway, 1967, page 192
 Lightning Forward: a History of the 25th Infantry Division, Melvin C. Walthall, 1978
 Newspaper article, Gen. Kean Wins Gallantry Award , Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1950
 Newspaper article, Gen. Kean Takes Over Post at Ft. MacArthur , Los Angeles Times, November 17, 1951
 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, October 1951
 Newspaper article, Troops Move Under Jarring Atom Test Blast , Los Angeles Times, November 2, 1951
 Military Times, Hall of Valor, Index of Recipients of U.S. Major Military Awards
 Newspaper article, Maj. Gen. Kean Today Becomes 5th Army Chief , Chicago Tribune, July 17, 1952
 Newspaper article, Name Gen. Kean Boss of CHA , by Thomas Buck, Chicago Tribune, August 24, 1954
 Newspaper article, Gen. Kean Retires, New York Times, October 1, 1954
 Newspaper article, New Policies of Gen. Kean Revitalize CHA , by Thomas Buck, Chicago Tribune, October 9, 1955
 Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, 1940–1960, by Arnold Richard Hirsch, 1983, page 235
 Newspaper article, Gen. Kean Submits Second Resignation as CHA Chief , Chicago Tribune, July 2, 1957
 Newspaper article, Gen. Kean Ends Job With CHA; Heading South , August 1, 1957
 Newspaper article, Other Deaths, Obituary of William B. Kean, The St. Petersburg Evening Independent, March 16, 1981

1897년 출생
1981년 사망
미국의 제1차 세계 대전 참전 군인
미국의 제2차 세계 대전 참전 군인
미국의 한국 전쟁 참전 군인
미국 육군 중장
미국 육군사관학교 동문
뉴욕주 출신
미국 육군지휘참모대학교 동문
시카고 출신