page_title: Robert S. Beightler
section_title: Honors
hierarchical_section_title: Robert S. Beightler / Honors
context_page_description: Robert Sprague Beightler was an American military officer and Ohio political insider, engineer, and business owner. In the military, he reached the rank of major general, and served as military governor of Okinawa, War Department General Staff, and as commander of the 37th Infantry Division, one of only two National Guard generals to lead their troops through training and into battle during World War II. In political activities in Ohio, he served as head of the Ohio State Highway Department, president of the Army Personnel Board, executive director and board member of the Ohio Turnpike Commission.
  Beightler was the only World War II National Guard general to have commanded his division for the length of the war. In addition to being one of only eleven generals who commanded their divisions for the entire war and the longest-serving of these eleven, Beightler was appointed to the Regular Army in 1946 as one of only two National Guard major generals to receive such an appointment at that time.
context_section_description: Robert Beightler was the recipient of numerous honors, including the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership in the Philippines campaign, the Silver Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Distinguished Service Medal for the New Georgia campaign, with an Oak Leaf cluster for his service in Bougainville and Luzon, and the Legion of Merit with an Oak Leaf cluster.  His award of the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) was later revoked because Army regulations prohibit the CIB from being awarded to generals.
  On September 25, 1945, Beightler received his 33d degree from the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. He was awarded the Legion of Honor from the Philippine government. In June 1952, Beightler was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of the Ryukyus for his work in rebuilding the infrastructure. The National Guard armory in Columbus is named in his honor. It is the headquarters of the Ohio National Guard.
  In 1969, the city of Marysville, Ohio dedicated 5th Street in honor of Beightler, naming it Major General Robert S. Beightler Way.
  In 1993, the Ohio Department of Veterans Affairs inducted him into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame. In 2007, the Union County, Ohio Chamber of Commerce declared September 28 to be Major General Robert S. Beightler Day.
  In 2007, the Ohio Historical Society dedicated an historical marker on 5th Street in Uptown Marysville in honor of Beightler. Hundreds of citizens attended the ceremony, with officials present from the office of Gov. Ted Strickland, U.S. Senator George Voinovich, and the Ohio National Guard. In 2007, the Ohio Department of Transportation funded his memorial marker at the Veterans Memorial in Marysville, Ohio.
caption: Beightler's Historical Marker at 5th Street and Main, Marysville, Ohio
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