page_title: Leonard F. Wing
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Leonard F. Wing / World War II
caption_attribution_description: From left to right -- I Corps Commander Major General Innis P. Swift, Vice Admiral Daniel E. Barbey, Commander 7th Amphibious Force, Major General Leonard F. Wing, Commander, 43rd Division, aboard USS Blue Ridge.
context_page_description: Leonard Fish Wing Sr., nicknamed "Red", was a Vermont political figure and a division commander in the United States Army during World War II.
context_section_description: In 1941 the 43rd Division mobilized for service in the Pacific Theater. In 1942 Wing was named commander of the division's 68th Field Artillery Brigade, and later that year he was appointed the 43rd's Assistant Division Commander. Wing became commander of the division as a Major General in 1943. He successfully rebuffed attempts to replace him with a regular Army officer, as was done in most divisions, making him one of three National Guard officers to command a combat division in World War II. The other National Guard officers who commanded combat divisions, Robert S. Beightler of the 37th Infantry Division and Raymond S. McLain of the 90th Infantry Division, received commissions in the regular Army, which is likely the source of the claim that Wing was the only National Guard officer to command a combat division in World War II. Wing's success at keeping his command was especially noteworthy because he had been diagnosed with heart disease, and could have asked to be relieved on medical grounds.
  The 43rd Division, named "Winged Victory" in honor of its commander, saw action at Guadalcanal, Rendova, New Georgia, New Guinea and Luzon. It played a vital role in the capture of the Ipo Dam outside Manila, Philippines, taking the city's main water source intact and breaking Japanese resistance, an action for which it received the U.S. Presidential Unit Citation and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
  The 43rd Division served on occupation duty in Japan before being deactivated in October, 1945.
caption: From left to right -- I Corps Commander Major General Innis P. Swift, Vice Admiral Daniel E. Barbey, Commander 7th Amphibious Force, Major General Leonard F. Wing, Commander, 43rd Division. January 3, 1945, aboard USS Blue Ridge.
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