Hobart R . Gay Lieutenant General Hobart Raymond Gay ( May 16 , 1894 – August 19 , 1983 ) , nicknamed " Hap " , was a United States Army general . Early military career . He was first commissioned into the Army Reserve as a 2nd lieutenant following his graduation from Knox College in 1917 . On October 26 , 1917 , Gay was commissioned into the Regular Army . He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on October 26 , 1917 and captain in July 1920 . In his early career , he was a cavalry officer . He transferred to the Quartermaster Corps June 11 , 1934 and was promoted to major on August 1 , 1935 . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on August 18 , 1940 and colonel on December 24 , 1941 . As a captain , he tutored author Robert A . Heinlein in equitation and musketry . World War II . General Gay was awarded the Silver Star in December 1942 for gallantry in action on November 8 , 1942 at Casablanca . He was chief of staff of the I Armored Corps in North Africa at the time . He was promoted to Brigadier General June 24 , 1943 . In the Sicily campaign he was assigned to the U . S . Seventh Army as chief of staff . Later he became chief of staff , Third Army , under General George S . Patton , in February 1944 . When Patton took command of the U . S . Fifteenth Army , Gay was again his chief of staff . He and Patton went pheasant hunting on December 9 , 1945 . Patton and Gay were seated in the back seat of the staff car , en route to the hunting lodge . There was a traffic accident , during which Patton sustained spinal injuries which later cost him his life . General Gay was uninjured . Post World War II Europe . After Patton ' s death , Gay assumed command of Fifteenth Army in January 1946 for a period of one month . He then became commander of the U . S . 1st Armored Division until its return to the United States later in 1946 . He then assumed command of the Second Constabulary Brigade . He served in Europe until 1947 , when he returned to the United States . Gay returned to the United States and commanded the Military District of Washington until September 1949 . During his command of the district , General John J . Pershing died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on 15 July 1948 . In accordance with tradition , Gen . Gay coordinated arrangements for Pershing ' s funeral ceremonies as the representative of the U . S . President . Korean War . In September 1949 , Gay took command of the 1st Cavalry Division in Osaka , Japan . He brought the 1st Cavalry to Korea , where it was in action on July 19 , 1950 , joining in the general South Korean - U . S . retreat before the North Korean invasion force . Over three days in late July , the division ' s 7th Cavalry Regiment and U . S . warplanes killed a large number of South Korean refugees at No Gun Ri , an event first confirmed by The Associated Press in 1999 and later acknowledged in a U . S . Army investigation . The South Korean government in 2005 certified the names of 163 No Gun Ri dead and missing and 55 wounded , and said many more likely were killed . On July 26 , the day the No Gun Ri killings began , Gay told rear - echelon reporters he was sure most refugees fleeing south were North Korean infiltrators . Two days earlier , word had been sent from his operations staff to fire on all refugees trying to cross U . S . lines . Gay himself later described refugees as " fair game , " and the U . S . ambassador in South Korea said such a policy had been adopted theater - wide . On August 4 , 1950 , after U . S . forces withdrew across the Naktong River , Gay ordered the blowing of the Waegwan bridge , killing hundreds of refugees trying to cross . His 1st Cavalry Division then played a crucial , costly role in the successful last - ditch defense of the Pusan Perimeter , and joined in the breakout of U . S . and South Korean units headed north in September in conjunction with the landing of U . S . forces at Inchon . Gay ' s troops then led the strike across the 38th Parallel and into Pyongyang , capturing the North Korean capital on Oct . 19 - 20 . Two weeks later , his 8th Cavalry Regiment was hit hard by newly arriving Chinese Communist forces at Unsan , north of Pyongyang , with one battalion left trapped when Gay ' s rescue efforts were ordered halted by his superior , I Corps commander Maj . Gen . Frank W . Milburn . The Chinese drove the 1st Cavalry Division and other U . S . forces from North Korea in December , and in early 1951 Gay , along with other top officers in Korea , was relieved of his command . Gay was appointed deputy commander of the U . S . Fourth Army in February , 1951 . In July 1952 he was appointed commander of U . S . VI Corps at Camp Atterbury , Indiana and in April , 1953 made commanding general of U . S . III Corps at Fort MacArthur , California . He moved to Fort Hood in Texas when the III Corps was reassigned there . Post Korean War . In September 1954 General Gay was made commander of U . S . Fifth Army in Chicago , Illinois . He was nominated by President Dwight D . Eisenhower in October 1954 for promotion to Lieutenant General ( temporary ) . Hobart R . Gay ’ s career in the U . S . Army ended in 1955 as the Commanding General , Anti - aircraft and Guided Missile Center , Fort Bliss , Texas . Retirement . Following retirement , Gay became superintendent of the New Mexico Military Institute . He died in El Paso , Texas and was interred at the Fort Bliss National Cemetery .