Leonard F . Wing Leonard Fish Wing , Sr . ( nicknamed " Red " ) was a Vermont political figure and a division commander in the United States Army during World War II . Early life . Leonard Wing was born in Ira , Vermont on November 12 , 1893 . He graduated from Rutland High School in 1910 , and then attended Norwich University . Afterwards Wing studied law , attaining admission to the bar in 1917 . World War I Military Service . Wing enlisted in the Army for World War I , served at Fort Ethan Allen , Vermont , Fort Gordon , Georgia , and Fort Dix , New Jersey . Wing completed officer training , received a commission and attained the rank of First Lieutenant . He served as the supply officer for the 2nd Infantry Replacement Regiment until the end of the war , and was discharged at Fort Dix in December , 1918 . Post - World War I . After his discharge Wing returned to Rutland and established a law practice . From 1919 to 1921 he served as Rutland City Attorney , and he was Rutland ' s City Judge from 1921 to 1925 . Wing was active in Republican party politics , and served on the state Republican Committee , of which he was Chairman from 1925 to 1929 . He also attended numerous state and national party conventions , including serving as a delegate to the 1940 Republican national convention . In 1919 Wing joined the Vermont National Guard ' s 172nd Infantry Regiment as a Second Lieutenant . He rose through the ranks and in 1933 received promotion to Colonel as the 172nd ' s commander . That year he earned statewide praise from business owners and condemnation from laborers after leading his regiment to break a strike of Barre granite workers . In 1933 Wing was named Executive Assistant to Governor Stanley C . Wilson , serving until the end of Wilson ' s term in 1935 . Wing was promoted to Brigadier General in 1937 as commander of the 86th Infantry Brigade , at the time a subordinate command of the New England based 43rd Infantry Division . In 1939 Wing was elected to the Norwich University Board of Trustees . World War II . 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 two National Guard officers to command a combat division in World War II . The other National Guard officer who commanded a combat division , Robert S . Beightler of the 37th Infantry Division , transferred to the regular Army in 1946 , 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 . Post - World War II . After returning home at the end of 1945 , Wing spent time in the hospital to recuperate from pneumonia and other ailments . He took part in victory parades throughout New England in November and December , and was elected President of the Vermont Bar Association . He was considered a likely candidate for Governor , and if incumbent Mortimer Proctor adhered to tradition and left office after one term , Wing would likely have won the Republican nomination . In a state where only Republicans held statewide office from the 1850s to the 1960s , Wing would almost certainly have been elected Governor in 1946 . Death and political ramifications . Wing ' s plans to run for Governor were ended when he died of a heart attack at his home in Rutland on December 19 , 1945 . He was buried in Rutland ' s Evergreen Cemetery . As a result of Wing ' s death , Ernest W . Gibson , Jr . , an officer on Wing ' s staff during the war , ran for the Republican nomination , defeated Governor Proctor , and won the 1946 general election . Awards and Honors . General Wing ' s military awards and decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal , Silver Star , Legion of Merit , and Bronze Star . Norwich University awarded Wing honorary Master of Science ( 1938 ) and Master of Military Science ( 1946 ) degrees . Personal . Leonard F . Wing was married twice . In 1919 he married Bernice Kidder ( 1894 - 1923 ) , with whom he had a son . In 1924 Wing married Margaret Dorothy Clark ( or Clarke ) ( 1897 - 1960 ) , with whom he had a son and a daughter . Leonard F . Wing , Jr . ( 1923 – 2005 ) , also a Norwich University graduate , and World War II veteran who was taken prisoner by the Germans and later escaped . He became a prominent attorney who served as President of the Vermont Bar Association . The younger Leonard Wing served in the Vermont National Guard , attaining the rank of Brigadier General as commander of the 86th Armored Brigade in the late 1960s . In 1991 he endowed the Major General Leonard F . Wing Scholarship at Norwich University . Bruce Clark Wing was born in Rutland on February 5 , 1925 , and died in Rutland on May 11 , 2000 . Patricia Margaret Wing was born in Rutland in 1926 . The Wing family remained prominent in Vermont legal circles , including Leonard Wing , Jr . ' s daughter , Joan Loring Wing , ( 1948 – 2009 ) , an attorney in Rutland who served as President of the Vermont Bar Association .