Major General Donald W. McGowan

Major General Donald W. McGowan

Regimental Commander 102nd Cavalry Regiment 1940 – 1944

In May 1916 he enlisted in Company I, Fifth NJ Infantry which was mobilized for the Mexican Border Campaign and served in Arizona on the Mexican Border. The Fifth Infantry was recalled in November 1916 for World War I. The Fifth was reorganized into the 114th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division.

After fighting in the Haute-Alsace and the Meuse-Argonne campaigns, McGowan was appointed by General Pershing to attend West Point based on a competitive examination. He resigned from West Point in 1919 and reenlisted in the 113th Infantry in Orange, NJ.

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1922 and eventually became the Deputy Adjutant General of New Jersey in 1937. McGowan was promoted to Colonel on 5January 1941, soon after assuming command of the Regiment. He served as Group Commander of the 102d Cavalry from 1940 through the D-Day Invasion, and further served as Provost Marshall for the 1st Army until V-E Day in 1945.

After World War II, McGowan served as Deputy Adjutant General of NJ from 1946 through 1948, and he assumed the position of Commanding General of the 50th Armored Division from 1948 to 1955. He was appointed Chief of Armor for the National Guard Bureau from 1955-1959 and finally was appointed as Chief of the National Guard Bureau in 1959. He also served one term as the President of the U.S. Army Armor Association in 1960. At the time of his retirement as a Major General, he was the last active serving veteran from the Mexican Border Campaign.