George W. Dunaway

George W. Dunaway
George W. Dunaway
	Sergeant Major of the Army George W. Dunaway
Born	July 24, 1922; Richmond, Virginia
Died	February 6, 2008 (aged 85); Las Vegas, Nevada
Buried	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	1943–1970
Rank	Sergeant Major of the Army
Battles / wars	World War II; Vietnam War
Awards	Army Distinguished Service Medal; Silver Star; Legion of Merit; Bronze Star Medal (4); Air Medal (11); Army Commendation Medal (2); Purple Heart

George W. Dunaway (July 24, 1922 – February 6, 2008) was a United States Army soldier who served as the second Sergeant Major of the Army. He was sworn in on September 1, 1968, and served until his term ended in September 1970.

Early life

Dunaway was born in Richmond, Virginia, on July 24, 1922.

Military career

After attending the Airborne Course in August 1943, Dunaway remained at Fort Benning, Georgia, as an Airborne School Instructor until January 1945 when he joined the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team in France as a platoon sergeant. He returned to Fort Benning in December 1945 with assignment to the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion, where he served as first sergeant of Company A. (Inactivated in Germany on 20 August 1945, the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment was reactivated at Fort Benning from 1 August 1946 to 23 November 1948 as the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion.)^[1] In March 1948, Dunaway was reassigned to the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There he became a member of the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment as Operations Sergeant, ascending to the regimental sergeant major position in 1952.^[2]

In early 1954 Dunaway transferred to the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team as the Combat Team Sergeant Major. He continued in that position for seven years, during which he saw the lineage of the unit reorganized and redesignated as the 187th Infantry, when the 101st Airborne Division was reactivated on September 21, 1956, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, which included the 2d Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry as one of the division's five battle groups.^[3] Departing Fort Campbell in 1961, he reported to the 1st Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces in United States Army Pacific and later moved to the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam, where he remained until June 1967.

Returning to the United States, Dunaway re-joined the 101st Airborne Division as it prepared to move to Vietnam in the largest unit deployment by air in the history of the Vietnam War. Dunaway arrived in Vietnam with the commanding general's command group on December 13, 1967. In February 1968, he moved to Camp Eagle in the I Corps Tactical Zone with the division, where he remained until July 1968 when he was selected as the second Sergeant Major of the Army.

Later life

Dunaway died on February 6, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[4] He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on March 19, 2008, with full military honors.

Awards and decorations

Combat Infantry Badge, 2 awards

Master Parachutist Badge

Vietnam Parachutist Badge

	Army Distinguished Service Medal
	Silver Star^[5]
	Legion of Merit
	Bronze Star Medal with Valor device and three oak leaf clusters
	Air Medal with Valor device and two silver oak leaf clusters
	Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
	Purple Heart
	Presidential Unit Citation
	Meritorious Unit Commendation
	Army Good Conduct Medal (nine awards)
	American Defense Service Medal
	American Campaign Medal
	European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
	World War II Victory Medal
	National Defense Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
	Vietnam Service Medal with four service stars
	Vietnam Gallantry Cross with bronze star
	Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal, 2nd class
	Vietnam Campaign Medal
	9 Service stripes.