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<em><em>Augustine Davis Dugan</em> </em>was born in Orange, NJ, on May 24, 1902, to Judge Daniel A. Dugan and Anna C. Davis. He came from a large family of four girls and five boys and had his early schooling there in Orange. His eldest brother, Daniel Jr., was killed in action in Nantillois, France, in October of 1918 and received the Distinguished Service Cross. “Gus” entered West Point in 1920 and graduated with the Class of 1924. In his cadet days, he was recognized as a feisty boxer in the bantamweight and featherweight classes. While he was a cadet, his older brother Paul was a midshipman at Annapolis. Gus chose Cavalry as his branch and embarked on a mounted career. At Ft. Ringgold, TX, on the Mexican Border, he met and mar­ried Dorothy Sloan Carlisle in 1928. She was the daughter of a Baptist missionary, and they soon were posted to Ft. Riley, KS, where their first child, Beth Elaine, was born. Their next assignment was with the 26th Cavalry in the Philippine Islands at Ft. Stotsenburg. In 1931, son Daniel Carlisle, was born, and they remained there until 1933, when Gus was posted to the Presidio of Monterey. One of his primary duties there as a First Lieutenant was command­ing a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) unit. In those days, depression gripped the United States and the CCC provided work, shelter, and sustenance to many men who worked on infrastructure projects, in this case in California. That assignment was fol­lowed by orders to Ft. Bliss, TX, in 1935. Horse Cavalry still ruled! He remained there, quartered on post, until 1939, when he was sent to East Lansing, MI, and as­signed to the Reserve Officer Training Corps of Michigan State. It was a short tour, because he was ordered back to Ft. Bliss in 1940. The “Winds of War” were gathering after Germany invaded Poland in September of 1939. After some military schooling, he was sent to Yuma, AZ, in 1942 for desert training in preparation for deployment to North Africa.</p>
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We lived “on the economy” in Yuma while he sweated out in the desert in tents with his unit, the 8th Infantry Division. The conflict in North Africa ended, and he was shipped cross-country to Ft. Jackson, SC, for a brief tour and then to Camp Forest, TN - near Tullahoma. We camp followers traveled to and settled in nearby Hillsboro for the duration of that assignment. In the fall of 1943, the Old Gray Bonnet Regiment of the 8th Division was shipped to Northern Ireland to await the invasion of Normandy. His unit crossed into Normandy at Utah Beach about 25 days after D-Day. Gus was wounded by mortar fire in the trek across France and lat­er was assigned to the 14th Cavalry Group of the 28th Infantry Division — the “Bloody Bucket.” Gus was the executive officer of this lightly armored group that found itself in the path of German Panzers on Dec 14, 1944, when the Battle of the Bulge com­menced. At the Losheim Gap, Poteau, and St. Vith, he rallied his men to delay the advance of the Germans. The group com­mander had retired from the field with “combat fatigue” and Gus assumed com­mand. His actions are documented in the book, “A Time for Trumpets” by Charles MacDonald. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions during that trial. After VE Day, LTC Dugan was assigned to oc­cupation duties in Germany. After VJ Day, Gus returned to the U.S. for a brief assignment in Hattiesburg, MS, and then was shipped to Yokohama, Japan, to work in military government. The family fol­lowed in December 1946 and remained in Yokohama until February 1949. From there, it was promotion and assignment to the Recruiting Command in Dallas, TX— then El Paso once again.</p>
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Gus retired in 1954 and went to the University of Texas at El Paso to earn a degree in electrical engineering. A num­ber of jobs followed in the space industry in Philadelphia and Michoud, LA. Finally, it was retirement for real, back to El Paso, TX, and a busy life of betting on the horses and playing lots of golf. Dad died peacefully in 1987 at William Beaumont Army Medical Center from conges­tive heart failure at the age of 85. When the ambulance came to the house, he walked outside and climbed in. Three days later, he was gone—but he also played a round of golf that same week, typical of the Irishman, “Patsy” Gus Dugan. He is sur­vived by his son Daniel, Class of 1955, grandson, Daniel, granddaugh­ters, Jenifer, Jessica and Suzanne, and three great grandsons, Padraigh, Arthur, and Augustine.</p>
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<em>—Daniel C. Dugan, son</em></p>
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