Ralph E. Haines, Jr.

General Ralph Haines USA, (Ret), age 98 of San Antonio, died Wednesday, November 23, 2011 due to congestive heart failure. He was born into an Army family on August 21, 1913 at Ft. Mott, New Jersey. During his father's assignment to Fort Sam Houston, he attended Texas Military Institute, graduating in 1930 as valedictorian of his class. GEN Haines subsequently attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and, upon graduation, was commissioned in the horse cavalry. During his five years of mounted service, he engaged in a range of equestrian sports, including polo.

In 1940, with President Roosevelt's declaration of a National Emergency, he was assigned to the fledgling Armored Force as a company commander. With the advent of World War II, he was promoted rapidly and given the responsibilities of battalion and regimental command. He served in the mud, blood, and mountains of the bitter Italian Campaign, returning to the United States after three years of combat and occupation duty.

In his subsequent career which spanned two additional major conflicts, he served in a variety of command, staff, and academic assignments in the United States and overseas. As he reached the higher levels of the Army, GEN Haines was successively Chief of Plans for the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Assistant Division Commander, 2nd Armored Division; Commanding General, 1st Armored Division; Deputy Chief of Staff for Force Development on the Army General Staff; Commanding General, III Corps, Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Army; Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Army Pacific during the height of the Vietnam Conflict; and Commanding General, Continental Army Command during the early years of the so-called Modern Volunteer Army. In each of his last two commands, he commanded over half a million soldiers in the Active Army and, in his last command, almost 300,000 soldiers in the Army Reserve as well.

GEN Haines' awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star. GEN Haines chaired Department of the Army Boards which reorganized the overall Army logistic structure in 1961 and revamped Army officer schooling system in 1966. As Commanding General, Continental Army Command, he set up the Non-Commissioned Officer Educational System (NCOES) and was the driving force behind the establishment of the Army Sergeants Major Academy. In his own graduate-level career schooling, he was a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College, the Army War College, and the National War College.

After his retirement, GEN Haines kept busy in a broad range of civic, community, and religious activities. He was a committed Christian who was active in the Episcopal Church from parish to national levels as a delegate, lay minister, teacher, foreign missions participant and preacher. As a Distinguished Eagle Scout, he held key positions in the Alamo Area Council, Boy Scouts of America for over 20 years. He was a life-time member of the Board of Trustees, Texas Military Institute, and active in school activities. He was Chairman of the Board of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Fort Sam Houston, and was inducted into the Hall of Honor in the Sergeants Major Academy at Ft. Bliss, which he visited regularly.

The Ralph E. Haines, Jr. Award, presented to the United States Army reserve Drill Sergeant of the Year, is named in his honor. He sat on the Advisory Committee of the U.S. Army Cavalry Association. He inaugurated an Annual Greater San Antonio Military Prayer Breakfast in 1977 and chaired it for almost a quarter century, attracting some of our most senior officers as principal speakers.

Over the years, GEN Haines was in demand as a speaker or lecturer to a wide variety of audiences, military and civilian, at home and abroad. He was the senior retired officer on the rolls of the United States Army for many years. GEN Haines was married for 65 years to the former Sally Swift, herself fifth generation army. They had two sons, also West Point graduates. One son, Palmer Swift Haines, died in an aircraft crash when the plane he was piloting suffered dual engine failure near Austin, Texas. He was grieved by the loss of both his wife and elder son, only a year apart. He is survived by his son, William Haines; grandson, Lance Haines; granddaughters, Lark Lee and Lindsey Haines; great-grandchildren, Travis and April Haines, and Mason and Palmer Lee.

The Rt. Rev. Gary Lillibridge, the Rt. Rev. Robert Hibbs, the Rev. David G. Read and Chaplain COL Timothy Eggleston, U.S. Army, officiating.