Bio
Major General (MG) John H. Hilldring was born in New Rochelle, New York on 27 March 1895. After graduating from the University of Connecticut in 1917, he received a reserve commission as an Infantry Second Lieutenant, and subsequently one in the Regular Army.
During World War I, Hilldring served with the 38th Infantry Regiment in the Aisne, Aisne-Marne, and Champagne-Marne campaigns.
He earned the Distinguished Service Cross for actions on 22 July 1918, and later performed Military Government duties in the Rhineland. Postwar, Hilldring served in the Philippines and oversaw the Civilian Conservation Corps Arizona District.
In 1939, Major Hilldring was assigned to the Planning Branch, Personnel Division, G-1, of the War Department General Staff in Washington, DC, rising to the rank of Brigadier General by 1942. From July 1942 to April 1943, he commanded the 84th Infantry Division, before assuming duties as the first chief of the Civil Affairs (CA) Division to formulate CA policy and coordinate such efforts with Allied nations.
In February 1946, he retired from the Army when named Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas. In 1947, he served as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations General Assembly before retiring from government service to enter private business.
After serving as the first president of the CA Association, Hilldring died on 14 January 1974.
