The career of Chariton's Maj. Gen. Gerald C. Brant

This distinguished gentleman is a relatively rare commodity for Lucas County --- a hometown boy who pursued a career in the military and advanced to the rank of major general. Sixty years ago, when his death was reported in the Chariton newspapers, many here would have remembered Gerald Clark Brant; in all likelihood, no one does today.

Brant, born in Chariton on June 28, 1880, was a son of Clark Thompson Brant (1834-1911), a dentist, and Sarah Ellen (Matson) Brant (1834-1911), his wife. The Brants were socially prominent people for their time, moving in the elevated circles of the Mallory, Copeland, Penick and other aspirational families.

Gerald graduated from Chariton High School with the class of 1897 and then went to work as a clerk in the post office for two years. He also enlisted in Company H, the Iowa National Guard unit headquartered in Chariton, and by 1899 had risen to the rank of sergeant and developed a taste for the military life.

That summer, he sought an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from the Eighth Congressional District's influential U.S. representative, William P. Hepburn, and was awarded "alternate" status. Fortunately for Gerald, the principal appointee flunked the academy's entrance exam, he was dispatched to New York during August of 1899 to take the test, passed with flying colors and entered the academy that fall.

Upon his graduation from West Point on June 15, 1904, Gerald was married to Ethel Frey Cushing during a rather grand ceremony on the 17th at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, West 141st Street and Convent Avenue, in Manhattan. The reception was held next door in Alexander Hamilton's "The Grange" mansion, then owned by the church.

So this was how Gen. Brant's distinguished career launched and in 1917, he transferred from the U.S. Cavalry to the air service. The following, from his official Air Force biography, is heavy on detail, but summarizes his 40-year career --- commencing with his commission as a second lieutenant of cavalry upon graduate from West Point.

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He first served with the 9th Cavalry at Fort Walla Walla, Wash., and was then transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he remained until January 1906. During part of that time, from July to August 1905, he was a competitor in the Division Cavalry Competition at Fort Riley, Kan., and from October to December 1905 commanded the School Detachment, Infantry and Cavalry School and Staff College. He was Assistant to the Executive Officer, U.S. Military Prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to November 1907.

He was ordered to the Philippine Islands in November 1907, where he joined the 9th Cavalry at Camp McGrath, Batangas. He served with that regiment until May 1909, returning to the United States to serve at Fort D.A. Russell, Wyo., to March 1911. He then accompanied the 9th Cavalry to San Antonio, Texas, and Leon Springs, Texas, remaining there until July 1911, when he returned to Fort D. A. Russell where he remained until September 1911. He was on duty at the Pennsylvania Military College, Chester, until May 1913, when he joined the 10th Cavalry at Fort Ethan Allen, Vt. He served at that station, at Fort Huachuca and Naco, Ariz., to November 1914, at which time he was ordered to the Philippine Islands.

He arrived in Manila in January 1915 and served with the 7th Cavalry at Camp Stotsenburg to November 1915, and with the 9th Cavalry at that station until August 1917. He served with the 15th Cavalry at Fort William McKinley to September 1917, then returned to the United States. He was assigned to duty with the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, Kelly Field, Texas, as Brigade Adjutant and Executive Director to March 1918. He commanded Kelly Field, Texas, to July 1918 and then became Chief of Operations Section, Office of the Director of Military Aeronautics, Washington, D.C., to September 1918. He was Assistant Director of Military Aeronautics, Washington, D.C., to November 1918. He served on several boards of officers and was on inspection duty at Washington, D.C., to February 1919. He became Commanding Officer, Ellington Field, Texas, to May 1919 and then served as Eastern Department and Corps Area Air Service Officer, N.Y., to August 1920.

He attended the General Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth to June 1921; the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, from which he graduated in June 1922; and the Army War College, Washington, D.C., from which he graduated in June 1923. He served in the Supply Division, War Department General Staff, Washington, D.C., to June 1926. He was Executive Director, Office of the Assistant Secretary of War, to August 1927, and then served as Commanding Officer, Crissy Field, Calif., to November 1929. He was detailed on temporary duty at Headquarters, Ninth Corps Area, in connection with the selection of airplane landing sites to January 1930, and was Post and Group Executive Officer, Mitchel Field, N.Y., until October 1930.

He was ordered to Hawaii in November 1930 and assigned to duty as Air Officer, Hawaiian Department, Fort Shafter, and in command of the 18th Composite Wing, Air Corps, to August 1934. In August 1934 he was assigned to duty at the International Air Races at Dayton, Ohio, to October 1934. He became Commanding Officer, Brooks Field, Texas, to February 1935, and in March 1935 he was placed in command of the 3rd Wing, General Headquarters Air Force, Barksdale Field, La.

In April 1937 he was transferred to Langley Field, Va., where he commanded the 2nd Wing, General Headquarters Air Force, to March 1938. He then assumed the duties of Commandant, Air Corps Technical School, Chanute Field, Ill., and in October 1940 was assigned to command the Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center, Randolph Field, Texas.

In October 1941, he became Commanding General of the Newfoundland Base Command, St. Johns, Newfoundland. In January 1943, he returned to the United States and was assigned to command the Gulf Coast Army Air Forces Training Center, Randolph Field, Texas. The Gulf Coast Army Air Forces Training Center was redesignated the Army Air Forces Central Flying Training Command on July 31, 1943.

General Brant was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in March 1943 and retired on May 31, 1944.

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Gerald and Ethel became the parents of three children during their marriage --- Gerald Clark Jr., Virginia Cushing and Philip Delano --- but divorced in 1927. The following year, he married as his second wife, Elizabeth Dangerfield Jackson.

Following retirement, the Brants settled at Mico, northwest of San Antonio, Texas, near Medina Lake, where he died at the age of 78 on Aug. 6, 1958. Funeral services were held at the Fort Sam Houston Chapel and his ashes were interred in the West Point Military Academy Post Cemetery in New York.