Quick Facts
Biography
Augustus F. Gearhard (April 18, 1893 – March 19, 1974) was a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force and a Roman Catholic priest.
Biography
Gearhard was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1893. He would attend St. Francis Seminary and was ordained in 1917. Gearhard died on March 19, 1974.
Military career
Gearhard originally joined the United States Army in 1918 and was deployed overseas to take part in World War I. During World War II he served with the V Fighter Command, the Fifth Air Force, and the Far East Air Force. Following the war he was named chaplain of the Air Defense Command. Gearhard transferred to the Air Force upon its establishment in 1947. In 1949 he was named chaplain of the United States Air Forces in Europe before becoming Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the Air Force in 1950.
Awards he received include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and the Legion of Merit.