General Daniel I. Sultan

General Daniel I. Sultan

A former name retained. Daniel Isom Sultan, born 9 December 1885 at Oxford, Miss., graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1907 and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. Prior to World War I, he served in the Philippine Islands and was in charge of the construction of fortifications on Corregidor. In 1918 he was assigned to the War Department General Staff in France. From 1929 to 1931, he commanded troops during a survey of the proposed Inter-Ocean Canal route through Nicaragua; and, from 1934 to 1938, he presided as Commissioner of the District of Columbia. Promoted to Brigadier General 8 July 1939, he was in command of the 38th Infantry Division at the beginning of World War II. Following his command of the VIII Corps, he was ordered to the China-Burma-India Theater in 1943 to act as Deputy Commander under General Joseph Stilwell. He was promoted to Lieutenant General 2 September 1944 and on 24 October became Commander of the Burma-India

Theater. Returning to the United States 23 June 1945, he was appointed Inspector General of the Army 14 July. General Sultan died 14 January 1947 at Washington, D.C., while on active duty.

Admiral W. S. Benson (AP-120) (q.v.) was reacquired by the Navy from the Army Transport Service as General Daniel I. Sultan 1 March 1950 and assigned to MSTS. Manned by a civilian crew, she operated in the Pacific out of San Francisco. From 1950 to 1953 she steamed to the Western Pacific in support of the effort to repel Communist aggression in Korea. She made more than 20 round-trip voyages to the Far East and carried men and supplies to American bases in Japan, Okinawa, Guam, Formosa and the Philippine Islands. Following the end of hostilities in Korea, she continued supply and trooplift runs to the troubled Far East. During the next 13 years, she completed more than 100 deployments to the Western Pacific while supporting peace-keeping operations by American forces.

In response to America's determination to defend the independence and integrity of South Vietnam from external Communist aggression, General Daniel I. Sultan departed San Francisco for Southeast Asia 2 August 1965. Steaming via Japan, she embarked troops at Okinawn and reached Da Nang, South Vietnam, 28 August. She returned to San Francisco 11 September and during the remainder of 1966 completed two more round-trip voyages to Qui Nhon and Vung Tau, South Vietnam. In the first 7 months of 1966 she made four runs to Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippines. She operated in the Western Pacific, supporting the forces of freedom in the Far East, until arriving San Francisco late in December 1966. Early in 1967 she was placed in ready reserve status.

General Daniel I. Sultan received two battle stars for Korean war service.