Benjamin Merritt “Bud” Warfield was born on December 20, 1914, the son of Major Benjamin Cory Warfield of the Army Dental Corps and Rena Merritt Warfield.
He graduated from high school in Melrose, Massachusetts but was appointed to West Point from Ohio, at large, entering the Academy at 17 on July 2, 1932. Upon graduating, he received his commission in the Coast Artillery. He was assigned to Fort DeRussy in Hawaii. Returning to the mainland United States, he became involved in the forming and training of antiaircraft units.
On February 20, 1943, he was assigned to command the newly activated 552nd Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion (Mobile) at Camp Hulen in Texas. He was a Lieutenant Colonel and 28 years old. He led his battalion for 2 and 1/2 years from its formation and training to combat in the European Theater. As the outstanding battalion at Camp Hulen, the 552nd participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers with the 99th Infantry Division.
On February 11, 1944, his battalion boarded the Queen Mary in New York and sailed to Clyde, Scotland. Combat began for the 552nd when they landed at Utah Beach. On the route from St. Mere Eglise, France, to Korbach, Germany, he led his troops through St. Lo, the Ardennes, Bastogne, the Siegfried Line, the bridge at Remagen, and the Ruhr Pocket. The 552nd engaged enemy aircraft and shot a day’s record of 14 German planes at Roetgen on January 1, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge. They captured 1,500 prisoners of war including two generals in one 11-day period. As part of the 78th Infantry Division, his battalion exercised control over the civilian government, guarded POW camps, and helped re-establish order in the German province of Kurhassen.
On August 3, 1945, when he relinquished his command, his awards included the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart. After the war, he transferred to the Judge Advocate General Corps JAG).
From 1946 to 1949, he attended the University of California Law School at Berkeley, graduating with a Doctor of Jurisprudence. He served in the JAG in the Pentagon for almost a year before deciding he preferred troop duty. At his request, he was then reassigned to the Artillery branch and shortly returned to Germany to command the 45th Antiaircraft Battalion.
From 1953 to 1956 he served as G-l of the Western Army Antiaircraft Command at Fort Baker in California. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. He attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia. After serving as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Combat Developments Command Experimental Center at Fort Ord in California, he retired on July 31, 1964. He moved to El Paso, Texas, and later to Davis, California. On January 22, 1946, he married Lucille Hug, a Captain in the Army Nurse Corps. They were married for 46 years.
Col Warfield died on May 13, 1992, at the age of 72. He is now buried in the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, Orange County, New York.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com