From West Point to Michigan to China: The Remarkable Career of Edward Hamilton Young (1897-1987)

摘要

Prior to World War Ⅱ, there was no such thing as military legal education, and uniformed lawyers serving in The Judge Advocate General's Department (JAGD) learned "on the job." The rapid expansion of the Army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor-from 1.6 million Soldiers to a force of 8 million men and women-caused a complementary explosion in the number of Army judge advocates, and a realization that "on the job" legal education was too slow and inconsistent for wartime. As a result, Major General Myron C. Cramer, who had assumed duties as The Judge Advocate General (TJAG) just one week prior to the Pearl Harbor Attack, established a Judge Advocate General's School, U.S. Army (TJAGSA) at the University of Michigan. Cramer also selected Colonel (COL) Edward "Ham" Young, who had previously taught law at West Point, to take charge of this first-ever school for the education and training of Army lawyers. This is the story of Young's remarkable three year tour as the first TJAGSA Commandant, and his equally remarkable follow-on assignment as the theater judge advocate for all U.S. military personnel in China.