Paul Frailey Yount (9 September 1908 – 28 November 1984) was a United States Army general who served in World War II and the Korean War. He was the Chief of the United States Army Transportation Corps from 1954 to 1958.
Yount graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, ranked first in the class of 1930, and obtained a degree from Cornell University. In 1940, he was attached to the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway to learn about railway operations. During World War II he was part of the 1941 US Iranian Mission. In March 1942 he went to the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI), where he headed Base Section No. 1 at Karachi. He returned to Iran in November as commander of the 702nd Railway Grand Division, and took over the running of the Iranian State Railway (ISR) from the British, and increased the volume of supplies delivered over the railway fivefold. In April 1944, he went to India, where as commander of the 705th Railway Grand Division, he ran the Bengal and Assam Railway. During the Korean War he commanded the 2nd Logistical Command. Based at Pusan in South Korea, it provided logistical support for the United Nations forces fighting in Korea. He retired in 1958 and became executive vice president of Consolidated Freightways.
Early life
Paul Frailey Yount was born in Alliance, Ohio, on 9 September 1908. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, 1 July 1926. He graduated first in the class of 1930 on 12 June 1930, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. He was posted to Buffalo, New York, where he carried out river and harbor work. On 19 September 1932 he entered Cornell University to study civil engineering, graduating in 1933. He completed the engineering course at the United States Army Engineer School at Fort Humphreys, Virginia in 1934, and then returned to West Point as an instructor in the civil and military engineering department. He was promoted to first lieutenant on 1 August 1935. On 13 July 1938, Yount was posted to the 3rd Engineer Regiment, which was based at Fort Shafter in the Territory of Hawaii, where he was promoted to captain on 12 June 1940.
World War II
On 28 July 1940, Yount was attached to the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway to learn about railway operations. He then became the adjutant of the 711th Railway Operating Battalion, which was formed on 18 June 1941. It was the first unit of its kind in the US Army and, unlike subsequent units, was not sponsored by a railway company. Its first assignment was at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where it rehabilitated a neglected old railway on the post for use in training. It was then sent to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, where it was tasked with the construction of a railway link to Camp Polk, Louisiana, also to be used for training. Some 6,000 engineer troops worked on the line, including the African-American 91st, 93rd and 383rd Engineer Battalions, the 98th Engineer Battalion and the 331st Engineer General Service Regiment. The link was completed on 10 July 1942.
Yount went to the Middle East on 1 October 1941 as part of the US Iranian Mission, which was headed by Colonel Raymond A. Wheeler. It was set up to support the British and Soviet Union (USSR) forces in the region, although the United States was not yet a belligerent in World War II, and the USSR did not yet qualify for Lend-Lease aid. The USSR was officially declared eligible to receive Lend-Lease on 7 November, and the United States entered the war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the following month. Yount was promoted to major on 1 February 1942. He reported on the construction effort required to build an oil pipeline network.
On 11 March he moved to the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI), where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 22 March 1942 and colonel on 6 May. Base Section No. 1 was activated under his command in Karachi on 27 May. It was responsible for an area encompassing and 1,033 U.S. Army personnel, almost half of whom were medical personnel. There were also about 1,500 local civilians, who were employed in various roles under Reverse Lend-Lease arrangements. About of Lend-Lease cargo earmarked for China had been delivered, but it had not been cataloged, sorted or safeguarded against pilferage, and in some case had not even been moved from the wharves. Yount's first task was to acquire of open and of covered storage, and over the next three months Base Section No. 1 was able to clear, catalog and store Chinese Lend-Lease supplies. Between March and December, Base Section No. 1 unloaded of cargo and forwarded to destination in CBI. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for this service.