Paul Logasa Bogen

Paul Logasa Bogen (March 15, 1918 - June 4 1972) was a United States Army soldier.

Early life

Paul Logasa Bogen was born on March 15, 1918 to Dr. Issac Louis Bogen and Jeanie Deana Bogen nee Logasa in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was originally expected to be born on St. Patrick's day and was to be named Patrick. When he was born two days early his parents decided to name him Paul instead.

Bogen attended the University of Nebraska from 1933 to 1937, originally majoring in Mechanical Engineering before switching to Speech Communications. He was a member of the Army ROTC program obtaining the rank of Cadet Colonel and being elected President of the University's military honor fraternity. Here he met an Elizabeth Jane Herd who he would marry in 1939.

Military Service

After graduation, Bogen was given a reserve commission and assigned to command a CCC division in Louisiana. However, after the Nazi invasion of Poland, Bogen requested his reserve commission to be activated. He was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division as an assistant to then Colonel Patton at Fort Benning, Georgia.

He served in WWII in the European theatre-Normandy/Brittany/N. France the Ardennes/Rhineland in the 6th Armored Division first as a tank commander, then as a scout, and finally as the Assistant G-3, I&E, where he co-authored the official unit history.

Graduate Education

After World War II, he left active duty and became an Army reserve Lt. Colonel. During this time he pursued a doctorate in Speech Communications with research in the nascent fields of educational radio and television. As he neared completion, the growing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union led to the Army re-activating him.

Korean conflict

During the Korean Conflict he was an instructor at the U.S. Army War College as the first recipient of the Eisenhower Chair for Strategic Planning, Commander of the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Knox and chief of staff at Fort Richardson around 1955.

In 1959, when Chairman Khrushchev visited the United States, Bogen was assigned to be the chief of security for the visit. His family recalls that Bogen was furious over Khrushchev's request to visit Disneyland and relieved when Walt Disney refused to close the park for a day for the visit. When the Defense Intelligence Agency was established in 1961, Bogen was made the Assistant to the Director.

Vietnam War

From 1967 to 1969, Colonel Bogen served under General Westmoreland as the head of the Army Concept Team in Vietnam. During which he received a Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star, and an Air Medal.

4th Army

In 1969, Colonel Bogen returned was transferred to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas where he served as the Chief of Staff of the 4th Army. Upon the merging of the 4th and 5th Armies in 1971, he was offered a promotion to Brigadier General as commander of Schofield Barracks in Hawaii after being passed by at least four times.

Retirement

Colonel Bogen, however, decided he did not want to relocate again, particularly since his third oldest son had just started College and his youngest was in the middle of High School. Instead he retired and began write his memoirs. He died of anaphylactic shock from a hornet sting at his home in San Antonio in 1972.