Coltautos.com Gun of the Month - May 2018
Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless .32 ACP
Issued to Major General Robert George MacDonnell

Colt Model M .32 ACP serial number 569816 - Military Model M .32 ACP pistol, original finish, parkerized trigger, thumb safety and grip safety, with U.S. PROPERTY mark on right side of frame and ordnance wheel on left rear of frame behind thumb safety.  Pistol is documented as having been issued to Major General Robert George MacDonnell.

Major General Robert G. MacDonnell, USA, O-19361, 14 May 1962, Photo by Oscar E. Porter, U.S. Army Photographic Agency, The Pentagon, Washington 25, D.C.

MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT GEORGE MacDONNELL, USA

Robert G. MacDonnell was born in Spokane, Washington, May 10, 1911. He attended the United States Military Academy and upon graduation in 1934 was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers.

Assigned as assistant to the District Engineer, Portland, Oregon, he served on the construction of Bonneville Dam until 1935, when he was reassigned to
Fort Lawton, Washington as Company Commander with the Sixth Engineer Regiment.

In 1937 he attended the University of California and was graduated in 1938 with a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering. He was then assigned as assistant to the District Engineer at Sacramento, California and subsequently as a student at the Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

During the period 1939 to 1941 he served with the Eighth Engineer Squadron in the 1st Cavalry Division. In 1941 he was assigned to the faculty of the United States Military Academy as an instructor in Engineering and served in that capacity until June 1943.

From June 1943 until January 1944, he was Director of Training, Engineer Unit Training Center at Camp Claiborne, La. He then assumed command of the First Engineer Petroleum Production Depot, Camp Santa Anita, California and served with the unit until its deactivation at which time he was assigned as Director of Training, Engineer Unit Training Center, Camp Sutton, North Carolina.

General MacDonnell served as Assistant Engineer and later Acting Engineer of the Eighth Army in the Pacific from November 1944 to May 1947. He participated in the New Guinea, Southern Philippines, Luzon and Leyte Campaigns.

Upon his return to the United States, he was assigned to the United States Military Academy as Associate Professor in Military Art and Engineering. He later attended the Army War College, graduating in 1952.

From 1952 to 1953 he was assigned as the Engineer, VII U.S. Army Corps, Stuttgart, Germany and from 1953 to 1955 served as Deputy Chief of Staff for that organization. Returning to the United States in 1955, he was assigned to the Army War College as Director of a course in National Strategy.

On 1 August 1956 he was promoted to Brigadier General and named Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Army Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In July 1958 he was assigned as Division Engineer, San Francisco and assumed command of a construction agency composed of 18 officers and more than 3400 civilian employees which was responsible for the supervision of construction totaling over $200,000,000 yearly. Construction included missile programs of national importance and was in progress at 57 Army and Air Force installations and 45 Civil Works locations.

General MacDonnell was President of the California Debris Commission; a member of the Beach Erosion Board; Army representative of the Pacific Southwest Interagency Committee, comprised of the Governors of nine western states and Executives of Federal Agencies concerned with water resources development; member of the California State Federal Interagency Group; member of Advisory Council, University of California Water Resources Center; consultant to the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. and Mexico; and a member of the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, which reviews surveys for Civil Works Projects throughout the U.S. He assumed his duties as Director of Military Supply, Office of the Chief of Engineers, Washington, D.C. in September 1961. He was appointed Director of Civil Works, effective 1 April 1962, and promoted to Major General l May 1962.

As Director of Civil Works he was responsible for the planning and execution of an annual water resources program of over one billion dollars, carried out by an organization of over 28,000 employees, and .the operation and maintenance of Civil Works facilities having a total cost of more than $18 billion. He was Chairman of the American Section of the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses (Brussels).

On 1 March 1963 he was appointed Deputy Chief of Engineers. He is Chairman of the United States Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, and President of the Beach Erosion Board.

He wears the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal and the Army Commendation Ribbon. His foreign decorations include the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, and Philippine Liberation Ribbon. He is a registered professional engineer.

General and Mrs. MacDonnell have two sons, Robert and Richard, and a daughter, Marguerite.

March 1963

MG Robert G. MacDonnell AWARDS BY DATE OF ACTION
	Legion of Merit AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING World War II Service: Army Rank: Colonel Division: VIII Army GENERAL ORDERS: United States Military Academy Register of Graduates CITATION: (Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Colonel (Corps of Engineers) Robert George MacDonnell (ASN: 0-19361), United States Army, was awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States with the Engineer Section, Headquarters, EIGHTH Army, from 1944 to 1947.
	Bronze Star
	Army Distinguished Service Medal AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING Vietnam War Service: Army Rank: Major General Division: Corps of Engineers GENERAL ORDERS: Department of the Army, General Orders No. 5 (February 13, 1967) CITATION: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Major General Robert George MacDonnell (ASN: 0-19361), United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility, during the period from September 1961 to December 1966.
	Army Distinguished Service Medal AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING Vietnam War Service: Army Rank: Major General Division: Mississippi River Commission GENERAL ORDERS: United States Military Academy Register of Graduates CITATION: (Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Major General Robert George MacDonnell (ASN: 0-19361), United States Army, was awarded a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Army Distinguished Service Medal for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States as President, Mississippi River Commission, from 1967 to 1969.

Department of the Army Certificate of Ownership Presented to Major General Robert G. MacDonnell for Pistol, caliber .32 Colt - Serial # 569816, 4 February 1965, D.J. Tubbs, Deputy Director, Supply and Maintenance.  DA Form 2879, 1 Dec 64, GPO 815-244.

Colt 1903 Pocket hammerless .32 ACP serial number 569816 - right side showing U.S. PROPERTY mark on frame.