U.S. ARMY CHEMICAL CORPS
Hall of Fame
1989
Major General Amos A. Fries
Major General Amos A. Fries served as the first chief of the Gas Service, American Expeditionary Force in World War I, from September 1917 until the Armistice in November 1918. Then Colonel Fries was responsible for organizing, equipping, and training the major overseas command of the American chemical warfare effort.
After the Armistice, Major General Fries was instrumental in establishing the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) as a permanent part of the Regular Army in 1920. He then became its second chief and served there for the next nine years.
Major General Fries faced and overcame serious attempts to abolish the combat mission of the CWS because of the growing distaste for chemical warfare and the natural reduction of the Army to its peacetime level.
His tireless work set the pattern for the future of the CWS and assured its place in the United States Army.