Colonel Coutts was born in Glenolden, Pennsylvania on July 20, 1909, the son of James Coutts and Elizabeth Malloch Kneedler. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1932 with a Bachelor of Science degree. His education continued in the military with attendance at the Infantry School from which he graduated in 1937, the Command and General Staff School in 1942, Army War College in 1951, and Com­mand Management School in 1956.

When Coutts graduated from the Academy in 1932, America was at the bottom of its deepest depression. The Army that young Li. Coutts was commissioned into was a small professional, spit and polish gentlemen's club where brown leather was the order of the day. Lt. Coutts stated that he ranked 20th in his class-"20th from the bottom." "I was dead last in my class in chemistry and electricity one year." One area that he excelled in, however, was horsemanship. In those days when the cavalry was still relatively high in the military scene, "Lou", as he was known, ranked second in his class. Fort Hays, Ohio, was his first military post, and as a newly classified 2nd Lt., he took home the magnificent sum of $118.20 monthly.

He met his wife to be on the US Army Transport Republic en route to Honolulu T.H., and on June Il, 1938, Mary Ordway Wickham became Mrs. James Winfield Coutts. Blessed with a marriage that has now lasted 52 years, the Coutts' have three children, Kathleen Wickham, Mary Malloch and James Allen.

In 1940 he volunteered for the paratroopers in the 501st Parachute infantry and was transferred to Fort Benning. He made his first jump on Nov. 19, 1940 and had over 100 under his belt before he hung up his trooper's boots. Then, as now, paratroopers were all volunteers. As a company commander, he and his troops would "get up in the morning, put on a pack, and get our rifles and double time for two miles". He spent much of 1942 and 1943 as the airborne advisor to General Eisenhower and his staff which was planning the impending invasion of France. Coutts, who said he was sent to England to promote the idea of using airborne troops in the landings, drew up a plan which he said was "pretty close" to the one actually used on June 6, 1944. "I wasn't a genius-a lot of other people were saying the same thing".

He was Regimental Commander of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment during both the Battle of the Bulge and the Operation Varsity campaigns. He remembers vividly the havoc the cold weather played with his troops in the Ardennes. And he remembers with better spirit how the 513th captured 1200 prisoners in one day during the breakout from the Ruhr bridgehead. He was wounded for the second time one month before the end of the war, and spent two months at a hospital in Chalons sur Marne, France.

Among the General's decorations and awards are the Silver Star, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, Master Parachutist badge, Presidental Citation, French Fouragère and the Korean Taeguk medal. Many honors have come his way, but he is quick to remark that these honors, particularly those earned on the battlefields of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany, were earned not by him alone, but by ail the brave young men who he had the honor of commanding in the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 17th Airborne Division.

In 1946-47 he was chief of staff of the 82nd Airborne Division and had many other very important line and staff assignments until he retired in 1962 from the military. Upon retirement, he and his family established a home in San Francisco, where he became General Manager of the Retail Dry Goods Association of San Francisco, and a member of the Board of Directors of a number of organizations, including Junior Achievement and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has co-authored a number of articles on military themes, among them one on parachutist injuries. Gen. Coutts once again retired in 1972, and moved back to his wife's home town of Kennett, Mo., where they now live in a comfortable white house that was built in 1892 by Mrs. Coutts' grandfather.

"Lou" has been a regular attendee, along with his wife, at our 17th Airborne reunions, and has been a speaker at our banquets and memorial services a number of times. We are proud to salute at this time, Brig. General "Lou" Coutts, a leader of, and an inspiration to, ail Airborne Troopers.

James W Coutts passed away the 1st July 1996.