George W. Dunaway (July 24, 1922 – February 6, 2008) was aUnited States Army soldier who served as the secondSergeant Major of the Army. He was sworn in on September 1, 1968, and served until his term ended in September 1970.

George W. Dunaway
Sergeant Major of the Army George W. Dunaway
Born	(1922-07-24)July 24, 1922 Richmond, Virginia
Died	February 6, 2008(2008-02-06) (aged 85) Las Vegas, Nevada
Buried	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service/ branch	United States Army
Years of service	1943–1970
Rank	Sergeant Major of the Army
Battles / wars	World War II Vietnam War
Awards	Army Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal (4) Air Medal (11) Army Commendation Medal (2) Purple Heart

Dunaway was born inRichmond, Virginia, on July 24, 1922.

After attending the Airborne Course in August 1943, Dunaway remained atFort Benning, Georgia, as anAirborne School Instructor until January 1945 when he joined the517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team in France as a platoon sergeant. He returned to Fort Benning in December 1945 with assignment to the501st Parachute Infantry Battalion, where he served as first sergeant of Company A. (Inactivated in Germany on 20 August 1945, the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment was reactivated at Fort Benning from 1 August 1946 to 23 November 1948 as the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion.)^[1] In March 1948, Dunaway was reassigned to the82d Airborne Division atFort Bragg, North Carolina. There he became a member of the505th Airborne Infantry Regiment as Operations Sergeant, ascending to the regimental sergeant major position in 1952.^[2]

In early 1954 Dunaway transferred to the187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team as the Combat Team Sergeant Major. He continued in that position for seven years, during which he saw the lineage of the unit reorganized and redesignated as the 187th Infantry, when the101st Airborne Division was reactivated on September 21, 1956, atFort Campbell, Kentucky, which included the 2d Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry as one of the division's five battle groups.^[3] Departing Fort Campbell in 1961, he reported to the 1st Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces in United States Army Pacific and later moved to the5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam, where he remained until June 1967.

Returning to the United States, Dunaway re-joined the 101st Airborne Division as it prepared to move to Vietnam in the largest unit deployment by air in the history of the Vietnam War. Dunaway arrived in Vietnam with the commanding general's command group on December 13, 1967. In February 1968, he moved toCamp Eagle in theI Corps Tactical Zone with the division, where he remained until July 1968 when he was selected as the secondSergeant Major of the Army.

Dunaway died on February 6, 2008, inLas Vegas, Nevada.^[4] He was buried inArlington National Cemetery on March 19, 2008, withfull military honors.

  This article incorporatespublic domain material fromGeorge W. Dunaway.United States Army.

• The Sergeants Major of the Army, Daniel K. Elder, Center of Military History, 2003