Leonard Holland

Major General Leonard Holland (1916-1999) was an American military officer from Rhode Island. He served as the Adjutant General of Rhode Island for 22 years from 1961 to 1983, longer than anyone else.

Leonard Holland was born in Providence, Rhode Island on April 9, 1916.

He enlisted in the United States Army on April 16, 1941, eight months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II he served in the Pacific Theater and received the Combat Infantryman Badge, Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry branch on August 6, 1942. He rose through the ranks and was promoted to major on February 12, 1946, shortly before being discharged from active duty.

After the war, he became an officer in the Officers Reserve Corps (i.e. Army Reserve). He graduated from the Infantry Officers Advanced Course in 1959.

Late in 1960 he was selected by Rhode Island Governor elect John A. Notte to become Adjutant General of Rhode Island in command of the Rhode Island National Guard. Holland was promoted to colonel on January 2, 1961 and to major general on March 16, 1961, shortly before his forty fifth birthday. Although Notte was defeated for re-election, Holland went on to serve under four more governors before he retired.

During Holland's tenure as Adjutant General, two units of the Rhode Island National Guard were called to federal active duty. They were the 115th Military Police Company which was assigned to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and the 107th Signal Company which was deployed to Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. The 107th was one of only eight National Guard units to be deployed to Vietnam. General Holland went to Vietnam to visit the soldiers of the 107th, making him one of the few Adjutants General of Rhode Island to visit an active combat theater.

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