Lt. Gen. William W. Quinn; Helped Establish CIA

Lt. Gen. William W. “Buffalo Bill” Quinn, 92, who helped form the CIA. During World War II, Quinn served as an intelligence officer in Europe, where he was responsible for gathering and coordinating information for the invasion of southern France on Aug. 15, 1944. The landing by U.S. and French troops was met with minimal resistance and was considered one of the most successful amphibious operations of the war. Later that year, Quinn earned a Distinguished Service Medal for his intelligence work in anticipating a German attack on the U.S. 7th Infantry at the Battle of the Bulge. In 1946, Quinn became chief of operations of the Central Intelligence Group, a forerunner of the CIA. In that capacity, he helped move the trained officers who had worked in the wartime Office of Strategic Services into civilian intelligence jobs. Current CIA Director George Tenet credited Quinn with ensuring that “the country maintained some vital intelligence resources when chilled relations with the Soviet Union expanded into a Cold War.” During the Korean War, Quinn served as commanding officer of his infantry regiment known as the Buffaloes, earning his nickname. He later served as chief of information for the Army and deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He retired from the Army in 1966 after two years as commanding general of the 7th Infantry in Germany. Quinn, born in Crisfield, Md., graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1933 and attended St. John’s College in Annapolis. Among his other medals were the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit and a Purple Heart. On Monday in Washington, D.C., of congestive heart failure.