ALVA was born 10 September 1907 on a ranch in Amherst, Nebraska, son of Gertrude De La Barre and John Albert Fitch. As a boy he loved the outdoors. He graduated from Kearney High School and received an appointment to West Point from Nebraska Senator Howell. He was a member of the Cadet Pistol Team and was a Sergeant in L Company. The friends he made among classmates became some of his lifelong hunting and fishing companions.
After graduation he was commissioned in the Field Artillery, had a brief try at flying, then was assigned to the 167th Field Artillery at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He finished the first Regular Course at the Artillery School at Fort Sill in 1935; remained there for the Advanced Communications Course; and served in the 1st Field Artillery. Also in 1935, he met and married Carolyn Shaw Estes, the widowed daughter of Major and Mrs. Frank E. Shaw.
After a second tour at Fort Bragg, he was sent to Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was an aide-de-camp to Major General Leslie J. McNair for part of that tour. Alva was assigned to the 23rd Field Artillery Pack Battery at Fort Stotsenburg, Philippine Islands, in February 1940. In June he was promoted to captain and soon after became battery commander. In May 1941, Carolyn, young Carolyn, daughter of her previous marriage, and John, born in 1940, were evacuated due to the threat of war.
Soon after the outbreak of World War II, the Pack Battery was assigned to cover the withdrawal into Bataan. During the delaying actions, Captain Fitch commanded the Provisional Artillery Battalion in support of the 1st Philippine Army Division at the Battle of Mauban. The American and Philippine forces were completely cut off. After seven days of fruitless efforts to reopen communications, ammunition and food exhausted, it was decided to abandon the Mauban position. After destroying his guns, he used his artillerymen to clear and defend a trail along the coast over which the bulk of the besieged force escaped. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Following the withdrawal of the Bataan force to its final position along the Orion-Bagac line, Major Fitch was given command of the Provisional Artillery Group supporting the 91st Philippine Army Division and protecting the China Sea Coast along their flank. He retained this command until the fall of Bataan in mid-April of 1942. During this period, he was awarded the Silver Star for organizing and leading an improvised force to drive Japanese infiltrators from an area in the rear of the 91st Division and recovering the guns of a Philippine Army artillery battalion.
Captured a few days after the surrender of Bataan, he participated in the infamous death march which ended in a “hell hole with standing room only,” Camp O’Donnell, which housed about 90,000 prisoners. Ten days later he was moved to Camp Cabanatuan in the Philippines, where he spent two-and-a-half years. During this period, he ran a mess which fed approximately 1500 American prisoners. A sign at the entrance read “Fitch’s Kitchen Quit Your Bitchin.” In the winter of 1944-45 the Japanese evacuated some of the prisoners to Japan. He was on two ships that were sunk by U.S. Navy aircraft. Of the 1,619 prisoners who sailed, 350 survived the bombings, illness and exposure. He was held in Japan, then moved to Korea before he was released on 17 September 1945. About 4 p.m. of that day, a telegram arrived: “The Secretary of War has asked me to inform you that Major Fitch Alva R. has been returned to military control and is being returned to the United States within the near future. Condition Good.” He was promoted to lieutenant colonel. On 14 October Carolyn met him in San Francisco, where he spent a week testifying before a War Crimes Board.
He attended the 27th General Staff Course at Fort Leavenworth and remained a year as an instructor. He was appointed Military Attache to El Salvador and finally to all of Central America; attended the Armed Forces Staff College; and was assigned to Army G-2, where he served as chief of the Latin American Section, and as assistant chief, Production Division.
In 1952 he was executive officer of IX Corps Artillery in Korea, participating in White Horse Mountain, Triangle Hill Battles, and the Chinese Offensive in June-July 1953. He was awarded the Legion of Merit.
After the Army War College, he was assigned to G-2 as executive officer. He next served as commanding general, Third Armored Division Artillery, at Fort Knox and in Germany from 1955 to 1957, then as Chief of the MAAG for Belgium and Luxembourg. He was promoted to major general and attended the Belgian Army Ecole de Parachutage; at the age of 51, he qualified as a parachutist.
Returning to Washington, he was designated deputy and later assistant Chief of Staff for Army Intelligence. He was instrumental in establishing what is now the Army Military Intelligence Branch in 1962. He was designated deputy director, Defense Intelligence Agency in 1964 and promoted to lieutenant general. He retired from this last position on 31 May 1966, after 36 years of service, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
The next day Alva reported to his new job as Military and Foreign Policy Editor for Kiplinger Letters, from which he retired in 1977.
During World War II he also was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Foreign decorations he received were Grand Officier de L’Ordre Grand-Ducal de la Couronne de Chene by Luxembourg and Orden de Vasco Nunez de Balboa by Panama.
On 1 July 1988, at the Military Intelligence Corps Center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, he was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Military Intelligence Corps and elected to the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. In 1991 the main auditorium in the Center was dedicated and named in his honor.
He was a very balanced person in his official and personal life. He played the hand he had been dealt with style. There was never any doubt that his job and the men came first. He will be remembered as “one of a kind.” He was a truly unique person: versatile, good-hu-mored, interesting, never dull, courageous and demanding while at the same time a giving, compassionate and gentle man.
Alva is survived by his wife Carolyn; daughter Carolyn Weldon Estes-Fitch; son John Albert; three grandchildren; two great grandchildren; and three brothers.
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