Major General William Curtis Chase (March 9, 1895 – August 21, 1986) was an American soldier and general in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his service in the South West Pacific Area during World War II and in the Occupation of Japan.
Chase enlisted in the Rhode Island National Guard in 1913 and served on the Mexican Border. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the cavalry in January 1917, he served on the Western Front in World War I and in the Occupation of the Rhineland. Between the wars, he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, later returning as an instructor.
During World War II, he led the assault on the Admiralty Islands in February 1944. In February 1945, Chase’s columns pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila, liberating some 3,700 internees at the University of Santo Tomas which had been turned into an internment camp. He took over command of the 38th Infantry Division, which was confronted by enemy fortifications at Zig-Zag Pass on the Bataan Peninsula that took a week of hard fighting to reduce. Chase assumed command of the 1st Cavalry Division on August 1, 1945.
After the war, he served as chief of staff of the Third Army at Fort McPherson and head of the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Taiwan. He retired from the military in 1955.