[1][2] Gaither served in positions of increasing responsibility and rank, including assignments in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and China.

[4] An early advocate of using paratroopers in offensive military operations, from 1943 to 1944 Gaither commanded the Army Parachute School, receiving promotion to brigadier general.

[7] In 1945, Gaither went to Europe to take part in fighting against Nazi Germany, including a combat parachute jump with the 17th Airborne Division.

The Americans took the position, and Gaither said later that one group of Germans might have been taken prisoner sooner if he had not shot down their white flag of surrender, which was so dirty he did not immediately recognize it.

[23] From 1955 to 1956, Gaither served as the U.S. Army's assistant chief of staff for Intelligence, G-2, and was promoted to lieutenant general.

[30][31][32][33] Gaither lived in semi-retirement in Annapolis, the state capital of Maryland along the Chesapeake Bay where he was commissioner of police for 8 years, from 1966 to 1973.