US Army General. A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he rose in rank to become the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of US European Command. The son of a career US Army officer, following his graduation in 1920 from Washington High School in Washington DC, he received an appointment to attend the US Military Academy at West Point, New York and graduated in 1924 with a commission as a 2nd lieutenant. From 1924 until 1941 he continued to receive promotions and served at various locations, as well as attending command schools. When the US entered World War II in December 1941, he was a major assigned to the British West Indies performing duty on anti-submarine projects and the establishment of US bases there. By 1942 he was promoted to the rank of colonel and became Chief of Staff of the US Army's 11th Armored Division. In 1944 he was sent to the European Theater of Operations and became Chief of Staff of the UA Army's 2nd Armored Division (nicknamed "Hell on Wheels") and participated in the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944, and later the Allied breakout from Saint-Lô, France. The following October he was transferred to the US Army's 6th Corps as their Chief of Staff and saw combat action in the invasion of southern France, and received a battlefield promotion to the rank of brigadier general. In 1945 he became Chief of Staff with the US Army's 4th Service Command and US 7th Army and the following year he was promoted to the rank of major general and assigned to the US 3rd Army as their Chief of Staff. He was then sent to Japan and assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division's Artillery Commander, and was serving there when the Korean War erupted in 1950. In 1951 he became Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division in Korea and saw combat action in six different campaigns. After returning to the US, he was sent back to Europe in 1954 and became Chief of Staff, US European Command at Camp des Loges, near Paris, France (at the time). In 1955 he was promoted to the rank of major general and assigned to Japan as Deputy Commander-in-Chief, US Army Forces Far East, followed in 1957 as Commanding General US 8th Army in Seoul, South Korea and in 1958 as Commanding General of the US 6th Army at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. In October 1959 he was promoted to the rank of general and assigned to Europe where he became the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of US European Command at Camp des Loges, France replacing his older brother, General Williston Birkhimer Palmer, and he retired in that position in 1962 with 38 years of continuous service. Among his military and foreign awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Silver Star (with one oak leaf cluster), the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, the American Defense Service Medal (with star), the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with two service stars), the World War II Victory Medal, the post-World War II Army of Occupation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal (with one star), the Korean Service Medal (with two service stars), the Korean Defense Service Medal, the French Croix de guerre, the United Nations Service Medal (Korea), the Republic of Korea War Service Medal, and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation. After his military retirement, he worked as a military consultant with the Research Analysis Corporation in Washington DC and also became director of St. Albans School in Washington DC and the Retired Officers Association (now the Military Officers Association of America) in Alexandria, Virginia. He died from a cardiac arrest at his home at the age of 97. He and his brother were the first brothers in US Army history to achieve the rank of general and are interred next to each other at Arlington National Cemetery.

Military Information: GEN, US ARMY