US Army General. A decorated combat veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he rose in rank to become Commanding General of US Continental Command and Commander, US Army Europe. His parents were farmers and at the age of 16, he dropped out of high school to enlist as a private in the US Army Coast Artillery Corps after the US entered World War I. In 1920 he joined the New York National Guard and completed his high school studies at Masten Park High School in Buffalo, New York. The following year he obtained an appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York and graduated in June 1925 with a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. From 1925 until 1940 he continued to receive promotions and served at various locations, as well as attending command schools, including four years (1932 until 1936) in the US Army Cadet Command, with Reserve Officers Training Command duty at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee as Assistant Professor of Military Science and Tactics, while attaining his Bachelor of Laws Degree from LaSalle Extension University in Chicago, Illinois. In December 1940 he was assigned to England as a military observer and following his return to the US, he organized and commanded the 24th Engineering Battalion at Pine Camp, New York. After the US entered World War II in December 1941, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and became Chief of Staff of the 4th US Armored Division and the following February he was promoted to the rank of colonel and in November 1943 he was appointed commander of Combat Command A of the division. The following month his unit was sent to England and he participated in the invasion of Europe at Normandy, France in June 1944, as well as the Rhineland and Ardennes Alsace campaigns. In November 1944 he became commander of Combat Command B of the 7th Armored Division and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Following the surrender of Germany in May 1945, he was reassigned to the Pacific Theater of Operations as commander of the 4th Armored Division. After the surrender of Japan in September 1945, he returned to the US and became the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans at Headquarters, Army Ground Forces in Washington DC. In February 1948 he was reassigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky as the Assistant Commandant of the US Army Armored School. The following year he went to Germany to command the 2nd Brigade of the US Constabulary. In 1951 he returned to the US to organize and command the reactivated 1st Armored Division in preparation for service in Korea and was promoted to the rank of major general. In June 1953 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and served as Commander of US Army Forces Command 1st and 10th Corps in Korea. In late 1954 he became Commanding General, US Army Pacific at Fort Shafter, Hawaii. From March 1956 until July 1958 he commanded the US 7th Army at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. In August 1958 he was promoted to the rank of general and became the Commanding General of US Continental Army Command at Fort Monroe, Virginia. In 1960 he was assigned to Europe as Commander, US Army Europe in Frankfurt, Germany (at the time) and he retired in this position in May 1962 with 41 years of military service. Among his military and foreign decorations and awards include the Army Distinguished Service Cross, the Army Distinguished Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Silver Star (with two oak leaf clusters), the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star (with two oak leaf clusters and combat "V" device), the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the World War I Victory Medal, the American Defense Service Medal (with one star), the American Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal (with one star), the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with three stars), the World War II Victory Medal, the post-World War II Army of Occupation Medal, the Army Presidential Unit Citation, the French Legion of Honor, France (Commander) and Croix de guerre (with palm), the Belgian Croix de guerre( with palm) and Grand Officer, Order of the Crown, the Korean Distinguished Service Medal (with 2 silver stars)and Order of Service Merit (1st class), the Columbian Meritorious Medal, the British Honorary Companion of the Bath, and the German Grand Cross, Order of Merit. In 1961 he received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Baylor University in Wasco, Texas and in 1963 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of International Law Degree from Parsons College in Iowa. He died in Bethesda, Maryland at the age of 86.