Blackshear M. Bryan

Lieutenant General Blackshear M. Bryan

Blackshear Morrison Bryan (born February 8, 1900 in Alexandria , Louisiana , † March 2, 1977 in Silver Spring , Maryland ) was an American lieutenant general in the US Army , the commanding general of the 1st US Corps ( I. Corps ) , 1954-1956 Superintendent of the US Military Academy in West Point , 1956-1957 commander of land forces in the Pacific region ( US army Pacific ) and most recently 1957-1960 Commanding General of the First US army ( First US army ) was.

Life

Officer training and World War II

Blackshear Morrison Bryan, son of Blackshear Morrison Bryan and his wife Fannie Guy Newman Bryan, first attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and was admitted to officer training at the US Military Academy in West Point in 1918 , which he did not receive until 1922 because of the First World War could complete. After he became a lieutenant of artillery in the US Army adopted and completed additional training as an artillery officer in the field artillery school ( US Army Field Artillery School ) in Fort Sill . He then returned to the US Military Academy, where he was assistant coach for the football team from 1925 to 1926 . After he was promoted to first lieutenant in 1927 , he was an instructor at the US Military Academy for the first time between 1928 and 1929. After various other assignments, he was again an instructor at the US Military Academy from 1933 to 1934 and was promoted to captain in 1935 . After serving in other posts as an officer, he graduated from the US Army War College in the Washington Barracks and was promoted to major upon graduation .

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the entry of the United States into World War II on December 8, 1941, Major Bryan was head of the police section of the Army General Staff at the US War Department . There he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Army of the United States on January 1, 1942, and on February 11, 1942, he was appointed head of the aliens department in the office of the US Army Provost Marshal General , who is responsible for investigative and detention procedures for military personnel , as well as Assistant US Army Provost Marshal General . On July 1, 1942, he was promoted first to colonel and on December 11, 1942 to brigadier general and, after a reorganization of the office of the US Army Provost Marshal General in 1943, he became head of the prisoner of war division, which was responsible for the internment of Japanese Americans in internment camps and prisoner of war camps was responsible across the United States. In 1945 he received the Army Distinguished Service Medal for the first time for his services in this function .

Postwar and Korean War

Maj. Gen. Blackshear M. Bryan was Deputy Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Far East Command, Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway , during the Korean War

After the war was Major General Blackshear M. Bryan on July 17, 1945 as a successor to Major General Archer L. Lerch eventually even Provost Marshal General of the US Army and served in that post until his replacement by Major General Edwin P. Parker, Jr. on April 10, 1948. During his tenure, he converted an authority shaped by the acts of war into an office that was responsible for military investigations, the Military Police Corps and the Army Military Police School after the end of the war . On 28 June 1948 he was chief of staff of the US Caribbean Command (US Caribbean Command) , a unified regional command and forerunner of today's US military Southern Command ( US Southern Command ) , and subsequently during the Korean War on January 26, 1951 commander of the 24th Infantry Division ( 24th Infantry Division ) , the so-called "Victory Division". This was his first command of a combat unit, which he commanded until March 1952. Despite a lack of combat experience, he won the recognition of the then Commander in Chief of the Far East Command (US Far East Command) , General Matthew B. Ridgway , so that in 1952 he was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Far East Command in Tokyo .

In 1952 Bryan succeeded Major General Clovis E. Byers as commanding general of the XVI, also stationed in Japan . US Corps and held this post until August 1953, after which Major General Samuel Tankersley Williams succeeded him there. He was then seconded to the UN Armistice Commission in Korea, UNCMAC (United Nations Command, Military Armistice Commission, Korea) , before becoming a lieutenant general . He solved on October 29, 1953 Lieutenant General Bruce C. Clarke as Commanding General of the turn in South Korea deployed I Corps ( I Corps ) , and remained at this commander post until his replacement by Lieutenant General John H. Collier on July 12, 1954 On August 18, 1954, he was again honored with the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his services as commanding general.

Superintendent of the US Military Academy and Commanding General of the First US Army

Lieutenant General Bryan was superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point from 1954 to 1956

He then acted as the successor to Major General Frederick Augustus Irving from September 1, 1954 as Superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point . Defense Minister ( US Secretary of the Army ) Robert T. Stevens nominated him superintendent of the US Military Academy on 10 February 1954 in a conversation with US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and confirmed that appointment to the President on February 17, 1954 in writing a memorandum. After the president's initial concerns, Stevens described Bryan's nomination as a “logical and wise choice” and also defended the rank of lieutenant general instead of major general by saying that “this should not be an obstacle to the appointment of such a highly qualified officer for such a vital post. This can increase the reputation of the Academy. ”On February 19, 1954, President Eisenhower replied in a letter to Secretary of the Army Stevens with the words:

“Thank you for your memorandum in which you set out your reasons for choosing Bryan for West Point. Of course, I agree - as long as you have carefully considered the potential implications of appointing a three-star general to this post. The next time you're in my office, please remember to explain to me the considerations that go into appointing three and four star generals. The reason for the request is so that I understand that these particular ranks were automatically given to people who fill certain positions. I believe they are all temporary and I know that seniority was a reason for the first appointments. This need not be entirely true, as you did not ask me, as President, to designate West Point as one of those posts on a permanent basis. "

'Thank you very much for your memorandum giving me the reasons for the selection of Bryan at West Point. Of course, I agree - so long as you have carefully considered the possible effect of detailing a three-star general to that post. Incidentally, the next time that you are in my office please remember to outline for me the considerations that govern the assignment of three and four-star generals. The reason for asking is that it is my understanding that these particular grades were automatically given to people occupying specific positions. All of them, I believe, are temporary and I know that when first authorized the theory was grade for position. This must not be completely true because you have not requested me, as President, to designate the West Point, permanently, as one of these posts. '

On July 14, 1956, he was replaced as Superintendent of the US Military Academy by Lieutenant General Garrison H. Davidson .

As the successor to Major General Herbert B. Powell , Lieutenant General Blackshear M. Bryan then took over the post as Commander of the Land Forces in the Pacific ( US Army Pacific ) in Hawaii in July 1956 and held this position until July 1957, after which General Isaac D. White was his successor the title of Commander-in-Chief, US Army, Pacific . He was last on August 1, 1957 succeeding Lieutenant General Thomas W. Herren as Commanding General of the First US Army ( First US Army ) . He held this post of commander until his retirement on February 29, 1960, after which he was succeeded by Lieutenant General Edward J. O'Neill . At the same time he was site commander of Fort Jay on Governors Island in Upper New York Bay between 1954 and 1957 . On March 22, 1960, he was again awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal. He was then the first President of Nassau Community College in East Garden City between 1960 and 1965 .

His marriage to Catherine DeArmand in 1926 resulted in two sons, Blackshear M. "Morrie" Bryan, Jr., and James Edward "Jamie" Bryan, both of whom were also US Military Academy graduates and US Army officers. After his death, he was buried in the United States Military Academy cemetery.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

• Army Distinguished Service Medal (3 ×)

Web links

• Entry in Generals of WWII
• Entry into Military Hall of Honor
• Entry in The Hall of Valor Project
• Blackshear M. Bryan in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Note: US President Eisenhower subsequently decided that the appointment and position of superintendent of the US Military Academy should be filled with a lieutenant general.