Melvin Zais

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Melvin Zais (born May 8, 1916 in Fall River, Massachusetts , † May 5, 1981 in Beaufort, South Carolina ) was an American general in the United States Army .

Life

Melvin Zais studied political science at the University of New Hampshire . After successfully completing his Bachelor of Arts degree , he began his military career in the US Army Reserve in 1937 with the rank of Second Lieutenant . After his basic service, he worked as a teacher at the Tennessee Military Institute . In 1940 he was called up on active duty and served at Fort Benning , Georgia Army Base , where he enlisted in the newly formed 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion , the first paratrooper association in the United States. Shortly thereafter - presumably as a result of the mobilization after the outbreak of war - Zais was selected for leadership roles and rose rapidly in the military hierarchy. He attended Command and General Staff College , Armed Forces Staff College and National War College until 1943 . He was then assigned the task of setting up and training the 3rd Battalion of the new 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment . As a battalion leader, Zais was involved in Operation Dragoon in southern France and in the defense against the Battle of the Bulge . Towards the end of the war he was appointed executive officer of the regiment before he finally managed the journey home to Fort Bragg and the dissolution of the regiment there as commanding officer .

In the post-war period, Melvin Zais was chief of staff of the 101st Airborne Division and as commander of the 187th Airborne Infantry Battle Group and was stationed in Germany towards the end of the 1950s.

On June 1, 1964, he was promoted to brigadier general . From 1964 to 1966 he served as deputy division commander of the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam . Upon his return home, he assumed the position of deputy chief of staff for personnel matters in the Army Office in Washington, DC ; on May 1, 1967, he was appointed major general. The following year he was again in Vietnam; From July 1968 to June 1970, Zais led the 101st Airborne Division and then the XXIV Corps as the commanding general . Under his high command took place in May 1969 in the central Vietnamese A Shau Valley , the operation Apache Snow instead that the loss-making Battle of Hamburger Hill culminated. Despite the extremely dubious success he was promoted to lieutenant general on August 1, 1969 .

On his return he was first appointed Director of Operations (J-3) in the Joint Staff , but then took over command of the 3rd US Army stationed at Fort McPherson in June 1972 . In the summer of 1973, he was promoted to four-star general and took command of the NATO land forces in South-Eastern Europe ( Allied Land Forces South-Eastern Europe in Izmir within Allied Forces South Europe ).

In 1975 General Zais retired. He died in 1981 of cancer and was on the Arlington National Cemetery buried. With his first wife Marjorie Aileen Emert († 1967) he had two sons who also serve as officers in the Army, through the marriage of his second wife Patricia V. Light he became the father of two step-sons.

As a high-ranking general, Melvin Zais was the recipient of numerous military medals. He has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal four times, the Silver Star twice , the Legion of Merit four times , the Distinguished Flying Cross twice , the Bronze Star Medal , the Purple Heart , the Joint Service Commendation Medal and twice the Army Commendation Medal .

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personal data
SURNAME Zais, Melvin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American general in the United States Army
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Fall River, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH May 5th 1981
Place of death Beaufort, South Carolina