John William Vessey, Jr.

John William Vessey Jr. ( born June 29, 1922 in Minneapolis, Minnesota ) is a retired American general in the U.S. Army and was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Biography

After attending Roosevelt High School ' in 1939 he joins his military service in the National Guard of Minnesota. In 1941, his entry into the U.S. Army, where he remained until 1985.

During his military career, he studied military science at the University of Maryland and earned there in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science (BS Military Service ). A subsequent post-graduate studies in business administration at George Washington University, he finished in 1965 with a Master of Science (MS Business Administration).

In 1970, he was Commanding General of Support Command in Thailand and promoted to brigadier general in this role in April 1971. Then in 1972 he was chief of the Military Assistance and Advisory Group ( Military Assistance Advisory Group ) in Laos and in 1973 director of surgery at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operation and Planning in the Ministry of Defense of the United States Office ( Director of Operations, Office Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans ).

After his promotion to Major General in August 1974, he was commander of the 4th Infantry Division.

Already in the following year he was on September 1, 1975 Lieutenant General and Deputy Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army for operation and planning.

Subsequently, he was promoted on 1 November 1976 to the General and was from 1976 to 1978 commander of the 8th U.S. Army and as such also the Supreme Commander of the U.S. forces in South Korea, and the troops stationed there by the United Nations. He was then in 1978 the Supreme Commander of the United Forces of South Korea and the United States in South Korea.

Between 1979 and 1982, he was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army ( Vice Chief of Staff of the Army ).

Most recently, he was appointed on June 18, 1982 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( Joint Chiefs of Staff ) and held this position until his adoption into retirement on September 30, 1985.

John W. Vessey Jr., who was also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Advisory Board of the George C. Marshall Foundation, in 1992 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in addition to the peer Golden Congressional Medal of Honor one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted on the basis of the Order of Precedence of the Military Awards

University System of Maryland 4th Infantry Division (United States) Eighth United States Army George Marshall Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army) Distinguished Service Medal (US Navy) Bronze Star Medal Frederick Kroesen John A. Wickham, Jr. Arthur W. Radford Nathan Farragut Twining Lyman Lemnitzer Maxwell D. Taylor Earle Wheeler Thomas Hinman Moorer George Scratchley Brown David C. Jones David E. Jeremiah John Shalikashvili Richard Myers Peter Pace Michael Mullen
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