Frank W. Milburn participant of World War I
Military career
Milburn attended the United States Military Academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in June 1914. During World War I, Milburn served in the Panama Canal Zone.  Subsequently, Milburn served in a variety of infantry assignments, among them the 5th, 33rd, 15th, and 28th Infantry Regiments.A 1933 graduate of the Command and General Staff School (the school for higher command in U.S. Army), Milburn was promoted to brigadier general in early 1942 and selected to command the U.S. 83rd Infantry Division in August 1942. He was again promoted in September 1942 to the rank of major general. Milburn commanded the 83rd Division until December 1943, when he took over the newly formed U.S. XXI Corps.Milburn commanded the XXI Corps for the remainder of World War II in Europe as part of the U.S. Seventh Army under  General Alexander Patch. Milburn's XXI Corps played a decisive role in collapsing the Colmar Pocket in February 1945.In his The History of the French First Army, General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny described General Milburn in this manner: