Alvan Cullom Gillem , Jr . Alvan Cullon Gillem Jr . ( August 8 , 1888 – February 13 , 1973 ) was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army , who came from the family with long military tradition . Early career . Gillem enlisted in the Regular Army in 1910 and served both as a Private and a Corporal with the 17th Infantry at Fort McPherson . On February 11 , 1911 , while still at Fort McPherson , he was appointed a Second Lieutenant of Infantry . He served in the Philippines and later served under General John J . Pershing on the Mexican Border in 1916 . World War 1 . During World War One , Alvan C . Gillem served with the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia for eight months from 1918 to 1919 . Interwar Years . In 1923 , Captain Gillem attended the U . S . Army Command and General Staff School . Following this , he was promoted to Major . Gillem was promoted to Lieutenant - Colonel and commanded an infantry battalion for 2 years . Then he commanded the 66th Infantry Regiment ( Light Tanks ) for 10 months , the only armored regiment in the US Army at the time . He was promoted to Brigadier General in January , 1941 and then given command of the 2nd Armored Brigade . He became the first commanding general of the 3rd Armored Division from April 1941 to January 1942 , dubbing it the " " Spearhead " " division . He received promotion to Major General in December , 1941 . World War 2 . Early during the Second World War , General Gillem was mostly stationed stateside . He was given command of the II Armored Corps ( later redesignated XVIII Corps ) and later the Armored Command at Fort Knox , Kentucky . Major - General Gillem commanded the XIII Corps , 9th US Army in the European Theater of Operations from September , 1944 to September , 1945 . In June 1945 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General . His corps came within 50 miles of Berlin , the closest of all US troops . He was selected to command the Armored Task Force that was scheduled to invade Japan , but Japan surrendered before the invasion plan was carried out . Postwar Positions . Board for Utilization of Negro Manpower ( 1945 - 1946 ) . From October , 1945 to April 1946 , Gillem chaired the " Board for Utilization of Negro Manpower " ( or Gillem Board ) . Its report , " Utilization of Negro Manpower in the Postwar Army Policy " , was presented in April , 1946 . It is noted for its recommendations to retain segregation , as that was a policy external to the military , but introduce equal opportunity , as that would be the best use of military manpower . On March 17 , 1949 , General Gillem and John J . McCloy ( former Assistant Secretary of War during World War II ) testified before the " President ’ s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services " ( 1948 - 1952 ? ) . Gillem served on it from 1949 to 1950 . Command of the 3rd Army ( 1947 - 1950 ) . Gillem assumed command of the Third U . S . Army in June , 1947 . When the Third Army headquarters was moved from Atlanta , Georgia to Fort McPherson in 1947 , Gillem also assumed command of the post . In 1947 Gillem served as an assistant to General George C . Marshall on his Presidential mission to China . He then served as special assistant to the commander of the United States forces in Nanking , commander of the China Service Command in Shanghai , and later American Commissioner in Peking . General Gillem retired from the army in August , 1950 with the rank of Lieutenant General . Charity Work . Upon the end of his military career , Gillen served for four years as executive director of the National Foundation for the March of Dimes in the 1960s . Death . Gillem died on February 13 , 1973 in an Atlanta Hospital at the age of 85 . Both he and his wife Virginia ( Harrison ) Gillem ( December 18 , 1895 - October 25 , 1964 ) are buried at Arlington National Cemetery . Genealogy . Grandparents . Gillem ' s grandfather , Alvan Cullem Gillem ( born July 29 , 1830 - died December 2 , 1875 ) graduated from West Point in 1851 . He served in the Civil War with the Union Army , finishing the war as a brevet Major General of US Volunteers . He is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery , Nashville , Tennessee . Parents . Gillem ' s parents were Colonel Alvan Cullom Gillem Sr . , a cavalry officer in the US Army ( birth 1865 - died November 29 , 1935 ) and Bessie Coykendall ( birth ? - died April 12 , 1926 ) . Both were buried at Arlington National Cemetery . Children . Gillem ' s first son , Alvan Cullem Gillem II , was born in Nogales , Arizona , in 1917 . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1940 , later becoming a Lieutenant General in the US Air Force . Gillem ' s second son Richard D . Gillem was born ? . He later became an Army Lieutenant - Colonel . His daughter , Mary Gillem was born ? . She married ? Daley and became Mrs . Mary Gillem Daley on ? .