Daniel Noce Daniel Noce was a U . S . Army Lieutenant General . Early life . He was born on November 3 , 1894 in Denver , Colorado . He learned woodworking and carpentry in high school and made furniture as a hobby throughout his life . He received an appointment to West Point and took up boxing , breaking his nose twice . He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1917 , and dropped his first name of Angelo shortly there after . He was appointed a Second Lieutenant . Upon graduation he was in the Cavalry , later transferring into the Army Corps of Engineers . From June to December , 1917 he served with the 4th Engineer Regiment at Vancouver Barracks , Washington , Camp Greene , North Carolina and Camp Humphreys , Virginia . He married Mildred Wilson in 1918 in Washington DC . World War I . Noce served in France during World War I . In March , 1918 he was appointed Adjutant of the 602nd Engineer Regiment , and he advanced to regimental commander in August . He commanded the regiment during the St . Mihiel and Meuse - Argonne Offensives , and remained in Germany on occupation duty until 1919 . Post - World War I . In 1920 Noce sued in the U . S . Court of Claims for longevity pay he claimed was due to him . His claim was based on the argument that his time in service should count from when he entered West Point , and not when he received his commission . He prevailed in the lower court in a decision that could have affected the pay of thousands of Army officers , but the U . S . Supreme Court reversed the decision . In 1921 Noce received a bachelor ’ s degree in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . In the 1920s and early 1930s he served in a variety of Engineer assignments , including postings to New York City , Fort Gordon , Georgia and the Office of the Chief of Engineers . He also graduated from the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College . In the 1930s he and his young family were stationed in the Philippines . From 1937 to 1939 he was District Engineer in Memphis , Tennessee , supervising Mississippi River levee and dam maintenance and flood control . From 1940 to 1941 he was District Engineer in Los Angeles , California , overseeing harbor expansion and defense in anticipation of World War II . World War II . Noce served throughout World War II . In 1942 he was named to command the Engineer Amphibious Command at Camp Edwards , Massachusetts as a Brigadier General . In this assignment he developed organizations , equipment , and techniques used in the D - Day invasion and the Allied offensive in the Pacific Islands . From 1943 to 1944 he was Deputy Chief of Staff for U . S . forces in the European Theater of Operations , receiving promotion to Major General as planner and overseer of the engineer effort that supported military operations in North Africa and Italy . From 1944 to 1945 he performed a similar function in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations . From 1945 to 1946 Noce was Director of Plans and Operations at Headquarters , Army Service Forces in Washington , D . C . Post World War II . In 1946 Noce he was appointed Director of the War Department ’ s Civil Affairs Division , serving until 1948 and receiving promotion to Lieutenant General . In this assignment he led a mission to expand cultural and economic relations between the Philippines and China , and the Philippines and Japan following World War II . From 1949 to 1952 he was Chief of Staff for the U . S . European Command in Germany , and played an important part in implementing rebuilding efforts undertaken as part of the Marshall Plan . In 1952 he was appointed Inspector General of the Army , where he served until his 1954 retirement . General Noce ’ s decorations included five awards of the Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit . Civilian career . After retiring from the Army he was an executive with Michigan ’ s Donnelly - Kelley Glass Company . Retirement and Death . Upon his retirement in 1955 , Lt . General Daniel Noce purchased a 1200 acre farm near Sperryville , Virginia and produced award winning yields of corn and prized Black Angus beef . He served on the Rappahannock River Basin Advisory Committee , which advised state and local governments about water use and long term planning , including construction of the proposed Salem Church Dam . He died in Sperryville , Virginia on February 17 , 1976 . Personal . General Noce was the father of Mildred Wilson Noce ( 1922 – 1968 ) and Colonel Robert Wilson Noce ( 1926 – 2005 ) , a 1949 West Point graduate who commanded a squadron of the 4th Infantry Division during the Vietnam War .