John Thomas Corley Brigadier General John T . Corley ( August 4 , 1914 - April 16 , 1977 ) was a career Army officer noted for his contributions to Army training . Early life . Born to Irish immigrant parents in Brooklyn , New York . He attended high school at St . Francis Preparatory High School , in Brooklyn and graduated from the class of 1932 and he is also a member of that High School ' s Hall of Fame . He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1938 , where he also was an accomplished boxer prior to his active duty service . One story states that after his graduation from West Point he was assigned to the Army Air Corps ; where he then flew an airplane under the Brooklyn Bridge and was then reassigned to the infantry . World War II . He fought in World War II with the 1st Infantry Division . As a major , he landed with the Big Red One in North Africa and two days later earned a Silver Star , America ' s third highest award for valor , for action in Oran , Algeria . In March 1943 , during fighting at El Guettar , Tunisia , he destroyed an enemy machine gun nest , allowing his troops to take the hilltop . This action earned Corley the Distinguished Service Cross , America ' s second highest award for valor . In May 1943 Corley was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel , just five years after graduating from West Point . While commanding the 3rd Battalion , 26th Infantry Regiment , in Mateur , Tunisia , Corley was wounded . He recovered and went on to fight at the front in Sicily . He landed at Normandy during D - Day and fought at the Hurtgen Forest during late 1944 . He also accepted the first unconditional surrender of a German city during the war , when he accepted the surrender of Aachen by Col . Gerhard Wilck . Corley would add 4 oak leaf clusters to his Silver Star for a total of five Silver Stars earned in World War II . After the war , Corley served in a supporting role at the Nuremberg Trials . He then returned to West Point to teach as a tactical officer , followed by staff positions with the 1st Army , and graduation from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth . Korean War . General Corley was one of 21 commanders personally requested by General Douglas MacArthur for duty in the Far East shortly after the invasion of South Korea by North Korea . He served as battalion commander of the 24th Infantry Regiment , 25th Infantry Division , a segregated regiment composed of black enlisted men and mostly white officers . Corley led his troops in close combat and earned an oak leaf cluster for his Distinguished Service Cross . After Korea Corley served as Chief of the Infantry Branch . Following that tour , he graduated from the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks , Pennsylvania in 1954 . He would later serve as director of the Infantry School ' s Ranger Department at Fort Benning , Georgia , and was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame in 2003 . Corley would pin on the star of a Brigadier General in July 1962 . His last assignment would be as Assistant Division Commander , 2d Infantry Division , Fort Benning , GA . Upon his departure from the US Army Infantry School in June 1960 , BG ( then COL ) Corley was assigned to HQ , US Army Element , SHAPE in Paris with duty in Copenhagen , Denmark with the NATO Land Forces HQ as Deputy Chief of Staff . Upon nomination for promotion to brigadier general , he was reassigned from SHAPE HQ for duty as Assistant Division Commander , 2d Infantry Division , Fort Benning GA . He retired September 30 , 1966 and died at the age of 62 on 16 April 1977 . Family . He and his wife , Mrs . Mary Buckley Corley , would have 4 sons and 3 daughters . One son , 1LT John Thomas Corley , Jr . , USMA 1967 , would be killed in Vietnam . Another son made full Colonel in the Army , and a daughter would serve and retire from the Army Nurse Corps also as a Colonel . Awards and decorations . Brigadier General Corley ’ s individual awards and decorations include two Combat Infantryman Badge s , two Army Distinguished Service Cross , eight Silver Star s , two Legion of Merit medals , the Soldier ' s Medal , the Purple Heart an Army Commendation Medal . The American Defense Service Medal , American Campaign Service Medal , European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 2 campaign stars and an arrow , the World War II Victory Medal , Army of Occupation Medal with “ Germany ” clasp , two National Defense Service Medal s , the Korean Service Medal with two campaign stars , the WWII French Croix De Guerre Medal with silver stars , for those who had been mentioned at the division level , the United Nations Service Medal and the Republic of Korea Korean War Service Medal ( Posthumously ) , and the Ranger Tab . He also has the a Korean Presidential Unit Citation for the defense of the port of Pusan , Korea in 1950 General John T . Corley - Cases 224 , 223