Charles E . Kilbourne Charles Evans Kilbourne ( December 23 , 1872 - November 12 , 1963 ) was an officer in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Philippine – American War . Biography . Charles Kilbourne was born in Fort Myer , Virginia on December 23 , 1872 and graduated from the Virginia Military Institute ( VMI ) in 1894 with academic distinction , winning the Second Jackson - Hope Medal for academic achievement . Kilbourne was an Honor Graduate of the Artillery School in 1903 , a graduate of the General Staff College in 1920 , and served as VMI ' s sixth Superintendent , October 1 , 1937 to July 11 , 1946 . He was the first American to earn the United States ' three highest military decorations . He died on November 12 , 1963 and is buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery . Military service . He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant , May 20 , 1898 in the Signal Corps and eventually reached the rank of Major General , July 9 , 1935 . Kilbourne served in the Philippine - American War as a second lieutenant in the campaign which captured Manila and included operations in Cavite , Laguna and Bulacan Provinces . He served in the Boxer Rebellion in China and the relief of the Allied legations in Peking and in operations in South Sulu . Kilbourne had five tours of duty in the Philippines . He was responsible for much of the military development of the island fortress of Corregidor . During his third assignment there , from 1908 to 1913 , he established the first artillery garrison on Corregidor . In later Philippine duty in the late 1920s , Gen . Kilbourne initiated the elaborate tunnel system of Corregidor ( Malinta Tunnel ) which served American troops during the early stages of World War II and enabled Gen . MacArthur ' s troops to resist as long as they did in the face of the overwhelming odds in favor of the Japanese . He was assigned to duty with the General Staff from 1911 – 1913 and again in 1915 . He arrived in France on January 1 , 1918 for service in World War I where he served on both the British and French fronts for a short period and then returned to Washington in March . While on an inspection tour , he lost the vision in his right eye in the explosion of a trench mortar shell . He reurned to France in May 1918 with the 89th Division , continuing with that unit until October 6 , 1918 . He commanded the 36th Heavy Artillery Brigade and the 3rd Infantry Brigade during the remainder of his service in France and Germany . He was the head of the U . S . Mission inspecting the coastal defenses of Europe and Turkey and returned to the U . S . in May 1919 to serve on the faculty of the Army War College from , 1920 - 1924 . He later served as one of the directors of the college . He was Commandant of Boston Harbor from 1924 – 25 and Executive Assistant to the Chief of Coast Artillery from 1925 - 1928 . In 1928 he commanded the 2nd Infantry Brigade , 1st Division until 1929 after which he commanded the Coast Artillery District of Manila and Subic Bay from 1929 – 1932 and served in the War Plans Division in Washington D . C . from 1932 - 1934 . He commanded the VI Corps area and 2nd Army , 1936 . He retired from the Army in 1936 as a Major General . Educator . According to William H . Milton , Jr , Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute , 1952 – 60 , " In April , 1937 , the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors named him superintendent of V . M . I . to succeed General John A . Lejeune . He came to the Institute in time to plan and direct the centennial celebration of the founding of V . M . I . and served during the trying war years when problems of discipline and of economy in operation were staggering in number and complexity . He brought to V . M . I . not only the training of a soldier but the compelling power of his own example as a Christian gentleman . " Writer . Gen . Kilbourne was also quite a prolific writer . He wrote the Army Boy Scout Series ( 4 volumes ) , 1913 – 1916 , the Baby Animal Books ( 10 volumes ) , 1913 – 1917 , Rolfe of Ebon : A Novel of Romance , War and Adventure in Ancient England , 1962 , and he was the editor of the National Service Library ( 5 volumes ) , 1917 . Awards and honors . During his career in the Army , Kilbourne received numerous awards including : Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : First Lieutenant , U . S . Volunteer Signal Corps . Place and date : At Paco Bridge , Philippine Islands , February 5 , 1899 . Entered service at . Portland . Oreg . Birth : Fort Myer , Va . Date of issue : May 6 , 1905 . Citation : Within a range of 250 yards of the enemy and in the face of a rapid fire climbed a telegraph pole at the east end of the bridge and in full view of the enemy coolly and carefully repaired a broken telegraph wire , thereby reestablishing telegraphic communication to the front .