James Van Fleet James Alward Van Fleet ( March 19 , 1892 – September 23 , 1992 ) was a U . S . Army officer during World War I , World War II and the Korean War . Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey , who was raised in Florida and graduated from the U . S . Military Academy . He served as a regiment al , division al and corps commander during World War II and as the commanding General of U . S . Army and other United Nations forces during the Korean War . Early life and education . James Van Fleet was born in Coytesville , New Jersey , but his parents moved to Florida when he was an infant and he was raised there . Van Fleet received his high school education at the Summerlin Institute in Bartow , Florida . After graduating from Summerlin in 1911 , Van Fleet received an appointment to the U . S . Military Academy at West Point , New York . While he was a cadet at West Point , he was a member of the Army football team and was a standout fullback on the undefeated Army team of 1914 . Van Fleet graduated in the West Point Class of 1915 that included many future generals , and which military historians have called " the class the stars fell on . " Van Fleet ' s classmates included Dwight D . Eisenhower and Omar Bradley . After graduation , he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U . S . Army infantry . Military career . During World War I , he served as a battalion commander as part of the American Expeditionary Force under General John J . Pershing . While serving as the senior officer of the University of Florida ' s U . S . Army Reserve Officers ' Training Corps ( ROTC ) program , Van Fleet also served as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team in 1923 and 1924 . He led the Gators into national prominence with a 12 – 3 – 4 ( . 737 ) record . Van Fleet commanded the 8th Infantry Regiment for three years and led it into combat in Europe in World War II , participating in the D - Day landings on Utah Beach in June 1944 . Although widely regarded as an outstanding officer , he was blocked from promotion because the Army Chief of Staff , General George Marshall , erroneously confused Van Fleet with a well - known alcoholic officer with a similar name . When Eisenhower , now the European Theater commander , informed Marshall of his mistake , Van Fleet was soon promoted to divisional and corps command . He later served with General George S . Patton ' s U . S . Third Army as commander of III Corps . In 1946 , Van Fleet was sent to Greece as the executor of the " Truman Doctrine , " and he was instrumental in the outcome of the Greek Civil War by providing advice to the Greek government and 250 military advisers , as well as administering $ 400 million in military aid . The central square in the northern Greek city of Kastoria has featured a bust of Van Fleet for many years , and was replaced with a new statue as recently as 2007 . Van Fleet was commanding general of the U . S . Second Army from August 10 , 1950 to April 11 , 1951 . In 1951 , he replaced General Matthew B . Ridgway as commander of the U . S . Eighth Army and United Nations forces in Korea . He continued Ridgway ' s efforts to strengthen the Eighth Army in its campaign against numerically superior Communist Chinese and North Korean enemy forces . His only son , U . S . Air Force Captain James A . Van Fleet , Jr . , was a B - 26 bomber pilot who was killed in the Korean War . Legacy and death . At the time of his retirement from active duty in 1953 , former President Harry S . Truman said " General Van Fleet is the greatest general we have ever had . . . I sent him to Greece and he won the war . I sent him to Korea and he won the war . " Van Fleet was the recipient of three Distinguished Service Cross es ( the U . S . Army ' s second highest award for bravery in combat ) , three Silver Star s , three Bronze Star s , three Purple Heart s for wounds received in combat , and his most prized possession — the Combat Infantryman ' s Badge of the common foot soldier . In 1957 , Van Fleet was the moving spirit behind the establishment in New York of the Korea Society , the first nonprofit organization in the United States dedicated to the promotion of friendly relations between the peoples of the United States and Korea " through mutual understanding and appreciation of their respective cultures , aims , ideals , arts , sciences and industries . " Van Fleet died in his sleep on his ranch outside Polk City , Florida on September 23 , 1992 , several months after celebrating his 100th birthday in 1992 . He was the oldest living general officer in the United States at the time of his death . Van Fleet was buried in Section 7 of Arlington National Cemetery . Shortly after his death , The Korea Society established its annual James A . Van Fleet Award to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to closer U . S . - Korea ties . The Gen . James A . Van Fleet State Trail , running from Polk City to Mabel , Florida , is also named in his honor . The University of Florida bestowed an honorary doctorate on him in 1946 , and the university ' s military sciences building , which houses the U . S . Air Force , Army and Navy ROTC programs , is named Van Fleet Hall . He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as an " honorary letter winner " in 1971 . In 1998 , a panel of Florida historians and other consultants named Van Fleet one of the fifty most important Floridians of the 20th century . Van Fleet ' s estate donated his papers to the George C . Marshall Foundation , and are the second largest collection of papers held by the foundation , after those of General Marshall . General Van Fleet was also an art collector and donated many rare and exceptional Asian objects to the Samuel P . Harn Museum of Art . Van Fleet and his wife , Helen Moore Van Fleet , had three children , eight grandchildren , and twelve great - grandchildren . Awards and decorations . Van Fleet ' s personal decorations include :