Thomas W . Dunn Lieutenant General Thomas W . Dunn , ( September 12 , 1908 - January 19 , 1983 ) a native of Texas , was born in Fort Worth , Texas . Biography . He graduated high school and entered the United States Military Academy from there . Upon graduation in 1930 , he was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 12th Field Artillery at Fort Sam Houston , Texas . He left Fort Sam Houston in August 1933 to attend the Battery Officers Course at the Field Artillery School , Fort Sill , Oklahoma . He completed the course in 1934 and joined the 11th Field Artillery Regiment at Schofield Barracks , Hawaii . He returned to the mainland in December 1936 and was assigned to the 17th Field Artillery at Fort Bragg , N . C . Three years later he became a gunnery instructor in the Field Artillery School and in July 1941 was named a gunnery instructor in the Officer Candidate School there . December 1942 he was transferred to Brisbane , Australia to be Chief Branch Instructor in the Officer Candidate School for U . S . Forces , Southwest Pacific Area . He became Assistant Director of Training at the school in June 1943 and Director of Training in November 1943 . In April 1944 he was designated Assistant Artillery Officer , Headquarter , Sixth U . S . Army and served in that position , in combat , in New Guinea , Leyte , and Luzon . He was also with the initial occupation forces in Japan . He returned to the Field Artillery School in February 1946 as Assistant Director of Gunnery . In July 1947 he was transferred to the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas where he became an instructor in the Department of Analysis and Research . In 1949 he attended the National War College in Washington , D . C . from which he graduated in 1950 to become a member of the Policy , Training , and Organization Section of the Joint Strategic Plans Group , Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . In July 1951 he was appointed assistant to the Director of the Joint Staff . In February 1953 he was named Division Artillery Commander of the 40th Infantry Division in Korea and later as Commanding General of I Corps Artillery . Upon his return from Korea in February 1954 he became Chief of the Organization and Training Division in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff , G - 3 , Department of the Army . In August 1954 he was appointed Deputy Commandant , Army War College , Carlisle Barracks , Pennsylvania . He served as Acting Commandant for a brief period . He was transferred from there in July 1956 and named Commanding General , US Army Training Center ( Field Artillery ) , Fort Chaffee , Arkansas . In January 1958 he was assigned to Paris , France , where he was named Assistant Chief of Staff , Programs , Supreme Headquarters , Allied Powers Europe ( SHAPE ) . He returned to the United States in August 1960 and was named the Commandant of the Army War College . In March 1962 , he was designated Commanding General , III Corps ( STRAC ) and took command of the Corps and Fort Hood , Texas . The two headquarters were integrated in April 1962 as Headquarters III Corps and Fort Hood at the recommendation of Dunn . December 1963 he assumed command of I Corps ( Group ) in Korea . In March 1965 Dunn was assigned as Commanding General , First U . S . Army and Senior U . S . Army Representative to the United Nations Military Staff Committee . Dunn was the last commanding general of U . S . First Army while it was headquartered at Fort Jay , Governors Island , New York . With the consolidation of U . S . Second Army into First Army at Fort Meade , Maryland in January 1966 , Dunn was assigned the post of commanding general of U . S . Fourth Army at Fort Sam Houston , Texas . While there one of his aides , Major Richard H . Pearce defected with his 5 - year old son to Cuba in May 1967 . Pearce flew from Key West , Florida on what was a short pleasure flight and landed in Cuba , requesting asylum , publicly stating he could no longer live in the United States . Pearce was on leave at the time and had concluded a divorce and was experiencing custody problems . Pearce returned to the United States on his own accord in November 1979 . He pled guilty at a court - martial in 1980 and sentenced to one year . The sentence was dismissed , but he forfeited $ 200 , 000 in pay and allowances and was dismissed from the Army . Dunn died on January 19 , 1983 in San Antonio , Texas . He was awarded the Silver Star , Bronze Star Medal , Legion of Merit w / 1 OLC , Army Commendation Medal , Presidential Unit Citation ( Philippines ) , and Presidential Unit Citation ( Korea ) .