John McAuley Palmer ( general ) John McAuley Palmer ( April 23 , 1870 – October 26 , 1955 ) was a soldier and administrator in the United States Army . Early life and start of career . Born in Carlinville , Illinois , he was the grandson and namesake of John McAuley Palmer , a famous American Civil War general and Governor of Illinois . He graduated from West Point and was appointed a second lieutenant of infantry in 1892 , and served with the 15th Infantry at Fort Sheridan , Illinois . He participated in the suppression of the Chicago railroad riots of 1894 , then went to Cuba as an aide to Samuel S . Sumner ( 1898 – 1899 ) during the Spanish American War . Post Spanish - American War career . Following his Cuba service , he became a member of the China Relief Expedition ( 1900 – 1901 ) , then an instructor and assistant professor of chemistry at West Point ( 1901 – 1906 ) . Following this academic stint , he was then assigned a billet as governor of Lanao District on Mindanao in the Philippines ( 1906 – 1908 ) . Upon return from Far East Service , he was a student at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas and then assigned to the War Department General Staff under the command of the then - Army Chief of Staff Leonard Wood ( 1908 – 1910 ) . During this period of service he received recognition as a writer and advocate on military theory . Later career and World War I . In 1910 he rejoined his regiment in Tientsin ( Tianjin ) China and was promoted to the permanent rank of major . He was then transferred to the 24th Infantry on Corregidor and was instrumental in creating the plans for the defense of the Bataan Peninsula ( 1914 – 1916 ) . Following this assignment , he returned to the General Staff in Washington , D . C . ( 1916 ) and on the outbreak of the First World War was instrumental in drafting the Draft Act of 1917 and plans for an American Expeditionary Force ( AEF ) . This work caught the notice of John J . Pershing , who selected Palmer to become his Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations , G - 3 , where he went to France and set up operational plans and staff schools for the American Army . He left the AEF staff due to illness , but recovered in time , as a colonel , to command the 58th Infantry Brigade of the 29th Division in combat against the enemy at Verdun in the Meuse - Argonne Offensive that helped to end World War I . He received the Distinguished Service Medal for his service in France . Post World War I . As the principal formulator of military policy following World War I , he was the guiding force in the creation of the National Defense Act of 1920 . It was this Act which reaffirmed America ' s reliance upon the citizen - soldier for her defense and established the " Total Army " composed of the Regular Army , the National Guard , and the Army Reserve . For his accomplishments , he was made aide - de - camp to Army Chief of Staff John J . Pershing ( 1921 – 1923 ) and promoted to permanent brigadier general in the Regular Army ( 1922 ) . He then completed his military career by commanding the 19th Infantry Brigade in Panama ( 1923 – 1926 ) . Retirement and recall for World War II . In retirement ( 1926 ) , General Palmer continued to champion the cause of universal military service . He wrote numerous books and articles about military policy . A strong advocate of the role of the citizen - soldier in the army of a democracy , Palmer diverged from the views of Emory Upton , with whom he is often compared as a great philosophical thinker - philosopher of the U . S . Army . He was recalled to active duty by Army Chief of Staff George C . Marshall ( a personal friend and devotee of Palmer ' s ) just prior to the Pearl Harbor attack and served as an advisor on military policy to the War Department General Staff throughout World War II . Palmer was the oldest military member to serve during World War II . Second retirement , death and burial . Palmer retired again soon after the end of the Second World War , receiving a second Distinguished Service Medal . He lived in Washington , D . C . where he died on October 26 , 1955 . Palmer was buried in Arlington National Cemetery , Section 34 , Grave 50 - A . Decorations . Brigadier General Palmer´s ribbon bar :