Louis W . Truman Lieutenant General Louis W . Truman ( June 20 , 1908 – December 2 , 2004 ) was the former Commanding General of Third U . S . Army . General Truman was cousin to 33rd President , Harry S . Truman , and served as his Aide - de - Camp during President Truman ’ s inauguration in 1948 . Military service . In 1926 , General Truman enlisted in Company E , 140th Infantry Regiment of the 35th Division . In July 1928 , Truman entered the U . S . Military Academy at West Point . Upon graduation in June 1932 , he was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant . Truman ’ s first duty assignment was the 6th Infantry Regiment at Jefferson Barracks , Missouri . In 1936 , then - 1st Lt . Truman was assigned to Fort Benning , Georgia , where he completed the Infantry School and the Tank School . Next , he served a two - year tour of duty at Fort Davis , in the Canal Zone and then returned to Fort Benning in September 1940 to be a staff and logistics officer in the 2nd Armored Division ’ s 14th Armored Brigade . The 2nd Armored Division at the time was commanded by one of the Army ’ s fastest rising officers ; his name was Brig . Gen . George S . Patton , Jr . In January 1941 , Truman was transferred to Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , where he was an Aide - de - Camp to Lt . Gen . Walter C . Short , Commanding General of the Hawaiian Department . He was a first - hand witness when the Japanese launched their surprise attack on December 7 , 1941 . He would continue to serve there until February 1942 . In March 1942 , Truman was promoted to the rank of Major and was assigned to U . S . Army Ground Forces Command headquarters , first as an assistant G3 / Operations officer and later as Secretary of the General Staff for Lt . Gen . Lesley J . McNair . In April 1944 , now a Lieutenant Colonel , he joined the 84th Infantry Division at Camp Claiborne , Louisiana , where he served as both Division Chief of Staff and later as Assistant Division Commander with the 84th Infantry for the duration of World War II . In August 1944 , now promoted as Colonel with only twelve years commissioned service , Truman and the 84th Division landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy unopposed and would later see combat in the European Theater along the Siegfried Line , the Bulge , the Ardennes and in Germany from the Roer to the Elbe Rivers . In January 1946 , Truman was assigned to HQ , U . S . Forces European Theater , Frankfurt , Germany , as Deputy Theater Chief for Special Services . From 1946 to 1948 , he was assigned as Secretary , U . S . Delegation , United Nations Military Staff Committee . Truman was a student at the National War College from 1948 to 1949 . After his graduation from the War College , Truman was a member of the Joint Strategic Planning Group , Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon . During this time , Gen . Omar Bradley was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Two years after the start of the Korean War , Truman commanded the 223rd Infantry Regiment of the 40th Infantry Division from July 1952 to January 1953 . He saw combat first - hand and later served as Assistant Division Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division until the end of hostilities in July 1953 . Later that year , he was selected and promoted to the rank of Brig . Gen and for the next two years , he served as Chief of Staff to Third Army at Fort McPherson , Georgia . In 1955 , he was transferred to Naples , Italy , where Truman was Deputy Chief of Staff – G3 / Plans and Operations Officer for NATO ’ s Southern European Command . Truman received his second star in 1956 and with it , the Chairmanship of the Military Assistance Advisory Group , Karachi , Pakistan . Truman later returned to the U . S . to take command of the Army ' s 4th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis , Washington , from 1958 until 1960 . Subsequently , he was assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff Operations and Training and later as Deputy Commanding General of the U . S . Continental Army Command at Fort Monroe , Virginia from 1960 - 1962 . In that same capacity , Truman also commanded Joint Task Force - Four . In 1962 , President John F . Kennedy nominated General Truman for promotion to Lieutenant General and from 1963 until 1965 , he commanded the Army ’ s VII Corps at Kelly Barracks , Stuttgart , Germany . His final assignment was his selection by the Army ’ s senior leadership to be the Commanding General of Third Army , at Fort McPherson . Truman commanded Third Army for two years until his retirement on August 1 , 1967 . Awards . During his distinguished military career , Truman was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal , two Silver Star s , two Legions of Merit , three Bronze Star Medal s ( one with ‘ V ’ device ) , two Army Commendation Medal s , and the Combat Infantryman Badge with one star . He also wore the American Defense Service Medal , American Campaign Medal , the Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Medal , the European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal , the World War II Victory Medal , The Army of Occupation Medal ( Germany ) , two National Defense Service Medal s , Korean Service Medal and UN Service Medal . Along with his Army awards , he received several foreign decorations ; the Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre from France , the Order of Leopold and Croix de Guerre from Belgium , the Order of Orange Nassau from the Netherlands and the Presidential Unit Citation from the Republic of Korea and others . General Truman also received many civilian honors . Among them were a Doctorate of Laws degree from Drury College in Springfield , Missouri , a proclamation of July 27 , 1967 as “ Lt . Gen . Louis W . Truman Day ” by former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen , Jr . in December 1975 and another proclamation from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce . He was also the third recipient of the “ Good Neighbor Award ” from the Harry S . Truman Foundation in 1975 . Recently , Truman was honored by the West Point Society of Atlanta with its “ Distinguished Graduate Award . ” Retirement . After his retirement from the Army , Truman served as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Industry and Trade under Georgia Governors Lester Maddox , Jimmy Carter , and George Busbee . From 1976 until 1984 , Truman was vice president and special assistant to the president of Adams / Cates Realty in Atlanta . He resided in Atlanta after his retirement in 1967 after 37 years of active duty in the Army . Born June 20 , 1908 in Kansas City , MO , he was preceded in death by his father , Maj . Gen . Ralph Emerson Truman , his mother , Nanny Louise Watson Truman , his brother Col . Corbie Truman , his sister , Henrietta Truman Davidson , and his first wife , Margret Stevenson Truman .