Theodore J . Conway Theodore John Conway ( July 24 , 1909 – September 11 , 1990 ) was a United States Army four - star general who served as Commander in Chief , United States Strike Command / U . S . Commander in Chief , Middle East , Africa south of the Sahara , and South Asia ( USCINCSTRIKE / USCINCMEAFSA ) from 1966 to 1969 . Conway was born on July 24 , 1909 , and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1933 . In addition to Strike Command , Conway also commanded the 82nd Airborne Division and later the United States Seventh Army in N . A . T . O . He was promoted to four star rank on November 1 , 1966 , and retired from the army in 1969 . Conway died on September 11 , 1990 , and was buried in San Francisco National Cemetery . Early life . Theodore John Conway was born in Vallejo , California on July 24 , 1909 , the son of Theodore Allen Barnewitz and Ruth Irene Quinn . His father died when Conway was 5 , and his mother married U . S . Army Captain William L . Conway . Conway graduated from Galileo High School in San Francisco in 1927 . He enlisted in the Army as a Private at the Presidio of San Francisco and in 1929 received an appointment to West Point from the Honorable Richard J . Welch , 5th Congressional District , California . At West Point , Conway displayed the qualities that would become his hallmark in later years : well - rounded , industrious , good - natured , understanding . Following graduation , Conway reported to Fort Benning , Georgia in the fall of 1933 and soon married Eleanor Mitchell Wright in 1935 . In 1937 - 38 he was detailed to Paris as a language student , then sent to West Point for three years as a French instructor . World War II . During World War II , Conway held a succession of key assignments , starting in London in 1942 , then in North Africa , Sicily , Italy , Southern France , and back to Italy , where he finished the war with the Fifth United States Army near Verona in Northern Italy . During that period he served with the 9th Infantry Division , VI Army Corps , and Headquarters , Fifth US Army . His service included battalion and regimental command and duty as aide - de - camp to British General Sir Harold Alexander . He was also one of the American officers who planned the Commando raid at Dieppe and participated as a shipboard observer on the British destroyer Alderney during that operation . Post - War . After the war , he was assigned to the Strategic Plans Branch of Operations Division ( OPD ) . In 1948 , Conway attended the Armed Forces Staff College and then served as instructor , returning to Washington in 1950 to attend the National War College . Conway went ( at age 43 ) to the Army Airborne School and qualified as a parachutist before reporting to Fort Campbell to command the 188th Airborne Infantry Regiment . Later he became chief of staff of the 11th Airborne Division . He served next with a NATO command , Allied Land Forces , Central Europe ( ALFCE ) , with headquarters at Fontainebleau , France . Returning to the Pentagon in 1955 , Conway was promoted to brigadier general and served as Director of Army Research . In 1959 - 60 he was with Korean Military Advisory Group ( KMAG ) in Wonju , Korea . In 1961 he was promoted to Major General and assumed command of the 82 Airborne Division . In 1962 he was posted to Bangkok as chief , U . S . Advisory Group , Thailand , and in 1963 to Seoul , South Korea , where he was promoted to lieutenant general and became deputy commanding general , Eighth U . S . Army . Back to the Pentagon in 1965 , Conway became Assistant Chief of Staff for Force Development . Upon leaving this assignment he became commanding general of the Seventh United States Army Europe in Germany . His final active - duty assignment followed his promotion to full General in the summer of 1966 , when he served as Commander - in - Chief of the U . S . Strike Command , headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa , Florida . He was concurrently commander - in - chief , Middle East , Southern Asia and Africa South of the Sahara . During this period he was honored as the Kermit Roosevelt Exchange Lecturer to the United Kingdom for 1969 . Conway retired in July 1969 , having completed more than 42 years of service to his country . He then took an M . A . in international relations at the University of South Florida in 1975 followed by a PhD in military history from Duke University in 1985 at the age of 75 . Decorations . Conway ’ s decorations included the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster ; Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters ; French Legion of Honor ; French Croix de Guerre with Palm ; Czechoslovak Military Cross ; Polish Golden Cross of Merit with Swords ; Order of the British Empire ; Order of the Crown of Italy ; and the Army Distinguished Service Medal ( US ) . Family life . Ted and Eleanor Conway had three children , Laura Mitchell Conway , Ruth Quinn Conway and John Wright Conway . John , a veteran of Vietnam ( 3d Brigade , 82d Airborne Division ) , was killed in a parachute accident in 1977 . His Army remembrance recalls “ a dedicated professional soldier , a man who truly ‘ filled the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds ’ worth of distance run . ’ Yet no less significant were the human and humane qualities of this warm and generous man – his enthusiasm , his keen sense of unfailingly good humor , even in the face of adversity , his attributes as a cherished son , husband , father , comrade and friend . In these respects , no less than for his brilliant career , he is a shining light in the memories of those who knew him . ” Beyond his many military and academic honors , Conway was especially proud of being one of the few members in the history of America ’ s Armed Forces to have held both the lowest ( Private ) and highest ( full General ) regular ranks in the Army . He was also in 1985 the oldest person to ever earn a doctorate at Duke University . He was also a licensed amateur radio operator ( W4EII ) , skilled in the use of Morse Code , and a formidable runner , tennis player and skydiver .