William R . Schmidt William Richard Schmidt ( October 14 , 1889 – July 18 , 1966 ) was a highly decorated United States Army officer with the rank of Major General . He spent the most of World War II as a Commanding officer of the 76th Infantry Division . Early years . William Richard Schmidt was born on October 14 , 1889 as a son of Joseph Karl and his wife Anna ( " néé Haman " ) . He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York and graduated from that institution on June 12 , 1913 . He was also commissioned a Second lieutenant on that date . Between years 1913 - 1917 , Schmidt served on the Mexico – United States border during the Pancho Villa Expedition . During this campaign , he was promoted to the rank of First lieutenant . Schmidt did not saw the combat in France during the World War I and performed the stateside duty at Schofield Barracks in Pearl Harbor , at Presidio of San Francisco or at Camp Fremont , California . In 1921 , now with the rank of Major , Schmidt was transferred back to the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York , where he was appointed an instructor . He stayed in this position until 1923 , when he was transferred back to the Hawai . Schmidt attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas in 1928 . In 1933 , he was appointed an Executive Officer of the Civilian Conservation Corps at Camp Dix , New Jersey and served there for one year . Then he was transferred to the Washington , D . C . , where he was assigned to the Supply branch ( " G - 4 Division " ) of the War Department General Staff on March 21 , 1934 . World War II . In 1940 , Schmidt was appointed a commander of the 39th Infantry Regiment and stayed in this capacity until the end of the year 1941 . He was subsequently promoted to the rank of Brigadier general in April 1942 and transferred to the newly activated 81st Infantry Division , where he became the Assistant Division Commander of Major general Gustav H . Franke for a short time . Schmidt was transferred to the 76th Infantry Division on December 13 , 1942 , where he succeeded Major general Emil F . Reinhardt as a Division Commander . He was also promoted to the temporary rank of Major general in December 1942 . Major general Schmidt stayed with the 76th Infantry Division during the entire World War II and participated with it in the Rhineland Campaign , Ardennes - Alsace Campaign and Central Europe Campaign for which he received the Army Distinguished Service Medal , Silver Star , Legion of Merit and other . Postwar Career and Later life . In August 1945 , Major general Schmidt assumed command of the 3rd Infantry Division , as a part of the occupational forces in Germany . Schmidt was then transferred to the U . S . Third Army under command of Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes , where he became the Chief of staff on May 20 , 1946 . Major general William R . Schmidt retired in 1951 and died at the age of 76 years on July 18 , 1966 in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington , D . C . . He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery together with his wife Helen Munn Goodier , with whom he had two daughters . Decorations . Here is Major general Schmidt´s ribbon bar :