William M . Miley Major General William Maynadier " Bud " Miley ( 26 December 1897 - 24 September 1997 ) was a United States Army major general and a professor of military science . Early life . William M . Miley was born at Fort MacArthur in California , to Sara Miley and Lt . Col . John D . Miley ( for whom Fort Miley Military Reservation was named ) . His family had a long history of military service , with three generations before him serving in the United States Army . Two great - grandfathers , his grandfather , his father , his great - uncle , his uncle and his son all graduated from West Point . Education and World War I . Miley himself attended West Point , where he earned a national intercollegiate championship in gymnastics ( in the tumbling , rings , and parallel bars events ) , and graduated in 1918 . Immediately after graduation he served in the First Division in France ( during World War I ) . Inter War Service . Following World War I , Miley held a series of assignments , including as a professor of military science at what was then $ 3 , in Starkville , Mississippi . It was during this time that he met and married his wife , Julia Sudduth . Other assignments included serving as Athletic Director at West Point , and infantry assignments in Panama , the Philippines , and at Fort Sam Houston . In 1940 , Miley ( then holding the rank of major ) was ordered to organize and command the United States Army ' s first parachute unit , the 501st Parachute Battalion . World War II and later . After his promotion to lieutenant colonel , he was ordered to organize and command the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment . Shortly afterward he was appointed Assistant Division Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at Camp Claiborne , Louisiana , serving under General Matthew Ridgway . In 1943 , Miley organized the activation of the 17th Airborne Division at Camp Mackall in North Carolina . He was the sole commander of the 17th during the war , leading the Division through such actions as the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Varsity . The Division was deactivated in 1945 , but reactivated briefly in 1948 as a training unit . After the war , Miley was appointed to command the 11th Airborne Division while it occupied Japan , and after its return to Fort Campbell , Kentucky . He had several later assignments , including serving as Director of the Joint Airborne Troop Board , Commander of United States Army Alaska , under the Alaskan Command . He also served as Chief of Staff of the former Continental Army Command ( which became The United States Army Forces Command in 1973 ) . He retired from the military in 1955 , with a rank of major general . Post - military life . Following his retirement from the military , Miley worked for Merrill Lynch , Pierce , Fenner & Beane , until his retirement in 1976 , at which time he returned to Starkville , Mississippi . General Miley was the second to last living division commander of World War II . He died in Starkville in Sept 1997 at the age of 99 . Only Major General Ralph C . Smith of the 27th Infantry Division would live longer , passing away in January 1998 at the age of 104 . Awards and decorations . A section of Mississippi Highway 389 ( where it runs through Starkville ) named the Major General William ' Bud ' Miley Highway .