Edgar G . Crossman Edgar Gibson " Eddie " Crossman ( April 26 , 1895 – January 28 , 1967 ) . was an attorney and senior partner in Davis , Polk , Wardwell , Sunderland & Kiendl ( now Davis Polk & Wardwell ) , a leading New York law firm , an officer in the United States Army in World War I and World War II , and a diplomat . Family Background . Crossman was born in Lisbon , New Hampshire , to Dr . Edgar Orin Crossman , a physician and surgeon and Florence Alice Lavinia ( née Gibson ) Crossman a homemaker . Mrs . Crossman was a native of Guelph , Ontario , Canada . He was an only child . Dr . Crossman studied at New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts ( now the University of New Hampshire ) in Hanover and received his M . D . from the University of Vermont in 1887 . Dr . Crossman served as President of the White Mountains Medical Society ; and in 1903 was elected to the New Hampshire General Court , the state legislature . Subsequently , Dr . Crossman was head of the Lakeview Sanitarium in Burlington , Vermont . During World War I , Dr . Crossman was a Captain in the Army Medical Corps . From 1923 – 1929 , he was the first Regional Medical Director the U . S . Veteran ' s Bureau in Boston and then in Washington , D . C . The Crossman ' s were members of the Congregational Church . Education . Crossman graduated from Portsmouth High School , Portsmouth , New Hampshire in 1912 and Philips Academy , Andover , Massachusetts in 1913 . He matriculated in Yale College , majored in English , and was awarded an A . B . in 1917 . At Yale , Crossman was on the Freshman Football Squad , the " Yale Daily News " Board , and the Senior Class Book Committee . Additionally , he was a member of Psi Upsilon and Wolf ' s Head Society . In 1919 , Crossman entered the Harvard Law School and received his L . L . B . degree in 1922 . World War I . In 1916 , Crossman enrolled in the Reserve Officers ' Training Corps ( ROTC ) at Yale and reported to the Plattsburgh Barracks , Plattsburgh , New York for training . He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery on August 15 , 1917 . Crossman was assigned to the 76th Field Artillery at Fort Ethan Allen , Vermont and promoted to First Lieutenant on October 26 . He was transferred to the 4th Field Artillery at Camp Shelby , Mississippi on December 8 , 1917 and assumed command of Battery C , 4th Field Artillery at Camp Shelby on June 6 , 1918 . Subsequently , he commanded this battery at Camp Logan , Houston , Texas and at Camp Scurry , Corpus Christi , Texas until January 4 , 1919 . Crossman was recommended for promotion to Captain on October 27 , 1918 , but the appointment was not made due to the Armistice . From January 9 – March 1919 Crossman attended the Battery Officer ' s course in the Field Artillery School of Fire at Fort Sill , Oklahoma . He returned to the 4th Field Artillery at Camp Stanley , Texas as a Battery Commander , and transferred to the Reserve Corps ( inactive ) on June 11 , 1919 . Crossman was Captain Field Artillery Reserve from 1919 – 1924 and a Major from 1924 . Interwar Period . From 1922 – 1925 , Crossman was an associate at Winthrop & Stimson , a major New York law firm . In 1925 , he joined David , Polk , Wardwell , Gardiner & Reed . In 1928 , at the invitation of Henry L . Stimson , Governor General of the Philippines , Crossman took a leave of absence from the firm and became his legal aide . On his way to the Philippines , abroad the " Empress of Asia " , Crossman met Helen " Hi " Greatsinger Farrell Caldwell , a widow who was travelling to see , Walter Greatsinger Farrell , her elder brother ; a Marine aviator assigned to the 4th Marines in Shanghai . Subsequently , they were married in Manila . The Honorable Henry L . Stimson , Governor General of the Philippines and Mrs . Stimson , the Honorable and Mrs . Manuel Quezon , President , Philippine Senate and later President of the Philippines and Admiral Mark Lambert Bristol USN , Commander , Asiatic Fleet and Mrs . Bristol were among the distinguished guests . This event marked one of the first times that Filipinos and their wives were invited to official parties . At the conclusion of his assignment , the Crossman ' s traveled in China , traversed the Soviet Union via the Trans - Siberian Railway , and spent some time in Moscow , Warsaw , Prague and other cities in Europe . Crossman resumed his career at Davis , Polk in New York . He was made a partner in April 1934 . In 1941 , Crossman became a member of the Executive Committee and Chairman of the Committee on Admissions of the New York Bar Association . He also belonged to the American Bar Association and was a member of the New York County Republican Committee . World War II . During the War , combat over - age officer personnel with governmental , medical , legal , financial experience were commissioned as Civil Affairs officers . As a result of his experience in the Philippines , Crossman applied to rejoin the Army and was recalled to active duty on June 6 , 1944 and commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Affairs Officer on June 28 , 1944 . He was and attached to General Headquarters Southwest Pacific Area ( GHQ SWPA ) and United States Army Forces in the Far East ( USAFFE ) . Crossman served in Australia , New Guinea and the Philippines . He participated in the landing in Leyte and helped reestablish civilian government in the Philippines . As Executive Officer and deputy to Brigadier General Courtney Whitney , Chief of the Civil Affairs Section . Crossman frequently dealt personally with General Douglas MacArthur . Crossman ' s role was complicated as MacArthur ' s professional staff was jealous of him as he had known the General socially in the Philippines when he worked for Stimson . On July 27 , 1945 , Crossman was promoted to Colonel and was requested by Stimson , then the United States Secretary of War , to be MacArthur ' s representative on his personal staff in Washington , D . C . In this capacity , he performed a liaison function and was ordered to help rewrite the Japanese Occupation Directive which incorporated his experience during the Philippine campaign . On October 1 , 1945 , Crossman was released from active duty and ordered to his home of record at 1088 Park Avenue in New York , New York . He recorded his experiences in a previously unpublished manuscript , " My Experiences in WWII " . In 1947 , Crossman was appointed American Chairman of the Joint American - Philippine Finance Commission , acting as personal representative of President Harry S . Truman , with the rank of Minister . Crossman co - chaired the Commission with Finance Secretary Miguel Cuaderno , Sr . The Commission studied Philippine financial , monetary , and fiscal problems and recommended a shift from the dollar exchange standard to a managed currency system . The new Central Bank of the Philippines Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas implemented the Commission ' s recommendations . Resumption of Civilian Career . In 1947 , Crossman returned to practicing law at Davis , Polk in New York ; and as outside counsel continued to advise major institutional clients such as Morgan Stanley , the Northern Pacific Railroad and Freeport Sulfur . He practiced law until shortly before his death . Toward the end of World War II , The Institute of Pacific Relations ( IPR ) , an NGO established in 1925 to provide a forum for discussion of problems and relations between nations of the Pacific Rim fell under criticism for alleged communist sympathies . In 1952 , as a result of his long interest in Asia , Crossman represented IPR , " pro bono , " before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee , chaired by Senator Pat McCarran . When he represented the IPR , Crossman and his colleagues were unaware of the Verona intercepts , which were not released to the public until 1995 , that implicated several key staffers of the IPR as Communists or collaborators . Personal . On January 21 , 1929 , Crossman married Helen " Hi " Greatsinger ( née Farrell ) Caldwell ( November 23 , 1898 , Duluth , Minnesota – February 11 , 1970 , New York , New York ) in Manila . Previously , Mrs . Crossman married John Christie Caldwell in 1917 . In the 1925 , Caldwell died in a hotel fire . Helen Crossman was the daughter of Dr . Patricinne Joseph Hosie Farrell and Edna Claire ( née Greatsinger ) Farrell of Winnetka , Illinois . The Crossman ' s had three sons . Namely : Edgar Orin Crossman II ( March 14 , 1930 , New York , New York - November 26 , 2008 , New York , New York ) , Patrick Farrell Crossman ( September 23 , 1931 , New York , New York - ) of New York and Norfolk , Connecticut , and John Gibson Crossman ( May 5 , 1936 , New York , New York - ) of Bonita , California . The Crossman ' s were active participants in New York society and maintained an apartment in New York and a farm in Goshen , Connecticut . Mr . Crossman ' s clubs included : the Anglers ' , the Century Association , Knickerbocker Club , Yale Club of New York City in New York , the Sanctum Club in Litchfield , Connecticut , the Hollenbeck Club in Canaan , Connecticut , the Amabalish Fish and Game Club , Lac Saint - Jean , Quebec , and Mrs . Crossman was a member of the Colony Club in New York . Together they were members of the Litchfield Country Club , Litchfield , Connecticut . Crossman was a past president of the Board of Trustees of St . Bernard ' s School in New York , New York . , Death / Burial . After Christmas in 1966 , Crossman suffered a stroke and died of a heart attack in St . Luke ' s Hospital , New York , New York on January 28 , 1967 . His funeral was held in the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church , at 73rd Street . Edgar and Helen Crossman are buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Section 3 , Site 8976 - B . Dates of rank . Decorations , medals and awards . Crossman was awarded the following :