Willard Warren Scott , Jr . Willard Warren Scott Jr . ( February 18 , 1926 – January 1 , 2009 ) was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army . He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1948 . He was commissioned upon his graduation from West Point and assigned to the artillery . He later went on to serve as superintendent of the United States Military Academy from 1981 through 1986 . Biography . Early life . Born February 18 , 1926 at Fort Monroe , Virginia . Willard Scott was the son of an Army Coastal Artillery officer Willard Warren Scott Sr . and Bernice Peck Scott [ both buried at the Military Cemetery at The Presidio in San Francisco ] . General Scott spent the early part of his life in San Francisco and , in fact , crossed the Golden Gate Bridge on the day it opened in 1937 , leading a contingent of student crossing guards . He had 2 brothers Richard and Peter Scott . Before graduating from the military academy he met Justine Dorney of New Rochelle , New York . They were married in June 1948 and had 7 children . General Scott continued to be an ardent supporter of Army football and had the honor of having one of the mascot Army mules ( General Scott or Scotty ) named in his honor by a vote of the Association of Graduates . Military career . General Scott received , throughout his military career , the Distinguished Service Medal , two Legions of Merit , two Bronze Star s , the Air Medal , the Joint Service Commendation Medal , and two Commendation Medal s . Lt . Scott ' s first command was as Battery Commander , 5th Field Artillery Battalion , 1st Division in Europe , 1949 – 52 ( commanding the Dog battery first commanded by Alexander Hamilton in the battle of Long Island in 1776 ) . During the Vietnam War Colonel Scott was the deputy commander of the 2nd Field Force V Artillery , and Commander 23rd Artillery Group . Upon promotion to Brigadier General he took over as Commanding General , MAC V Special Troops , 1970 – 72 , Commanding General , 25th Infantry Division , 1976 – 78 , and Commanding General , V Corps in Germany , 1980 – 81 . In 1981 , Scott was selected to be the 52nd Superintendent of the U . S . Military Academy . He served as Superintendent until his retirement from the Army in 1986 . After the army General Scott served as the executive director of the Association of Military Colleges from 1988 through 1997 . General Scott was an honorary member of the Society of the Cincinnati . Always active in the Catholic Church , Scott served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion , lector , and religious education teacher through his career and retirement . While at West point , both as a cadet and superintendent , he attended mass daily . Coincidentally , Willard W . Scott was a cadet at West Point at the same time as Winfield W . Scott , with Willard being two years senior to Winfield . While they share W . W . Scott as their abbreviated name , the two are not related . But both attained the rank of Lieutenant General and both became service academy superintendents , with Willard being the superintendent at West Point through several of the same years that Winfield was superintendent at the United States Air Force Academy . Only one of General Scott ' s 26 grandchildren has followed him into the U . S . Army . His grandson , Scott Aladar Rosenshein , son of Lawrence and Katie ( née Scott ) Rosenshein , is a member of the Class of 2009 at the United States Military Academy . Like his grandfather he is a member of the Army Lacrosse team and wears the # 48 in honor of his grandfather ( who was Class of 1948 ) . In addition , two of General Scott ' s daughters , Mary and Susan , married West Pointers , Steven Starner and David Shanahan , respectively . Another daughter , Margaret , is an expert on Indonesia after having made several trips there a number of years ago . Scott died on January 1 , 2009 at his home in Alexandria , Virginia from a form of Parkinson ' s disease .