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<em>John Southworth Upham, Jr., </em>lived service to nation. His grandfather commanded G Troop, 1st U.S. Cavalry, fighting the Apaches and Nez Pierce. His father, a member of the Class of ’03, commanded the 3rd Infantry; his uncle, Frank Brooks, USNA 1893, commanded the Asiatic Fleet in the 1930s.</p>
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John had two brothers who graduated from USNA—Frank in 1933 and Hudson in 1934. Both served with distinction in WWII. Frank was a member of Fighter Squadron 81 and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, flying from the aircraft carrier USS <em>Wasp.</em> Hudson commanded the Eighth Air Force, 306th and 442d Bomb Groups that, among other missions, delivered OSS agents into occupied Europe.</p>
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John was drafted into the Tank Corps as an Infantry leader at Ft. Benning and commanded the 743rd Tank Battalion (amphibious-DD), supporting the 1st Infantry Division (16th Infantry, 116th Infantry and 29th Infantry Division) with the first wave on Omaha Beach on 5 Jun 1944. Due to his physical courage, he was wounded twice and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. His moral courage and solid combat leadership skills were even greater. He knew, his soldiers knew, and he ensured that his leaders knew (to include Prime Minister Churchill) that the DD tank was not seaworthy and that the majority of the battalion would become casualties—even before the Germans responded. That was a leadership challeng his son-in-law, later the Chief of Armor, would characterize as one of the major battalion command leadership challenges of WWII.</p>
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John was born at Camp Keithley, Mindanao, Philippines. His family moved with the different assignments of his father, a rising Infantry leader. Resident of no state, he earned a Presidential appointment to West Point and, upon graduation, selected Infantry.</p>
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Typical unit assignments followed. While serving at Ft. Meade, he met Harriette Lawrence of Rudand, VT. They married in 1929 and had two daughters, Florence and Harriette Anne. After service as a "P" in the Mathematics Department at West Point, he attended courses at Ft. Benning.</p>
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After a lengthy hospital stay following his D Day injuries, he returned to full service on the CGSC faculty. He then attended the Armed Forces Staff College and the National War College. During 1955-58, he was Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff of Operations, Department of the Army; Commanding General, 3rd Infantry Division during 1958-60; Commander, Armed Forces Staff College during 1960-62; and, promoted to lieutenant general, Commander, Second Army, during 1962-64. True to his character, he retired rather than conduct a flawed study mandated by then-Secretary of Defense McNamara.</p>
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Quasi-retired, John worked as a broker for Laidlaw and Company in Washington, DC, until 1969. His D Day injuries increasingly returned in a series of strokes while he and Harriette lived in Alexandria, VA, surrounded by their loving children and five grandchildren. Graced with a dry wit, a pun for every occasion, and an incomparable imagination, he charmed his family as he imparted the enduring values of service to nation.</p>