Creighton Abrams

Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. (September 15, 1914 – September 4, 1974) was a United States Army general who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972.

Abrams was promoted to lieutenant colonel eleven days before his 28th birthday.

Abrams graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in the Class of 1936, ranking 185th of 276 in the class.

His classmates included Benjamin O. Davis Jr. and William Westmoreland.

He served with the 1st Cavalry Division from 1936 to 1940, being promoted to first lieutenant in 1939 and temporary captain in 1940.

During much of this time, the 4th Armored Division, led by the 37th Tank Battalion, was the spearhead for General George S. Patton's Third Army.

Abrams was well known as an aggressive armor commander.

By using his qualities as a leader and by consistently exploiting the relatively small advantages of speed and reliability of his vehicles, he managed to defeat German forces that had the advantage of superior armor and superior guns.

Abrams became an armor officer early in the development of that branch and served as a tank company commander in the 1st Armored Division in 1940.

During World War II, Abrams served in the 4th Armored Division, initially as regimental adjutant (June 1941 – June 1942), battalion commander (July 1942 – March 1943), and regiment executive officer (March–September 1943) with the 37th Armor Regiment.

During this time Abrams was promoted to the temporary ranks of major (February 1942), lieutenant colonel (September 1942), and colonel (April 1945).

In September 1943, a reorganization of the division redesignated the 37th Armor Regiment to the 37th Tank Battalion, which Abrams commanded.

He commanded Combat Command B of the division during the Battle of the Bulge.

He was twice decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism, on September 20 and December 26, 1944.

General George Patton said of him: "I'm supposed to be the best tank commander in the Army, but I have one peer—Abe Abrams. He's the world champion."

In April 1945, he was promoted to temporary colonel but reverted to lieutenant colonel during the post-war demobilization.

On April 23, 1945, Will Lang Jr.. wrote a biography of Abrams called "Colonel Abe" for Life.

Following the war, Abrams served on the Army General Staff (1945–1946), as head of the department of tactics at the Armored School, Fort Knox (1946–1948), and graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth (1949).

Abrams commanded the 63rd Tank Battalion, part of the 1st Infantry Division, in Europe (1949–1951).

He was again promoted to colonel and commanded the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (1951–1952).

These units were important assignments due to the Cold War concern for potential invasion of western Europe by the Soviet Union.

He then attended and graduated from the Army War College in 1953.

Because of Abrams's service in Europe and his War College tour, he joined the Korean War late.

In South Korea (1953–1954), he successively served as chief of staff of the I, X, and IX Corps.

Upon Abrams' return from Korea, he served as Chief of Staff of the Armor Center, Fort Knox (1954–1956).

He was promoted to brigadier general and appointed deputy chief of staff for reserve components at the Pentagon (1956–1959).

He was assistant division commander of 3rd Armored Division (1959–1960) and then commanded the division (1960–1962) upon his promotion to major general.

Abrams was on the cover of Time magazine three times in ten years: 1961 (October 13), 1968 (April 19), and 1971 (February 15).

He was transferred to the Pentagon as deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (1962–1963) and during this time he served as representative of the Army Chief of Staff overseeing the armed forces deployed to support the enrollment of James Meredith at the segregated University of Mississippi.

He performed a similar role in May 1963 during the civil rights protests in Birmingham, Alabama.

Following these roles Abrams demanded a more coherent policy for the swift employment of Federal forces domestically.

In May 1963, the Joint Chiefs formalized those arrangements with the Strike Command instructed to be prepared "to move ready, deployable, tailored Army forces ranging in size from a reinforced company to a maximum force of 15,000 personnel".

He was promoted to lieutenant general and commanded V Corps in Europe (1963–1964).

Abrams was promoted to general in 1964 and appointed Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army.

He was seriously considered as a candidate for chief of staff.

Due to concerns about the conduct of the Vietnam War, he was appointed as deputy to his West Point classmate, General William Westmoreland, commander of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), in May 1967.

He was then Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1972 until his death in 1974.

The IG Farben building in Germany was also named after Abrams from 1975 to 1995.

In 1980, the United States Army named its then new main battle tank, the M1 Abrams, after him.

Frequently the spearhead of the Third Army during World War II, Abrams was one of the leaders in the relief effort that broke up the German entrenchments surrounding Bastogne and the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge.