Milton B. Halsey

Milton B. Halsey (March 6, 1894 – October 24, 1990) was a career officer in the United States Army. A 1917 graduate of the United States Military Academy, he was a veteran of the Mexican Border War, World War I, Occupation of the Rhineland, World War II, and the Occupation of Japan. Halsey attained the rank of major general, and his awards and decorations included the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Honor (Chevalier) (France), Croix de Guerre with palm (France), Military Order of the White Lion (Czechoslovakia), and Czechoslovak War Cross.

Early life Milton Baldridge Halsey was born in Huntsville, Alabama on March 6, 1894, a son of Charles H. Halsey and Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Acklen) Halsey. He attended the public schools of Huntsville, and was a 1912 graduate of Huntsville High School. Halsey was elected president of his senior class. While in college, he joined the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He then attended courses at Marion Military Institute to prepare for the West Point entrance examination, which he passed in early June 1913.

Halsey attended West Point from June 14, 1913, until April 20, 1917, exactly two weeks after the American entry into World War I, when he graduated 104th in his class of 139. He received his commission as a second lieutenant of Infantry. From August 1923 to May 1924, he was a student in the company officer's course at the Fort Benning, Georgia Infantry School. From May to August 1933, he served at the Fort Sam Houston Civilian Conservation Corps shipping depot. In May 1942, Halsey was promoted to temporary brigadier general and assigned as assistant division commander of the 44th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington. Following the June 1951 retirement of Sixth Army commander Albert Coady Wedemeyer, Halsey as acting commander until the arrival of Wedemeyer's permanent replacement in August. Halsey retired in January 1953.

Retirement and death After retiring from the military, Halsey was employed for several years as a consultant with the space and missile division of the Lockheed Corporation. Halsey died in Monterey, California on October 24, 1990.

Family In 1926, Halsey married Kathryne H. Crandall. They were the parents of two children, Kathryn and Milton Jr.