William Robertson Desobry

William Robertson Desobry (September 11, 1918 – January 12, 1996) was a senior U.S. Army field commander in Germany during the Cold War, and a Lieutenant General in the United States Army. General Desobry was a decorated hero from World War II, and played a significant role as an advisor to the Republic of Vietnam Army and on the Army Staff during the Vietnam War. In addition to commanding a division and corps, he was the Commanding General of the Armor Center and was the President of the Tank Task Force, which led to the creation of the M1 Abrams.

After 34 years in the Army and service in two wars, Lieutenant General Desobry completed his military career in 1975.

Education Desobry received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1941 from Georgetown University, where he was a distinguished graduate of their Reserve Officer Training Corps program and earned a Regular Army commission.

Early biography Born in Manila in the Philippine Islands in 1918, Desobry was the son of Colonel and Mrs. Elmer C. Desobry.

World War II General Desobry's service during World War II included a tour of duty with the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia and the 10th Armored Division in CONUS, and the European Theater of Operations. He commanded an armored infantry battalion task force during the defense of Bastogne, and was wounded and hospitalized by the Germans at Ibbenbueren, Germany. He was liberated in the spring of 1945 after imprisonment at Fallingbostel, Germany, a branch of the Belsen prison camp, and at Brunswick, Germany.

The road between Noville and Bourcy, which Team Desobry held briefly during the defense of Bastogne, was renamed Rue du Général Desobry in his honor. Post-war service Upon his return to the United States, Lieutenant Colonel Desobry served for short periods at Fort Rucker and Fort McClellan, Alabama and in G2, Department of the Army. In July 1946, he returned to Europe where he served as an Assistant G1 in Headquarters, Third Army and US Forces in Austria.

Upon his return to the United States in 1950, he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and subsequently served four years on the faculty.

He returned to Germany in 1955 and served as Commanding Officer, Combat Command C, 2d Armored Division, and later Chief of Staff, 2d Armored Division and G3, V Corps. Upon his return to the United States in 1958, he attended the National War College, graduating in 1959. He was then assigned to the Office Chief of Legislative Liaison, where he served for three years in the Plans and Projects Division.

In 1962 he was assigned to the faculty of the Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, where he served as a Course Director, Chairman of a Faculty Group, and the Chairman of the Department of Strategy. On June 3, 1966, Brigadier General Desobry assumed duties as the Senior Advisor to the ARVN IV Corps. Desobry and his advisory teams were involved in four campaigns during his two and a half years tour: Defense; and Counter-Offensive Phases 1–3. IV Corps was the southernmost of the four major military and administrative units of South Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. Its headquarters were located at Cần Thơ in the Mekong Delta. Also known as Military Region 4 (MR 4), IV Corps was the fourth allied tactical combat zone. Because of the nature of its terrain, and more important, its geographical isolation from major North Vietnamese strongholds, the Delta area had generally been infiltrated by enemy guerrilla or small force rather than large force bands. Thus, except for the Mobile 3 Riverine Force and small Special Forces units, no U.S. troops had normally operated in the area until Operation Deckhouse V in 1967 when the U.S. 9th Infantry Division initiated two years of intensive antiguerrilla activities. Otherwise, MR 4 had been and continued to be primarily a Vietnamese area of operations. Brigadier General Desobry turned over his duties to Major general George S. Eckhardt,

Desobry died on January 12, 1996, in San Antonio, Texas.

Personal life General Desobry was married to the former Jacqueline Keyes of San Antonio, Texas, on August 22, 1942. They had six children.

Assignment history 1941: Graduation from Georgetown University Army Reserve Officer Training Corps Program, Washington, D.C. 1943: Commander, 20th Armored Infantry Battalion, 10th Armored Division 1944: Commander, "Team Desobry"—a battalion-sized tank-infantry task force of the 10th Armored Division—Noville, Belgium 1945: Prisoner of War 1951: Graduate, Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 1954: Commander, Combat Command C, 2d Armored Division 1959: Graduate, National War College, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. 1965: Deputy Senior Advisor, IV ARVN Corps, Republic of Vietnam 1966: Senior Advisor, IV ARVN Corps, Republic of Vietnam 1968: Director of Operations, Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C. 1969: Commanding General, 1st Armored Division, Fort Hood, Texas 1971: Commanding General, U.S. Army Armor Center and School, Fort Knox, Kentucky 1973: Commanding General, V Corps, Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany 1975: Retired from active service