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Contact Info
Last Address Salem, VA
Date of Passing Dec 12, 2004
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
General William Bradford Rosson (August 25, 1918 – December 12, 2004) commanded the U.S. Army, Pacific from October 1970 to January 1973. He was commissioned in 1940 through ROTC and saw combat in World War II, earning the Distinguished Service Cross for valor on the Anzio Beachhead in Italy. He also fought in North Africa, Sicily, France, and Germany.
Rosson obtained his bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Oregon. After retirement from the military he earned a Master of Letters degree in International Relations from Oxford University in England. His military schooling includes the U.S. Army War College and the National War College.
Major command experience for Rosson includes Commanding General for Task Force Oregon (Provisional), Commanding General for I Field Force, and Commanding General, Provisional Corps, for the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Later he was Deputy Commander for the same command. Rosson concluded his career as Commander in Chief of the United States Southern Command in Quarry Heights, Panama Canal Zone.
Additional assignments include serving in General Eisenhower's NATO headquarters in Paris, and duty with the French Forces in Vietnam in 1954. Because of this experience, he was valuable to General Westmoreland as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam. Rosson also served as Director of the Plans and Policy Directorate, J5, for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C..
In addition to the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest decoration for valor, General Rosson's awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart. He died on August 12, 2004 of a heart attack in his home in Salem, Virginia. Rosson was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
LTG Rosson, CG, IFFV, in 192d AHC C&C
Chopper over Binh Thuan Province, 1968.
Photo by Jerry Berry, 3/506/101
Other Comments:
William B. Rosson, a retired four-star Army general and a former board member of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, died of a heart attack December 12, 2004. He was 86.
General Rosson, whose military honors spanned World War II to the Vietnam War, suffered a heart attack at his home in Salem, Virginia, said his widow, Bertha Mitchell Rosson.
An Iowa native, General Rosson grew up in Oregon. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 1940 and later received a master's degree in international relations from Oxford University.
He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army and fought in 10 campaigns in North Africa and Europe in World War II. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest decoration for valor, and rose to Lieutenant Colonel by the war's end.
He later served on the Army General Staff at the Pentagon, in Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's NATO headquarters in Paris and on the staff of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
In the Vietnam War, General Rosson served a tour as General William Westmoreland's chief of staff.
He retired in 1975 as commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command in the Panama Canal Zone.
General Rosson's many awards included the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, a Purple Heart and the Doughboy Award, the infantry's highest award.
He retired to Florida, but later moved to Salem when he married Bertha Mitchell.
Mike Shelton, former mayor of Bedford, where the D-Day Memorial is located, credited General Rosson's vision in helping to create the memorial.
"I think a lot of what you see in the memorial is a direct reflection of General Rosson," he said. "He's got a deep, deep imprint in that memorial."
By Patricia Sullivan
Courtesy of the Washington Post
Friday, December 17, 2004
William B. Rosson, 86, a retired four-star Army General who was a Battalion Commander at Anzio, Italy, in World War II and a senior commander in Vietnam and served on the board of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, died Dec. 12 after a heart attack at his home in Salem, Virginia.
General Rosson, who entered the Army in 1940, immediately after graduating from the University of Oregon, served four tours of duty in Vietnam, longer than any other senior commander in that war. He retired in 1975 after two years as commander in chief of the Southern Command in the Panama Canal Zone.
At 25, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest military honor, for his actions in the brutal campaign at Anzio. He participated in four amphibious assaults during World War II, helping plan the invasion of southern France and fighting with VI Corps all the way to Germany. He was a regimental commander early during the occupation of Germany.
Rosson, a great soldier at 25, also was an impressive staff officer at that age, said Gordon Rudd, a military historian who teaches at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. "He was not a Westmoreland, he was not a MacArthur, he was not a high-profile guy. . . . He was more like Omar Bradley, who was a soldier's soldier."
In World War II, he fought in 10 campaigns with the 3rd Infantry, in such locales as North Africa and Germany.
He received many military awards and decorations, including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Doughboy Award, the infantry's highest award. Apparently, he did not take the awards too seriously.
After the war, while working in Europe under Bernard Montgomery, the British field marshal, Rosson noted that Montgomery was wearing all of his 38 ribbons. According to a story that made the rounds of NATO headquarters, Montgomery then asked each officer in the room, in turn, how many ribbons he had earned. Rosson, who had no idea how many awards he had, answered, "Thirty-nine." Montgomery left the room in a huff, and the American's popularity with British staff officers soared.
General Rosson also displayed physical courage in his career. In 1954, while assigned to a military advisory group in Indochina, he flew over the battle of Dien Bien Phu, the bloody altercation that ended French involvement in Vietnam. The first two Americans killed in Vietnam combat, both civilians, died in similar flyovers, downed by withering antiaircraft fire from Vietminh.
Gen. Rosson, who subsequently served in Germany and at the Pentagon, returned in 1965 to Vietnam, where he was chief of staff for Westmoreland. He took over I Corps for a Marine commander on leave, a rare case in which an Army officer was in command of a predominantly Marine formation. Gen. Rosson subsequently formed a division of separate units that became the Americal Division and later became deputy commander in Vietnam under Gen. William Abrams. From 1970 to the end of 1972, he was commander in chief of the Army in the Pacific before ending his military career in Panama.
After his retirement, Gen. Rosson received a master of letters degree in international relations from Oxford University.
He moved to Salem, near Roanoke, in 1984, after he married Bertha Mitchell Rosson, and became involved with the National D-Day Memorial efforts. His wife survives him.
"He was a great, strong supporter. He was a great man for detail," said William Bagbey, the founding chairman of the foundation that built the memorial. "Of course, he was not one who pushed himself to the front, but he did, by his actions, get very much to the front."
United States Army Biography:
General Rosson fought in ten campaigns with the 3rd Infantry Division in World War II in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Wounded in Sicily, he went on to win the nation's second highest decoration for valor, The Distinguished Service Cross, on the "Anzio Beachhead in Italy."
He later served on the Army General Staff in the Pentagon, in General Eisenhower's NATO headquarters in Paris, France, and on the staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, again in the Pentagon. Troop duty Included command of two Infantry regiments in Germany, and command of the European Airborne Brigade, also in Germany.
General Rosson served four tours in Vietnam covering six years. His assignments included:
Commissioned 1940 as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry Battalion Commander with the 3rd Infantry Division, 10 campaigns in EuropeCommander, 30th Infantry Regiment, Army of Occupation, Germany, 1945-1946 Instructor, Command and General Staff College, 1946-1949
Joint War Plans Branch, Army General Staff, Washington, D.C., 1949-1951
Plans, Policy and Operations Division, Supreme Headquarters Allied
Powers Europe, Paris, 1951-1953
Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, 1953
U.S. Military Advisory Group Indo-China, 1954
Commander, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, Germany, June 1955-June 1956
Army Member, Chairman's Staff Group, Joint Chief of Staff, Washington, D.C., 1956-1959
National War College, 1960
Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, USAREUR, Germany, 1960-1961
Assistant Division Commander and Airborne Brigade Commander, 8th Infantry Division, Germany, 1961-1962
Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, for special warfare, 1962-1963
Director, U.S. Strike Command Joint Test and Evaluation Tak Force, 1963-1965
Chief of Staff, United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), 25 June 1965-April 1967
Commanding General, Task Force Oregon (later the 23d Infantry (Americal) Division), April 1967-June 1967
Commanding General, IFFV 31 July 1967-1 March 1968
Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Military Assistance Command Forward, Vietnam (MACV), 1 March 1968-10 March 1968
Commanding General, Provisional Corps (later XXIV Corps), Vietnam, 10 March 1968-31 July 1968.
Director, Policy and Plans Directorate, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C., August 1969-April 1969
Special Assistant to COMUSMACV, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, April 1969
Deputy Commander, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), 1 May 1969-15 October 1970
Commander in Chief, U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC), Hawaii, 16 October 1970-January 1973
Commander in Chief, United States Southern Command, Canal Zone, January 1973 to July 1975
After serving as Commander in Chief of United States Army Forces in the Pacific from 1970 to 1973, General Rosson completed his career in Latin America by serving as Commander in Chief, United States Southern Command from January 1973 to July 1975, with headquarters in the Canal Zone.
General Rosson is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College, The Army War College, and the National War College.
Civilian Career/Achievements:
Following retirement in 1975, General Rosson obtained a Master of Letters degree in international relations from Oxford University in England. In 1984, the General moved from Florida to Roanoke, Virginia. Among his present pursuits are lecturing on national security and international relations, serving as a panelist, conducting professional research and writing for military agencies and journals. General, US Army (Ret.), 86
On December 12, 2004. Beloved husband of Bertha R. Rosson; step father of two, grandfather of seven. Services 10 a.m., Monday, December 20 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Salem, Virginia. Interment Arlington National Cemetery, 11 a.m., Tuesday, January 11, 2005 with Full Military Honors.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Rosson buried at Arlington National Cemetery
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA -- The black horse came last -- tall and graceful, four stars shining on its empty saddle, a pair of empty boots turned backward in the stirrups -- heralding the death of another old soldier.
William B. Rosson, a retired four-star Army General and a former board member of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, was buried today in an emotional ceremony attended by about 150 family, friends and military officials. Many took a 5 a.m. bus ride from the Roanoke Valley to attend the burial.
Rosson, a Salem resident, was eulogized as an American hero, a gentleman and a man of courage.
"He was gracious until the day he died," said Lorraine Simms, a Salem neighbor.
Rosson, 86, died December 12, 2004, of a heart attack at home.
On a mild winter day under leaden skies, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, including a 17-cannon shot salute, a caisson pulled by six horses, an honor guard, a 45-piece band and a full infantry platoon.
ROSSON, WILLIAM BRADFORD
4-Star Army Gen. William Rosson, 86
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Campaign (1965-66)
From Month/Year
December / 1965
To Month/Year
June / 1966
Description This campaign was from 25 December 1965 to 30 June 1966. United States operations after 1 July 1966 were a continuation of the earlier counteroffensive campaign. Recognizing the interdependence of political, economic, sociological, and military factors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared that American military objectives should be to cause North Vietnam to cease its control and support of the insurgency in South Vietnam and Laos, to assist South Vietnam in defeating Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam, and to assist South Vietnam in pacification extending governmental control over its territory.
North Vietnam continued to build its own forces inside South Vietnam. At first this was done by continued infiltration by sea and along the Ho Chi Minh trail and then, in early 1966, through the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). U.S. air elements received permission to conduct reconnaissance bombing raids, and tactical air strikes into North Vietnam just north of the DMZ, but ground forces were denied authority to conduct reconnaissance patrols in the northern portion of the DMZ and inside North Vietnam. Confined to South Vietnamese territory U.S. ground forces fought a war of attrition against the enemy, relying for a time on body counts as one standard indicator for measuring successful progress for winning the war.
During 1966 there were eighteen major operations, the most successful of these being Operation WHITE WING (MASHER). During this operation, the 1st Cavalry Division, Korean units, and ARVN forces cleared the northern half of Binh Dinh Province on the central coast. In the process they decimated a division, later designated the North Vietnamese 3d Division. The U.S. 3d Marine Division was moved into the area of the two northern provinces and in concert with South Vietnamese Army and other Marine Corps units, conducted Operation HASTINGS against enemy infiltrators across the DMZ.
The largest sweep of 1966 took place northwest of Saigon in Operation ATTLEBORO, involving 22,000 American and South Vietnamese troops pitted against the VC 9th Division and a NVA regiment. The Allies defeated the enemy and, in what became a frequent occurrence, forced him back to his havens in Cambodia or Laos.
By 31 December 1966, U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam numbered 385,300. Enemy forces also increased substantially, so that for the same period, total enemy strength was in excess of 282,000 in addition to an estimated 80,000 political cadres. By 30 June 1967, total U.S. forces in SVN had risen to 448,800, but enemy strength had increased as well.
On 8 January U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched separate drives against two major VC strongholds in South Vietnam-in the so-called "Iron Triangle" about 25 miles northwest of Saigon. For years this area had been under development as a VC logistics base and headquarters to control enemy activity in and around Saigon. The Allies captured huge caches of rice and other foodstuffs, destroyed a mammoth system of tunnels, and seized documents of considerable intelligence value.
In February, the same U.S. forces that had cleared the "Iron Triangle", were committed with other units in the largest allied operation of the war to date, JUNCTION CITY. Over 22 U.S. and four ARVN battalions engaged the enemy, killing 2,728. After clearing this area, the Allies constructed three airfields; erected a bridge and fortified two camps in which CIDG garrisons remained as the other allied forces withdrew.
