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LTC Roger Gaines
to remember
Throckmorton, John Lathrop, GEN USA(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Kansas City
Last Address Fayetteville, NC
Date of Passing Feb 13, 1986
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
General John Lathrop Throckmorton (February 28, 1913–February 13, 1986) was born in Kansas City, Missouri on February 28, 1913. After graduating from Culver Military Academy in 1931 he attended and graduated from the United States Military Academy on June 12, 1935, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry.
In World War II, he was assigned to the G3 Section, First Army in the European Theater from 1943 to 1946. After the war, he served in the TAC Department at West Point from 1946 to 1949. He took command of a battalion in the 5th Regimental Combat Team in Hawaii from 1949 to 1950 and later became the regimental combat team commander from 1950 to 1951 during the Korean War. After the war, he attended the National War College in 1954, and later became Commandant of Cadets at West Point from 1956 to 1959.
He served from 1959 to 1960 as Assistant Commanding General, 101st Airborne Division, followed by an assignment as Secretary General Staff, Office of the Chief of Staff Army from 1960 to 1962.
He took command of the 82nd Airborne Division from 1962 to 1964, then deployed to Vietnam as Deputy Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, from 1964 to 1965. His service in Vietnam was followed by an assignment as Deputy Commander, Office of the Chief Army Reserve from 1965 to 1966.
He held successive commands as Commanding General, XVIII Airborne Corps (1967), Commanding General, Third United States Army, (1967-1969), and Commanding General, Strike Command, (1969-1973).
General Throckmorton retired in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1973. He died on February 13, 1986 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery next to his wife, Regina Theresa Higgins, whom he married on October 16, 1937. The library at Fort Bragg is named in his honor.
Other Comments:
Born at Kansas City, Missouri, February 28, 1913, he graduated from the Culver Military Academy in 1931 and from West Point in 1935. He also graduated from the National War College in 1954. He married Regina Theresa Higgins on October 16, 1937.
He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1935 and advanced through the grades to General in 1969. He was commander of the 5th Regimental Combat Team, Korean War, 1950-51; Commandant of Cadets at West Point, 1956-59; Division Commander, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 1962-64; Commanding General, Third Army, 1967-69; Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Strike Command, McDill Air Force Base, Florida from 1969.
His wife, Regina Theresa Higgins Throckmorton (August 13, 1915-October 19, 1990), is buried with him.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Northern France Campaign (1944)
From Month/Year
July / 1944
To Month/Year
September / 1944
Description (Northern France Campaign 25 July to 14 September 1944) Bombardment along a five-mile stretch of the German line enabled the Allies to break through on 25 July. While some armored forces drove southward into Brittany, others fanned out to the east and, overcoming a desperate counterattack, executed a pincers movement that trapped many Germans in a pocket at Falaise. The enemy fell back on the Siegfried Line, and by mid-September 1944 nearly all of France had been liberated. During these operations in France, while light and medium bombers and fighter-bomber aircraft of Ninth Air Force had been engaged in close support and interdictory operations, Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces had continued their strategic bombing.
