JAMES MAURICE GAVIN, Lieutenant General, USA

"Jumping Jim" entered the Army in 1924 as a private, eventually becoming the youngest division commander since the Civil War. He graduated from West Point in 1929 and returned ten years later as a tactics instructor. The German blitzkrieg convinced him of the importance of Armor and Airborne operations. In 1942 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and attended the Command and General Staff School.

In 1943, as regimental commander, he led the 505th Parachute Infantry into Sicily. After participation in the Normandy parachute assault, he became the Commanding General of the 82d Airborne Division, and led the division's Airborne operations in Holland (re: "A Bridge Too Far") and Germany. A major general before his 38th birthday, he was widely renowned for his calm leadership in battle. After World War II, he wrote the book, Airborne warfare and was promoted to lieutenant general and in 1955 appointed Chief of Research and Development for the Army where he developed the M113 air-droppable Armored Fighting Vehicle, the M551 Sheridan AR/AAV, Military Free Fall parachuting and created Air Assault tactics with his trusty assistant Major "Hal" Moore, later LTG Moore.

He retired from the Army in 1958, but continued in public service. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy appointed him ambassador to France. He returned to private life in 1962. General Gavin has been considered one of the foremost military strategists of his generation, and many of his ideas have been incorporated by the Army.

He showed everyone how to lead by example and its high time we name the M113A3--the greatest AFV of all time after him, the Gavin!