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Distinguished University of California at Berkeley Alumni

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Major General William F. Dean

Commanding General, 24th Infantry Division

Born on August 1, 1899, in Carlyle, Illinois, Dean graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1922. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the California National Guard in 1921, he was tendered a Regular Army commission on October 18, 1923. Promoted to Brigadier General in 1942 and then to major general in 1943, Dean served first as assistant division commander and later as division commander of the 44th Infantry Division.

In 1944 while serving in southern Germany and Austria, his troops captured 30,000 prisoners and helped force the surrender of the German 19th Army. There he won the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery.

In October 1947, he became the military governor of South Korea. He took command of the Seventh Infantry Division in 1948 and moved it from Korea to Japan. After serving as Eighth U.S. Army chief of staff, he took command of the 24th Infantry Division, and then headquartered at Kokura on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, in October 1949.

When the Korean War began in June 1950, the 24th Infantry Division was the first American ground combat unit to be committed. General Dean arrived in Korea on July 3, 1950. He established his headquarters at Taejon.

His orders were to fight a delaying action against the advancing North Korean People's Army. Although he planned to withdraw from Teajon, he was asked by General Walton H. Walker, the Eighth U.S. Army Commander, to hold that city until July 20, 1950, in order to buy time necessary for deploying other American units from Japan. His regiments had been, decimated in earlier fighting, and Dean personally led tank killer teams armed with the newly arrived 3.5-inch rocket launchers to destroy the attacking North Korean T-34 tanks. He gained acclaim by such exploits as attacking and destroying an enemy tank armed with only a hand grenade and handgun.

The T34 Tank knocked out by General Dean in the battle of Tajon, July, 1950 it was still there in 1977 as a memorial to General Dean and the twenty five day battle of Taejon.

On July 20, as his division fell back from Taejon, General Dean became separated from his men. He hid alone in the woods around the countryside during the day and traveled at night for over a month. On August 25,1950 after a hand to hand struggle with fifteen North Koreans he was captured, and remained a POW with the North Koreans until his release on September 4, 1953.

In 1951 Congress voted General Dean the Medal of Honor for his actions during the defense of Tajon. The Medal was received from President Truman, on January 9,1951 by his wife Mildred Dean, son William Dean Jr. and daughter Marjorie June Dean. General Dean was still reported missing in action in Korea.

General Dean had no contact with the outside world until he was interviewed on December 18, 1951 by an Australian, Wilfred Burchett who was a correspondent for Le Soir, a French left-wing newspaper. This was the first time that anyone had any idea General Dean was alive since being reported missing in action.

General Dean, the highest ranking prisoner of war in the conflict, later he tried to commit suicide during his confinement because he feared "he might squeal when they started to drive splinters under my fingernails."

He was given a hero's welcome upon his return to the United States in 1953 and showered with military and civilian honors. General Dean however, insisted he was no hero but "just a dogface soldier."

Three months after his return from Korea General Dean was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General of the Sixth U.S. Army at the Presidio of San Francisco in California. When he retired from active duty on October 31, 1955, he was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge for his front line service in World War II and Korea, an award he particularly cherished.  General Dean died on August 25, 1981. General William F. Dean is buried at the Presidio of San Francisco along with his wife.

Robert S. McNamara

Secretary of Defense (1961-1968), World Bank President (1968-1981)

Born in San Francisco on June 9, 1916, Mr. McNamara graduated from the University of California in 1937. In 1939 he received an MBA degree from Harvard, and in 1940 he returned to Harvard to become an instructor and later Assistant Professor of Business Administration. In 1943 he was commissioned a captain in the Army Air Force and served in the UK, India, China, and the Pacific. He was awarded the Legion of Merit and promoted to lieutenant colonel before going on inactive duty in April 1946.

Upon his discharge from the air force, McNamara joined the Ford Motor Company. He was elected as a director of the company in 1957, and president of the company in 1960. At the request of President-elect John F. Kennedy, McNamara agreed to serve as Secretary of Defense of the United States, a position he held from 1961 until 1968. He became president of the World Bank Group of Institutions in April of 1968, retiring in 1981.

Since his retirement, McNamara has served on a number of boards of directors for both corporations and non-profit associations. He writes and speaks on many topics including population and development, world hunger, the environment, East-West relations, nuclear arms, and his vision of our nation in the 21st century.

McNamara is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad, and has received many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (with Distinction), the Albert Einstein Peace Price, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Freedom from Want Medal, and the Dag Hammarskjold Honorary Medal. He is author of The Essence of Security; One Hundred Countries, Two Billion People; Out of the Cold; and In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam.

GEN Fredrick C. Weyand

Army Chief of Staff

Frederick Carlton Weyand was born in Arbuckle, California, on 15 September 1916; was commissioned a second lieutenant through the Reserve Officers Training Corps program at the University of California at Berkeley, 1938, where he graduated in 1939; married Arline Langhart, 1940; was called to active duty and served with the 6th Artillery, 1940–1942; was promoted to temporary first lieutenant, June 1941, and to captain in February and major in November 1942; graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, 1942; was adjutant of the Harbor Defense Command, San Francisco, 1942–1943; served in the Office of the Chief of Intelligence, War Department General Staff, 1944; was assistant chief of staff for intelligence, China-Burma-India Theater, 1944–1945; was in the Military Intelligence Service, Washington, 1945–1946; was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel, March 1945, and permanent captain, July 1948; was chief of staff for intelligence, United States Army Forces, Middle Pacific, 1946–1949; graduated from the Infantry School at Fort Benning, 1950; was battalion commander in the 7th Infantry and assistant chief of staff, G–3, of the 3d Infantry Division in the Korean War, 1950–1951; served on the faculty of the Infantry School, 1952–1953; attended the Armed Forces Staff College, 1953; was military assistant in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management, 1953–1954; was military assistant and executive to the secretary of the Army, 1954–1957; was promoted to permanent major, July 1953, and temporary colonel, July 1955; graduated from the Army War College, 1958; commanded the 3d Battle Group, 6th Infantry, in Europe, 1958–1959; served in the Office of the United States Commander in Berlin, 1960; was promoted to temporary brigadier general, July 1960; was chief of staff, Communications Zone, United States Army, Europe, 1960–1961; was deputy chief and chief of legislative liaison, Department of the Army, 1961–1964; was promoted to permanent lieutenant colonel, September 1961, and to temporary major general, November 1962; was commander of the 25th Infantry Division, Hawaii, 1964–1966, and in Vietnam operations, 1966–1967; was promoted to permanent colonel, September 1966; was deputy, acting commander, and commander of II Field Force, Vietnam, 1967–1968; was chief of the Office of Reserve Components, 1968–1969; was promoted to permanent brigadier and major general and temporary lieutenant general, August 1968, and temporary general, October 1970; was military adviser at the Paris peace talks, 1969–1970; was assistant chief of staff for force development, 1970; was successively deputy commander and commander of the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, 1970–1973; was commander in chief of the United States Army, Pacific, 1973; was vice chief of staff of the United States Army, 1973–1974; was chief of staff of the United States Army, 3 October 1974–31 September 1976; supervised Army moves to improve the combat-to-support troop ratio, to achieve a sixteen-division force, to enhance the effectiveness of roundout units, and to improve personnel and logistical readiness; retired from active service, October 1976.