Abrams, Creighton Williams, Jr., 1914-1974

Creighton Williams Abrams (1914-1974), army officer, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from West Point in 1936, and was commissioned in the cavalry. After service with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Bliss, Texas, he was assigned to the newly created 1st Armored Division in 1940, and in early 1941 was transferred to the 4th Armored Division. He became commander of the 37th Tank Battalion in September 1943. With the 4th Armored Division, he landed at Normandy in July 1944, and from then until the end of World War II, he commanded alternately the 37th and the divisional combat command. Abrams' battalion led the relief of General Anthony C. McAuliffe's 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne in December 1944, and by early May 1945 had crossed into Czechoslovakia. He was promoted to colonel in 1945. Abrams graduated from the Command and General Staff College and in 1953 from the Army War College. During the Korean War, he served as chief of staff of the I Corps, the X Corps, and the IX Corps in succession. He was promoted to brigadier general in February 1956 and to major general in May 1960, in which grade he commanded the 3rd Armored Division in Germany from 1961 to 1962. In May 1967, Abrams was appointed deputy commander of the United States Military Assistance Command in Vietnam, and in June 1968 he succeeded General William Westmoreland as Commander, MACV, a post he held for four years, during which time he attempted to implement the "Vietnamization" policy for training Vietnamese troops ultimately to take over sole conduct of the war with the communist forces of North Vietnam. He was named Chief of Staff of the Army in 1972, a position that he held until his death in 1974.