Collins, James Lawton, 1917-2002

James Lawton Collins (1917-2002) was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of James Lawton and Virginia Caroline (Stewart) Collins. He graduated from West Point in 1939. In 1943 he married Yolande de Mauduit, and the couple had four children. He was a postgraduate student at the Naval War College in 1948. He earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Virginia in 1951 and continued his studies with postgraduate work at the Armed Forces Staff College in 1955 and the Army War College in 1959. As a linguist fluent in French, Italian, German, and Spanish with some knowledge of Russian, he was a commanding officer at the Army Language School from 1959 to 1962. In 1962, he became the first director of the joint Defense Language Institute. He then served with the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, from 1964 to 1966, advancing to the rank of brigadier general in 1965. He became deputy assistant chief of staff for the Army intelligence department in 1966 and commander of the V Corps Artillery in Germany in 1967. From 1970 to 1982, he held the position of chief of the Army military history department and commanded the Center for Military History in Washington, DC. After his retirement from military service in 1982, he remained active as a board member of organizations related to military history. At the same time, he began a second career as a winemaker in Virginia. He authored The Development and Training of the South Vietnamese Army, 1950-1972 (1975), co-wrote The Encyclopedia of the American Military (1994), and co-edited The D-Day Encyclopedia (1993). His awards included the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and Purple Heart.

From the description of Collins, James Lawton, 1917-2002 (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 10568436