October 10, 2007
Board Member Gen. Julius Becton Receives Marshall Medal

LTG Julius W. Becton Jr., USA (Ret.), a Source for Learning Board member, has received the 2007 George Catlett Marshall Medal—the highest award presented by the Association of the United States Army (AUSA).

The medal is presented annually to an individual who has exhibited “selfless service to the United States of America.” According to AUSA, Gen. Becton’s award recognizes “his lifelong contributions to national defense, exemplary public service to the nation, and commitment to the highest American ideals.”

Gen. Becton’s Army career included service as a platoon leader with the first African-American division to fight in World War II. He was wounded twice during the Korean War, receiving two Purple Hearts. He held a variety of assignments as an infantry and armored officer, attended the National War College, and was appointed chief of Armor Branch, Department of the Army.

As a new brigadier general—only the sixth black officer to attain this rank in the history of the Army—Becton became the deputy commander of the U.S. Army Training Center at Fort Dix, N.J. In 1974, he received his second star and command of the 1st Cavalry Division.

In 1978, Gen. Becton was promoted to lieutenant general and assumed command of VII Corps—the first African-American Army officer to attain this rank and the first to command a corps. He then was named deputy commander of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

Gen. Becton retired from the Army in 1983 after nearly 40 years of service. In 1984, he was named Director, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, Agency for International Development. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed him Director of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In 1989, Gen. Becton returned to his alma mater, Prairie View A&M University, to become its president. After retiring from Prairie View, he became Superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools, a position he held until May 1998.

Gen. Becton earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Prairie View A&M University, a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Maryland, and honorary degrees from Houston-Tillotson College, Muhlenberg College, Prairie View University, and The Citadel. He is the author of Becton: Autobiography of a Soldier and A Public Servant.