A Salute to Patriotism: The Life and Work of Major General Howard L. Peckham

SECOND EDITION (with resized photographs)A descendant of Revolutionary War heroes, Howard Louis Peckham had a love for his country that started early in his life. After his boyhood dream of graduating from West Point came true, he served for twenty years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1942 he transferred to the Quartermaster Corps and went to Washington, where he headed the Fuels and Lubricants Division of the Quartermaster General's office. While serving concurrently as a member of the Army-Navy Petroleum Board, he testified before Congress about army petroleum needs. For his meritorious work of procuring fuels and allocating them to our armed forces worldwide, he was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal. In postwar Paris, Howard Peckham headed the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC). Under him, more than 80,000 American war dead were returned to the United States; approximately 60,000 others were reinterred in ten permanent cemeteries in Europe, which were graded and built by his command. After his return to the United States, he served in highly responsible positions, including commanding general of Ft. Lee, Virginia, and chief of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. He  retired in 1956. As a civilian, his patriotic service continued when he worked for the Free Europe Committee, which was being secretly funded by the CIA, and traveled abroad to meet with Western European diplomats. His goal was to get them more involved in the Committee's work. Nations behind the Iron Curtain peacefully freed from Communist domination, Howard Peckham believed, would ensure more security for the United States. Duty, country, and patriotism would continue to dominate his life to the end. (This book is the author's Second Edition of A Salute to Patriotism.)