John Millikin

Early life and military career

John Millikin was born January 7, 1888 in Danville, Indiana, the son of Horace F. Millikin and Ida Millikin. Millikin entered the United States Military Academy (USMA) in 1906, graduating in June 1910, with a Bachelor of Science Degree, as a second lieutenant into the Cavalry Branch of the United States Army. He graduated 38th in a class of 82 alongside men such as Ernest J. Dawley, Lewis Burton, Oscar Griswold, Ira T. Wyche, Emil F. Reinhardt, Durward S. Wilson, David McCracken, Jr., Jack Heard, James Muir and numerous others who, like Millikin, would be general officers. His first assignment was with the 5th Cavalry Regiment at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He later was assigned to Fort Myer, Virginia.

During World War I, in February 1918, Millikin was the executive officer (XO) of the U.S. Army General Staff College in Longres, France. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on November 16, 1918 and became chief of the military police of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). He returned to the United States in the summer of 1919 and was honorably discharged from the National Army on March 15, 1920, and reverted to his Regular Army rank of captain.

Between the wars

After the war, Captain Millikin Graduated from the U.S. Army Cavalry School Advanced Course, and he returned to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas as a distinguished graduate ranking 30th out of 245 in 1926. He served as a faculty member from 1926 to 1930.

World War II

Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, commander of the Army Ground Forces, who thought highly of Millikin, gave him command of III Corps in October 1943 at Fort McPherson, Georgia.

On 23 August 1944, the corps headquarters departed California for Camp Myles Standish in Massachusetts. It deployed for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 5 September 1944. Upon arrival at Cherbourg, France, the corps was assigned to Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson's Ninth Army, part of Lieutenant General Omar Bradley's U.S. 12th Army Group, and given the code name "CENTURY" which it retained throughout the war. The corps headquarters was established at Carteret, in Normandy, and for six weeks, the corps received and processed all the troops of the 12th Army Group arriving over the Normandy beaches during that period. The corps also participated in the "Red Ball Express" by organizing 45 provisional truck companies to carry fuel and ammunition for the units on the front lines.

III Corps was assigned to the Third Army, commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton, on 10 October 1944, and moved to Etain, near Verdun, and into combat. The corps' first fighting was for the Metz region, as it was moved to attack Fort Jeanne d'Arc, one of the last forts holding out in the region. That fort fell on 13 December 1944.

Relief of Bastogne

The forces to be employed for the relief of Bastogne had been earmarked as early as the night of 18 December 1944 when Bradley and Patton agreed to move the new III Corps headquarters (as yet inexperienced and untried) from Metz to Arlon. The divisions given to Major General John Millikin (the 26th and 80th Infantry Divisions, and the 4th Armored Division) all had been out of the line or in a quiet sector when the Third Army was ordered north, and thus were selected almost automatically.

In the south, Patton's Third Army was battling to relieve Bastogne. At 16:50 on 26 December 1944, the lead element, Company D, 37th Tank Battalion of the 4th Armored Division, reached Bastogne, ending the siege.

On 10 February 1945 Bradley moved III Corps minus one division to Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges' First Army control.

Battle of Remagen

Major General John W. Leonard, commanding the 9th Armored Division, later recalled that on 6 March 1945, Major General Millikin, referring to the Ludendorff Bridge, told him over the phone, "You see that black line on the map. If you can seize that your name will go down in history." In the last week of February, Colonel Charles G. Patterson, the anti-aircraft artillery officer for III Corps, led a meeting for brigade and group commanders during which they discussed what they would do if they were lucky enough to capture a bridge intact.

On 2 March 1945, Major General Millikin assigned the 14th Tank Battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Leonard E. Engeman to the north flank and attached it to the 1st Division. The 9th Armored's Combat Command B attacked towards the Erft river, and Combat Command A advanced towards the Ahr river. They were to then move south to capture Remagen and Sinzeg before linking up with the flanks of Lieutenant General Patton's Third Army.

Seeing the bridge intact, Brigadier General William M. Hoge, Commander of Combat Group A, waited for a platoon of the 9th Infantry Division to reach the far bank, hoping the bridge would stand, and then called Major General Leonard to inform him the bridge had been captured.

Major General Millikin ordered that the 47th Infantry Regiment be motorized and dispatched to Remagen as soon as possible. Millikin relayed the news to Bradley's 12th Army Group headquarters at 8:15 pm. Millikin attached the 7th Armored Division to III Corps so they could relieve the 9th Infantry Division, who were already crossing the Rhine. He also ordered the 2nd Infantry Division to relieve the 78th Infantry Division so it too could cross the Rhine and defend the bridgehead.

Millikin relieved

On 17 March 1945, the First Army commander, Lieutenant General Hodges, relieved Millikin of his command, and Major General James Van Fleet took over. From the day the bridge had been captured until he was relieved of command, Millikin had never visited the eastern bank of the Rhine. Hodges and some of his staff had complained about the poor control of forces on both sides of the bridge and the lack of information on troop dispositions. Hodges also complained later that Millikin repeatedly disobeyed his orders including a directive to drive his forces north along the east bank and open a crossing for the VII Corps, and that he failed to attach enough infantry support to the 9th Armored Division. The chief of staff of the 9th Infantry Division, Colonel William Westmoreland, later commented that, "So irresolute was the III Corps Commander, so lacking in confidence, that I feared for the safety of the bridgehead."

Within a month, Millikin assumed command of the 13th Armored Division whose commander, Major General John B. Wogan, had been seriously wounded. Millikin, previously highly rated by Patton, the Third Army commander, formally objected to an unsatisfactory rating given him after his relief on 7 May 1945 by Hodges. Millikin affirmed that, "under the existing conditions my actions taken on the ground were justified in the light of successful results." General Bradley noted on the efficiency report that Millikin's successor, General Van Fleet, "was better qualified to command the corps than General Millikin with his limited experience." Bradley added that Millikin's record should not be adversely affected by his relief.

Postwar

Major General Millikin returned to the Regular Army April 30, 1946 in his permanent rank of colonel, and was promoted to brigadier general January 24, 1948. He retired February 29, 1948, and was promoted to major general (retired) June 29, 1948.

Major General John Millikin died on November 6, 1970, aged 82.

Promotions

Source - Register of the Army of the United States for 1946. United States Government Printing Office Washington: U.S. Secretary of War. 1946. p. 481

Note; Millikin retired February 29, 1948