Years of service 1948-1980 Name Sidney Berry | Rank Lieutenant General | |
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Allegiance United States of America Awards Distinguished Service Medal (2)Silver Star (4)Legion of Merit (4)Distinguished Flying Cross (2)Bronze Star for ValorAir Medal (42)Purple Heart (2)Combat Infantryman Badge (2) Commands held 101st Airborne Division, South Vietnam, United States Military Academy, V Corps, United States Army | ||
Battles/wars Korean WarVietnam War | ||
Sidney Bryan Berry (February 10, 1926 – July 1, 2013) was a United States Army Lieutenant General, Superintendent of West Point (1974–1977), and Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Mississippi (1980–1984).
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Early life and education
Berry was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on February 10, 1926. He received his appointment to the academy from Mississippi, graduating 160th in his class from West Point in 1948. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry branch, and assigned to his first unit in Japan in 1949.
Military career
Berry's career spanned two wars. He first saw duty as a company commander in Korea. For service during the war in Korea, he was awarded two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star for Valor, a Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. After duty in the Korean War, he earned a graduate degree from Columbia University (1951–1953). He then served as an instructor at West Point in the Department of Social Sciences (1953–1956). He was a military assistant to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (1961–1964), traveling to Vietnam on multiple occasions. 1964-65, Berry was a student at the U.S. Army War College, in Carlisle Barracks, PA. He also served a year at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City (1967–1968). He would serve two and a half years in Vietnam between 1965 and 1971. His second combat wound occurred in Vietnam during his first tour (1965–1966). His awards for his service in Vietnam included the Distinguished Service Medal, 2 Silver Stars, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Legions of Merit, the Purple Heart, 42 Air Medals, and a second Combat Infantryman Badge. Berry became the 50th Superintendent of West Point in 1974. His time there would be trying, as he oversaw the integration of women in the summer of 1976 while at the same time dealing with a massive honor scandal involving cheating on an academic test involving the junior class. Following his tour as USMA Superintendent, LTG Berry commanded the V Corps, US Army, Europe, from 1977 to 1980, and retired from active military service on 1 March 1980.
Decorations
Post military
After retiring from the Army, Berry served as Mississippi's Commissioner of Public Safety, 1980–1984. He retired to Pennsylvania.
He died at a retirement home in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania on July 15, 2013 of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 87 and is survived by his wife of 64 years, Anne; two daughters, a son and 12 grandchildren.