Bryn Mawr native and Lower Merion High School graduate Julius W. Becton Jr., a three-star general and the first Black commander of an Army corps, died on November 28, aged 97, writes Trip Gabriel for The New York Times.

Becton’s uniformed career spanned almost four decades, starting in World War II, when troops were still segregated. He saw combat in three separate wars and earned Silver Stars in Korea and Vietnam.

Over the years, he was a true pathbreaker. He became the first African American to oversee what was at the time the Army’s largest basic training program. In 1978, he was promoted to lieutenant general and led the VII Corps in Stuttgart, West Germany, during the Cold War.

He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to lead FEMA in 1985.

“He brought a sense of integrity back to the agency,” recalled Jane Bullock, the agency’s chief of staff at the time, in a 1996 interview.

At 70, he was recruited to lead Washington’s deeply troubled school system. Two years later, in 1998, he retired.

Read more about Bryn Mawr native Julius W. Becton Jr. in The New York Times.

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