An excellent student, Maxwell Taylor, graduated from West Point in 1922. With a special affinity for foreign languages, he was sent on a secret mission to Italy, landing on the coast near Rome, as shown here, in 1943. He commanded the 101st Airborne Division in airborne assaults in France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and ground operations during the Battle of the Bulge and the invasion of Germany.

After World War II, he had an equally illustrious career as Superintendent of West Point, Commander of the Eighth Army in Korea, Army Chief of Staff, Special Military Advisor to President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, and Ambassador to Vietnam.

He died on April 19, 1987 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.