Albert Watson II (January 5, 1909 – March 14, 1993) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. He participated in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and fought in a number of significant battles in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, including the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

. From May 1961 to January 1963, Watson served as Commandant of Berlin and commanded American military forces there when construction of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

began. A major diplomatic incident occurred when members of Watson's staff were refused access to

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

. Riots also broke out during his tenure following the death of Peter Fechter. From 1964 to 1965, Watson filled the position of Commissioner of the

United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands The was the civil administration government in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan (centered on Okinawa Island), replacing the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands (itself created after World War II) in 1950, and functioned until the ...

. He increased Ryuku autonomy but ultimately spoke against the significant lessening of American administration authority in the Ryukyus. Watson received two

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

s during his career.

Personal life

Watson was born on January 5, 1909, and grew up in

Mount Vernon, Illinois Mount Vernon is a city in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,600 at the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is the principal city of the Mount Vernon, Illinois micropolitan area, which includes all of ...

. His father was an army colonel and his grandfather, Albert Watson, was a member of the

Supreme Court of Illinois The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the ...

. His family raised him

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

and he remained so throughout his life. Watson married Anne Dunlap Bucher and had two children with her: Albert Watson III and John B. Watson. Both of his sons attended military schools in Pennsylvania. He became reasonably fluent in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

while serving in the country. His hobbies included playing

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. The Berlin press also noted that he enjoyed

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the u ...

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

, light opera, and

mystery novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

holds the collection of his writings in their Special Collections Research Center.

Military career

Watson graduated from the

United States Army Field Artillery School The United States Army Field Artillery School (USAFAS) trains Field Artillery Soldiers and Marines in tactics, techniques, and procedures for the employment of fire support systems in support of the maneuver commander. The school further devel ...

as part of the 1934–1935 class. Watson both graduated from and served as a member of the faculty at the

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...

. At the college he taught

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "troop leadership; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " a ...

tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics In chess, a tac ...

, and

geopolitics Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of State (polity), states: ''de fac ...

. Watson participated in Operations Reckless and

Persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

, the

Battle of Leyte The Battle of Leyte (; ; ) in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the amphibious invasion of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American forces and Filipino guerrillas under the overall command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fou ...

, and the

during

. He served mainly with the Tenth Army in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. Afterward he served as the Director of Personnel Plans in the Office of Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. He also fought in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Watson commanded the

United States Third Army The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army that saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...

from 1963 to 1964. He also commanded two infantry divisions stationed in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, including the

24th Infantry Regiment The 24th Infantry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army, active from 1869 until 1951, and since 1995. Before its original dissolution in 1951, it was primarily made up of African American soldiers. History The 24th Infantry Regiment (on ...

. Upon retiring he had reached the rank of

Commandant of Berlin

Watson was Commandant of Berlin as a major general from May 5, 1961, to January 2, 1963. In this position he fulfilled many roles, reporting to Ambassador Walter C. Dowling in a diplomatic role, General

Lauris Norstad Lauris Norstad (March 24, 1907 – September 12, 1988) was an American general officer in the United States Army and United States Air Force. Early life and military career Lauris Norstad was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Martin and Marie No ...

in a military role, and communicated directly to the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

through United States mission head E. Allan Lightner Jr. He received his first

during his years as commandant. Construction of the

began during his tenure as commandant. In a show of defiance regarding a portion of the Wall set up there, Watson was ordered to set up a military presence in the

Steinstücken Steinstücken (; ), with approximately 300 residents, is a small outlying neighborhood of the Wannsee district in the Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf. From the division of Germany in 1949 until a connecting corridor was created in 1971&nda ...

enclave and sent continuing helicopter flights to the contested area. Tank showdowns would also take place in the wall's early years. A small diplomatic incident occurred when Watson cancelled an appointment with the Soviet Commandant of East Berlin, Soloviev. East German border guards, whose authority the United States did not recognize, denied access to his two aides and his interpreter after they did not show papers at the border despite being in an official army car and the American insistence that only Soviet officials could demand that American military show identification; this prompted Watson to turn around and send protest to the Soviets instead of meeting with them. Ironically, the meeting had in part been called to discuss the barring of an American official's entry into East Berlin less than a week earlier. Watson responded by blocking Soloviev and his chief political adviser from entering the American sector. A second diplomatic crisis occurred when Soviet official P. V. Signaov refused to meet with Watson over the latter's refusal to stop West German youth from throwing stones at East German buses. He also dealt with the Peter Fechter incident and the riots that followed Fechters murder.

Commissioner of the Ryukyu Islands

Watson became Commissioner of the

on August 1, 1964. The State Department originally intended General Charles H. Bonesteel III for the role; when Bonesteel proved unable to fill the position due to failing eyesight, they offered Watson the job instead. In August 1965, Watson received

Prime Minister of Japan The is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Force ...

Eisaku Satō was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972. He is the third longest-serving Japanese prime minister, and is ranked second by longest uninterrupted service. Satō is best remembered for securing the return ...

, becoming the first Commissioner of the islands to meet with a Japanese

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

. Watson also greatly increased the amount of aid that Japan was allowed to give to the islands far above the figures that his predecessors had allowed. He made attempts to improve relations between the American military and Ryukyu legislature. He expanded autonomy and Japanese involvement to an extent and expressed a more lenient attitude to the residents of the island chain. However, he refused to give up United States administrative rights to the island, stating that doing so would lower troop mobility and threaten national security. Despite a promising start, Watson continued the trend of his predecessor and practiced a tumultuous relationship with

United States Ambassador to Japan The is the Ambassadors of the United States, ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Beginning in 1854 with the Convention of Kanagawa, use of gunboat diplomacy by Commodore (United States), Commodore Matthew C. Perry, ...

Edwin O. Reischauer Edwin Oldfather Reischauer ( ; October 15, 1910 – September 1, 1990) was an American diplomat, educator, and professor at Harvard University. Born in Tokyo to American educational missionaries, he became a leading scholar of the history and cu ...

. The two accused each other of keeping the other out of the loop and breaking agreements. He received a second Army Distinguished Service Medal at the end of his term as commissioner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Albert, II 1909 births 1993 deaths United States Army generals People from Mount Vernon, Illinois United States Army War College alumni United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of the Korean War 24th Infantry Regiment Cold War diplomats Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Okinawa under United States occupation United States Armed Forces in Okinawa Prefecture 20th-century American Episcopalians Military personnel from Illinois