Edward Honor Sr. (17 March 1933 – 3 September 2008) was a

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 ...

in the

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 ...

who served as Director of Logistics (J4) on the

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense, ...

from 1987 to 1989. Promoted to brigadier general in 1979, he was the first African-American general officer in the

Army Transportation Corps The Transportation Corps is a combat service support branch of the U.S. Army. It is responsible for the movement of personnel and material by truck, rail, air, and sea. It is one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being the Qua ...

Early life and education

Born in

Melville, Louisiana Melville is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,041 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Opelousas− Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area. It was founded in 1889 and is known as the Atchafalaya River C ...

, Honor attended

Southern University and A&M College Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in ...

where he joined

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

and

Army ROTC The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (AROTC) is the United States Army component of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. It is the largest Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program which is a group of college and university-based officer tr ...

. He earned a B.A. degree in education in 1954.

Military career

During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Honor assumed command of the 36th Transportation Battalion in July 1969 and the 24th Transportation Battalion in December 1969, both of which were part of the 124th Transportation Command at

Cam Ranh Bay Cam Ranh Bay () is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in Khánh Hòa Province. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers (180 miles) nor ...

. He later commanded the 37th Transportation Group in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Military Traffic Management Command at Transportation Terminal Group-Europe in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

from 1983 to 1984 and then all of

Military Traffic Management Command The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) is the Army Service Component Command of the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) and is a major subordinate command to United States Army Materiel Command, Army Materiel Command ...

from 1986 to 1987. Honor was a co-founder of the African-American military officer mentoring group The Rocks in 1974. He was promoted to major general in 1984 and lieutenant general in 1987.

Later career

After his retirement from active duty in 1989, Honor served as president of the National Defense Transportation Association until 2002.

Personal

Honor was the son of Louis and Doretha "Retha" (Jackson) Honor. Honor married Phyllis Virginia Whitehurst (born 24 June 1945) on 13 August 1978 in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

. His second marriage to Harlean Redell Copeland (born 27 August 1936) had ended in divorce in July 1968, and his second wife had remarried in April 1974. Honor had a son Edward Jr., daughter Beverly Ann, and three grandchildren from his three marriages. After his death, Honor was interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

on 1 December 2008.

Early life and education

Military career

Later career

Personal

References

Further reading