Fillmore Kennady "Ken" Mearns (September 20, 1915 – November 18, 1997) 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 ...

who served as commander of the 25th Infantry Division 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 ...

and later as commander of VII Corps 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 ...

Early life

Born into a military family in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and raised in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, Mearns started at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in July 1934 graduating with a B.S. degree and a second lieutenant's commission in June 1938.

Military career

World War II

Following the United States entry into

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 ...

, Mearns graduated from the

Command and General Staff School The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

in 1942 and transferred to III Corps where he served as assistant Operations officer (G-3). He then served in the same capacity with VI Corps. In November 1943, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment and led this unit in the invasion of Sicily and the invasion of Italy. Mearns was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

for his actions on 16/17 January 1944 when his unit was trying to cross the Rapido River during the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

Postwar

Mearns attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

studying Russian language and Soviet studies. He then served as G-3 of United States forces in Austria and as United States representative on the four-party Military Committee in Vienna. In 1950 he graduated from the Artillery and Guided Missile School and then took command of the 75th Artillery Battalion, 17th Artillery Group and then the 77th Artillery Group. In 1952 he attended the Armed Forces Staff College and was then appointed director, Special Forces Department of the Unconventional Warfare School at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

. In 1954 he graduated from the Strategic Intelligence School. In 1954 he was appointed United States Army Attaché to the Soviet Union and served in Moscow until 1957. On returning to the United States he attended the Army War College, graduating in 1958. He then served as G-3,

Sixth United States Army Sixth Army is a Theater Army (United States), theater army of the United States Army. The Army service component command of United States Southern Command, its area of responsibility includes 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in ...

. In 1960 he was assigned to command the divisional artillery of the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

and then as Division chief of staff from 1961 to 1962. In November 1962, he was appointed artillery commander,

XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for Rapid deployment force, rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is r ...

. In June 1963 he was appointed artillery commander, 3rd Armored Division. In June 1964 he was appointed artillery commander, V Corps.

Vietnam War

On 6 August 1967 Major General Mearns assumed command of the 25th Infantry Division at Củ Chi Base Camp. During his time in command of the 25th Infantry Division, Mearns led his command in the United States response to the

Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched a surprise attack on 30 January 1968 against the forces of ...

and the

May Offensive Phase Two of the Tet Offensive of 1968 (also known as the May Offensive, Little Tet, and Mini-Tet) was launched by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) against targets throughout South Vietnam, including Saigon from 29 April ...

. On 3 August 1968 he handed over command of the 25th Infantry Division to Major General Ellis W. Williamson and became Deputy Commander, II Field Force, Vietnam and Commanding General, Capital Military Assistance Command. He served as commander of VII Corps in West Germany from February 1971 to March 1973.

Personal life

Mearns married Elizabeth Mary "Betty" Boles and they had three children, two daughters and one son. After his retirement, Mearns and his wife settled in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Betty Mearns died in December 1974. He remarried with Virginia "Jidge" (McConnell) Torcom after the death of her first husband and lived with her at Fripp Island.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mearns, Fillmore K. 1915 births 1997 deaths Military personnel from Berkeley, California United States Military Academy alumni United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Joint Forces Staff College alumni United States military attachés United States Army War College alumni United States Army generals United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Military personnel from South Carolina People from Beaufort County, South Carolina