Jackson Graham (June 27, 1915 – March 2, 1985) was a major general of the Army Corps of Engineers 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 ...

and was the first general manager for the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional public transit agency that operates transit services in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA provides rapid transit servic ...

(WMATA).

Early life and education

He was born in Mosier, Oregon, and during high school he joined his father, a bridge construction foreman on the construction of the main piers of the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

as well as several other projects. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

from

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

in 1936. He was student body president at OSU during his senior year and served in the

Reserve Officers Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

Military service

Finishing in the top 3 percent on an army exam, he won a regular army engineering commission. He served with two combat engineer units in the

European Theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allies of World War II, Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the ...

during World War II and commanded three heavy pontoon battalions at

Remagen Remagen () is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler (district), Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West Germany, West German seat of government. It i ...

. He gained the temporary rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

just days before

V-E day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

. During 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 ...

, he commanded two engineer aviation groups. In the early 1950s, he served as the Corps of Engineers' chief of personnel. Later in his career he was district engineer in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, and then in 1963 as a brigadier general he became commander of the Ohio River Division, in charge of all civil and military construction for 14 states. He became a major general in 1965 and was posted to Director of Civil Works. However, also in 1966, he underwent open-heart surgery to replace his

Aortic Valve The aortic valve is a valve in the heart of humans and most other animals, located between the left ventricle and the aorta. It is one of the four valves of the heart and one of the two semilunar valves, the other being the pulmonary valve. ...

and retired in 1967 from the army with full disability.

WMATA General Manager

Jackson and his wife, Mabel Lee were planning a retirement in the motor home when approached by WMATA Chairman Walter Tobriner and NCTA Administrator Walter McCarter about taking the position of General Manager. Accepting after repeated pleas and after satisfying himself that the subway was going to be built, he accepted and was sworn in on March 17, 1967. He retired in early 1976.

Honors

* Oregon State University Distinguished Service Award (1977) * Inductee into Oregon Stater Engineering Hall of Fame (1999)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Jackson 1915 births 1985 deaths Oregon State University alumni Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority general managers United States Army personnel of World War II