William C. Gribble Jr. (born May 24, 1917, in

Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County, Michigan, Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on U.S. Route 2 in Michigan, US Highway 2 across the Montreal River (Wisconsin-Michig ...

– June 2, 1979) graduated from the

United States Military Academy 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 1941 and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. During

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 ...

, he served on the staff of the 340th Engineer General Service Regiment as it first built a section of the Alaska Highway in western Canada and later assisted MacArthur's drive 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 ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. At the end of the war he commanded the 118th Engineer Combat Battalion, U.S. 43d Infantry Division. Gribble then worked in the Los Alamos laboratory and in the Reactor Development Division of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. As Alaska District Engineer he oversaw construction of a nuclear power plant at

Fort Greely Fort Greely is a United States Army launch site for anti-ballistic missiles located about southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska. It is also the home of the Cold Regions Test Center (CRTC), as Fort Greely is one of the coldest areas ...

, Alaska. He headed the Army's nuclear power program in 1960–61. In 1963 he was the Corps' North Central Division Engineer. Gribble's scientific skills led to his service as Director of Research and Development in the U.S. Army Materiel Command in 1964-66 and as the Army's Chief of Research and Development in 1971–73. In 1969-70 he commanded the Army Engineer Center and

Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir ( ) is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir (plantation), Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Lord ...

and was Commandant of the Army Engineer School. He became Chief of Engineers in 1973, and retired in 1976. Gribble received a master's degree in physical science from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1948 and an honorary doctorate in engineering from

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...

. He was also an honorary member of the United Kingdom's Institute of Royal Engineers. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal with

Oak Leaf Cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

, the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Brazilian Order of Military Merit. General Gribble died at

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, on June 2, 1979. He is interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Trivia

*On May 2, 1975, at a ceremony commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Corps, General Gribble began the tradition of the

Gold Castles Gold Castles is the name of the Carat (purity), 14K gold insignia pin handed down from General Douglas MacArthur to his chief engineer Major General Leif J. Sverdrup in 1945, who established a tradition in 1975 that it shall be given to each succe ...

insignia of General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

(who began his career serving the Corps) to be worn by the Chief of Engineers, forming the basis for the current "Castle" logo of the Corps as well.

References

*''This article contains

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text from'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gribble, William C. 1917 births 1979 deaths United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel People from Ironwood, Michigan United States Army generals United States Military Academy alumni United States Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Burials at Arlington National Cemetery United States Army Corps of Engineers Chiefs of Engineers Military personnel from Michigan