John Willems

John Willems attended the US Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1925. After college he was commissioned a second lieutenant in field artillery and was assigned as a battery officer with the 14th Field Artillery at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

In 1931 Willems transferred to The Cavalry School at Fort Riley, Kansas, and completed the Advanced Equitation Course in 1932, and then returned to Fort Sill as an instructor in the Field Artillery School. General Willems participated in the North African Landings in World War II with General George Patton, and later was his Chief of Artillery for the invasion of Sicily, and Chief of Staff of the Provisional Corps which captured Palermo. Willems served as Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army Corps during the Italian Campaign, and during the postwar occupation of Germany, he was Chief of Staff of the Seventh United States Army, under General Geoffrey Keyes.

General Willems served as Military Attaché with the American Embassy in Roma, Italy, from 1946 to 1949, and was then assigned to the Plans Division of the Army General Staff in Washington. He was later Chief of Staff of the United States Army in Europe, based in Heidelberg, Germany. Willems retired in December 1961. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster; and the Bronze Star Medal. He was appointed an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and was decorated by the governments of Italy, France, Portugal, Poland, and Peru.