Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg was the first Black U.S. Army officer to reach his rank and the only living person in modern history with a military installation named in their honor.
- Died: August 22, 2024 (Who else died on August 22?)
- Details of death: Died at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia at the age of 96.
- We invite you to share condolences for Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg in our Guest Book.
Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg’s legacy
Gregg joined the U.S. Army in 1946 after studying to be a medical laboratory technician. He hoped to gain more medical experience in the Army and eventually open his own clinic, but in the military, he discovered his calling. Not quite 18 when he enlisted, Gregg was too young to have fought in World War II, but he served in occupied Germany in the years that followed the war. As he settled into his Army career, he became a logistician, working to equip troops and bases with the things they need.
In 1966, Gregg was given command of the 96th Quartermaster Direct Support Battalion, one of the largest Army battalions sent to fight in the Vietnam war. He was later honored with the Legion of Merit for his service there. After the war, he continued his work in logistics, including serving as director of logistics for the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was while he was in that position that, in 1977, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, breaking new ground for Black officers in the Army.
Gregg retired from the military in 1981 yet continued to be honored for his 35-year career in the years afterward. In 2015, the U.S. Army established the Arthur J. Gregg Sustainment Leadership Award, given to leaders in Army logistics. Excelsior University gives an annual Arthur J. Gregg Award to an outstanding graduate who is an active-duty service member. And in 2022, it was announced that Virginia’s Fort Lee — where Gregg had attended officer training — would be renamed to remove the reference to a Confederate leader and instead honor Gregg and the late Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley, the highest-ranking Black woman officer in the Army during World War II. Fort Gregg-Adams was christened in 2022, making Gregg the only living person in modern history for whom a military installation was named.
Notable quote
“When I entered the Army in 1946, we had two armies — one Black and one white. And we lost some of the potential of those two armies because we did not have the ability to move people and to utilize them in the most effective way. But in late 1950, we integrated our Army, and I can tell you, it went more smoothly than most of us imagined it would. So we became one Army and a better Army.” — from a 2024 interview for the Exchange Post
Tributes to Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg
Full obituary: The Washington Post
