Oliver Dillard

Oliver Williams Dillard Sr (born September 28, 1926 in Margaret; died June 16, 2015 in Canton, Michigan) was a retired major general of the United States Army.

Oliver was the son of Stonewall Jackson Dillard, a teacher, and his wife, the former Josiephine Williams. He graduated as the valedictorian of his 1942 class at Fairfield Industrial High School and attended his father's alma mater, Tuskegee Institute, on scholarship. He was a member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps for two years, won the outstanding ROTC student award in 1943 and 1944, and served as a student instructor in his final year.

Though he was still enrolled in college, Dillard was drafted in 1945 and sent to basic training at Fort McClellan in Anniston that June. He was part of a group of black replacement troops that was stationed in Weißenburg in Bayern, a major magnet for displaced Germans in the aftermath of World War II. Dillard served as a company clerk in the 349th Field Artillery Group and was promoted to Technical Sergeant during that deployment.

Dillard's application to Officer Candidate School was approved and he was transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia for Infantry OCS training in January 1947. Upon graduating with honors in July of that year he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant.

He graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1958 and completed his bachelor of science at the University of Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. He went on to complete a master of science in international affairs at George Washington University in 1965 and he became the first African American to graduate from the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair that same year.

References

• Dillard Now General |date=March 18, 1972|work=The Afro American|publisher=The Afro American |accessdate=April 30, 2011
• News and Features author=The Bayonet |date=May 2, 2012|work=page A4|publisher=The Bayonet Digital Newspaper |accessdate=May 10, 2012
• The Forgotten Sable Officer |author= Colonel Stephen P. Perkins, U.S. Army, Retired|date=April–June 2012 |work=Pages 8-15|publisher=Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin |accessdate=January 19, 2014
• |title= War and Black GIs" Memories: Veterans of the action in Korea set out on a painful journey to erase a record of shame. The quest proves elusive." |author= Broder, John M.|date=November 15, 1989|work=Los Angeles Times|publisher=|accessdate=April 13, 2011

External links

• http://www.skytroopers.org/usmacv.htm Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1985/BJA.htm Operation Steadfast
• http://www.25thida.com/24thinf.html History of the 24th Infantry Regiment ("Deuce Four")
• Index of Research Collection for the 24th Infantry Regiment at the United States Army Center of Military History