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William H. Holcombe El Paso, TX QCWA # 21908 Chapter 64 |
Colonel Holcombe entered military service a few months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. , in July of 1942. He graduated from West Point in June 1945 and served for 30 years in the Army, to include World War II, The Korean War and Vietnam.During his career, he earned a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech, commanded a field artillery battery of 90 men, commanded a guided missile battalion of 800 men, served as Deputy Commander of an air defense command of over 12,000 men in fourteen battalions, has been a student and the instructor at the US Army Command and General Staff College and also at the US Army War College. His final military assignment was as the commander of the Army Air Defense Test Board responsible for operational testing of air defense radar equipment and prototype air defense missile systems prior to formal purchasing by the US Army.
He has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters the Legion of Merit Metal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, five battle starts to his campaign ribbons, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, and the Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation.
Colonel Holcombe retired from military service in 1975 with the grade of Colonel. He and his wife, Ginny, settled in El Paso, Texas where they lived until they moved to Charlotte in 2013. Colonel Holcombe died on November 3, 2020 at his residence at Waltonwood.