Thread: General Norman Schwarzkopf, Dead at 78

Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, KCB; August 22, 1934 - December 27, 2012) was a United States Army general who, while he served as Commander of U.S. Central Command, was commander of coalition forces in the Gulf War.

Early life

Schwarzkopf was born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Ruth Alice (n?e Bowman) and Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf. His paternal grandparents were German. His father served in the US Army before becoming the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, where he worked as a lead investigator on the 1932 Lindbergh baby kidnapping case before returning to an Army career and rising to the rank of Major General. In January 1952, Schwarzkopf's birth certificate was amended to make his name "H. Norman Schwarzkopf". This was done as an act of revenge against the upper class cadets at West Point because his father hated his own first name "Herbert" and when he attended West Point the upper class cadets yelled at him for signing his name "H. Norman Schwarzkopf". His connection with the Persian Gulf region began very early. In 1946, when he was 12, he and the rest of his family joined their father, stationed in Tehran, Iran, where his father went on to be instrumental in Operation Ajax, eventually forming the Shah's secret police SAVAK, as well. He attended the Community High School in Tehran, later the International School of Geneva at La Ch?taigneraie, Frankfurt High School in Frankfurt, Germany and attended and graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy. He was also a member of Mensa.

More @ Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Stormin' Norman!

One of the more competent men to attain that rank. Rip General.

Great leader