The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Lieutenant Colonel (Cavalry) John Millikin, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. As Executive Officer and Assistant Director of the Army General Staff College, at Langres, Lieutenant Colonel Millikin rendered conspicuous services. Later, as Chief of the Military Police Corps Division of the Provost Marshal General's Department, American Expeditionary Forces, by his ability, untiring zeal, and wound judgment, he aided in a material way in producing an efficient organization. He has rendered services of great value to the American Expeditionary Forces.[4]
Between the wars
After the war, Captain Millikin Graduated from the U.S. Army Cavalry School Advanced Course, and he returned to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as a distinguished graduate[3] ranking 30th out of 245 in 1926. He served as a faculty member from 1926 to 1930.[5] He then attended the Army War College from 1930 to 1931.[1]
Commanding General 33rd Division September 1942 to September 1943.[7]
The 33rd Division deployed to the Pacific July 7, 1943, in Hawaii the division was divided into different units along the island chain. October 18, 1943, Major General Percy W. Clarkson took command of the division.[8]
On August 23, 1944, the corps headquarters departed California for Camp Myles Standish in Massachusetts. It deployed for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on September 5, 1944. Upon arrival at Cherbourg, France, the corps was assigned to the Ninth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson (who, apparently, respected Millikin's abilities[9]), part of Lieutenant General Omar Bradley's U.S. 12th Army Group, and given the code name "CENTURY" which it retained throughout the war.[10] The corps headquarters was established at Carteret, in Normandy, and for six weeks, the corps received and processed all the troops of the 12th Army Group arriving over the Normandy beaches during that period. The corps also participated in the "Red Ball Express" by organizing 45 provisional truck companies to carry fuel and ammunition for the units on the front lines.[10]
Although it was intended to serve with Simpson's Ninth Army, III Corps was instead assigned to the Third Army, commanded by a fellow cavalryman, Lieutenant General George S. Patton, on October 10, 1944, and moved to Etain, near Verdun, and into combat. The reason for the transfer from the Ninth Army to the Third were simply because Patton was only commanding two corps instead of the usual three.[9] The corps' first fighting was for the Metz region, as it was moved to attack Fort Jeanne d'Arc, one of the last forts holding out in the region. That fort fell on December 13, 1944.[10]
The forces to be employed for the relief of Bastogne had been earmarked as early as the night of December 18, 1944, when Bradley and Patton agreed to move the new III Corps headquarters (as yet inexperienced and untried) from Metz to Arlon. The divisions given to Major General John Millikin (the 26th and 80th Infantry Divisions, and the 4th Armored Division) all had been out of the line or in a quiet sector when the Third Army was ordered north, and thus were selected almost automatically.[11]
In the south, Patton's Third Army was battling to relieve Bastogne. At 16:50 on December 26, 1944, the lead element, Company D, 37th Tank Battalion of the 4th Armored Division, reached Bastogne, ending the siege. Millikin received a second Army Distinguished Service Medal for his leadership in driving his forces through the German defenses to relieve the besieged troops in Bastogne.[12]
On February 10, 1945, Bradley moved III Corps, minus one division, to Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges' First Army control.[13]
Major General John W. Leonard, commanding the veteran 9th Armored Division, later recalled that on March 6, 1945, Major General Millikin, referring to the Ludendorff Bridge, told him over the phone, "You see that black line on the map. If you can seize that your name will go down in history."[14] In the last week of February, Colonel Charles G. Patterson, the anti-aircraft artillery officer for III Corps, led a meeting for brigade and group commanders during which they discussed what they would do if they were lucky enough to capture a bridge intact.[15]
On March 2, 1945, Major General Millikin assigned the 14th Tank Battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Leonard E. Engeman to the north flank and attached it to the 1st Infantry Division. The 9th Armored's Combat Command B attacked towards the Erft river, and Combat Command A advanced towards the Ahr river. They were to then move south to capture Remagen and Sinzeg before linking up with the flanks of Lieutenant General Patton's Third Army.[16]
Seeing the bridge intact, Brigadier General William M. Hoge, Commander of Combat Group A, waited for a platoon of the 9th Infantry Division to reach the far bank, hoping the bridge would stand, and then called Major General Leonard to inform him the bridge had been captured.
Millikin ordered that the 47th Infantry Regiment, part of the 9th Infantry Division, be motorized and dispatched to Remagen as soon as possible.[14] Millikin relayed the news to Bradley's 12th Army Group headquarters at 8:15 pm. Millikin attached the 7th Armored Division to III Corps so they could relieve the 9th Infantry Division, who were already crossing the Rhine. He also ordered the 2nd Infantry Division to relieve the 78th Infantry Division so it too could cross the Rhine and defend the bridgehead.[14]
Millikin relieved
On March 17, 1945, the First Army commander, Lieutenant General Courtney H. Hodges, relieved Millikin of his command, and Major General James Van Fleet took over, upon the recommendation of Bradley.[17] Hodges and some of his staff had complained about the poor control of forces on both sides of the bridge and the lack of information on troop dispositions. According to General William C. Westmoreland, then the chief of staff of the 9th Infantry Division, Millikin had never visited the eastern bank of the Rhine after the bridge's capture.[18] Hodges also complained later that Millikin had repeatedly disobeyed his orders including a directive to drive his forces north along the east bank and open a crossing for Major General J. Lawton Collins's VII Corps, and that he failed to attach enough infantry support to the 9th Armored Division.[17] These political observations are offset by the awarding of a Silver Star to Millikin for his brave leadership in exposing himself to enemy fire to personally speed his troops across the river. The Silver Star citation cited his "cool self-assurance and heroic deliberation" in leading his forces to establish a secure foothold across the Rhine"[19] For their part, Millikin and his staff could blame misunderstandings with the First Army headquarters, inadequate communications with the eastern bank of the Rhine, and a lack of roads, bridges, and service troops to accommodate the flood of units into a bridgehead that higher headquarters had never intended to be a gateway across the Rhine.
Within a month, Millikin assumed command of the 13th Armored Division whose commander, Major General John B. Wogan, had been seriously wounded.[20] Millikin, previously highly rated by Patton, the Third Army commander, formally objected to an unsatisfactory rating given him after his relief on May 7, 1945, by Hodges. Millikin affirmed that, "under the existing conditions my actions taken on the ground were justified in the light of successful results." Bradley noted on the efficiency report that Millikin's successor, Major General Van Fleet, "was better qualified to command the corps than General Millikin with his limited experience." Bradley added that Millikin's record should not be adversely affected by his relief.[21]
Postwar
Major General Millikin returned to the Regular Army on April 30, 1946, in his permanent rank of colonel, and was promoted to brigadier general on January 24, 1948. He retired on February 29, 1948, and was promoted to major general (retired) on June 29, 1948.
Major General John Millikin died in Washington, D.C., on November 6, 1970, aged 82.[22]
Taaffe, Stephen R. (2013). Marshall and His Generals: U.S. Army Commanders in World War II. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN978-0-7006-1942-9. OCLC840162019.
^Berlin, Dr. Robert H. (1989). U.S. Army World War II Corps Commanders: A Composite Biography. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. p. 11.
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