World War 2
Early during the Second World War, General Gillem was mostly stationed stateside. He was given command of the II Armored Corps (later redesignated XVIII Corps) and later the Armored Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Major-General Gillem commanded the XIII Corps, 9th US Army in the European Theater of Operations from September, 1944 to September, 1945. In June 1945 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. His corps came within 50 miles of Berlin, the closest of all US troops. He was selected to command the Armored Task Force that was scheduled to invade Japan, but Japan surrendered before the invasion plan was carried out.
Read more about this topic: Alvan Cullom Gillem, Jr.
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