John Rogers Galvin, born on May 13, 1929 and died September 25, 2015, he was an American army general who served as the sixth dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a member of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century.
John began his service as an enlisted soldier in the Massachusetts Army National Guard from 1947 to 1950 before he received an appointment to United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
He later earned a Master of Arts degree in English from Columbia University and completed a fellowship at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971.
John rose through the ranks and served as commander of VII Corps from July 1983 to February 1985.
John’s career included the rare opportunity to command two different Department of Defense Unified Commands.
He served as Commander in Chief, United States Southern Command in Panama from 1985 to 1987 and Commander in Chief, United States European Command from June 26, 1987, to June 23, 1992.
During his tenure as Commander U.S. European Command he also served as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR).
During his time as SACEUR many stay-behind networks in Europe were dismantled, a process that started with the revelations by Italy’s then prime minister, Giulio Andreotti, who disclosed to the Italian Parliament the existence of a Gladio stay-behind anti-communist paramilitary network headed by NATO and present in most European countries.
John lived with his wife Ginny and had four daughters. One of his daughters, Beth, is a medical reporter for WAGA, the FOX affiliate in Atlanta.
The Galvin Middle School in Wakefield, Massachusetts, is named after him.
The United States Military Academy awarded John (Class of ’54) the 1997 Distinguished Graduate Award.