A wreath-laying ceremony to honor Lt. Gen. James Gavin, U.S. Military Academy 1929 graduate, at his gravestone took place Friday at the West Point Cemetery.
(Below from left to right) In attendance to help with the wreath laying were retired Sgt. Maj. David Brzywczy, West Point Public Affairs; Larry Lenahan, a member of the Walter Hughes Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association and the Gavin family representative; Capt. Brian Martinez, an instructor in MX 400 Officership who served with the 82nd Airborne Division, 5-73 Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team from 2017-2020; and Master Sgt. Marcin Lajdecki, G-3 noncommissioned officer-in-charge.
Gavin is honored annually for leading the 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers in a combat assault on D-Day June 6, 1944 in Normandy, France. During World War II, he was often referred to as “The Jumping General” because of his practice of taking part in combat jumps with the paratroopers under his command.
He was the only American general officer to make four combat jumps in the war. Gavin was the youngest major general to command an American division in World War II.
Photos by Elizabeth Woodruff/USMA PAO