Calvin Augustine Hoffman Waller (December 17, 1937 – May 9, 1996) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Early life and education

Waller was born to an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

family in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

, on December 17, 1937. He graduated from Prairie View A&M University in 1959 with a bachelor's degree and later from Shippensburg College of Pennsylvania with a master's degree in public administration in 1978.

Military career

Waller spent 32 years in the

and served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. Waller held a variety of staff and command positions which included: chief of staff,

24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) The 24th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army that was inactivated in October 1996. Formed during World War II from the disbanding Hawaiian Division, the division saw action throughout the Pacific theater, firs ...

Fort Stewart, Georgia Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long and Tattnall counties. The population was 11,205 at the 2000 census. T ...

;

Commanding General The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitud ...

, 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized),

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army. Waller was the deputy commander-in-chief for military operations with United States Central Command (Forward), during the

Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. Waller's last duty assignment was as Commanding General,

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

Fort Lewis, Washington Fort Lewis was a United States Army post from 1917 to 2010 located south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington. Fort Lewis was merged with McChord Air Force Base on 1 February 2010 to form Joint Base Lewis–McChord. Fort Lewis, named after Meriwet ...

, before he retired from the military at the rank of

, on November 30, 1991.

Opposition to military service by homosexuals

Waller vehemently opposed, like most other military members, homosexuals serving openly in the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. During the 1993 U.S. Senate hearings on allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the United States military, Waller vigorously opposed it. He declared that "to compare isservice in American's armed forces with the integration of avowed homosexuals is personally offensive."

Later life and death

After retiring from the military, Waller moved to

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and served as the president and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of an environmental technology company, RKK Limited. He then became the senior vice president for the Department of Energy Programs for the ICF Kaiser Environmental and Energy Group. In July 1995, Waller became the Kaiser-Hill vice president for site operations and integration at

Rocky Flats The Rocky Flats Plant was a U.S. manufacturing complex that produced nuclear weapons parts in the western United States, near Denver, Colorado. The facility's primary mission was the fabrication of plutonium pits, which were shipped to ot ...

Environmental Technology Site. Waller died in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on May 9, 1996, at the age of 58, due to complications from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. He was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

, in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

. Upon learning of his death, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

said, "His rise from humble beginnings to one of the highest-ranking African American officers in the U.S. military through stalwart determination and a record of excellence served as an inspiration to minority and non-minority officers." Clinton also cited Waller's reputation as a "skillful and disciplined professional and a caring, enthusiastic commander."

Awards and decorations

Waller's civic awards include the Martin Luther King Jr. "Buffalo Soldier" Award from the

Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...

, the Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award from the NAACP and the "Star of Texas" award from the state of Texas.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Calvin 1937 births 1996 deaths African-American United States Army personnel United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Military leaders of the Gulf War Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) United States Army generals Prairie View A&M University alumni People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania alumni Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal African Americans in the Vietnam War