Elmer Parker Yates (December 19, 1917 – August 14, 2011) was a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

who saw service in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, 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 Vie ...

. He was the younger brother of

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

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 ...

Donald Norton Yates. Yates was born in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

, to Archie O. and Gertrude A. (Wilson) Yates and attended

Bangor High School Bangor High School, a member of the Bangor School System, is a high school in Bangor, Maine, United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students in grades 9–12. It is Bangor's only public high school. Since its 2001–2002 sel ...

. He spent one year at the

Stanton Preparatory Academy Stanton Preparatory Academy was founded in 1925 to prepare young men for entrance to the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. The school was located in Cornwall, New York, five miles from W ...

Cornwall, New York Cornwall is a town in Orange County, New York, United States, approximately north of New York City on the western shore of the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was at 12,884. Cornwall has become a bedroom community for area t ...

, before entering the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

in 1937. Yates graduated second in the West Point class of 1941, winning three of the fifteen available academic awards, including the Robert E. Lee Saber for the highest standing in mathematics.''New York Times'', June 10, 1941; ibid, April 2, 1941 On graduation he entered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Yates did two tours of duty as a senior officer during the Vietnam War. In 1966 he was deputy chief of the Engineering Division of the U.S. Army Vietnam. In 1969–1970 he was director of construction in Vietnam, with the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. In 1966–68 Yates was chief engineer of the Corps'

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

District, and was also briefly chief engineer of the North Pacific Division, headquartered in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, and responsible for the

Columbia River Basin The Columbia River drainage basin is the drainage basin of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It covers . In common usage, the term often refers to a smaller area, generally the portion of the drainage basin that ...

. In 1971 he became director of installations in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics with the rank of major general.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Elmer P. 1917 births 2011 deaths United States Military Academy alumni United States Army generals United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Military personnel from Bangor, Maine Bangor High School (Maine) alumni