Otto Lauren Nelson Jr. (November 2, 1902 – June 25, 1985) was an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Biography

Otto L. Nelson was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. No ...

2, 1902, the child of Swedish immigrants. He graduated from 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 ...

at West Point in 1924 and was commissioned in the Infantry branch. In 1932 he took a Master of Arts from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1938 and took a Ph.D. degree from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1939. He was a history and economics instructor at West Point from 1929 to 1935, and from 1938 to 1941. Nelson was a member of the Army General Staff during World War II. He participated in the reorganizations of the Army command structure at the beginning of World War II and at the end of the war. Nelson documented those reorganizations and the history of the Army General Staff in ''National Security and the General Staff'' (Washington, DC: Infantry Journal Press, 1946). Nelson served as a major general from November 13, 1944 to May 31, 1946. Following his army service, Nelson was an executive with New York Life Insurance Company. In later life, he resided in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

. He died in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

on June 25, 1985, where he had been competing in a golf tournament. 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 ...

References

1902 births 1985 deaths United States Army generals of World War II United States Army generals Burials at Arlington National Cemetery United States Military Academy alumni United States Military Academy faculty Columbia University alumni Harvard University alumni New York Life Insurance Company {{US-army-bio-stub