Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.

Born in Trenton in 1934, Schwarzkopf grew up between the United States and Iran before entering West Point and earning his commission in 1956. He served two tours in Vietnam - first as an adviser to South Vietnamese forces, then as a battalion commander - collecting three Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts, and a Legion of Merit along the way. He rose steadily through the ranks, commanded the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division, and helped lead the invasion of Grenada. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Schwarzkopf was running Central Command; his mission expanded from defending Saudi Arabia to assembling an international coalition that eventually topped 750,000 troops. After diplomacy failed, he orchestrated Operation Desert Storm: weeks of air strikes followed by a ground war that expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait in early 1991. He retired shortly after, turned to philanthropy, and died of pneumonia complications in 2012 - remembered as hard-driving, quick to anger, and uncommonly skilled at managing both armies and reporters.