John C. H. Lee
Rank Component Date
Second lieutenant Corps of Engineers 11 June 1909
First lieutenant Corps of Engineers 27 February 1912
Captain Corps of Engineers 3 June 1916
Major Temporary 5 August 1917
Lieutenant colonel Temporary 14 February 1918
Colonel Temporary 1 August 1918
Captain Reverted to substantive rank 15 February 1920
Major Corps of Engineers 16 February 1920
Lieutenant colonel Corps of Engineers 1 December 1933
Colonel Corps of Engineers 1 June 1938
Brigadier general Army of the United States 1 October 1940
Major general Army of the United States 14 February 1942
Brigadier general Regular Army 2 October 1943
Lieutenant general Army of the United States 21 February 1944
Major general Regular Army 27 February 1947
Lieutenant general Retired List 31 December 1947
Dates of rank
John Clifford Hodges Lee (1 August 1887 - 30 August 1958) was a career US Army engineer, who rose to the rank of lieutenant general and commanded the Communications Zone (ComZ) in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, with the class of 1909, Lee assisted with various domestic engineering navigation projects as well as in the Panama Canal Zone, Guam and the Philippines. During World War I, he served on the Western Front on the staff of the 82d and 89th Divisions and earned promotions to major, lieutenant colonel and colonel as well as the Silver Star Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal and the Croix de Guerre from the French government. After the war, Lee served again in the Philippines, then became District Engineer of the Vicksburg District, responsible for flood control and navigation for a section of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. During the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, he directed relief work, attempted to shore up the levees, and coordinated the evacuations of towns and districts. He then directed various engineer districts around Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the Great Depression. As World War II began, Lee received a promotion to brigadier general and command of the Pacific coast embarkation zones, then of the 2d Infantry Division. Promoted to command the Services of Supply in the European Theater of Operations after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he helped support Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Northwest Africa, and Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. The Services of Supply were merged with the European Theater of Operations, United States Army to form ComZ, which supported the advance across France and the Allied Invasion of Germany. Lee received many awards for his service from various Allied countries. A man of strong religious convictions, he urged that African-Americans be integrated into what was then a segregated Army.