John F. Forrest
John Franklin "Jack" Forrest (June 20, 1927 – May 27, 1997) was a career officer in the United States Army and a combat commander during the Korean War and Vietnam War. Early life Forrest was born in Mexia, Texas, on June 20, 1927, the second son of Robert E. and Gertrude Klug Forrest. One of his ancestors was Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest. His father was severely injured as a United States Army Air Service pilot in World War I, and his brother Robert fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II and survived capture by the Germans. Forrest left Mexia when he was a young boy. The oil business led his father to move the family to Houston, Texas; Saginaw, Michigan; and Olney, Illinois. At Olney High School, he was a scholar and an athlete, joining the National Honor Society and playing varsity basketball and football. A swimmer, he worked summers as a lifeguard. Forrest was president of his senior class and the debate club, and voted "most popular." Military career Early career and Korea Forrest entered the United States Military Academy in 1945 during the closing days of World War II. As a West Point