By Daniel Payne
CNA Staff, Sep 3, 2024 / 12:08 pm
Arthur James Gregg, a convert to the Catholic faith who held the distinction of being the first Black American to achieve the rank of lieutenant general in the U.S. Army, died last month at 96.
According to an obituary published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Gregg died on Aug. 22 in Richmond, Virginia.
Born in South Carolina in 1928, Gregg enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1946 and served in a variety of roles both at home and overseas, including in Germany and Vietnam, until 1981.
During his tenure, he received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.
A convert to the Catholic faith, Gregg joined the Church at age 15 after being raised Methodist. He attended St. Benedict’s College (now Benedictine College) in Atchison, Kansas. The college honored Gregg during its commencement ceremony in May.
In 2023 he told the Leaven, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, that Catholicism “helped me to live my life better.”
“It’s a very practical religion,” he said. “It does not appeal a lot to the emotions but to practical life experience.”
“I’ve enjoyed my Catholic experience,” he added.
Late in his life Gregg gained further distinction when the U.S. Naming Commission opted to rename Fort Lee in Virginia after him in 2023. The base was originally named for Confederate leader Robert E. Lee.
Fort Gregg-Adams was also renamed after Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley, the highest-ranking Black woman to serve as an officer in World War II. The Virginia fort is the first American military base to be named after African Americans.
Until his death, meanwhile, Gregg was the only living person with a U.S. military base named after him.
Gregg and his wife, Charlene McDaniel, were married for 56 years until she died in 2006; they had two daughters together and Gregg had another daughter from a previous relationship.
