Leon Benjamin Kromer, USMA 1899
Born:
Died:
"Roll with the punches" was the philosophy of Leon B. Kromer. While at West Point, Kromer was the captain of the 1898 football team and also played baseball. He returned in 1901 to coach both teams. Army football remained one of his passions throughout his life, and he was able to attend many Army-Navy games. After graduating from West Point, he was assigned to GEN Pershing’s staff during the Pancho Villa Expedition into Chihuahua, Mexico. He also served in WWI with the 82d Division and the 11th Cavalry Regiment. While Kromer was the commanding officer of the 11th Cavalry at the Presidio, he rode every day and insisted that his officers do the same. He couldn’t understand when an officer did not want to ride: "They were in the Cavalry, weren’t they?" After being assigned as an instructor at the Army War College in Washington in 1928, he was nominated by GEN MacArthur in 1934 to be Chief of Cavalry. He remained in that assignment until his retirement in 1938. Like many other officers, he returned to active duty at the beginning of WWII. Kromer retired again and moved to Vermont, where he bought a farm and began a major reforestation project that lasted 10 years. He died in Germantown, MD, in 1966 at the age of 90 and is buried at West Point. [Source: http://usmalibrary2.usma.edu/1899/classbios.htm ]
Genealogy:
His sons John Stotsenburg Kromer (#10135) and William Amnesley Kromer (#12564) are also graduates.
References:
AR
Cullum, 4, 5, 6A, 7