Frank Ambler Camm (13 March 1922 – 17 January 2012) was a United States Army officer who served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York class of January 1943, he served in Europe during World War II with the 303rd Engineer Combat Battalion, which he commanded in the Allied occupation of West Berlin. After the war he joined the Manhattan Engineer District, and commanded an atomic bomb assembly team at Sandia Base, in New Mexico. He commanded the 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion in the closing stages of the Korean War, and served in the Vietnam War on the staff of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, directing the McNamara Line project. He was the Director of Military Applications at the United States Atomic Energy Commission as from 1970 to 1972, the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Operations from 1974 to 1975, and the deputy commander of Training and Doctrine Command from 1976 to 1977.
Early life
Frank Amber Camm was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, on 13 March 1922, the son of Frank Camm, an Army officer, and his wife Felicia Taylor. He had a twin brother, a younger brother, and a sister.The family moved about frequently, and he grew up in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the Territory of Hawaii, and the family farm, St Moor, in Amherst, Virginia.
World War II
On 1 July 1939, Camm entered the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. He was not the first member of his family to attend West Point; his great grandfather William Beall had graduated with the class of 1848. At West Point he lettered in high jump. Due to the outbreak of World War II, his class graduated early early on 19 January 1943, and he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, ranked 16th in his class. After an abbreviated engineer training course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, he joined the 303rd Engineer Combat Battalion at Camp Butner, North Carolina. His battalion was part of the 78th Infantry Division, in which his father, now a brigadier general, commanded the divisional artillery. His father once found some of his guns stopped in front of a flimsy-looking truss bridge. When he was informed “That tall, skinny engineer lieutenant says the bridge is safe”, he replied, “I know that engineer. Drive across!” The bridge did not collapse.
Camm was promoted to first lieutenant on 19 May 1943, and captain on 31 July 1944. On 5 March 1944, he had assumed command of C Company of the 303rd Engineer Combat Battalion. The 78th Infantry Division departed the New York Port of Embarkation on 14 October 1944, and landed in France on 22 November 1944. Camm participated in the final stages of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the crossed the flooded Roer River on 3 February 1945. After the capture of the Rhine bridge at Remagen, his company was the first complete company of engineers to cross the Rhine River. In the battles in the Ruhr pocket, he helped conduct three assault crossings of the Sieg River. Although only 23 years old, Camm commanded the 303rd Engineer Combat Battalion from 25 August 45 to 16 May 1945, participating in the Allied occupation of West Berlin. He was promoted to major in the Army of the United States (AUS) on 27 August 1945, but reverted to his substantive rank of first lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers on 19 January 1946. For his services with the 303rd Engineer Combat Battalion, he was awarded three Bronze Star Medals.