William F. Tompkins (United States Army officer)

William Frazer Tompkins was born in Richmond, Virginia, on 22 September 1892, the son of Dr. Christopher Tompkins, a professor of anatomy and obstetrics at the Medical College of Virginia, and dean of the medical faculty there, and his wife Bessie McCaw. His grandfather, Captain Christopher Quarles Tompkins, was a graduate of the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York in the class of 1836 and half brother of Sally Louisa Tompkins. ==World War I==

Tompkins entered West Point on 14 June 1911, and graduated on 12 June 1915, ranked 16th in the class of 1915, which also included Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley. The class became known as the class the stars fell on because so many of its members eventually wore the stars of a general officer. Tompkins played polo on the academy team. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and was sent to the United States Army Engineer School at Washington Barracks, DC, as a student, and performed additional duty as junior military aide at the White House, during which he was promoted to first lieutenant on 1 July 1916. From 23 September 1916 to 11 January 1917, Tompkins served with the Mexican Expedition as an officer in the 2nd Engineers, after which he returned to the Engineer School to complete his training as a military engineer. He graduated on 14 April, just eight days after the American entry into World War I. He then became the adjutant of the 19th Engineers (Railway), with the rank of captain from 15 May 1917. The 19th Engineers went to France via England in August, and he went to the Western Front in command of a battalion of the 56th Engineers, a searchlight unit attached to the French 1st Army. He was awarded the Purple Heart, and promoted to the temporary rank of major on 10 September 1918. ==Between the wars==

Tompkins returned to the United States in March 1919, four months after the Armistice with Germany which ended the war, where he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Engineers, and married Elizabeth Hamilton, to whom he had become engaged while working in the White House. They had three sons. Tompkins was New Orleans District Engineer from 15 June 1936 to 15 July 1940. == World War II ==

Tompkins returned to duty with the Office of the Chief of Engineers, and was promoted to colonel in the Army of the United States (AUS) on 26 June 1941. On 30 July 1945, Tompkins went to Manila as the Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Army Service Command. After war ended the command moved to Yokohama. For his services he was awarded the Legion of Merit. Although he survived the war unscathed, his oldest son, Major William Frazer Tompkins Jr., who commanded of a heavy ponton battalion, and his second son, Lieutenant George Hamilton Tompkins, an Air Force night fighter pilot, were both killed. His youngest son, Christopher joined the United States Marine Corps, in which he attained the rank of captain, but was not allowed to go overseas owing to the deaths of his brothers. ==Later life==

After an examination at Walter Reed Hospital, Tompkins retired from the Army because of a disability on 30 June 1946. He accepted a position as executive director of the Board of Regents of Gunston Hall, Virginia. In this role , charged with the maintenance of the historic mansion. In September 1947 he returned to Richmond, Virginia, as Comptroller of the Medical College of Virginia, where his father, brother and maternal grandfather had been the dean. He was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Virginia Historical Society, General Society of Colonial Wars and the Military Order of the World Wars. He liked to spend his summers at a house he bought in Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, in 1943, and was involved with the Sandwich Historical Society, eventually becoming its president. ==Dates of rank==