Frank S. Besson, Jr.

Who was Frank S. Besson, Jr.?

Frank Schaffer Besson, Jr., CBE was born on May 30, 1910 in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a West Point graduate and a Colonel in the Corps of Engineers . Frank S. Besson, Jr. graduated seventh in his class from the United States Military Academy in 1932. In 1935, he received a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His early career was noted for the role he played in the development of portable military pipelines, steel landing mats for airplanes, and steel treadway bridges. He is credited with the studies leading to the Army 's adoption of the Bailey Bridge, used extensively in all theaters in World War II.

He became Assistant Director of the Third Military Railway Service in 1943, and was promoted to Director the following year. As Director of the Third Military Railway Service in Iran from 1944 to 1945, Besson ensured the flow of war materials to the Russian forces through the Persian Corridor. He was promoted to brigadier general, becoming, at 34, the youngest general officer in the Army Ground Forces and Chief of the Railway Division.