Walter Reed

Walter Lawrence Reed was a major general in the United States Army who served as Inspector General of the Army from 1 December 1935 to 23 December 1939. His father was Army Medical Corps officer Major Walter Reed, namesake of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He was born in Fort Apache, Arizona and moved to Washington, D.C. where he spent most of his early life. Reed fought in the Spanish–American War and traveled across the country and to the Panama Canal Zone. He then began working as an inspector during World War I and became the inspector of Base Section Number 5 in February 1919 then worked in the American Expeditionary Forces office. For his work he earned the Distinguished Service Medal. Reed attended various military schools before returning to the Inspector General's department. In 1935 he became the inspector general of the United States Army. He retired in 1940, but was recalled to active duty during World War II, filling a role in the War Department until 1946. Reed died in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1956.