It’s a sad day. We have all had them. But for me, it’s very sad. Yesterday morning I learned Lieutenant General (Retired) Thomas G. Rhame (US Army) passed away. He had bravely fought a long-term illness and did so with the same determination and positive outlook that typified his years of service as a soldier in war and peace. Tom Rhame was my Division Commander during the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm). He led the 1st Infantry Division—the “Big Red One”—as we spearheaded the VII (US) Corps’ ground attack into Iraq in February 1991.
Those of us who served with Tom Rhame knew him not by what he said, but by what he did. Because doing was far more important to him than talking about doing. From the first day I met him in 1989, I knew he was all business. And that business meant preparing for combat.
Indeed, when the Iraqis invaded Kuwait in the summer of 1990, General Rhame had us all “leaning forward in the foxhole” in the event the Division was called upon to deploy to the Middle East. Some thought that was an unlikely scenario given our location in the middle of the United States. The last war we thought we would fight would be in the Middle East. After all, our primary mission was to reinforce European-based US divisions if NATO was attacked. Surely those divisions on the adjacent continent with Iraq and others in America based nearer to seaports on the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico would be ahead of us. But Rhame thought otherwise. And he wanted to ensure we were ready to go if called upon. Sure enough, we were called. And Tom Rhame’s insight paid off.
On the desert floor of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait, his elan was infectious, as well as his keen focus on the mission at hand. We emulated him in the way we approached our business every day. Moreover, he understood the history of our great Division. He knew what those who preceded us during WWI, WWII, and Vietnam had accomplished, and reminded us of our heritage. He made clear to us as we proceeded from our ports of arrival to our battle positions in the desert that we were ready for what faced us and that we would do our duty. He never doubted us. We never doubted him.
In the years after his retirement, General Rhame kept the 1st Infantry Division close to his heart, particularly his devotion to remembering the names of the soldiers who lost their lives while serving in the Big Red One during combat. For him, that was personal. He understood the transcendent nature of why we do such things. To always remember and never forget. To memorialize and accentuate those who had given the “last full measure of devotion,” the words Lincoln used at Gettysburg when he lifted high the sacrifice of men who preserved our nation in times of deepest peril.
Those things mattered to Tom Rhame. And like his battlefield esprit de corps, that was infectious as well. Every year, the Officers of the First Division hold an annual reunion dinner first instituted by veteran officers of the Big Red One in 1919. In recent years Tom Rhame was reliably in attendance. But the last year was a tough one as he fought his battle with declining health. In April 2023, just two months ago, Lieutenant General Tom Rhame was present at the dinner at Fort Riley, Kansas to remind us, yet again, of our duty to preserve the memory of those who had gone before us. For Tom Rhame, that was not about him. It was about others. And that, my friends, is what moved him to the core.
Lieutenant General Thomas G. Rhame was every bit a soldier. He was every bit an officer. And he was every bit a warrior. I think our Army today would do well to highlight Tom Rhame’s life as an example of what it means to serve one’s nation tirelessly, thoroughly, relentlessly, and lovingly. And by that measure, he was an incomparable patriot and lived up to the motto of the Big Red One: “No Mission Too Difficult. No Sacrifice Too Great. Duty First!”
God Speed, Tom Rhame, good and faithful servant. You fought the good fight, you finished the race, and you kept the faith. Duty First!
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