Fred Clifton Sheffey Jr., 72, a retired Army major general who from 1978 to 1980 was commanding general of Fort Lee, Virginia, and its Quartermaster Corps Training Command and School, died of lung cancer July 25, 2000 at his home in De Soto, Texas.

General Sheffey, a decorated combat veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, served 30 years in the Army before retiring in 1980. He was wounded in Korea while serving as an infantry company commander with the 25th Infantry Division. He was a battalion commander in Vietnam during the war there.

His military decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantry Badge.

Fred Clifton Sheffey Jr. died July 25, 2000, at his DeSoto home after several months of treatments for lung cancer at Arlington Memorial Hospital. His family took the 72-year-old home under hospice care in late June.

Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. August 10 at the Army post chapel in Fort Meyer, Virginia. He will be buried the same day in Arlington National Cemetery.

A wake is scheduled Aug. 9 at the Greene Funeral Home, 814 FranklinSt. in Alexandria, Virginia. 

The general's latest illness was his third bout with cancer.

General Sheffey grew up in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. During his career, he served in three combat tours. He received the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

He is survived by his wife, Jane; two sons, Alan Sheffey of Annandale, Virginia, and Steven C. Sheffey of Herndon, Virginia; a daughter, Patricia Marshallof Elkridge, Maryland; and four grandchildren.

Donations may be made to the Arlington Cancer Center Memorial Fund.

Hall of Fame Member, Combat Commander 
Buried at Arlington National Cemetery 

Major General Fred Clifton Sheffey Jr., 71, a decorated Army veteran whose command experience included three combat tours in Korea and Vietnam, died July 25 at his DeSoto, Texas, home of lung cancer. His funeral was August 10 at Fort Myer, Virginia, followed by burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

A member of the Quartermaster Hall of Fame, he became the first African American officer to command Fort Lee, Virginia, the Quartermaster Training Command, and the Quartermaster School on September 29, 1977. 

His three combat tours began shortly after college graduation in 1950, as an Infantry Platoon Leader in Korea with the 24th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division. He was wounded in a battle documented in the 1953 book Back Down the Ridge by W.L. White. The mortar damage to his upper right hip resulted in 18 months of hospitalization and three major operations. After the extensive hospitalization, he was assigned to 
train Infantry troops. In 1953, he was detailed to the Quartermaster Corps.

In Vietnam, he was Battalion Commander of the 266th Quartermaster Battalion in 1966 and Commander of the 54th General Support Group in 1971 during a second tour of duty. Between two tours of duty in Vietnam, he was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics (ODCSLOG), Department of the Army, as Chief of the Base Operations Branch in financial management. In July 1972 upon return to the United States, he again was assigned to ODCSLOG as the Director of Financial Resources in the Pentagon. In 1973 he became director of Operation and Maintenance Resources (Provisional), and in May 1974 he was assigned as the Deputy Director of Supply and Maintenance. Immediately before assuming command of Fort Lee, Major General 
Sheffey was the Director of Materiel Management, US Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command.

Major General Sheffey was born August 27, 1928, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. He was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant in the Infantry after his graduation as a Distinguished Military Graduate from Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio, in 1950. He was an all-conference guard for four years at Central State University while playing varsity basketball and earning a bachelor of science degree in economics. His advanced education includes a master’s degree in business administration from Ohio State University, a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University, and attendance at the National War College, Washington, DC. During his 30-year Army career before his retirment in 1980, he lived outside of the continental United States for more than a decade while serving in Korea, Germany, France, Vietnam and Hawaii.

Major General Sheffey’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), Bronze Star Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Purple Heart and the Combat Infantry Badge.

Legion of Merit

Purple Heart Medal
 
 

Bronze Star Medal