Garrison Holt Davidson, 88; Army General

Lt. Gen. Garrison Holt Davidson, who commanded armies in Europe, cadets at West Point and strategic task forces during the Korean War, is dead at 88.

Davidson, who retired in 1964 and lived in Oakland, died Friday at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in that city.

During a four-decade career, Davidson headed the General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., the 7th Army in Europe and, after graduating from West Point in 1927, coached the Army football team from 1933 to 1938. He later returned to West Point as superintendent from 1956 to 1960.

During World War II, Davidson served as Gen. George S. Patton’s engineering officer in campaigns that drove German forces from North Africa and Sicily. In 1944, he was an aide to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and selected the site of the Cote d’Azur invasion in France.

Davidson next served as chief of staff to Gen. Mark Clark’s 6th Army, based at the Presidio in San Francisco, for four years until 1950.

He commanded several U.N. task forces during the Korean War in 1950 and 1951, then became a weapons systems analyst at the Pentagon.

He served as commanding general of the 7th Army in Europe from 1960 to 1962, and mobilized forces during the Berlin and Cuban missile crises.

Before his retirement, Davidson was commander of the 1st Army, responsible for active and reserve forces in New England, New York and New Jersey.