Lt. Gen. Thomas Kelly; Was Pentagon Spokesman

Retired Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Kelly, 67, the Pentagon spokesman during the Persian Gulf War who became a familiar face to millions of Americans. During the 1991 war, Kelly served as the director of operations for the Joint chiefs of Staff under the command of Gen. Colin Powell and was responsible for a daily press briefing. He also played a key role in the planning and execution of military operations during Desert Storm. Through his briefings, Kelly was viewed by reporters and television audiences alike as blunt, funny and totally believable. He first faced the news media in 1989, when he conducted briefings during the invasion of Panama. Born in Philadelphia, Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Temple University, where he joined the ROTC. During his 34 years in the military, Kelly served as commander of the U.S. Army Security Affairs Command, commander of Fort Dix, N.J.; director of the Joint Special Operations Agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in NATO as War Plans Officer, Allied Forces Southern Europe. Kelly also served as an operations officer in Vietnam, where his helicopter was shot down four times and crashed six times. He was wounded once. The much-decorated Kelly retired after the Gulf War and became president and vice chairman of Wing Group, which builds natural-gas-powered plants in foreign countries. On Tuesday in Clifton, Va., of cancer.