A graveside service with military honors in the West Point Cemetery on 15 June 1965 closed the distinguished career of Brigadier General Vincent Joseph Esposito, USA, Ret. Ten days later his wife Eleanor was buried in the same historic location, her death having followed his by only twelve days. It was symbolic of their devotion to each other and to the Military Academy, and also of their long residence in this beloved community, that they were buried so closely together in time and place at West Point.
Known always to his classmates and throughout the Army as “Mike,” Vincent Joseph Esposito was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1900. Graduating from Brooklyn’s Commercial High School in 1918, he enrolled in night classes to study naval architecture at Cooper Union.
In late 1918 he began a very short tour as a member of the Student Army Training Corps prior to its disbanding in December of that same year. Four months later he reenlisted in the Regular Army and served with the Army of Occupation in Germany until the end of the year. Demonstrating characteristic qualities of leadership from the outset, he rose from private to battalion sergeant-major in seven months.
Back in the States, Sergeant-Major Esposito was assigned to Fort Dix, New Jersey, where he served in turn with the 45th and the 23d Infantry Regiments. In June of 1921 his enlisted service was terminated by an appointment to the United States Military Academy.
Mike graduated 16th in the Class of 1925 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. A year later, after attending the primary flying school at Brooks Field, Texas, he decided to transfer to the Corps of Engineers.
For the next few years the young engineer officer served in a variety of troop and construction assignments which provided the background in practical engineering which would prove so professionally valuable to him thereafter. There was also the opportunity, which he took advantage of, to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
It was on 22 June 1932 that Lieutenant Esposito, Corps of Engineers, married Eleanor G. Vinyard, and thus began a marriage that was to be a notably devoted and happy one for 33 years.
Following an extremely challenging tour of duty with the St. Louis Engineer District, during which Mike played a prominent role in fighting the famous 1937 flood, he was selected to attend the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Kansas. After a year of study there, he was assigned to West Point as an instructor in the Department of Civil and Military Engineering. The outbreak of World War II found him an assistant professor in that same Department which he was later to head.
In January of 1943, Mike—now a colonel left the Academy to assume command of an amphibious engineer regiment at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, but a change in plans at the War Department led to cancellation of the activation of his unit, and he was reassigned to duty on the War Department General Staff. For the remainder of the war years he served with the Logistics Group of the Operations Division. War Department General Staff. In a succession of far-reaching staff actions Mike led the way in solving the complex logistics problems faced by the United States on two widely separated fronts during World War II. He was awarded the Legion of Merit twice and the Army Commendation Ribbon twice between 1943 and 1946.
Colonel Esposito also represented the War Department General Staff as logistics advisor at the key international conferences held between heads of state at Quebec, Malta, Yalta, and Potsdam. Promoted to brigadier general in 1945, he became the senior Army member of the Joint Logistics Plans Committee where he pioneered many of the joint planning concepts that are still being followed. In 1946 he was selected as one of the original members of the faculty of the National War College and served there until his appointment in 1947 as Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Military Art and Engineering at the Military Academy.
He continued in this career as professor until his retirement in 1963—with the rank of brigadier general. During these sixteen years his activities as an author and speaker established him as the country’s foremost educator in the field of military history. His West Point Atlas of American Wars, published in 1959, introduced a revolutionary new concept in the teaching of the history of the military art. This widely acclaimed work was followed by an equally successful text on the Napoleonic campaigns.
In 1956 Colonel Esposito was appointed Head of the Department of Military Art and Engineering. He will be remembered for his pioneering work in the development of teaching methods in military history, and for the part he played in bringing the course content of his department to a position of national prominence. Ills concepts of leadership and his teaching methods exerted profound influence on the professional development of thousands of cadets who were students during his tenure. His influence also extended well beyond the Military Academy, for, with his extensive knowledge and professional reputation, he was much in demand as a consultant and advisor in the defense Establishment and in academic circles throughout the United States.
Just how extensive these services were is revealed in the following extract from the general order published at West Point on 24 October 1963, announcing the retirement of Colonel Esposito and his placement on the retired list as brigadier general on 1 November 1963:
“While at the Military Academy, Colonel Esposito served as consultant for the Department of Defense Weapons Systems Evaluation Group; as a member of the President’s Defense Study Group, of the National Defense Seminar at the Naval War College, and of the Secretary of the Army’s Historical Advisory Committee. He has been Vice President of the West Point Alumni Association; member and trustee of the American Military Institute; advisory editor for Military Affairs for Encyclopedia Americana, Collier’s Encyclopedia, and The American College Dictionary; member of the Society of American Military Engineers, of the Air Force Historical Foundation, and of the U.S. Naval Institute. He was the co-editor of A Short Military History of World War I and A Military History of World War II; chief editor of the West Point Atlas of American Wars, the West Point Atlas of the Civil War, and co-author of A C.encral History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars, now in process of publication. He has had articles published in the Military Review; Military Affairs; The American Slavic and East-European Review; Ten Eventful Years, (Encyclopedia Rritannica), the Encyclopedia Americana, World Book Encyclopedia, and the Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute. He has lectured before the National War College, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Air Command and Staff College, Air War College, Canadian National Defense College, American Military Institute, and the American Historical Society.”
Upon his retirement, General Esposito was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his long years of service as Professor and Head of Department. The citation reads in part:
"His professional skill, scholarly efforts, significant accomplishments, and dedicated devotion to duty, contributed in great measure to the development of officers in all branches of the Service, materially enhanced the prestige of the United States Military Academy, and earned for him the high regard of all associated with him. Colonel Esposito’s distinguished performance of duty represents outstanding achievement in the most honored and cherished traditions of the United States Army, and reflects the utmost credit upon himself and the military service.’
After his retirement Mike and Eleanor lived in Milford, Delaware, until 1965 when the two died only 12 days apart. The couple is survived by three sons: Vincent J. Esposito Jr., ’56; Lieutenant Curtis V. Esposito, USA. Armor. ’63; Mr. Michael Esposito; and two grandchildren.
The distinguished pattern of Mike Esposito’s professional carcer was balanced by a warmth of personality and a sense of humor that always endeared him to his classmates and his colleagues. He was gentle and self-effacing in manner, shrewd and quietly witty in comment, and always kind. Those of us who served with him on the Academic Board can recall how he would listen attentively until all had had their say, and then, in his own unassuming way, offer a penetrating analysis that was likely to come closest to the heart of the problem. We remember also his gift of “the light touch,” his sympathetic humor, and his patient understanding. Beneath these appealing traits of personality was an exceptionally deep understanding of the objectives of the Military Academy, and a profound expertness in the art of educating young men to a career of selfless leadership and dev otion to duty. He led by example.
-C.P.N.