Army & Navy: Family Custom

To Washington went Lieut. General John Lesesne DeWitt, stern commander of the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command when the West Coast shivered with Japanese jitters in the days following Pearl Harbor. Officials were cautioned to say nothing of his change of duty. Then somebody noticed that DeWitt's assignment was plainly and publicly listed in the new telephone directory. His new job: first commandant of the new Army & Navy Staff College for special training of higher-ranking Army, Navy and Marine officers in combined operations.

General DeWitt is one of three brothers, all generals, all born at Army posts. The others:...