John M. Franklin

John Merryman Franklin (18 June 1896 – 2 June 1975) was a United States Army general and the president of United States Lines. During World War II he was the Assistant Chief of Transportation for Water Transportation. Early life John Merryman Franklin was born in Cockeysville, Maryland, on 18 June 1896, the son of Philip A. S. Franklin, a shipping executive, and his wife Laura Merryman. He was the nephew of Walter S. Franklin III, and the great nephew of Major General William B. Franklin and Rear Admiral Samuel Rhoads Franklin. He was educated at Middlesex School and Harvard University. On graduation from Harvard in 1918 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, he enlisted in the United States Army. He served on the Western Front during World War I with the Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces as a captain in the 301st Tank Battalion, and was awarded the British Military Cross. After the war Franklin returned to the United States, and went to work with the Norton Lilly & Company, a steamship agent based in Norfolk, Virginia, and rose to become the head of its India Department. In 1927 he left to join Kermit Roosevelt at the Roosevelt Steamship Company, where he became a vice president in 1931. The company merged with his father's company, the International Mercantile Marine Company, and with the United States Lines. In 1936, he succeeded his father as chairman of the board and president of United States Lines. He married Emily Stone Hammond; they had two daughters, Laura and Emily, and a son, John Merryman Franklin II. World War II