Richard S. Kem
Richard S. Kem (Richard Samuel Kem), known as Sam, was a United States Army major general. He was born August 9, 1934, in Richmond, Indiana, and died April 1, 2016, in Washington, D.C., at age 81. He served from 1956 to 1990, finishing as deputy commander of the Army Corps of Engineers and, earlier, as the Commander of the U.S. Army Engineering Center at Fort Belvoir. He also commanded the 577th Engineer Battalion in Vietnam, the 7th Engineer Brigade in Germany, and the Ohio River Division from 1981 to 1984.
Kem earned a B.S. from the United States Military Academy in 1956; an M.S. in civil engineering from the University of Illinois in 1962; and a master's in international relations from George Washington University. He also completed the Army Command and General Staff College in 1968 and studied at the Naval War College.
He married Ann Callahan in 1960. They had a daughter and two sons, including John S. Kem, who also served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and retired as a major general. After retiring, Kem lived in Arlington, Virginia, where he was Director of Public Works until 2004. Ann Kem died in 2003 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He remarried Adelaide Mary Brown in 2004 and gained two stepdaughters. Kem died in 2016 in Washington, D.C., after hip-surgery complications and was buried beside his first wife at Arlington National Cemetery on December 13, 2016. His awards included the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (twice), Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (twice), and the Air Medal.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:24 (CET).