F&M Stories
[Video] Thinkers, Doers, Diplomats: Maj. Gen. Richard P. Mills ’72 on the Spirit of Service
A graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, Maj. Gen. Richard P. Mills ’72 earned a BA in political science with a minor in history. He was commissioned in 1975 and spent more than three decades leading the Marines at every level, culminating in command of multinational forces in Afghanistan. For Mills, F&M was the impetus for a lifelong journey of learning and discovery. As he watches today’s Diplomats walking the same paths he once did, Mills sees a familiar pilgrimage toward a future of influential leadership and engaged citizenship.
Mills was recently welcomed back to campus for F&M’s new Leadership Lunch and Learn Series. A collaboration between F&M Athletics and the Office of Leadership Education, this series invites accomplished alumni and friends of the College to campus for conversations about leadership in practice, strengthening the enduring connection between all generations of Diplomats.
C. Ben Mills, Esq. was a 1943 graduate of F&M and a parent of Lt. Gen. Richard P.
Mills '72. During his World War II service as a US Navy reserve officer, he was one
of many alumni and students who corresponded with F&M President Theodore A. Distler.
A collection of those dispatches in the F&M Archives became known as the "Dear Prexy"
letters. Addison Pumphrey, a major gifts officer at F&M, met with Lt. Gen. Mills in
2024 to deliver a copy of one of his father's letters to President Distler. In the
letter, Ben Mills described the experience of storming the beaches at Normandy several
months prior during D-Day. In 1994 while still serving in active duty, Lt. Gen. Mills'
unit had the honor of supporting the 50th D-Day observance, and his father accompanied
him on his military transport to France.A Family Legacy of Leadership
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