Lewis A. Pick

Lewis Andrew Pick (November 18, 1890 – December 2, 1956) was born in Brookneal, Virginia, and graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1914. He received his Regular Army commission in the United States Army Corps of Engineers on July 1, 1920. During World War I he served with the 23rd Engineers in France. He served in the Philippines from 1921 until 1923 and helped organize an engineer regiment composed of Filipino soldiers. He was District Engineer at New Orleans during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, and he helped coordinate federal relief efforts. Pick was named Missouri River Division Engineer in 1942, and with W. Glenn Sloan of the Bureau of Reclamation he co-wrote the Pick-Sloan Plan for controlling the water resources of the Missouri River Basin.

Colonel Pick was assigned to the China Burma India Theater of World War II in October 1943 and oversaw construction of the Ledo Road in India and Burma. His driving force enabled the difficult task to be completed in two and a half years. His men nicknamed the road "Pick's Pike".

After his return to the United States in 1945, he served again as Missouri River Division Engineer. On March 1, 1949, President Truman appointed him Chief of Engineers. Pick was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster. He died in Washington, D.C.

References

This article contains public domain text from "Lieutenant General Lewis A. Pick." Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers. Accessed on May 10, 2005.