General John Bruce Blount was a career U.S. Army Officer who, according to available records, was the only native-born, three-star general in Rhode Island history. Known by his middle name, Bruce, he was raised in Kingston, RI, and was a 1950 graduate of RI State College (now URI), where he excelled in both baseball and basketball, and was ROTC Cadetted Colonel. A highly decorated veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars, his army career spanned thirty-three years. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1983 and served as Chief-of-Staff of NATO Forces, while stationed in Naples, Italy.