Nancy Mace said Wednesday that her father, Army Brig. Gen. James Emory Mace, has died. He passed shortly before 10 p.m. surrounded by his family.
J. Emory Mace was among The Citadel's most decorated combat veterans and served as Commandant of Cadets from 1998 to 2006. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Service Medal and Purple Heart for his service in the Vietnam War.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism from Dec. 2 to 4, 1968, while serving with Company A, 2d Battalion, Airmobile, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, RVN. According to The Citadel Alumni Association, he was also the first commander of the Ranger Training Brigade and authored the first-ever Ranger Field Manual.
Mace was reportedly inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame in 2007. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and grandchildren. The loss lands in public view now because Nancy Mace put it there herself, and because the legacy he leaves behind reaches from Vietnam to The Citadel and the Ranger community.
The unanswered part is no longer whether the South Carolina congresswoman has lost her father. It is how the family and the institutions tied to his career will mark the death of a soldier whose record spanned battlefield valor, cadet leadership and the training of Rangers.
