Retired Army Chief of Staff Gen. Fred Weyand, whose nearly four decades of Army service included leading the 25th Infantry Division to Vietnam, died Wednesday night at his Waialae home. He was 93.

After his Army career, Weyand served from 1976 to 1982 as corporate secretary and senior vice president of First Hawaiian Bank. He was also a trustee of the former Damon Estate.

“;Fred was an exceptional human being,”; said retired First Hawaiian Bank Chairman Walter Dods. “;He was a soldier's soldier and a leader with a common touch. I would have followed him anywhere, and he made everyone feel that way. I loved him and will miss him.”;

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said, “;Gen. Weyand was an outstanding military leader for our country, and he was a great friend personally. We are fortunate that Fred chose to spend his retirement in Hawaii and use his knowledge and experience to benefit our community.”;

Weyand, who served in three wars, participated in the Paris peace talks starting in 1969 in hopes of bringing U.S. troops home from Vietnam.

“;Vietnam was a seminal experience for me,”; he told a Rotary Club audience here in 2006. “;In the Paris peace talks, I sat across the table from negotiators who, by my standards, were amoral and without conscience—they did not value human life, other than their own.

“;My experience leading and training others in Korea and Vietnam tells me that Iraq and Afghanistan will be with us for a long time to come.”;

Born in California, Weyand graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a criminology degree and spent a year as a Berkeley police officer. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1938.

Dods said Weyand was one of the few officers to become chief of staff who did not graduate from West Point.

“;Gen. George C. Marshall was another,”; he said, referring to the architect of the post-World War II reconstruction in Europe.

During World War II, Weyand served in India, Burma and China as a special intelligence officer. In the jungles of northern Burma, he was on the staff of Lt. Gen. Joseph “;Vinegar Joe”; Stilwell.

During the Korean War, Weyand commanded the 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, and later taught tactics at the Army's infantry school and commanded a battle group in Berlin.

In 1964 he assumed command of the 25th Infantry Division and deployed with the Tropic Lightning soldiers to Vietnam 18 months later.

The division's operations including infiltrating and destroying the notorious network of underground tunnels at Cu Chi.

Weyand later commanded II Field Force Vietnam in 1967 and 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive.

As military adviser to Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Weyand participated in the Vietnam peace negotiations in Paris.

He later joined the headquarters of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, succeeding Gen. Creighton Abrams as commander in 1972. In that role, Weyand oversaw the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Vietnam.

“;In the Paris Vietnam peace talks, we signed a peace agreement that was fatally flawed,”; Weyand said in his Rotary Club speech. “;Our hopes for a peaceful settlement ended when North Vietnam overran Saigon with tanks and long-range artillery.”;

Weyand became chief of staff of the Army in 1974, serving until he retired in September 1976 and moved back to Hawaii.

He and his wife, Mary, have three daughters—Nancy Hart, Carolyn Harley and Laurie Foster—and a son, Robert.

With more than 20 years of membership in various Rotary clubs, he served as president of the Honolulu Rotary Club from 1998 to 1999. He was a 33rd-degree Mason and a member of the Scottish Rite, the York Rite and the Sojourners.

He was a director of the Honolulu Symphony and the American Red Cross, Hawaii Chapter.

He was also a member of the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program, which was instrumental in having the traveling replica of the Vietnam Wall displayed in Honolulu in January 1987.

Weyand was a lifetime member of the Association of the United States Army; the Air Force Association; the Military Officers Association of America; the 25th Infantry Division Association; the “;Go for Broke Association,”; 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment; the 3rd Infantry Division Association; and the associated 7th Infantry Regiment Association.

His military decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, five Distinguished Service Medals, the Silver Star, two Legions of Merit and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Funeral arrangements are pending.