|
Lieutenant General
Lewis "Chesty" Burwell Puller, colorful veteran of the Korean
fighting, four World War II campaigns and expeditionary service in China,
Nicaragua and Haiti, was one of the most decorated Marines in the Corps, and
the only Leatherneck ever to win the Navy Cross five times for heroism and
gallantry in action. Promoted to his final rank and placed on the temporary
disability retired list 1 November 1955, he died on 11 October 1971 in
Hampton, Virginia after a long illness.
The general's last active duty station was Camp Lejeune, North Carolina,
where he was commanding the 2d Marine Division when he became seriously ill
in August 1954. After that he served as Deputy Camp Commander until his
illness forced him to retire.
A Marine officer and enlisted man for 37 years, General Puller served at sea
or overseas for all but ten of those years, including a hitch as commander of
the "Horse Marines" in China. Excluding medals from foreign
governments, he won a total of 14 personal decorations in combat, plus a long
list of campaign medals, unit citation ribbons, and other awards. In addition
to his Navy Crosses (the next-highest decoration to the Medal of Honor for
Naval personnel), he holds its Army equivalent, the Distinguished Service
Cross.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and his fifth Navy Cross for
heroism in action as commander of the 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division,
during the bitter fight to break out of Korea's Chosin Reservoir area. The
latter citation, covering the period from 5-10 December 1950, states in part:
"Fighting continuously in sub-zero weather against a vastly outnumbering
hostile force, (the then) Colonel Puller drove off repeated and fanatical
enemy attacks upon his Regimental defense sector and supply points. Although
the area was frequently covered by grazing machine gun fire and intense
artillery and mortar fire, he coolly moved among his troops to insure their
correct tactical employment, reinforced the lines as the situation demanded
and successfully defended his perimeter, keeping open the main supply routes
for the movement of the Division.
During the attack from Koto-ri to Hungman, he expertly utilized his Regiment
as the Division rear guard, repelling two fierce enemy assaults which
severely threatened the security of the unit, and personally supervised the
care and prompt evacuation of all casualties.
By his unflagging determination, he served to inspire his men to heroic
efforts in defense of their positions and assured the safety of much valuable
equipment which would otherwise have been lost to the enemy. His skilled
leadership, superb courage and valiant devotion to duty in the face of
overwhelming odds reflect the highest credit upon Colonel Puller and the
United States Naval Service."
Serving in Korea from September 1950 to April 1951, the general also earned
the Army Silver Star Medal in the Inchon landing, his second Legion of Merit
with Combat "V" in the Inchon-Seoul fighting and the early phases
of the Chosin Reservoir campaign, and three Air Medals for reconnaissance and
liaison flights over enemy territory.
General Puller also fought with the 1st Marine Division in the World War II
campaigns on Guadalcanal, Eastern New Guinea, Camp Gloucester and Peleliu,
earning his third Navy Cross and the Bronze Star and Purple Heart Medals at
Guadalcanal, his fourth Navy Cross at Cape Gloucester, and his first Legion
of Merit with Combat "V" at Peleliu. He won his first Navy Cross in
November 1930, and his second in September and October 1932, while fighting
bandits in Nicaragua.
Born 26 June 1898, at West Point, Virginia, the general attended Virginia
Military Institute until enlisting in the Marine Corps in August 1918. He was
appointed a Marine Reserve second lieutenant 16 June 1919, but due to the
reduction of the Marine Corps after World War I, was placed on inactive duty
ten days later. He rejoined the Marines as an enlisted man on the 30th of
that month, to serve as an officer in the Gendarmerie d'Haiti, a military
force set up in that country under a treaty with the United States. Most of
its officers were U.S. Marines, while its enlisted personnel were Haitians.
After almost five years in Haiti, where he saw frequent action against the
Caco rebels, General Puller returned to the United States in March 1924. He
was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant that same month, and during the
next two years, served at the Marine Barracks, Norfolk, Virginia, completed
the Basic School at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and served with the 10th
Marines at Quantico, Virginia. He was then detailed to duty as a naval
aviator at Pensacola, Florida, in February 1926.
In July of that year, the general embarked for a two-year tour of duty at the
Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor. Returning in June 1928, he served at San
Diego, California, until he joined the Nicaraguan National Guard Detachment
that December. After earning his first Navy Cross in Nicaragua he returned to
the United States in July 1931, to enter the Company Officers Course at the
Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia. He completed the course in June
1932, and returned to Nicaragua the following month to begin the tour of duty
which brought him his second Navy Cross.
In January 1933, General Puller left Nicaragua for the west coast of the
United States. A month later he sailed from San Francisco to join the Marine
Detachment of the American Legation at Peiping, China. There, in addition to
other duties, he commanded the famed "Horse Marines." Without
coming back to the United States he began a tour of sea duty in September 1934,
as commanding officer of the Marine Detachment aboard the USS Augusta of the
Asiatic Fleet. In June 1936, he returned to the United States to become an
instructor in the Basic School at Philadelphia. He left there in May 1939, to
serve another years as commander of the Augusta ' s Marine detachment, and
from that ship, joined the 4th Marines at Shanghai, China, in May 1940.
After serving as a battalion executive and commanding officer with the 4th
Marines, General Puller sailed for the United States in August 1941, just
four months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. In September he took command
of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, at Camp Lejeune. That
regiment was detached from the 1st Division in March 1942, and the following
month, as part of the 3d Marine Brigade, it sailed for the Pacific theater.
The 7th Marines rejoined the 1st Marine Division in September 1942, and
General Puller, still commanding its 1st Battalion, went on to earn his third
Navy Cross at Guadalcanal.
The action which brought him that medal occurred on the night of 24-25
October 1942. For a desperate three hours his battalion, stretched over a
mile-long front, was the only defense between vital Henderson Airfield and a
regiment of seasoned Japanese troops. In pouring jungle rain the Japanese
smashed repeatedly at his thin line, as General Puller moved up and down its
length to encourage his men and direct the defense. After reinforcements
arrived he commanded the augmented force until late the next afternoon. The
defending Marines suffered less than 70 casualties in the engagement, while
1,400 of the enemy were killed and 17 truckloads of Japanese equipment were
recovered by the Americans.
After Guadalcanal the general became executive officer of the 7th Marines. He
was fighting in that capacity when he won his forth Navy Cross at Cape
Gloucester in January 1944. When the commanders of two battalions were
wounded, he took over their units and moved through heavy machine gun and
mortar fire to reorganize them for attack, then led them in taking a
strongly-fortified enemy position.
In February 1944, General Puller took command of the 1st Marines at Cape
Gloucester. After leading that regiment for the remainder of the campaign, he
sailed with it for the Russell Islands in April 1944, and went on from there
to command it at Peleliu in September and October 1944. He returned to the
United States in November 1944, was named executive officer of the Infantry
Training Regiment at Camp Lejeune in January 1945, and took command of that
regiment the next month.
In August 1946, General Puller became Director of the 8th Marine Corps
Reserve District, with headquarters at New Orleans, Louisiana. After that
assignment he commended the Marine Barracks at Pearl Harbor until August
1950, when he arrived at Camp Pendleton, California, to re-establish and take
command of the 1st Marines, the same regiment he had led at Cape Gloucester
and Peleliu.
Landing with the 1st Marines at Inchon, Korea, in September 1950 he continued
to head that regiment until January 1951, when he was promoted to brigadier
general and named Assistant Commander of the 1st Marine Division. That May he
returned to Camp Pendleton to command the newly reactivated 3d Marine
Brigade, which was redesignated the 3d Marine Division in January 1952. After
that, he was Assistant Division Commander until he took over the Troop
Training Unit, Pacific, at Coronado, California, that June. He was promoted
to major general in September 1953, and in July 1954, assumed command of the
2d Marine Division at Camp Lejeune. Despite his illness he retained that
command until February 1955, when he was appointed Deputy Camp Commander. He
served in that capacity until August, when he entered the U.S. Naval Hospital
at Camp Lejeune prior to retirement. After his death in October 1971, he was
buried in a family plot at the Christi's Church Cemetery, Middlesex County,
Virginia.
As already mentioned, the general holds the Navy Cross with Gold Stars in
lieu of four additional awards; the Army Distinguished Service Cross; the
Army Silver Star Medal; the Legion of Merit with Combat "V" and
Gold Star in lieu of a second award; the Bronze Star Medal with Combat
"V;" the Air Medal with Gold Stars in lieu of second and third
awards; and the Purple Heart Medal. His other medals and decorations include
the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon with four bronze stars; the Marine
Corps Good Conduct Medal with one bronze star; the World War I Victory Medal
with West Indies clasp; the Haitian Campaign Medal; the Second Nicaraguan
Campaign Medal; the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal with one bronze star;
the China Service Medal; the American Defense Service Medal with Base clasp;
the American Area Campaign Medal; the Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal with
four bronze stars; the World War II Victory Medal; the National Defense
Service Medal; the Korean Service Medal with one silver star in lieu of five
bronze stars; the United Nations Service Medal; the Haitian Medaille
Militaire; the Nicaraguan Presidential Medal of Merit with Diploma; the
Nicaraguan Cross of Valor with Diploma; the Republic of Korea's Ulchi Medal
with Gold Star; and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation with Oak Leaf
Cluster.
|
