Military Leaders From The United States

"Once a Marine should become required reading for the young men of our country. It is a success story which highlights the fact that there is still room at the top for men of courage, determination and the average educational advantages available to all our young people. General Vandegrift, perhaps more than any other Marine, added luster and glory to our elite Corps that had already won enviable battle honors during its long history of military achievement. His long and successful struggle to hold Guadalcanal against seemingly overwhelming odds will live long in military history. Many veterans of the Marine Corps and of the sister services who participated or were associated in the Guadalcanal episode of World War II will relive their experiences in reading Once a Marine. And this includes yours truly who, perforce, had to witness this struggle from afar."

"General Vandegrift held an honorary degree of Doctor of Military Science from Pennsylvania Military College, and honorary degrees of Doctor of Law from Harvard, Colgate, Brown, Columbia, and Maryland Universities and John Marshall College. In addition to the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, and Distinguished Service Medal, his decorations and medals included: the Presidential Unit Citation with one bronze star; Navy Unit Commendation with one bronze star; Expeditionary Medal with three bronze stars; Nicaraguan Campaign Medal; Mexican Service Medal; Haitian Campaign Medal with one star; World War I Victory Medal with West Indies Clasp and one star; Yangtze Service Medal; American Defense Service Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four bronze stars; American Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal. He received the following foreign decorations: Haitian Distinguished Service Medal; Medaille Militaire with one silver star; Honorary Knight Commander, Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire; Companion (Honorary) of the Military Division of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath; Cruz de Aviacion de Primera Clase, Peruvian Government; Abdon Calderon of the 1st Class; Knights Grand Cross in the Order of the Orange-Nassau with Swords; the Order of Pao-Tine (Precious Tripod) with Special Clasp; and the Legion of Honor (Grand Officer)."

"The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to MAJOR GENERAL ALEXANDER VANDEGRIFT UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS for service as set forth in the following CITATION: :For outstanding and heroic accomplishment above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the 1st Marine Division in operations against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands during the period from 7 August to 9 December 1942. With the adverse factors of weather, terrain, and disease making his task a difficult and hazardous undertaking, and with his command eventually including sea, land, and air forces of Army, Navy and Marine Corps, Maj. Gen. Vandegrift achieved marked success in commanding the initial landings of the U. S. forces in the Solomon Islands and in their subsequent occupation. His tenacity, courage, and resourcefulness prevailed against a strong, determined, and experienced enemy, and the gallant fighting spirit of the men under his inspiring leadership enabled them to withstand aerial, land, and sea bombardment, to surmount all obstacles, and leave a disorganized and ravaged enemy. This dangerous but vital mission, accomplished at the constant risk of his life, resulted in securing a valuable base for further operations of our forces against the enemy, and its successful completion reflects great credit upon Maj. Gen. Vandegrift, his command, and the U.S. Naval Service. /S/ Franklin D. Roosevelt"

"I was in two minds about leaving because that is only human if you have served something you love for forty years. In those years I saw my Corps expand for service in World War I. I saw it wither away during the doldrums after. I saw it grow to nearly half a million men during World War II. I had since fought its demise. I was proud to command some of the finest troops the world has ever seen. My men came from every walk of life, almost every race and creed. Welded together, organized into splendid regiments, divisions and corps, filled with the esprit traditional to the Marines, these young men who fought in Pacific campaigns from Guadalcanal to Okinawa left a rich heritage for their Corps and for their country. A grateful nation should never forget what they did. To the names of Valley Forge, Lexington, Concord, Gettysburg, Shiloh, San Juan Hill, Belleau Wood, St.-Mihiel and the Argonne they added Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. These proud names spelled sublime sacrifice. To those who fought so splendidly, to those who fell and to the scarred survivors, I can only speak the immortal words of John: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.""

"I could not have felt more strongly about this subject. One day an aide, Buddy Masters, came to me. "General," he said, "I'm worried about your eyesight which is getting worse. You read all day here in the office and then you take a couple of hundred Purple Heart certificates home, sign them at night and read some more. I have found a way to ease this." "How?" "The other day over at the Navy I saw a new machine bought for the Secretary. It writes his signature automatically, and it only costs a few hundred dollars." "Save the money," I told him. "If those boys can get wounded, I can find time to sign my name on their Purple Hearts.""

"We met in my cabin on the Argonne on the night of October 20- Maj. Gen. A.Archer Vandegrift, commanding the 1st Marine Division; Maj. Gen. Alexander M. Patch, who later commanded the Army troops that took over from the Marines; and Maj. Gen. Millard F. Harmon, the senior Army officer in the South Pacific. Also present, in addition to my skeleton staff and Ghormley's subordinate commanders, were Lt. Gen. Thomas Holcomb, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, who happened to be in Nouméa on an inspection tour, and Maj. Gen. C. Barney Vogel, who had just arrived as Commander of the I Marine Amphibious Corps. Archie Vandegrift and "Miff" Harmon told their bitter stories. It was quite late when we finished. I asked, "Are we going to evacuate or hold?" Archie answered, "I can hold, but I've got to have more active support than I've been getting." Rear Adm. Kelley Turner, commanding the Amphibious Forces Pacific, protested that the Navy was already doing its utmost. He correctly pointed out that the few bottoms we had were becoming fewer almost daily; we did not have the warships to protect them; there were no bases at Guadalcanal where they could shelter, no open water permitting evasive tactics; and enemy submarines were thick and active. When Kelley had finished, Archie looked at me, waiting. What Kelley had said was of course true. It was also true that Guadalcanal had to be held. I told Archie, "All right. Go on back. I'll promise you everything I've got.""

"On February 4 an invitation to the White House interrupted this schedule. My family and I were ushered into President Roosevelt's office. I had known the President, who with his charm made us feel completely at ease. With my wife and son looking on he read a citation and placed the Medal of Honor around my neck."

"Ernest King was something else again. Although I had met him in prewar years, neither I nor many people ever knew him. His prewar reputation- juniors liked to say he shaved with a blowtorch- raised him to almost demigod status in the eyes of some of his subordinates. Probably because the Marine Corps boasted its unique brand of toughness I wasn't much concerned about his reputation. Upon paying my first call to him as Commandant I did think we should understand each other, so before taking my leave I said, "Admiral, I want to tell you what I have always told seniors when reporting for duty. If one of your decisions is in my opinion going to affect the Marine Corps adversely, I shall feel it my duty to explain our position on the subject, no matter how disagreeable this may be. If you disagree, I expect to keep right on explaining until such time as you make a final decision. If I do not agree with that, I will try to work with it anyway. I say this, sir, because if you want a rubber stamp you can go to the nearest Kresge store and buy one for twenty-five cents." King stared at me a moment, then abruptly nodded his head- a characteristic gesture. In the event, I worked more closely with his deputy chief, Admiral Horne, his chief of staff, Admiral Edwards, and his planner, Admiral Savvy Cooke. [On a few matters] I was forced to go to him and I generally won my point."

"CINCUS to Vandegrift for his flyers- Many happy returns Sunday and congratulations- Keep knocking them off."

"Alexander Archer Vandegrift was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on 13 March 1887. In January 1909, after two years at the University of Virginia, he entered the United States Marine Corps as a Second Lieutenant. He saw very active service in the Caribbean and Central America between 1912 and 1923, taking part in the capture of Coyotepe, Nicaragua, in the former year, the occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1914 and pacification efforts in Haiti beginning in 1915. Major Vandegrift commanded a Marine battalion while stationed at Quantico, Virginia, from 1923 and in 1926 became Assistant Chief of Staff at the Marine Corps Base, San Diego, California. Service in China in 1927-28 was followed by duty in Washington, D.C., and at Quantico. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1934, returned to China in 1935 and reached the rank of Colonel in 1936. While stationed at Marine Corps Headquarters in 1937-41, Vandegrift worked closely with the Corps' Commandant and was promoted to Brigadier General in March 1940. He became Assistant Commander of the newly-formed First Marine Division in late 1941 and the Division's Commanding General in early 1942."

"Vandegrift commanded the 1st Marine Division -- the only trained amphibious assault troops available in the Pacific at the time. On Aug. 7, 1942, U.S. naval forces fired on a surprised enemy, driving the Japanese away from the airfield they were building and allowing Vandegrift's men an easy landing. U.S. Marines finished building the airfield and, on Aug. 20, the first Allied air units landed there. Over the next few months, Marines and U.S. soldiers held their position against repeated enemy attacks, despite low supplies, malnutrition and malaria. By November, the Allied land, air and sea assault had crushed the Japanese forces. On Dec. 9, Vandegrift turned over command of the forces to Maj. Gen. Alexander M. Patch. With that, the 1st Marine Division was relieved. The Japanese remained on Guadalcanal for another two months, pretending to bring reinforcements when they were actually evacuating surviving troops, according to the U.S. Department of Education. But the damage was done. Japan officially surrendered the island on Feb. 8, 1943. The U.S. victory set the stage for the ultimate defeat of the Japanese Imperial Navy. Vandegrift's tenacity, courage and resourcefulness were crucial in keeping his troops' spirits up during those months of fighting. For his inspiring leadership, he was given the Medal of Honor on Feb. 5, 1943, at a ceremony at the White House. Vandegrift is one of only three men to earn the Medal of Honor during the Guadalcanal campaign; Capt. Joe Foss and Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone also received it. Vandegrift was also the first Marine to earn both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross."

"In November 1943, Vandegrift commanded the 1st Marine Amphibious Corps in Bougainville, another battle in the Solomon Islands. When he returned in January 1944, he became the 18th Marine commandant. During that time, he rose to the rank of four-star general, making him the first four-star general to be commandant while still on active duty. Vandegrift retired in 1948 after serving in the Marine Corps for nearly 40 years. In his retirement, he co-authored a book about his experiences during World War II. Vandegrift died on May 8, 1973, in Bethesda, Maryland, after a long illness. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The general's service to our nation continues to be honored. In 1982, the Navy frigate USS Vandegrift was named after him. The main street running through Camp Pendleton, California, also bears his name."

"The Medal of Honor is often given for one act of valor, but service members can also earn it for many acts over time. One of the more prominent names to have done that was World War II Marine Corps Gen. Alexander Vandegrift, whose command during the Guadalcanal campaign in the South Pacific led to a critical U.S. victory. Vandegrift was born March 13, 1887, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He went to the University of Virginia before being commissioned into the Marine Corps as a second lieutenant in 1909. Vandegrift didn't see combat during World War I, but he did serve overseas later in Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico, Haiti and China. By 1942, when the U.S. had entered World War II, he had risen to the rank of major general. That summer, U.S. military leaders had learned that the Japanese were building an airfield on Guadalcanal, an obscure island in the Solomon Islands chain. It marked Japan's furthest advance toward the eastern half of the South Pacific, which was a great concern to the Allies. If Japan remained in control of the island, it could have imperiled vital U.S. supply lines to Australia and isolated that Allied nation. So, Guadalcanal became the focus of the first major U.S. offensive against the Japanese. For six months, Marines, sailors and soldiers took part in Operation Watchtower. Marines accounted for the largest part of the fighting force."

"Major General Vandegrift took his division to the south Pacific in May 1942 and led it in the long, harsh but successful campaign to seize and hold Guadalcanal between August and December 1942. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his "tenacity, courage and resourcefulness" during this operation. In November 1943, as a Lieutenant General, Vandegrift commanded the First Marine Amphibious Corps during the initial stages of the Bougainville campaign. Returning to the United States in late 1943, he became Commandant of the Marine Corps on 1 January 1944. He guided the Service's continued expansion through the rest of World War II, oversaw its contraction following the conflict, and successfully defended its existence during the difficult post-war years. Promoted to four-star General effective in March 1945, Vandegrift was the first Marine Corps officer to hold that rank while on active duty. General Alexander A. Vandegrift was relieved as Commandant at the beginning of 1948 and formally retired in April 1949. He died on 8 May 1973. The guided missile frigate Vandegrift (FFG-48), which entered service in 1984, is named in honor of General Vandegrift."

"In the matter of efficiency, I have only to refer you to the manner in which the Marines prepared for the war just past and to the manner in which they fought that war. A similar assessment for the manner in which the War Department prepared its forces for the conflict and of the manner in which its operations were conducted gives no slightest indication that an exchange of Marine specialists for soldiers would result in increased efficiency in the amphibious field. In fact, such an analysis might indicate that the country would not long remain in a position to wage amphibious warfare on the same professional basis as heretofore."

"The War Department is now contending that the amphibious efforts of the Marines, despite their century and a half of precedent, are an invasion of the Army’s sphere—an unjustified duplication. In that regard I wish to state that no such duplication exists. The amphibious specialty is the Marine’s sphere, and the Army is not and never has been in the amphibious field. It does not have the schools, the training facilities, the development agencies, or the continuity of experience which are essential complements to the maintenance and development of a full-time amphibious specialist force. Furthermore, those Army troops which took part in landing operations during the past war were actually applying the principles and using the techniques, methods and equipment developed by the Marine Corps and the Navy. In some cases, they were even trained by the Marine Corps. At the present time, the Marines are continuing their devotion to the study and perfection of their specialty—standing ready again to impart their knowledge, whenever needed, to any other element of the armed forces. So, if at this time the War Department undertakes to set up the mechanism to enter the amphibious field, a source of duplication will indeed exist, but the responsibility for that duplication will rest not with the Marines but with the War Department."

"I, for one, fail to perceive any possible compensation, however small, either in economy, increased efficiency, or in elimination or duplication. As regards economy, the Marine Corps has throughout its existence maintained a reputation for utmost frugality, sometimes bordering on penury. In the days of peace preceding the recent war, the United States was possessed of the world’s top ranking Marine Corps. In 1938, that investment in security cost the Nation about $1,500 per Marine. At the same time, the United States possessed the world’s eighteenth place army at an annual cost of over $2,000 per soldier. This is surely no indication of possible economies to be expected in compensation for the sacrifices of a proven professional fighting force."

"The heart of the Marine Corps is in its Fleet Marine Force, an organic component of the United States Fleet, consisting of the amphibious assault divisions which spearheaded our Navy’s victorious westward march across the Central Pacific, and the Marine Air Arm whose primary task is the provision of close air support for the Marines who storm the beaches. The strength of that Fleet Marine organization lies in its status as an organic element of our fighting fleet—prepared at any time and on short notice to extend the will of the naval commander ashore in the seizure of objectives which are vital to the prosecution of a naval campaign or in the protection of American interests abroad. This is the demonstrated value of the Fleet Marine Force, a powerful source of ready strength to the Nation, both in war and in peace."

"This is only the first loss which the Nation would suffer in the destruction or eclipse of its Marine Corps—and it is a loss which cannot be compensated by the part-time assignment of Army troops to naval purposes, for it is not the genius of a national Army to act as a highly mobile fighting force in instant readiness. Armies are ponderous. They organize and prepare for operations with care and deliberation and they have great staying power. While those are unquestionably admirable virtues, they still are not the characteristics which go to make up an effective mobile, amphibious fighting force, in peace or war—a force ready to act as a part of the fleet at any time. This, indeed, is the fundamental difference between the Marines and the Army and the effect of this difference has been manifest many times. There is a continuous record of instances in our national history where the Army could not move at all, or could not move soon enough to satisfy the needs of the situation—Cuba in 1906, Vera Cruz in 1914, Iceland in 1941, and Guadalcanal in 1942, are only a few typical examples which demonstrate the point I make. In each case, the Army arrived on the scene only after the objective sought by the United States had been accomplished by Marines. This is not offered in criticism of our Army, but as a factual statement of the effect of basic functional differences. These may be summarized in a simple statement—that no matter how hard it tries, a great national Army cannot be a specialist Marine Corps and still be an Army."

"It is a Marine’s duty to be ready any time, and I am pleased to be able to report to you that the condition of readiness prevails within the Marine Corps today. Our field forces are fully prepared to take the field at a moment’s notice. They are well trained and are prepared to carry out their functions with their customary efficiency, spirit and morale at a time when the responsible heads of other services are complaining of disintegration of fighting power accompanied by problems of low morale and deterioration of discipline. I can assure you that these conditions are not existent in the Marine Corps. The Marines are ready, and if it came to a fight today, I do not know who could replace them."

"The Marine Corps, then, believes that it has earned this right—to have its future decided by the legislative body which created it—nothing more. Sentiment is not a valid consideration in determining questions of national security. We have pride in ourselves and in our past, but we do not rest our case on any presumed ground of gratitude owing us from the Nation. The bended knee is not a tradition of our Corps. If the Marine as a fighting man has not made a case for himself after 170 years of service, he must go. But I think you will agree with me that he has earned the right to depart with dignity and honor, not by subjugation to the status of uselessness and servility planned for him by the War Department."

"I resigned 16 years ago from the Bush W. administration in opposition to Bush’s war on Iraq. Tragically another administration led by the same swamp monsters are propelling the U.S. into an unnecessary and horrific military confrontation with Iran. Trump probably does not know that Iran is a country of 80 million people that has withstood 40 years of sanctions from the U.S. after the Iranian revolution in 1979 and it has a military that has as much battle experience in Syria as the U.S.. Iran is a country that battled a U.S. sponsored war from Iraq from 1980-1988 and Trump probably doesn’t remember that Donald Rumsfeld handed chemical weapons to Saddam to use on Iran. Iran suffered over 1 million deaths from that war. Trump probably does not know that Iran is a large country, definitely not on the small scale of countries that the U.S. normally attacks, invades and occupies....Trump probably does not realize that the country of Cuba that seems to be a massive threat to the U.S. (or to the wealthy, influential Cuban-American exiles in Miami and South Florida) ...has been under the most severe sanctions and blockade the U.S. has put on any country, for almost 60 years... Trump’s advisers, headed by John Bolton, are taking over and orchestrating his policies that have quickly destabilized the world and has jeopardized the security of the United States."

"Americans should challenge policies of our country that are wrong and harm others."

"I think it’s the military industrial complex that needs more weapons sales, and the Russians have always been the bogeyman for the United States from the Cold War period. And even though we had 20 years of peace and tranquility with the Russians, now they are being vilified again. Not to say that it’s–you know, there are some things they’ve done I don’t care for at all. But the fact that now they are the enemy, and the increase in the number of weapons all the countries are manufacturing and selling, is big business."

"In her 29-year career in the Army and Army Reserves, Colonel Ann Wright served at the NATO subcommand Allied Forces Central Europe, and later as a diplomat in various posts around the world, but resigned from the U.S. government in protest of George W. Bush’s war on Iraq. She agrees...that NATO is an impediment to peace in Europe."

"The Virginia town of Charlottesville is a good place to remember. I was born there on March 13, 1887, and lived there until 1909 when I left for a new home, the Marine Corps. Forty years later I returned, then moved to Florida, my present home. Charlottesville is still a good place to remember. To me Charlottesville will always be a little town sitting quiet at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the home of some 8,000 people, dirt streets lighted by gas lamps, a yellow glow that on a winter evening peeped comfortably through the drawn drapery of the red-brick houses on East High Street- my route when I was hurrying to explain to my parents why I was late for supper."

"Marines have played a significant and useful part in the military structure of this Nation since its birth. But despite that fact, passage of the unification legislation as now framed will in all probability spell extinction for the Marine Corps. I express this apprehension because of a series of facts, which I feel must now be placed in your hands as an important element in your deliberations. They may be summarized in one simple statement—that the War Department is determined to reduce the Marine Corps to a position of studied military ineffectiveness—and the merger bill in its present form makes this objective readily attainable."

"This book is dedicated to my wife, Kathryn, without whose insistence, encouragement and patience this tribute to Marines would not have been written."

"We knew that America needed a shot in the national arm. Since December 7, 1941, our national heritage had yielded to a prideless humiliation. Half of our fleet still sat on the bottom of Pearl Harbor. The Philippines were gone, Guam and Wake had fallen, the Japanese were approaching Australia. What Admiral King saw, and what he jammed down the throats of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was that just possibly the mighty Japanese had overextended. He saw that just possibly a strike by us could halt their eastward parade. The only weapon he held, the only weapon America held, was a woefully understrength fleet and one woefully ill-equipped and partially trained Marine division."

"In spring, when Virginia smells sweeter than any place I have since visited in the world, we went blackberrying to bring back loaded pails which Henrietta, my mother's cook of long years, baked into fragrant and delicious pies. Summers we swam in the Rivanna River, a muddy little stream about two miles from town; sometimes we fished it from an old flat-bottomed boat and occasionally pulled out a perch or catfish."

"Robert Oliver Skemp (1910-1984), portraitist and muralist, studied at the Art Students League under Thomas Hart Benton, Frank Vincent DuMond, and Robert Laurent; at the Grand Central Art School under Harry Ballinger and Pruett Carter; and at the George Luks and Charles Baskerville studios. He enlarged upon this background with study in France and Spain. During his career he received a number of awards for his work, which is represented in numerous collections. He painted the portraits of many prominent personalities, including J. Paul Getty of Getty Oil Corporation, Chief Executive Officer Walter B.Wriston of Citibank, and Chief Executive Officer Donald T. Regan of Merrill Lynch & Company. His portrait of Maj. Ge. Hugh L. Scott is reproduced from the Army Art Collection."

"Japan and some of the other allies thought that we could never put more than three hundred thousand men in France. The achievements of our army and navy contributed much to the downfall of the empires of Germany and Austria and placed our country in the front rank of nations. The tremendous effort we were also able to put forth astonished the world, including ourselves, and served to make known to all that the United States will fight if necessary and cannot be attacked with impunity."

"As I look back over the circumstances of my life, I feel deeply grateful for the friendship, the cooperation and support I have received from those with whom I have been associated in and out of the army and in all parts of the world- contacts with the peoples of many races and colors by which our lives have been filled with joy and gladness, and which have contributed much to the delightful memories of a soldier's career."

"This belief in immediate translation to paradise is at the bottom of most of the troubles of Sulu and the Mohammedan Asiatic islands as it can readily be seen to be largely responsible for the contempt of death especially in dealing with the white man and the white man's penal laws. Even regarding battle, the Sultan of Sulu has said to me many times: "It will not frighten my people if I tell them, 'The Americans will fight you if you rob and murder.' They will reply: 'Well, what of that? If a man dies to-day he won't have the trouble of dying to-morrow.'"

"I soon found that the Sioux language was quite limited in the scope of its usefulness, but that the sign language of the Plains was an intertribal language, spoken everywhere in the buffalo country from the Saskatchewan River of British America to Mexico, east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Missouri, and I began this study at the same time with the Sioux, and have continued its study right down to this very day."

"His great service to the country was shown in the remarkable control and influence which he exercised in dealings with Moros, Mexicans and Indians which was invariably used in promoting peace. By personal effort he prevented many hostile outbreaks on the part of Indians. Blessed Are The Peacemakers"

"HUGH LENOX SCOTT was born at Danville, Kentucky, on 22 September 1853; graduated from the United States Military Academy, 1876; was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 9th Cavalry, June 1876, assuming that month a vacancy in the 7th Cavalry created by Little Bighorn battle casualties; was stationed at various posts in Dakota Territory and participated in the Nez Percé campaign, 1877; was promoted to first lieutenant, June 1878, and engaged in scouting and constructing telegraph lines, 1879-1882; married Mary Merrill, 1880; studied and became an authority on the language, customs, and history of the Plains Indians; served on an exploring expedition with the Geological Survey, 1884; was on recruiting service, 1886-1888; was on duty at Fort Sill and scouting in the Central Plains, 1889; served in the Sioux outbreak of 1890, being involved in actions at Porcupine, Wounded Knee, and White Clay Creeks; organized and commanded Troop L (composed of Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Indians), 7th Cavalry, at Fort Sill, 1892-1897; was promoted to captain, 1895; was in charge of Geronimo's band of Chiricahua prisoners of war, 1894-1897; was assigned to the Adjutant General's Department to work on the Indian sign language, 1897-1898; was promoted to major of volunteers and assigned as assistant adjutant general, I Corps, 1898-1899; became lieutenant colonel of volunteers and assistant adjutant general on the staff of the military governor of Cuba, 1899-1900; was military governor of Sulu Archipelago, Philippines, and commander of the Jolo military post, 1903-1906; was wounded in action at Crater Lake while campaigning against the Moros, November 1903; was superintendent of the United States Military Academy, 1906-1910; served in the Office of the Chief of Staff, 1911; dealt with problems of various Indian tribes, 1908-1915; was promoted to lieutenant colonel (March) and colonel (August), 1911; commanded the 3d Cavalry, 1912, and the 2d Cavalry Brigade, 1913-1914, on the Mexican border; was assistant chief of staff of the United States Army, 1914; was promoted to brigadier general, March 1913, and major general, April 1915; was chief of staff of the United States Army, 16 November 1914-21 September 1917; supervised the concentration of troops on the Mexican border preliminary to the Punitive Expedition; laid the foundations for mobilizing, training, and equipping the Army for World War I; espoused conscription over a volunteer system for the Army; was a member of the Root commission to Russia, 1917; retired from active duty, September 1917, but was recalled to inspect the battlefront in Europe; commanded the 78th Division and Camp Dix, 1918; retired permanently from the Army, May 1919; was a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, 1919-1920; died in Washington, D.C., on 30 April 1934."

"I am frankly an imperialist"

"It may be urged that, with the extensive sea−coast of the United States, a blockade of the whole line cannot be effectively kept up. No one will more readily concede this than officers who remember how the blockade of the Southern coast alone was maintained."

"The study of history lies at the foundation of all sound military conclusions and practice."

"The history of Sea Power is largely, though by no means solely, a narrative of contests between nations, of mutual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war."

"Dear Admiral: I am writing this on the train going 90 mi. an hour. I hope you will be able to read it. I received your letter enclosing an article by Constantine Brown. I wish I could get my hands on him and on the fellow who gave him the false information in the first place. I want you in the White House. I have the utmost confidence in you. You tell me what you think. While you and I don't see eye to eye on some things, we are always frank with each other. Don't you pay any attention to any lying stories the gossipers write. It's part of the political farce as it's played in this country. The opposition try to hurt me by hurting my friends. Please don't let it bother you. When I have anything to say to you, I'll say it to you. You are my friend and I am yours come hell or high water. Sincerely, Harry S. Truman"

"Admiral Leahy has largely disappeared from the national mind. Despite the enormous power he wielded during World War II, a war the United States fought to his strategic ideas more than any other and a conflict that still shapes America's identity, there are today no William D. Leahy foundations, public schools, statues, or libraries. As his greatest service was in the White House, the US Navy has remembered him more shoddily than they should. In 1962, a new guided missile cruiser, the USS Leahy (DLG-16), was named for him. It was the best ship of its class, and would serve with distinction into the 1990s, but it was hardly a vessel worthy of the highest-ranking sailor in American history. A simple marker, in a small park in Ashland, Wisconsin, sandwiched between Lake Superior and a highway, serves as one of America's few tributes to a man who, more than any other, helped America triumph in World War II. Leahy would have preferred it that way."

"King, in addition to heading the Navy, served as a member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, which also included General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, General Henry H. ("Hap") Arnold, Chief of Staff of the Army Air Forces, and, later, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the President. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the British Imperial Chiefs of Staff, when meeting together, comprised the Combined Chiefs of Staff, the senior executive body controlling Allied military operations. The CCS delegated most of the control of Pacific theater operations to the JCS, who for this function relied heavily on the advice of Admiral King."

"Fleet Admiral William Daniel Leahy's death was announced by the US Navy. On July 22 at noon, his casket was moved into the Bethlehem Chapel of the Episcopal Cathedral in Washington, DC, and for the next twenty-four hours his body lay surrounded by a naval honor guard before being brought into the nave for the funeral. His eleven honorary pallbearers consisted of his old friend Bill Hassett and ten naval officers who included his few remaining living friends from the Annapolis class of 1897. After the service, a motor procession brought the admiral to his final resting place in Arlington Cemetery. A nineteen-gun salute was fired, and then Leahy was laid beside his wife, Louise, where she had awaited him for seventeen years. Neither Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, nor George Marshall were in attendance. Newspapers marked his passing, but the articles were perfunctory and often mistaken. The New York Times noted how he had all but disappeared from the public mind, having lived as a "recluse" for the past for years. The Washington Post missed his importance entirely, writing, "Yet despite his inner position, his contribution to evolving defense concepts probably was not profound." When George Marshall died three months later, the reaction could not have been more different. President Eisenhower issued a public proclamation announcing Marshall's passing and extolling his greatness. He ordered that the national flag be flown at half-mast on all US government buildings, military facilities, and warships, both at home and abroad, and to be kept that way until after the funeral. both Truman and Eisenhower attended the funeral, and Truman described Marshall as "the greatest general since Robert E. Lee... the greatest administrator since Thomas Jefferson. He was the man of honor, the man of truth, the man of greatest ability. He was the greatest of the great in our time." The general's death was soon followed by a hagiographic biography, the foundation of Marshall scholarships, a Marshall library, Marshall public schools, Marshall awards- a whole industry to perpetuate his memory. To this day, historians claim, with scant evidence, that he determined US strategy in World War II."

"To King, Leahy, Nimitz, and naval officers in general, it had always seemed that the defeat of Japan could be accomplished by sea and air power alone, without the necessity of actual invasion of the Japanese home islands by ground troops. In 1942, 1943, and 1944, while the attention of most of the Allied political and military leaders was concentrated on Europe, and while the war against Japan was left largely to King to manage with what forces he could muster, the Pacific war had proceeded largely upon this assumption. With the approaching victory in Europe a larger amount of attention was concentrated on the Pacific by people who had not previously been too greatly concerned with the problems of that war, and an increasing amount of high-priced thought was devoted to it, some of which seemed to King not strictly pertinent. From the time of the Teheran Conference there had been the political consideration of Soviet intervention in the war against Japan, and the Army had been convinced that the use of ground troops would be necessary. Upon Marshall's insistence, which also reflected MacArthur's views, the Joint Chiefs had prepared plans for landings in Kyushu and eventually in the Tokyo plain. King and Leahy did not like the idea, but as unanimous decisions were necessary in the Joint Chiefs meetings, they reluctantly acquiesced, feeling that in the end sea power would accomplish the defeat of Japan, as proved to be the case."

"Above all these sailors was the Commander in Chief, Franklin D. Roosevelt- a remarkable leader indeed. Unlike Winston Churchill, Roosevelt never imagined himself to be a strategist. In general he followed the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which included King, Marshall, and his own chief of staff, wise old Admiral Leahy. Thrice at least he went over their heads- refusing to redeploy American forces into the Pacific in 1942, insisting that Guadalcanal must be reinforced and held at all costs, and inviting a British fleet to participate in the Okinawa campaign. He also threw his influence in favor of MacArthur's desire to liberate Leyte and Luzon against the Navy's wish to bypass them. He was a tower of strength to Marshall, King and Eisenhower against insistent British pressure to postpone OVERLORD and shift DRAGOON from Marseilles to Trieste. The Navy was his favorite service- I heard him once, in his true regal style refer to it as "my Navy"- and he did his utmost to build it up and improve its efficiency both before and during the war."

"During the closing days of 1944 King received the final promotion of his naval career. On 11 December the Congress passed a bill authorizing the appointment of four Fleet Admirals and four Generals of the Army. The President immediately named Leahy, King and Nimitz to the naval five-star rank (Halsey later became the fourth.), and Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower and Arnold to the corresponding grade in the Army. The Senate confirmed these appointments on 15 December 1944, and on 20 December- the third anniversary of his designation as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet- King took the oath of office as a Fleet Admiral in the United States Navy."

"Historians have concluded that Truman grew into the role of commander in chief, and eventually proved more than equal to the job. But in the spring and summer of 1945, the growing pains were evident- and the decisions he must confront during those early weeks were among the most important of his presidency. In his diary, Bill Leahy expressed concern about the "staggering burdens of war and peace that [Truman] must carry." Privately, according to Leahy's son, the admiral regarded his new boss as a "bush-leaguer." He had been accustomed to speaking his mind to Roosevelt, knowing that the late president was "captain of the team" and might accept or reject his advice according to his own judgment. But Truman did not yet possess the confidence or independence to buck his advisers. Truman was in their hands, Leahy told another aide, which meant everyone who advised the president bore heavy responsibility, and must be absolutely sure they were right. In his diary and his subsequent memoir, Leahy betrayed no sense of responsibility or culpability for the new president's relative ignorance. One is struck by this lack of self-awareness in a Washington statesman otherwise respected for his wisdom and good judgment. Whatever he knew or did not know about the state of FDR's declining health, Leahy had been at the late president's elbow for most of the last year of his life. He certainly knew enough to anticipate that Truman might be thrust into the role of commander in chief at any moment. Leahy was the White House chief of staff and the chairman of the JCS. What steps did he take to ensure that the vice president was properly briefed? Who else had that duty, if not himself? No adequate explanation has ever been provided for this breakdown in the basic procedures of sound constitutional government."

"To direct the actions of each supreme commander and to coordinate British and American military policy, ARCADIA established the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS), a joint British-American undertaking composed of the three British chiefs- General Sir Alan Brooke (CIGS); Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, the First Sea Lord; and Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal- and their American counterparts, Marshall, King, and Arnold. At Roosevelt's insistence the Combined Chiefs was headquartered in Washington, where its work was directed by Field Marshal Sir John Dill, who became the ranking British chief and Churchill's personal representative. Dill was joined in July 1942 by Admiral William D. Leahy, whom Roosevelt brought back from Vichy to become chief of staff to the commandeer in chief and, in effect, chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff. In retrospect, the establishment of the command structure to fight the war was an unprecedented achievement that reflected the extraordinary ability of Churchill and Roosevelt to saw off minor differences and find common ground. Roosevelt, unlike Lincoln, was also well served by his long familiarity with the Army and Navy and his ability to pick effective military subordinates. Leahy, Marshall, King, and Arnold were exactly the right men for the job, and they served in their posts throughout the war. In their own way they were ruthless taskmasters, loyal to the president, and, when pushed by FDR, worked effectively with their British counterparts."