William H. Rupertus

Major General William H. Rupertus

William Henry Rupertus (born November 14, 1889 in Washington, DC , † March 25, 1945 in Quantico , Virginia ) was a major general in the US Marine Corps . He became famous as the author of the so-called Rifleman's Creed (German: Creed of a shooter).

Military career

Early years

1907 joined Rupertus with completion of high school in the National Guard of the District of Columbia a. Three years later, he attended the United States Revenue Cutter Service School in New London , Connecticut , now the United States Coast Guard Academy, as a cadet . After graduating from this academy, he served as the captain of a cutter with the United States Revenue Cutter Service , a predecessor of the US Coast Guard. Due to his good accuracy in various shooting training courses, the US Marine Corps became aware of him and hired him on November 14, 1913 with the rank of Second Lieutenant . He then attended the Officer Candidate School , which he graduated best in his class in 1915.

First World War and the interwar period

During World War I , Rupertus was Chief of the US Navy Security Guard aboard the USS Florida , which was part of the 6th Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet . In October 1917 he was promoted to captain . He then took over a force specially trained for overseas operations in Quantico , Virginia. In the course of the US occupation of Haiti from 1915, Rupertus went to the capital Port-au-Prince in June 1919 with the 1st Provisional Brigade . There he was inspector of the military police and the gendarmerie d'Haïti , and later even the chief of police in the capital.

On his return to the United States , he spent 1924 and 1925 at the Field Officers School and Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . He was one of only three Marines who were allowed to attend this year.

The following year he taught as Inspector of exercise practice in the operations and training department at the headquarters of the US Marine Corps until 1929 after China was mixed. The American Legation Guard , stationed there since the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 , didn't have much to do in what was then still quiet Beijing , which allowed Major Rupertus to drill the sons of his colleagues who founded the Junior Legation Guard in his spare time . During this time, died in Beijing his first wife Marguerite Gorman and his two children Ann Rodney and William Henry on a scarlet - epidemic in the spring of 1930. Rupertus returned to America, where he held a number of positions before in July 1937 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel was entrusted with the command of the 4th US Marine Regiment, the so-called China Marines , of the 1st US Marine Division in Shanghai . There he witnessed the brutal methods used by the Japanese army to fight the Chinese military and the civilian population . This, and the attempt by Japan to capture the international quarter of Shanghai, cost Rupertus a lot of patience and a down-to-earth attitude in order not to intervene in the newly escalating war between Japan and China .

After returning from Asia, he commanded the Marine Barracks in Washington, DC , and the United States Marine Corps bases in Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , and San Diego , California until the outbreak of the Pacific War .

Second World War

After the US entered the war , Brigadier General Rupertus became deputy commander of the 1st Marine Division under General Alexander A. Vandegrift , which was preparing for its first combat mission in New River , North Carolina . During this time he is said to have written the Rifleman's Creed , so that his soldiers retained confidence in their armament.

Major General William Rupertus reads out congratulatory telegrams after successfully conquering an enemy airfield.

When his unit on August 7, 1942, the Allied offensive with the landing on the Solomon Islands -Insel Guadalcanal opened, Rupertus was responsible for the successful capture of the surrounding islands Tulagi , Gavutu and Tanambogo . During a ceremony on Guadalcanal, Admiral Nimitz presented him with the Navy Cross due to his previous services. After Vandegrift took over command of the newly formed First Marine Amphibious Corps in 1943 , Rupertus succeeded him as division commander. In the further course of the war he took part in numerous battles with the 1st US Marine Division as part of Operation Cartwheel . Because of his excellent leadership in the Cape Gloucester operations , he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal of the US Army by General MacArthur . His last combat mission in the Pacific War was on the Palau island of Peleliu .

After this campaign , which lasted over a month , Major General William Rupertus returned to the United States in November 1944 and assumed command of the Basic School in Quantico, Virginia. His activity there was to be short-lived. He died on March 25, 1945 after a heart attack .

His awards include a. the Navy Cross , the Navy Distinguished Service Medal with double oak leaves, a Presidential Unit Citation with a blue star, the Victory Medal , the China Service Medal , and the World War II Victory Medal .

Trivia

• William Henry Rupertu's body was interred in grave number 8437 (Section 6) in Arlington National Cemetery.
• His wife Marguerite Gorman, who died on February 25, 1930, and his children Ann Rodney and William Henry found their final resting place in the same grave.
• Him was in honor destroyer of the Gearing class named. The USS Rupertus (DD-851) was launched at Bethlehem Steel Company in Quincy , Massachusetts on September 21, 1945 and entered service on March 8, 1946. She remained in the US Navy until July 10, 1973 and received seven combat awards.

Web links

• Official Biography of the US Marine Corps
• Major General Rupertus and the Battle of Cape Gloucester (English)
• Biography from the Arlington National Cemetery pages