Lewis B. Puller

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Lt. Gene. Lewis B. Puller

Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller (* 26. June 1898 in West Point , Virginia ; † 11. October 1971 in Saluda , Virginia) was a Lieutenant General of the US Marine Corps (USMC), resulting from the non-commissioned officer career was highly served. He is one of the most decorated officers in US Marine Corps history.

Life

Youth and First World War

Puller, whose nickname "Chesty" from his barrel-shaped chest ( barrel chest ) originates, was a distant relative of the US Army General George S. Patton .

After his first year at the Virginia Military Institute , he gave up this in August 1918 and enlisted as a private in the US Marine Corps. The US involvement in World War I was just increasing at this time, so it can be assumed that he wanted to serve on the front lines. However, Puller was not transferred to the battlefields of Europe. However, he remained with the USMC and served an additional 37 years.

Interwar years

He was made Second Lieutenant in the Reserve on June 16, 1919 , but was placed in an inactive status ten days later, on June 26, due to post-war troop reductions.

Puller therefore signed up again in the same year as a team rank in the USMC. As a simple soldier, he took part in combat operations during the US military intervention in Haiti on Hispaniola with the Gendarmerie d'Haiti , which worked under an agreement with the United States . He took part in over 40 missions during the five-year clashes with the Haitian rebels.

In March 1924 he returned to the States and was sworn in again as a second lieutenant and thus an officer after he had graduated from the Marine Basic School in Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania ) . Then he was transferred to the 10th Marine Artillery Regiment in Quantico . In July 1926 he was transferred to the Marine Barracks in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii and in 1928 to San Diego , California .

In December 1928 Puller was under the US military intervention in Nicaragua in a division of the National Guard of Nicaragua displaced, where he also his first Navy Cross awarded. After returning to the States in July 1931, he completed the company officers course at Fort Benning , Georgia , until 1932 , then returned to Nicaragua and received his second Navy Cross for "conducting five consecutive combat operations against a majority of armed enemy forces ”.

After serving in Nicaragua Puller was the Navy Department in the US embassy in Beijing ( China than) commander of a unit of the China Marines assigned. He was then transferred to the USS Augusta , a cruiser in the Asian Fleet , commanded by Captain Chester W. Nimitz . Puller returned to the States in June 1936 and was assigned to serve as an instructor in the Navy Basic School in Philadelphia.

In May 1939 he was transferred back to the USS Augusta ; he was given command of the Marines' units on board. When he returned to China, he left the ship in Shanghai and in May 1940 became Deputy Commander ( XO ) of the 2nd Battalion of the 4th US Marine Regiment, the so-called China Marines , of which he later became the Commanding Officer (CO) .

Second World War

In August 1941, Puller returned to the United States and became commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, known as 1/7 , the 1st Marine Division , stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune , North Carolina .

His unit was assigned to the 3rd US Marine Regiment for a short time and transferred to the Pacific , in order to then fight again with the 1st US Marine Division on Guadalcanal . Puller received his third Navy Cross for his actions in the Battle of Henderson Field , Guadalcanal . In this battle, the 1st Battalion of the 7th US Marine Regiment was the only US unit to defend the only airfield on the island against a Japanese superior force of regimental strength . In the firefight on the night of 24-25. October 1942, which lasted over three hours, Puller's battalion suffered losses of about 70 men, while the Japanese lost over 1,400 soldiers.

After these events Puller became deputy commander of the 1st US Marine Regiment . In this capacity he received his fourth Navy Cross for his service in December and January 1944 at Cape Gloucester . In February 1944 he became regimental commander and led the regiment in numerous combat operations between September and October 1944, including the Battle of Peleliu .

In November 1944, Puller returned to North Carolina and became deputy commander of the Marine Infantry Training Regiment at Camp Lejeune. After the war he was commander of the 8th Reserve District in New Orleans ( Louisiana ) and commanded later, the Marine barracks in Pearl Harbor .

Korean War and Later Career

When the Korean War broke out, Puller was reappointed commander of the 1st US Marine Regiment, with whom he also participated as a colonel on September 15, 1950 at the landing at Incheon . He was awarded his fifth Navy Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir . In January 1951 he was promoted to Brigadier General and took over the post of Assistant Division Commander of the 1st US Marine Division. He stayed in Korea until May 1951 .

Puller subsequently took over various commands and was promoted to Major General and subsequently to Lieutenant General until his retirement for health reasons on November 1, 1955 .

In 1966 he applied to be reactivated to serve in the Vietnam War ; However, this was denied to him because of his age.

Lewis B. Puller died in 1971 at the age of 73 in Saluda , Virginia. He is buried in Christchurch Cemetery next to his wife, who died in 2006 at the age of 97.

Awards

Puller was one of the most decorated US Marines in history and one of only two men to receive the Navy Cross five times. (The other was U.S. Navy Commander Roy M. Davenport ). His awards include a .: the Distinguished Service Cross , the Silver Star , two Legions of Merit with badges of valor, the Bronze Star with badges of valor, the Air Medal with gold stars for the second and third awards, the Purple Heart , the Presidential Unit Citation with four bronze stars, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal with bronze star, the World War I Victory Medal with West India clasp and various awards from other countries, including the Haitian Medal Militaire , the Nicaraguan Presidential Medal of Merit with Diploma , the Nicaraguan Cross of Valor with Diploma , the Republic of Korea Ulchi Medal with Gold Star and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation with oak leaves.

Although the number of Puller's awards varies from source to source, the minimum number of awards is assumed to be 52.

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Lewis B. Puller was named after him. He is also the namesake of the USNS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) , the lead ship of a new class of supply ship (Expeditionary Mobile Base) which is also the platform and base of operations for expedition corps.

A common tradition of the US Marine Corps today is to end the day with the formula: “Good night Chesty, wherever you are!” (In English “Good night Chesty, wherever you are !”). It is one of the traditions in the well boot camps of the US Marine Corps or Officer Candidate School in Quantico that the recruits marching songs of the form "It was good enough for Chesty Puller / It is good enough for me" (Engl. "It was good enough for Chesty Puller / It's good enough for me too ”) sing.

Lewis B. Puller, Jr.

Puller's son, Lewis Burwell Puller, Jr. (called Lewis Puller) also pursued a military career. He lost both legs and parts of his hands in the Vietnam War. Lewis Puller ran unsuccessfully for the United States Congress and later wrote an autobiography called Fortunate Son , which won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize . He committed suicide on May 11, 1994.

Quotes

  • Puller's reaction to the encirclement of his troops: "All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us… they can't get away this time." (Eng. "Good! They are on our left, they are on our right, they are in front of us, they are behind us ... This time they cannot escape.")
  • "We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem of getting to these people and killing them " (Eng." We are surrounded. That simplifies the problem of getting these people and killing them . ")
  • "Remember, you are the 1st Marines! Not all the Communists in Hell can overrun you! " ( Eng ." Remember, you are the 1st Marine Regiment! All Communists from Hell cannot overrun you either! ")
  • "Take me to the Brig. I want to see the real Marines." (Eng. "Take me to prison . I want to see the real Marines .")

documentation

  • Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend (1976), documentary by John Ford , narrator: John Wayne ; 27 or 47 (long version) minutes

literature

  • Max Boot: The Savage Wars of Peace. Small Wars and the Rise of American Power. Basic Books, New York NY 2002, ISBN 0-465-00721-X .
  • HW Crocker: Don't Tread on Me. A 400-year history of America at War, from Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting. Crown Forum, New York NY 2006, ISBN 1-4000-5363-3 .
  • Burke Davis: Marine! The Life of Chesty Puller. 2nd edition. Bantam Books, New York NY et al. 1991, ISBN 0-553-27182-2 .
  • TR Fehrenbach: This Kind of War. The classic Korean War History. 50th anniversary edition. Brassey's, Washington DC 2000, ISBN 1-57488-259-7 .
  • Jon T. Hoffman: Chesty. The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC. Random House, New York NY 2001, ISBN 0-679-44732-6 .
  • Martin Russ: Breakout. The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950. Fromm International, New York NY 1999, ISBN 0-14-029259-4 .
  • Edwin H. Simmons: The United States Marines: A History, Fourth Edition. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD 2003, ISBN 1-59114-790-5 .

Web links

Commons : Chesty Puller  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ History of the 7th Marine Regiment ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed June 30, 2006 (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.29palms.usmc.mil
  2. ↑ http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/5829/americas-huge-afloat-forward-staging-base-in-action
  3. ↑ a b c d Carl P. Marchi: Always Faithful: A Marine's Tale . Pp. 50-59
  4. ↑ Documentation
personal data
SURNAME Puller, Lewis B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Puller, Lewis Burwell; Puller, Chesty
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lieutenant General of the US Marine Corps, most decorated US Marine
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH West Point , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 1971
Place of death Saluda , Virginia