Who was your Commandant?

[LCPLE3]

While I was serving from 75-79 it was General Louis Hugh Wilson, Jr.

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to

CAPTAIN LOUIS H. WILSON, JR.
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

for service as set forth in the following
CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Commanding Officer of Company F, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces at Fonte Hill, Guam, Marianas Islands, 25 and 26 July 1944. Ordered to take that portion of the hill within his zone of action, Captain Wilson initiated his attack in midafternoon, pushed up the rugged, open terrain against terrific machine-gun and rifle fire for 300 yards and successfully captured the objective. Promptly assuming command of other disorganized units and motorized equipment in addition to his own company and one reinforcing platoon, he organized his night defenses in the face of continuous hostile fire and, although wounded three times during this five-hour period, completed his disposition of men and guns before retiring to the company command post for medical attention.
Shortly thereafter, when the enemy launched the first of a series of savage counterattacks lasting all night, he voluntarily rejoined his besieged units and repeatedly exposed himself to the merciless hail of shrapnel and bullets, dashing fifty yards into the open on one occasion to rescue a wounded Marine lying helpless beyond the front lines. Fighting fiercely in hand-to-hand encounters, he led his men in furiously waged battle for approximately ten hours, tenaciously holding his line and repelling the fanatically renewed counterthrusts until he succeeded in crushing the last efforts of the hard-pressed Japanese early the following morning. Then, organizing a seventeen-man patrol, he immediately advanced upon a strategic slope essential to the security of his position and, boldly defying intense mortar, machine-gun and rifle fire which struck down thirteen of his men, drove relentlessly forward with the remnants of his patrol to seize the vital ground.
By his indomitable leadership, daring combat tactics and dauntless valor in the face of overwhelming odds, Captain Wilson succeeded in capturing and holding the strategic high ground in his regimental sector, thereby contributing essentially to the success of his regimental mission and to the annihilation of 350 Japanese troops. His inspiring conduct throughout the critical periods of this decisive action enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_H._Wilson,_Jr.

Who was Commandant when you were in the Corps?

[hrscowboy]

Leonard F Chapman 1969

[SGTBrentG]

Gen Paul X. Kelly
Gen Alfred M. Gray
Gen Carl E. Mundy

[Kegler300]

26th Louis H. Wilson, Jr. 1 July 1975 30 June 1979
27th Robert H. Barrow 1 July 1979 30 June 1983
28th Paul X. Kelley 1 July 1983 30 June 1987
29th Alfred M. Gray, Jr. 1 July 1987 30 June 1991
30th Carl E. Mundy, Jr. 1 July 1991 30 June 1995
31st Charles C. Krulak 1 July 1995 30 June 1999
32nd James L. Jones 1 July 1999 January 12, 2003
33rd Michael W. Hagee January 13, 2003 November 13, 2006

[Chumley]

Poolees: You will not be required to know or memorize all the USMC Commandants ever, but you'd better know the first and the current Commandants. Read below for some good trivia.

PS: When you get to Boot Camp, do not argue with your DI's, based upon about the technicalities below. They will educate you that Capt. Samuel Nicolas is the 1st Commandant, and that's EXACTLY what you need to know. You'd better memorize the rest word for word if you think you should utilize these facts. Someday you may win a board or two if you can display VERY sound knowledge on the "first" Commandant.

C



Since its birth in 1775, the Marine Corps has been led by 34 different men.

The first of these Marine leaders, Samuel Nicholas, technically never held the title of Commandant. His commission, signed by John Hancock, begins as follows:

IN CONGRESS. The Delegates of the United Colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Suffex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia, to Samuel Nicholas Esquire. We, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Patriotism, Valour, Conduct and Fidelity, Do by these Presents, constitute and appoint you to be Captain of Marines in the service of the Thirteen United Colonies of North-America, fitted out for the defense of American Liberty . . . .

The term "Commandant" did not come into use for over a quarter-century. Notwithstanding technicalities, Samuel Nicholas is considered the first of the lineage, the first Commandant.

These 34 United States Marine Corps leaders are listed below:

1 Samuel Nicholas 1775-1781 2 William W. Burrows 1798-1804 3 Franklin Wharton 1804-1818 4 Anthony Gale 1819-1820 5 Archibald Henderson 1820-1859 6John Harris 1859-1864 7Jacob Zeilin 1864-1876 8Charles G. McCawley 1876-1891 9Charles Heywood 1891-1903 10George F. Elliott 1903-1910 11William P. Biddle 1911-1914 12George Barnett 1914-1920 13John A. Lejeune 1920-1929 14Wendell C. Neville 1929-1930 15Ben H. Fuller 1930-1934 16John H. Russell, Jr. 1934-1936 17Thomas Holcomb 1936-1943 18Alexander A. Vandegrift 1944-1947 19Clifton B. Cates 1948-1951 20Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. 1952-1955 21Randolph M. Pate 1956-1959 22David M. Shoup 1960-1963 23Wallace M. Greene, Jr. 1964-1967 24Leonard F. Chapman, Jr. 1968-1971 25Robert E. Cushman, Jr. 1972-1975 26Louis H. Wilson, Jr. 1975-1979 27Robert H. Barrow 1979-1983 28Paul X. "PX" Kelley 1983-1987 29Alfred M. Gray, Jr. 1987-1991 30Carl E. Mundy, Jr. 1991-1995 31Charles C. Krulak 1995-1999 32James L. Jones, Jr. 1999--2003 33 Michael W. Hagee 2003--2006 34 James T. Conway 2006--

Note: On 16 March 1861, The Congress of the Confederate States of America established the Confederate States Marine Corps. On 23 May 1861, Col. Lloyd J. Beall (a West Point graduate who resigned his U.S. Army commission to "go south") was appointed as the Colonel-Commandant. Col. Beall served as Colonel-Commandant of the C.S. Marine Corps until the end of the American Civil War in 1865.


SFi
C

[maverickmarine]

Gen. Gray
Gen. Mundy

[Chumley]

Generals Gray and Mundy also.

[thewookie]

29th Alfred M. Gray, Jr. 1 July 1987 30 June 1991
30th Carl E. Mundy, Jr. 1 July 1991 30 June 1995
31st Charles C. Krulak 1 July 1995 30 June 1999

[Ed Palmer]

Randolph M. Pate 1956-1959

David M. Shoup 1960-1963

Wallace M. Greene, Jr. 1964-1967

Leonard F. Chapman, Jr. 1968-1971

[Zulu 36]

Generals Chapman, Cushman, and Wilson.

The PFT was changed to a three-event evolution versus a five-event during Cushman's tenure. Cushman was a bit pudgy and the joke was the new PFT would involve, "Three laps around the Commandant."

[FistFu68]

GENERAL LEONARD F. CHAPMAN~GENERAL ROBERT E. CUSHMAN

[RLeon]

30th Carl E. Mundy, Jr. 1 July 1991 30 June 1995
31st Charles C. Krulak 1 July 1995 30 June 1999

[Eric Hood]

Generals Wilson and Barrows. General Gray was our divsional CG and a helluva of a Marine.
OOH-RAH!

[jahhead88]

General Gray and General Mundy

[davblay]

General Chapman