List of United States Marine Corps tombstone lieutenant generals
This is a list of tombstone lieutenant generals in the United States Marine Corps. A tombstone promotion transferred an officer to the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade.
From 1925 to 1959, Marine Corps officers could retire with a tombstone promotion to the rank but not the pay of the next higher grade if they were specially commended for the performance of duty in actual combat before the end of World War II. The original 1925 authorization was limited to officers too old to be promoted to a higher grade, so those holding the highest grade of major general did not qualify for a tombstone promotion until 1938, when eligibility was expanded to cover any officer with a qualifying combat citation.[1] In October 1941, retiring major general James C. Breckinridge received a tombstone promotion to lieutenant general, the first Marine to achieve three-star rank.[2][3] Retired major generals John A. Lejeune and John T. Myers were advanced to lieutenant general in April 1942, after tombstone promotions were extended to officers who retired before 1938.[4][5][6]
Dozens of major generals retired with a tombstone promotion to lieutenant general. By January 1, 1957, 18 of the 21 living retired lieutenant generals—86 percent—had never served in that rank on active duty.[7] Congress stopped all tombstone promotions effective November 1, 1959.[8]
List of U.S. Marine Corps tombstone lieutenant generals
Each entry lists the officer's name, date appointed major general,[9] date retired and advanced to lieutenant general,[10] and other biographical notes.
A major general's date of rank, as listed in the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, often predated his actual date of appointment by several years. This was because the Navy had only one flag grade, rear admiral, which was divided into a lower half and upper half. Rear admirals advanced automatically from lower to upper half by seniority instead of selection, so the date of rank for a rear admiral of the upper half remained the date he was promoted to rear admiral of the lower half. Since rear admirals of the upper half ranked with major generals and the lower half with brigadier generals, the Officer Personnel Act of 1947 assigned major generals the same dates of rank they held as brigadier generals.[11]
Name | Date appointed major general [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] | Date retired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
John A. Lejeune | 1 Jul 1918 | 12 Nov 1929 | (1867–1942)[21] Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1920–1929. |
John T. Myers | 1 Oct 1931 | 1 Feb 1935 | (1871–1952)[21] |
James C. Breckinridge | 1 Feb 1935 | 1 Oct 1941 | (1877–1942) First Marine Corps lieutenant general. |
Charles F. B. Price | 1 Feb 1942 | 1 Oct 1945 | (1881–1954) |
Ross E. Rowell | 30 Jun 1942 | 1 Nov 1946 | (1884–1947) |
Julian C. Smith | 26 Aug 1942 | 1 Dec 1946 | (1885–1975) |
Henry L. Larsen | 28 Sep 1942 | 1 Nov 1946 | (1890–1962) |
James L. Underhill | 28 Sep 1942 | 1 Nov 1946 | (1891–1991) |
Keller E. Rockey | 28 Sep 1942 | 1 Sep 1950 | (1888–1970)[22] |
Samuel L. Howard | 28 Sep 1942 | 31 Mar 1953 | (1891–1960)[23] |
Ralph J. Mitchell | 28 Sep 1942 | May 1948 | (1891–1970) |
Pedro A. del Valle | 10 Jan 1944 | 1 Jan 1948 | (1893–1978) |
Thomas E. Watson | 20 Jan 1944 | 1 Jul 1950 | (1892–1966)[24] |
James T. Moore | 1 Feb 1944 | 1 Nov 1946 | (1893–1953) |
Thomas E. Bourke | 1 Feb 1944 | 1 Nov 1946 | (1896–1978) |
Francis P. Mulcahy | 5 Feb 1944 | 1 Apr 1946 | (1894–1973) |
Louis E. Woods | 10 Sep 1944 | Jul 1951 | (1895–1971) |
Field Harris | 10 Sep 1944 | 1 Jul 1953 | (1895–1967) |
Claude A. Larkin | 1 Apr 1945 | 1 Mar 1946 | (1891–1969) |
Leo D. Hermle | 1947 | Sep 1949 | (1890–1976) |
William J. Wallace | 1947 | Jul 1952 | (1895–1977) |
William T. Clement | 1948 | May 1952 | (1894–1955) |
John T. Walker | 1948 | Jul 1954 | (1893–1955) |
Merwin H. Silverthorn | 1949 | 1 Jul 1954 | (1896–1985)[25] |
William E. Riley | 1950 | 1 Jun 1951 | (1897–1970)[26] |
Robert H. Pepper | 1950 | 1 May 1957 | (1895–1968)[27] |
Henry D. Linscott | 1951 | Oct 1955 | (1894–1973) |
Edward A. Craig | 1951 | 1 Jun 1951 | (1896–1994) |
Thomas J. Cushman | 1951 | Feb 1954 | (1895–1972) |
John T. Selden | 1951 | Apr 1955 | (1893–1964) |
Walter W. Wensinger | 1951 | Aug 1956 | (1894–1972) |
Clayton C. Jerome | 1952 | Jun 1958 | (1901–1978) |
James A. Stuart | 1952 | May 1955 | (1899–1967) |
George F. Good Jr. | 1952 | 1 Jul 1958 | (1901–1991) |
John C. McQueen | 1953 | 1 Jul 1958 | (1899–1985) |
James P. Riseley | 1953 | 1 Jul 1959 | (1898–1992) |
Albert D. Cooley | 1953 | Aug 1954 | (1900–1976) |
Lewis B. Puller | 1953 | 1 Nov 1955 | (1898–1971) |
Robert O. Bare | 1953 | 1 Jul 1957 | (1901–1980) |
Reginald H. Ridgely Jr. | 1954 | 1 Nov 1959 | (1902–1979) |
Homer L. Litzenberg | 1954 | 31 May 1959 | (1903–1963) |
Karl S. Day | 1954 | 1 Mar 1957 | (1896–1973) Marine Corps Reserve. |
Legislative history
The following list of Congressional legislation concerns tombstone promotions to the grade of lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps. Each entry lists an act of Congress, its citation in the United States Statutes at Large, and a summary of the act's relevance.[28]
Each entry lists an act of Congress, its citation in the United States Statutes at Large, and a summary of the act's relevance.
Legislation | Citation | Summary |
---|---|---|
Act of March 4, 1925 | 43 Stat. 1279 |
|
Act of June 23, 1938 | 52 Stat. 951 |
|
Act of February 23, 1942 | 56 Stat. 120 |
|
Act of August 7, 1947 [Officer Personnel Act of 1947] | 61 Stat. 864 61 Stat. 874 |
|
Act of October 12, 1949 [Career Compensation Act of 1949] | 63 Stat. 835 |
|
Act of August 11, 1959 | 73 Stat. 337 |
|
See also
- Tombstone promotion
- Lieutenant general (United States)
- List of United States Marine Corps tombstone generals
- List of United States Marine Corps lieutenant generals on active duty before 1960
- List of United States Navy tombstone vice admirals
- List of United States Coast Guard tombstone vice admirals
Notes
- ^ Acts of March 4, 1925 (43 Stat. 1279) and June 23, 1938 (52 Stat. 951).
- ^ "General Breckinridge's Views". The Lexington Herald. March 6, 1942. p. 4.
- ^ "Obituaries". Army and Navy Journal. March 7, 1942. p. 751.
- ^ Act of February 23, 1942 (56 Stat. 120).
- ^ "Lejeune Receives Marine Commission As Lieut.-General". The Richmond News-Leader. April 14, 1942. p. 5.
- ^ "Lejeune Is Made Lieut. General Of Marine Corps". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 16, 1942. p. 3.
- ^ Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1957, p. 741
- ^ Act of August 11, 1959 (73 Stat. 337).
- ^ Dates appointed are taken from officers' first appearances as active-duty major generals in the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps or from contemporary news reports, which may be different from dates of rank listed in later editions of the Register.
- ^ Dates retired are taken from the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
- ^ Act of August 7, 1947 [Officer Personnel Act of 1947] (61 Stat. 864). "Subcommittee Hearings on H. R. 5768 and S. 2335, to Make Certain Revisions in Titles I and III of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947". United States House Committee on Armed Services Hearings, 1949–1950 (195). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office: 6521. March 27, 1950.
- ^ "Promotions Scheduled". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. January 17, 1947. p. 10.
- ^ "Three Marine Officers Approved For Advancement to Major General". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. January 19, 1948. p. 5.
- ^ "Two Former FMF Generals Are Promoted". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. January 22, 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "2 Marine Generals Approved for Boosts". The Honolulu Advertiser. January 21, 1950. p. 10.
- ^ "Marines Promote Four To Major Generals". The Fresno Bee. January 25, 1951. p. 3.
- ^ "Senate Okays Bradley for 2-Year Term". The Shreveport Times. August 11, 1951. p. 9.
- ^ "Truman Names Three For Promotions". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 16, 1951. p. 10.
- ^ "Five Marine Brigadiers Get Temporary Promotions". The Shreveport Journal. July 30, 1952. p. 1.
- ^ "Marine Corps To Promote Five To Major General". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 27, 1953. p. 21A.
- ^ a b Retired as major general; advanced to tombstone lieutenant general, effective 23 Feb 1942.
- ^ Appointed lieutenant general, 1 Jan 1947; reverted to major general, 1 Jul 1949; retired as lieutenant general, 1 Sep 1950.
- ^ Released from prisoner of war camp and retroactively promoted to major general in 1945.
- ^ Appointed lieutenant general, 1 Jan 1948; reverted to major general, 24 Apr 1950; retired as lieutenant general, 1 Jul 1950.
- ^ Appointed lieutenant general, 22 Feb 1951; reverted to major general, 1 Feb 1952; retired as lieutenant general, 1 Jul 1954.
- ^ Retired as tombstone lieutenant general, 1 Jun 1951; recalled to active duty as lieutenant general, 1 Jun 1951–23 Jun 1953.
- ^ Appointed lieutenant general, 2 Aug 1954; reverted to major general, 9 Sep 1955; retired as lieutenant general, 1 May 1957; recalled to active duty as lieutenant general, Jul 1960–Aug 1961, Feb 1962–Jul 1963, and Aug 1964–Nov 1964.
- ^ Legislative history compiled from the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
References
- Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1916–1960
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