The greatest Marine of all time

This small piece of electronic turf is reserved to honor the greatest and most beloved United States Marine of all time:

Lieutenant General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller

Chesty was known for many accomplishments.  He is the most decorated Marine in history, and one of only two men (and the only Marine) to be awarded five Navy Crosses.

Lewis Puller was born in West Point, Virginia on June 26th, 1898 as the son of a grocer.  He grew up listening to Civil War vets telling their stories and idolizing Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.  He wanted to enlist in the Army to fight in Mexico in 1916, but he was too young, and couldn't get parental consent from his mother.  The following year, Chesty attended Virginia Military Institute, but left at the end of his first year to join the Marines.


Although he joined during the tail end of World War I, he didn't see any overseas service there.  But, after the completion of formal military schooling, he was deployed to Haiti where he first saw action.

Known as a combat Marine, General Puller saw duty in some of the bloodiest battles of the Banana Wars, World War II, and the Korean War, including involvement in nine major battles, nineteen missions and many numerous engagements.  His desire to be in the thick of things is known back to his earliest days as a Marine when he enlisted to fight at the tail end of World War I, by saying that he wanted to "go where the guns are".

Chesty was also an ardent supporter of the enlisted man, as he started off the first six years of his career that way and rose to the rank of corporal before being commissioned as an officer.  Another characteristic that makes General Puller so beloved is that he is considered to be "a real Marine's Marine" by virtually everyone who knew him.  An old Korean War Marine (a combat engineer) who I knew related to me this story:


He was tasked by Chesty to fabricate and install a flagpole at the CP where the General was commanding.  After scrounging the materials, welding it together and erecting it he approached General Puller to get his consent that the job was done to his liking.  Chesty said, "Great job, son!  Come with me.", and led him into his personal quarters.  Once there, he opened up several lockers containing every conceivable brand and style of whiskey and liquor you could imagine.  Chesty told the Marine to take his pick, and the young combat engineer selected a bottle of Crown Royal.  Seeing his choice, Chesty said, "You know what's good whiskey, son!", thanked him again, and returned him to his unit.


It was the way he treated junior Marines, and his concern for troop welfare that inspired morale which went off the charts and made his men willing to follow Chesty through the gates of hell.


An example of this was when the Marines in the Korean War were cut off behind enemy lines, and the Army had written the 1st Marine Division (my old unit) off as being lost because they were surrounded by 22 enemy divisions.  The Marines made it out, inflicting the highest casualty ratio on an enemy in history and destroying seven entire enemy divisions in the process.  An enemy division is 16,500 men, while a Marine division is 12,500 men.


Puller also had quite a sense of humor which further endeared him to his troops; one of my favorite Chesty stories is this one, which took place during the Korean War, where the Marine Corps fought and won some of its most brutal battles:

A ROK (Republic of Korea) commander, whose unit was fighting along with the Marines, called Colonel Puller to report a major Chinese attack in his sector.

"How many Chinese are attacking you?" asked Puller.

"Many, many Chinese!" replied the excited Korean officer.

Puller asked for another count and got the same answer "Many, many Chinese!"

"Goddammit!" swore Puller, "Put my Marine liaison officer on the radio."

In a minute, an American voice came over the air: "Yes sir?"

"Lieutenant," growled Chesty, "exactly how many Chinese you got up there?"

"Colonel, we got a whole shitload of Chinese up here!"

"Thank God," exclaimed Puller, "at least there's someone up there who knows how to count!"

General Puller was also famous for his quotes, including the following:

• "Pain is weakness leaving the body!" (a favorite of mine)
• "Our Country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won't be any America because some foreign soldier will invade us and take our women and breed a heartier race!"
• "They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1. They can't get away from us now!"
• "Great. Now we can shoot at those bastards from every direction."
• "We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem of getting to these people and killing them." - November 1950, during Chosin Reservoir campaign
• "Remember, you are the 1st Marines! Not all the Communists in Hell can overrun you!" (at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir)
• "Take me to the Brig. I want to see the real Marines."
• "Alright you bastards, try and shoot me!" (to Korean forces)
• "Where do you put the bayonet?" (upon seeing a flamethrower for the first time)
• "You don't hurt 'em if you don't hit 'em.
• "The mail service has been excellent out here, and in my opinion this is all that the Air Force has accomplished during the war." -from a letter to his wife while in Korea
• When an Army captain asked him for the direction of the line of retreat, Colonel Puller called his Tank Commander, gave them the Army position, and ordered: "If they start to pull back from that line, even one foot, I want you to open fire on them."  Turning to the captain, he replied, "Does that answer your question?  We're here to fight."
• "There are not enough Chinamen in the world to stop a fully armed Marine regiment from going where ever they want to go." -Chesty, during the Korean War

Marines often adamantly allege that Chesty Puller was never awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor due to pressure from senior Army officers and even President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the retired hero General of the US invasion of Europe in World War II. 

Many still claim that senior Army officers hated Puller out of inter-service rivalry and jealousy, as well as from vocal and disparaging comments Puller often made about some Army units that he felt did not fight admirably along the way of the escape from Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War.

Earlier in the war, Puller was reported to have ordered Marines to gather all abandoned Army equipment of withdrawing soldiers and put it to good use. He later reportedly told an Army colonel who demanded return of the equipment: "It all has USMC markings on it now and if you want it back, kick my ass." The equipment remained in possession of the Marines.

Chesty served with distinction until he suffered from a stroke, and was eventually forced into retirement against his wishes in 1955.

In 1965, Chesty requested reinstatement to the Marine Corps in the hopes of seeing action in Vietnam, but was denied because of his age.

General Puller's son, Lewis B. Puller, Jr., was also a United States Marine who served in the Vietnam War.  He was seriously wounded shortly after deployment by an improvised munition mine, losing both of his legs and most of his fingers in the explosion.  His body was riddled with shrapnel, and he lingered near death for days before regaining strength.  Chesty broke down and wept at the sight of his son when he came to visit, and Lewis recalled later that the sight of his father weeping caused him more pain than any of his injuries.  

Chesty retired in his home state of Virginia where he stayed until his death on October 11th, 1971. He would always welcome all passing or visiting Marines in his home and would gladly talk to them about the Marine Corps. A visit to Chesty Puller at his home was considered a pilgrimage by many Marines, young and old alike, especially those who served under his command.

For those of you who want to learn more about the greatest and most beloved Marine of all, I recommend the book, Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC, by Jon T. Hoffman.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to go on the record along with all the other countless Marines over the years by saying: 

"Good night, Chesty Puller, wherever you are!"

LWM out...................