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List of United States Marine Corps tombstone lieutenant generals

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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. In October 1941, retiring major general James C. Breckinridge received a tombstone promotion to lieutenant general, the first Marine to achieve three-star rank. 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.

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. Congress stopped all tombstone promotions effective November 1, 1959.

List of U.S. Marine Corps tombstone lieutenant generals

Each entry lists the officer's name, date appointed major general, date retired and advanced to lieutenant general, 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.

Name Date appointed major general
 Date retired Notes
John A. Lejeune 1 Jul 1918   12 Nov 1929   (1867–1942) Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1920–1929.
John T. Myers 1 Oct 1931   1 Feb 1935   (1871–1952)
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)
Samuel L. Howard 28 Sep 1942   31 Mar 1953   (1891–1960)
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)
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)
William E. Riley 1950   1 Jun 1951   (1897–1970)
Robert H. Pepper 1950   1 May 1957   (1895–1968)
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.

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
  • Authorized officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat during World War I, and who retired because of ineligibility for promotion due to age, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of June 23, 1938  52 Stat. 951
  • Authorized officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of February 23, 1942  56 Stat. 120
  • Authorized officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, and who retired before June 23, 1938, to be advanced on the retired list to the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement (John A. Lejeune, John T. Myers).
Act of August 7, 1947
  61 Stat. 864
 61 Stat. 874
  • Assigned date of rank for a major general to be the same as his date of rank as brigadier general.
  • Authorized officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat on or before December 31, 1946, to be placed on the retired list with (or advanced on the retired list to) the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of October 12, 1949
  63 Stat. 835
  • Repealed authorization for officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of August 11, 1959  73 Stat. 337
  • Repealed authorization for officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with the rank of the next higher grade, effective November 1, 1959.

See also

Notes

  1. Acts of March 4, 1925 (43 Stat. 1279) and June 23, 1938 (52 Stat. 951).
  2. "General Breckinridge's Views". The Lexington Herald. March 6, 1942. p. 4.
  3. "Obituaries". Army and Navy Journal. March 7, 1942. p. 751.
  4. Act of February 23, 1942 (56 Stat. 120).
  5. "Lejeune Receives Marine Commission As Lieut.-General". The Richmond News-Leader. April 14, 1942. p. 5.
  6. "Lejeune Is Made Lieut. General Of Marine Corps". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 16, 1942. p. 3.
  7. Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1957, p. 741
  8. Act of August 11, 1959 (73 Stat. 337).
  9. 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.
  10. Dates retired are taken from the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
  11. Act of August 7, 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.
  12. "Promotions Scheduled". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. January 17, 1947. p. 10.
  13. "Three Marine Officers Approved For Advancement to Major General". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. January 19, 1948. p. 5.
  14. "Two Former FMF Generals Are Promoted". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. January 22, 1949. p. 6.
  15. "2 Marine Generals Approved for Boosts". The Honolulu Advertiser. January 21, 1950. p. 10.
  16. "Marines Promote Four To Major Generals". The Fresno Bee. January 25, 1951. p. 3.
  17. "Senate Okays Bradley for 2-Year Term". The Shreveport Times. August 11, 1951. p. 9.
  18. "Truman Names Three For Promotions". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 16, 1951. p. 10.
  19. "Five Marine Brigadiers Get Temporary Promotions". The Shreveport Journal. July 30, 1952. p. 1.
  20. "Marine Corps To Promote Five To Major General". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 27, 1953. p. 21A.
  21. ^ Retired as major general; advanced to tombstone lieutenant general, effective 23 Feb 1942.
  22. Appointed lieutenant general, 1 Jan 1947; reverted to major general, 1 Jul 1949; retired as lieutenant general, 1 Sep 1950.
  23. Released from prisoner of war camp and retroactively promoted to major general in 1945.
  24. Appointed lieutenant general, 1 Jan 1948; reverted to major general, 24 Apr 1950; retired as lieutenant general, 1 Jul 1950.
  25. Appointed lieutenant general, 22 Feb 1951; reverted to major general, 1 Feb 1952; retired as lieutenant general, 1 Jul 1954.
  26. Retired as tombstone lieutenant general, 1 Jun 1951; recalled to active duty as lieutenant general, 1 Jun 1951–23 Jun 1953.
  27. 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.
  28. Legislative history compiled from the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.

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