Richard Marshall (general)

For other people of the same name, see Richard Marshall (disambiguation).

Richard Jaquelin Marshall
Born	June 16, 1895(1895-06-16) Markham, Virginia
Died	August 3, 1973(1973-08-03) (aged 78)
Buried at	Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	US Army
Rank	Major General
Unit	U.S. 1st Infantry Division (WWI)
Commands held	Pacific Theater of Operations (WWII)
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Service Star of the Philippines, Officer of the Légion d'honneur of France, Order of Orange-Nassau
Other work	Assistant Military Advisor, Philippine government (1939–1941) Deputy Chief of Staff, US Army Forces - Far East (1941–1942) Deputy Chief of Staff, Allied Forces, South West Pacific Area (1942–1945) Chief of Staff, US Army Forces in the Pacific Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute (1946–1952)

Richard Jaquelin Marshall (June 16, 1895 – August 3, 1973) was a Major General in the US Army.

He served in the 1st Division during World War I and became the Chief of Staff of United States Army Forces in the Pacific Theater of Operations by the end of World War II.

Early life

Richard J. Marshall was born at the "Crag," in Markham, Fauquier County, Virginia, June 16, 1895. His family moved to Portsmouth, Virginia in 1903 where he, his mother, brother and sister lived with their maternal grandfather, Richard Coke Marshall, a colonel for the Confederacy in the Civil War and great grandson of the first supreme court justice, John Marshall. He attended public schools and Norfolk Academy in Norfolk.

In 1911 he entered Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1915 (#8 in his class) he went to work for Consolidated Electric Light and Power Co., in Baltimore, Maryland. He enlisted in the 4th Maryland Infantry, National Guard while employed in Baltimore. When the Guard was called into the service for the Mexican Border War, 18 June 1916, he was commissioned First Lieutenant and Battalion Adjutant.

While at Eagle Pass, Texas, in August, 1916 he took examinations for the Regular Army and was commissioned 2nd Lt of Field Artillery with the First Provisional Class on November 1916. In March, 1917 he joined first Regular Army unit, 8th Field Artillery at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

World War I

After war was declared in April, 1917, expansion of the Regular Army was accelerated and the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Field Artillery was sent to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, to form the 14th Field Artillery . In May he was transferred to the 6th FA, one of the oldest Regular Army units, which was at Douglas, Arizona, preparing for overseas service as part of the First Division. The lst Div was the first fighting unit sent to the American European Forces then forming in France, and Marshall had achieved First Lieutenant.

Marshall saw combat throughout 1918 at the Soissons Battle, St. Mihiel offensive, and the Meuse-Argonne. It was during this period when he met his distant cousin George C. Marshall, who became a mentor to him for all his future military career. The story goes (as told to his daughter, Harriette Marshall Olson) that he was sitting on a rock, covered with mud, looking very sad when a senior officer came riding by on his horse, stopped and asked him why he looked so sad. He answered that his troops had been overrun, and they had many casualties. The officer asked, "What is your name?" He answered "Marshall." The officer, "That's my name, as well." The next question was, "Where did you go to school?" The answer was "VMI" and the response was, "That's where I went to school, too!" Throughout the rest of their lives they remained friends and in contact through correspondence, where the senior Marshall always addressed the junior as simply, "Marshall".

On the morning of November 1, 1918 Marshall was wounded by fragments of a German 105 mm shell, and was in Army hospitals in France until March, 1919. He had been promoted to Captain and was a battery commander of B Battery 6 Field Artillery.

Between the wars

Upon returning to the U.S. after the war, Marshall was assigned to the postwar Quartermaster Corps. He oversaw construction of Fitzsimons Hospital, Denver, Colorado. He was Quartermaster at Ft. Benning, Georgia 1924, then attended Quartermaster School in 1926, graduated in 1927 and was assigned to Ft. Monmouth, NJ.

In 1929 he was sent to the Philippine Islands and assigned as Quartermaster of the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays. He took up residence on Corregidor Island at Fort Mills where he had under his direction the start of construction of the West end of the Malinta Hill Tunnel. In World War II this same Tunnel became General MacArthur's Command Post on Corregidor.

Marshall returned to the U.S. in 1932, attending Command and Staff School at Ft. Leavenworth, Ks, followed by the Army Industrial College, Washington, D.C. He graduated in 1935 and after summer maneuvers with the First Army entered the Army War College, graduating 1936. He was then placed in charge of the Water Transportation Branch.

In 1939, upon the request of General Douglas MacArthur, Marshall was assigned to duty again in the Philippines. A vacancy had occurred through the return of Col. Dwight D. Eisenhower to duty in the U.S. The officers on this duty were assisting Gen. MacArthur in advising the Philippine Commonwealth Government in forming and training an army for the defense of the Islands after Independence which was to be granted in 1946. He was on this duty in July 1941 when Gen. MacArthur was recalled to active duty. He was detailed to General Staff with troops and Deputy Chief of his Command, the United States Army Forces in the Far East. In October, 1941 he was promoted to temporary Colonel.

World War II

After Pearl Harbor, Marshall was promoted to Brigadier General and remained as Deputy Chief of Staff. He was left in charge of the old Command Post at #1 Victoria in Manila when Gen. MacArthur went to Corregidor to establish his Command Post on December 24, 1941. He remained there until directed to bring the balance of the Staff to Corregidor, January 1, 1942. As the Japanese invasion of the Philippines advanced, the fall of Corregidor appeared imminent. As a result, on the night of March 11, 1942 MacAurthur, his family, and his staff, including Marshall, evacuated under cover of night in four PT boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, with the lead boat commanded by Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley. After an open ocean voyage of several hundred miles they reached Mindanao, then flew to Darwin, Australia, reaching there on March 17, 1942.

From Darwin, MacArthur chose to travel south by train because of his wife's fear of flying. As Quartermaster, Marshall was sent ahead to assess troop strength and resources for the potential immediate return to the Philippines. In a historic moment, reenacted in the movie, MacArthur, Marshall met MacArthur's train upon arrival in Adelaide and broke the news to him that U.S. forces in the Pacific would not be sufficient to support any sort of immediate effort to recapture the Philippines. This made clear to MacArthur the war would be more than just a few months in duration.

After a few weeks in Australia the Allied arrangements for a Southwest Pacific Command were completed and Marshall was detailed as Gen. MacArthur's Deputy Chief of Staff. In July the US Army Service of Supply, SWPA succeeded the former command for the US Army Forces in Australia and he became Commanding General, with promotion to Major General.

In early 1942 Marshall was given additional duty as Deputy Chief of Staff of USAFFE (U.S. Armed Forces Far East) when it was used to provide a US Army agency for Gen. MacArthur to exercise command over US Army troops in SWPA (South West Pacific Army). Increase in size of SWPA Command rapidly increased the administrative problems of Gen. MacArthur's Headquarters. In November, 1944, he was detailed as Gen. MacArthur's Chief of Staff, USAFFE. When MacArthur became commander of AFPAC (U.S. Army Forces in the Pacific), Marshall became Deputy Chief of Staff.

In 1945, with entry into Japan after the surrender, Marshall became Deputy Chief of Staff of SCAP (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers). On October 10 he was ordered to Headquarters in Tokyo to take over the as Chief of Staff.

On September 2, 1945 he accompanied MarArthur on board the U.S.S. Missouri for the signing of the surrender treaty with the Japanese delegation.

Post-World War II

In May 1946 Marshall was ordered to temporary duty in the Office of the Chief of Staff, US Army, Washington, D.C. in order that he be available to become Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute.

He retired from the Army on Nov 30, 1946 and became the 7th Superintendent of VMI until he resigned in June 1952. While at VMI his neighbor, Washington and Lee University, conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL D). President Harry S. Truman appointed him to serve as Deputy Chief of the Bell Mission to make an economic survey of the Philippines. He received the rank of Minister without portfolio for that appointment.

Military record and death

During his Army career, Marshall accumulated 17 decorations and service medals. He especially valued his Silver Star from World War I, his Distinguished Service Cross from Bataan, and Distinguished Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters from the three principal command and staff positions that he held in World War II.

During his last year at VMI the State of Virginia paid him the great honor of promoting him to Lieutenant General. Following the disruptions of World War II he got the VMI Foundation off the ground with an increase in funds from $100,000 to $600,000. General Marshall, a 1915 graduate, expanded the Corps of Cadets from 300 to 950 during the six years of his administration, both academic and military offerings were expanded and the faculty was enlarged to meet the demands of the growing Cadet Corps, growth made possible by the planning and completion during his administration of the new cadet barracks.

He retired in 1952 after suffering a stroke and moved to Florida . He died August 3, 1973 and is buried in Section 7 of Arlington National Cemetery.

Military career

• 1907 - 1911: Attends Norfolk Academy
• 1915: Graduates from the Virginia Military Institute
• November 28, 1916: commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant
• 1927: Graduates from the Quartermaster School
• 1934: Graduates from the Command and General Staff School
• 1935: Graduates from the Army Industrial College
• 1936: Graduates from the Army War College
• December 1939: Assistant Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government, Manila, the Philippines, under General MacArthur
• July 29, 1941: becomes Deputy Chief of Staff, US Army Forces - Far East
• December 1941: promoted to Brigadier General
• April 1942: Deputy Chief of Staff, Allied forces, South West Pacific Area.
• August 8, 1942: promoted to Major General
• 1945: Chief of Staff - U.S. Army Forces in the Pacific
• 1946: retires from the Army
• 1946 - 1952: Serves as superintended of the Virginia Military Institute

Military decorations

•   Distinguished Service Cross
•   Distinguished Service Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
•   Silver Star
•   Legion of Merit
• Distinguished Service Star of the Philippines with Oak Leaf Cluster
• Officer of the Légion d'honneur of France
• Grand Officer of Orange-Nassau with Crossed Swords of the Netherlands

Burial

Marshall is buried in Section 7 of Arlington National Cemetery.