Post by newsGeneral Vandergrift received one for his leadership on
Guadalcanal...isn't that what a General is supposed to do?
Sounds like lots of Generals...but even more like more
marines should have been awarded ...
Yes, like Holland M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith, who commanded
Task Force 56 and the Fifth Amphibious Corps at Iwo
Jima. And, I would never forgive Chester Nimitz for
preventing Smith, the highest ranking Marine General in
the Pacific Theater, in joining the group of generals
and admirals on board the Missouri parked in Tokyo Bay
in September 1945. I know many generals and admirals,
such as Rear Admiral Harry Hill, had petitioned Nimitz
to allow Smith to join the surrender ceremonies, but
Nimitz had taken heavy flak from the U.S. Army over
"Howlin' Mad" Smith's sacking of Army General Ralph
Smith at Saipan in the Marianas because Ralph Smith
was not moving his 27th Division fast enough.
And I would bet my last dollar that "Dugout Doug" had
nixed the idea too, of Smith being on board the Mo.
I have a feeling that MacArthur was jealous of the
Marines and, and one time, had accused Alexander
Vandegrift of being a "show-boater" at Guadalcanal
and had stated to a subordinate, "he just wants to
be able to go back to the states after the war and
run for president", or words to that effect
(ironically, I seem to recall that there was a big
effort to put Mac up for presidential election after
the war). And, one wonders, if Mac really appreciated
what the 1st Marine Division had gone through at the
'Canal, Tulagi, and Cape Gloucester in the Solomons.
And another guy that probably should have gotten the
MoH would be Roy Geiger, who commanded the Third
Amphibious Marine Corps at Okinawa, the only Marine
to command an entire Army (10th U.S. Army), when Lt.
General Simon Bolivar Buckner was killed in June of
1945 when a Japanese mortar round took out his CP.
There are countless other Marines that were overlooked
or passed over, for various reasons. All of the
branches of the U.S. military probably had hundreds
of GI's that were deserving of MoH's that got passed
over.
Another group overlooked for their heroism and duty,
although not in line for the MoH, but the thousands
of Merchant Mariners that plowed the convoy routes
to deliver the war goods. Unsung heroes, never
really recognized for their actions until late after
the war ended, after losses of almost 9,500 Mariners.
Tim Watkins
"There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots,
but there are no old, bold pilots".