Evening star., 1947-01-23
1t. Gen. Roy Geiger Of Marines
Dies 8 Days Before Retiring
Headed Third Corps
In Pucific Invusions;
Was Pioneer Pilot

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Was. Pioneer Pilot
1t. Gen. Roy s. Geiger, 81.
former commander of the Fleet
Marine Force in the Pacific and
commander of. both air and
ground units during World War
II, died at 7.:20 o'clock this morn
| ing at the Bethesda Naval Hos
pital.
He had entered the hospital last
Friday suffering from phlebitis tan
Inflammation of the veinsJ. with pull
monary complications. His retire
ment from the service had been
scheduled to take place February /.
Gen. Geiger, stocky, CRAVING
haired Marine commander, was in
charge of all air operations at
Guadalcanal when the United States
first fought back bitterly against the
japanese bid for power. At the end
he was on Okinawa where he briefly
was in overall command of Army
and Marines until relieved by Gen.
Joseph StilWell.
A veteran of nearly 40 years serv-
ice in the Marine Corps, he rose
through the ranks from private to
general. He was known as tough,
hard driving leader who would
tackle any job he gave his men.
Termed absolutely fearless" he
was considered modest and quiet
nevertheless.
Gen. Geiger. commanded the 1st
Marine Amphibious Corps from
November 9, 1913, and remained in
command when it was redesignated
the Sd Amphibious Corps. The
death in action of 1t. Gen. Simon
Bolivar Buckner, jr, placed Gen.
Geiger in overall command on
Oklnawa from June 18, 1945, and
until the arrival of Gen. Stilwell
as the new commander of the 10th
Army.
Gen. Geiger led the first aircraft
wing on Guadalcanal from Septem-
ber, 1912, during the early days
vi tAlC AASAApA1AS'
While in charge of all Allied air.
craft there, according to one ac-
count, he once showed the pilots
how the "old man" would do it by
taking his plane off Henderson
Field, though the strip was bomb
damaged and under long-range
field artillery fire. 'The hell it's
dangerous" it is said he told his
men.
In taking command of the 1st
Marine Amphibious Corps he re-
lieved Gen. A. A. Vandegrift, who
was recalled to Washington to be-
come commandant of the Marine
Corps.
Won Wings in 1917.
One of the first Marines to be-
come an air pilot, he received his
wings at the Aeronautical School
at the Pensacola Naval Air Station
June 9, 1917. He was the fifth Ma
rine to gain his wings.
In World War I, as a bomber pi-
lot, he was attached to the North
ern Bombing Group as commander
of Squadron A of the First Marine
Aviation Force in France. He WaS4
awarded the Navy Cross for that
service
After the Bouganville operation
Gen. Geiger led the invasion of
Guam in the Mariannas and Pelilia
in the Southern Palau Islands. For
his leadership at Guadalcanal he
added the Gold Star to the Navy
Cross won in World War I. He also
received for the Pacific campaigns
the Distinguished Service Medal and
Two Gold Stars in lieu of a second
and third D. S. M.
After relinquishing command to
Gen. Stilwell at Okinawa, he relieved
1t. Gen. Holland M. Smith as head
of the Pacific Fleet Marine Force
July 2, 1945. He held that command
until November 16, 1916, when he
was assigned to duty in Washing
ton prior to scheduled retirement
on February l.
On Promotion Board.
His chief duty here was as senior
member of the Marine Corps Pro-
motion Board.
Gen. Geiger was a director of Ma
rine Corps aviation for six months
in 1943 and was officer in charge
of Marine aviation here from 1881
to 1885.
He piloted planes in carrying re-
lief supplies to the hurricane-strick-
en- Dominican Republic in 1890 and
to earthquake sufferers in Nicaragua |
in 1881.
After his return from overseas in
World War I. he was commanding |
officer of Marine aviation squad
ron with the 1st Provisional Bri-
gade in Haiti for two years.
He also had served at Quantico
and in the Philippines, China, Cuba,
Nicaragua and Panama. He became
a brigadier general in October, 1941;
a major general in September, 1912,
and was made lieutenant general
June 10, 1945, day after assuming |
command on Okinawa.
At London in 1941.
Just before the war in 1941 for
49,