Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-07-27


walking papers.
When Gen. Fuller takes the
stand to testify in the trial of
Ssrgt. Matthew c. McKeon.
friends say, the sparks are sure
to fly. The hard-bitten general
believes there is no such thing
ss too tough a training regimen
for the Marine Corps. For less
elite branches Of the service
such as the Army-he has a
thinly-veiled contempt. For the
trend toward easy living which
he discerns in postwar training
in all the services, he has only
Scorn
Remarks Stir Trouble
A brutally frank man, Gen.
Fuller got into serious trouble
shortly after he left Korea in
May. 1851. In press interviews at
Honolulu and San Francisco. he
was reported to have commented
that American troops were get
ting too much milk and USO and
too little beer and whisky in
Korea. Later, he denied making
the remarks.
No dry" Gen.. Fuller once
said his farewells to a subordl-
nate departing from Korea by
reaching under his bunk, pulling
out bottle of bourbon. and say
ing, Here, old man, suck on this
for a while"
Gen. Fuller once summed up
his idea of Marine training in
these words:
"A Marine must be qualified
to hit the bullseye with what
ever weapon he is armed. He
must be able to make a forced
march of 20 miles. the last i've
at double time and arrive in
such physical condition that he
can go into battle Immediately"
Up From the Ranks
Gen. Fuller is one of the few
top-ranking Marines to have
come up through the ranks from
private. He enlisted in August,
1918. after having attended Vir-
ginia Military Institute. On June
is, 1919. he was commissioned
in the Marine Corps Reserve asI
a second Newfoundland was
placed on inactive status 10 days
later.
He promptly re-enliSted, and
was assigned as an officer in the
Gendarmerie d'Haiti, the force
1T up under a treaty with the
lifted States. He stayed in Haiti
five years.
In April. 1924, Gen. Fuller re-
turned to the United States and
was commissioned second lieu
tenant in the regular Marines.
After service at Norfolk. Phila-
delphia and Quantico, he went
to Pensacola, Fla. as a student
naval aviator.
Further service included a tour
at Pearl Harbor and one at San
Diego. before joining the Nicara-
qua National Guard in December,
1928. He won the Navy Cross
in Nicaragua and returned to-
the United States in July. 1881
to enter the company officers
course at the Army Infantry
School, Fort Benning, Ga.
Tangled With Bradley
1t was at Benning that the
then 1t. Fuller got into tangle
with the then Capt. Omar N
Bradley, an instructor at the
Army school. Bradley twitted
Fuller on the size of the Marine
Corps, and the Leatherneck re-
torted, Il don't know why in the
hell Marines bother to come to
your Army schools"
After the Infantry course, he
returned to Nicaragua and won
his second Navy Cross in action
there.
The Nicaraguan overture
over, he was posted to Peiping.
China, where he commanded the
famed Horse Marines" and
then went on sea duty aboard
the U.S.S. Augusta Of the Asiatic
Fleet.
In 1886, Gen. Fuller was as
signed as an instructor in the
Marines basic school at Phila-
delphia. where he served until
May. 1899, when he was as
signed first to sea duty and then
to the 4th Marine Regiment at
Shanghai. He was a battalion
commander in the regiment IN
August, l941, when he returned
to the United States and took
command of a battalion Of the
7th Marines list RegimenO at
Camp Lejeune, N. c.
Won Guadalcanal Battle
The It'll Marines went into
action in october, 1912, on
Guadalcanal, and Gen. Fuller
promptly won his third Navy
Cross in a fight which saw his
battalion committed as the only
American defense of Henderson
Field against a regiment OF sea-
soned Japanese troops. When
the rain and powder-smoke let
up, Gen. Puller's battalion had
scored 20-to-1 victory-70
Marine casualties against l,400
Japanese. .
Gen. Fuller won his fourth
Navy Cross at Cape Gloucester in
January, 1914, shortly before he
took command Of the LIST Marine
Regiment and led it through
campaigns at Cape Gloucester
and Peleliu. 1t was at Peleliu
that Gen. Fuller took his regi-
ment through its bloodiest fight
ing of World War II, a three
day battle that saw two-thirds
OF the outfit killed or wounded.
Returning the the United
States in November, 1914. Gen.
Fuller was named executive on
Ger of the Infantry Training
Regiment at Camp Lejeune, and