page_title: James M. Masters Sr.
section_title: Early life and education
hierarchical_section_title: James M. Masters Sr. / Early life and education
caption_attribution_description: English: The Masters Bros - (R-L) James, youngest William (Bill), John (Bud) - 2 Marine Generals out of 3
context_page_description: James Marvin Masters Sr. was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who during the course of his career served as a China Marine, fought in numerous battles in the Pacific during World War II and commanded units from platoon to division size. He received the Navy Cross for his actions during the Battle of Okinawa and was also a recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal during a military career that spanned the 35 years between 1933 and 1968. He died at his home in Washington, D.C. on 5 August 1988.
context_section_description: James Marvin Masters (who was designated 'Sr.' after his namesake father died in 1936) was born 16 June 1911, in Atlanta, Georgia. When he was 12 years old, his grandfather (a one-time Confederate soldier in the 15th South Carolina Infantry Regiment) died, and his father moved his wife (Cecilia Hale Masters) and three sons back to the family farm in Anderson, South Carolina. There, James would frequently hunt his family's dinner.
  Masters completed high school at Anderson in 1927 at age 16, delivering the valedictory speech when he was still only 16, saying, "If we fail to prepare for our role in society, we play falsely with our God, our country, and with the inner man, our conscience." Though he had appointments to both the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy upon high school graduation, his father thought Masters too young to enter immediately, and insisted that his son attend The Citadel for a year. A cousin, a Naval Academy graduate, encouraged him to attend Annapolis instead of West Point, which he did in 1929. His appointment before the Wall Street Crash of 1929 spared him from the business loss his father incurred.
  During his battleship cruise to the Azores, Halifax, and Bermuda in 1932, Masters opted for the Marine Corps, observing "...that really made up my mind, because I’d read so much about Marine camaraderie. And I’d also observed it within Marine detachments on board ship, the close relationship between officers and men." He found a role model in Commandant of the Marine Corps John A. Lejeune, who had retired that year. Due to the Great Depression, the academy could only fund commissions for half of the graduating class in 1933, Masters included.
caption: The Masters brothers: James (right), John (left), and William (center)
exif: {}