page_title: Walter W. Wensinger
section_title: Postwar service
hierarchical_section_title: Walter W. Wensinger / Postwar service
caption_attribution_description: English: Commandant's Conference - General Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr. (center), Twentieth Commandant of the Marine Corps, is pictured with members of his staff at Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. On the Commandant's left is Lieutenant general Gerald C. Thomas, Assistant Commandant; on his right is Major general William O. Brice, Assistant Commandant (for Air). Seated on the left side of the table are: Brigadier general Nels H. Nelson, Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel (G-1); Brigadier general Thomas A. Wornham, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations (G-3); Major General Walter W. Wensinger, Deputy Chief of Staff; on the right side of the table seated next to Major general Brice is Brigadier general Arthur H. Butler, Assistant Chief of Staff for Logistics (G-4); followed by Lieutenant colonel Chester A. Henry, acting Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G-2).
context_page_description: Walter William Wensinger was a highly decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of lieutenant general. He is most noted for his service as commanding officer of 23rd Marine Regiment during Battle of Iwo Jima, when he received the Navy Cross, the United States military's second-highest decoration awarded for valor in combat. Wensinger finished his career as special advisory assistant to the commandant of the Marine Corps.
context_section_description: In April 1945, Wensinger was transferred to the staff of V Amphibious Corps under Lieutenant General Harry Schmidt as assistant chief of staff for operations. He took part in the planning for upcoming invasion of Japan, but following the Surrender of Japan in August 1945, V Amphibious Corps was transferred to Japan as occupation force. Wensinger also served additional duty as chief of staff, Advanced Command Post and represented V Amphibious Corps and Sixth Army in dealing with Japanese authorities in Southern Japan and accept surrender of Sasebo.
  Following the deactivation of the V Amphibious Corps in February 1946, Wensinger was ordered back to the United States and served briefly in the Office of the Inspector-General of the Navy, before assumed duty as commanding officer of the Marine barracks at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. He also performed additional duties as District Marine Officer of the 13th Naval District until February 1948, when he was appointed Legal Aide and Legislative Counsel to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Clifton B. Cates – his old superior from 4th Marine Division. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general at that time for his new assignment.
  Wensinger was promoted to the rank of major general in October 1951 and assumed duties as director of plans and policies at Headquarters Marine Corps in December of that year. He was later appointed deputy chief of staff and a member of the Navy Department Task Force in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Personnel. Wensinger's last assignment came in July, 1954, when he was appointed special advisory assistant to the commandant of the Marine Corps, General Lemuel C. Shepherd. He retired from the Marine Corps on August 1, 1956, after 39 years of active service and was advanced to the rank of lieutenant general for having been specially commended in combat.
  Lieutenant General Walter W. Wensinger died on July 10, 1972, in Veterans Administration Hospital in Washington, D.C., and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, together with his wife, Katherine E. Wensinger (1897–1991).
caption: General Wensinger (third from left) as Deputy Chief of Staff during meeting with Commandant, Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr.
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