Holland Smith Holland McTyeire " Howlin ' Mad " Smith , KCB ( April 20 , 1882 – January 12 , 1967 ) was a General in the United States Marine Corps during World War II . He is sometimes called the " father " of modern U . S . amphibious warfare . His nickname , " Howlin ' Mad " Smith , had been given to him by his troops in the Dominican Republic in 1916 On the eve of World War II , General Smith directed extensive Army , Navy , and Marine amphibious training , which was a major factor in successful U . S . landings in both the Atlantic and Pacific . He subsequently helped prepare U . S . Army and Canadian troops for the Kiska and Attu landings , then led the V Amphibious Corps in the assaults on the Gilberts , the Marshalls , Saipan , and Tinian in the Marianas . During the Marianas operation , besides the V Amphibious Corps , he commanded all Expeditionary Troops , including those that recaptured Guam . He then served as the first Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force , Pacific , and headed Task Force 56 ( Expeditionary Troops ) at Iwo Jima , which included all the assault troops in that battle . Early life . Holland Smith was born on April 20 , 1882 in Hatchechubbee , Alabama to John Wesley Smith and his wife Cornelia Caroline McTyeire . He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Auburn University ( then known as Alabama Polytechnic Institute ) in 1901 . He had already decided on a military career and had become first sergeant of a cavalry company in the Alabama National Guard . However , he obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Alabama in 1903 and practiced law in Montgomery , Alabama for a year . He then sought a commission in the Army , but instead was appointed a Marine second lieutenant on March 20 , 1905 . ( He was later awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Alabama Polytechnic Institute . ) In April 1906 , after completing the School of Application at Annapolis , Maryland , Smith sailed for the Philippines , where he served on expeditionary duty with the 1st Marine Brigade until September , 1908 . He returned to the United States the following month and was stationed at the Marine Barracks , Annapolis , until December 1909 , when he embarked for expeditionary duty in Panama . Returning from Panama in April 1910 , he served at Annapolis , Puget Sound , Washington , San Diego , California , and the Recruiting Station , Seattle , Washington , before sailing in September 1912 , to rejoin the 1st Marine Brigade in the Philippines . He remained with the 1st Brigade until April 1914 , when he took command of the Marine Detachment aboard USS " Galveston " ( CL - 19 ) . He served in that capacity in Asiatic waters until July 1915 . He returned to the United States the following month for duty at the Navy Yard , New Orleans , Louisiana . From there , he was ordered to the Dominican Republic in June 1916 , as a member of the 4th Marine Regiment . During that unit ' s operations against rebel bandits , he saw action in the march to Santiago and engagements at La Pena and Kilometer 29 . Returning to the United States on May 30 , 1917 , he sailed for France and World War I just two weeks later as commander of the 8th Machine Gun Company , 5th Marines . World War I . Smith ' s 8th Machine Gun company was assigned to the French Chasseurs Alpins to learn from the experienced French troops on the tactics of the War . After this time the 8th was assigned to a camp to off load arriving American vessels where Smith became second in command of the camp . On 25 November 1918 Smith was promoted to the temporary rank of Major . Smith was detached from the 5th Marines and sent to the Army General Staff College at Langres , from which he graduated in February 1918 . He was the first of only six Marines ever to complete this course . He was then named Adjutant of the 4th Marine Brigade , which was a part of the US Army ' s 2nd Infantry Division , serving in a relatively quiet sector southeast of Verdun . During the fighting in and around Belleau Wood , he played " a vital though undramatic " role as Brigade liaison officer , overseeing internal communications within the Brigade . Transferred to the I Corps , First Army , in July 1918 , he served as assistant operations officer in charge of liaison during the Aisne - Marne , Oisne - Aisne Offensive , St . Mihiel and Meuse - Argonne offensive s . After the Armistice he participated in the March to the Rhine through Belgium and Luxembourg as an assistant operations officer with the Third Army , and served with the General Staff , U . S . Army , during the occupation of Germany . For his service at Belleau Wood , Smith was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm by the French government . He also received a Meritorious Service Citation from the Commander in Chief , Christopher Meare , American Expeditionary Forces , for which he was later awarded the Purple Heart Medal , one of the first awarded for merit . Post - World War I . Returning to the United States in April 1919 , Smith ' s assignments in the next four years included duty at Norfolk , Virginia , study at the Naval War College , Newport , Rhode Island , and service in Washington , D . C . , with the War Plans Section of the Office of Naval Operations . There , he was the first Marine officer to serve on the Joint Army - Navy Planning Committee . Leaving Washington in May 1923 , he served aboard the battleship s " Wyoming " and " Arkansas " as Fleet Marine Officer , U . S . Scouting Fleet , until September of that year . In February 1924 , after serving at Marine Corps Headquarters and in the West Indies in connection with joint Army - Navy maneuvers , Smith joined the Marine Brigade on expeditionary duty in Haiti , serving as that unit ' s Chief of Staff and Officer in Charge of Operations and Training . He returned from that country in August 1925 , to serve as Chief of Staff of the 1st Marine Brigade at Quantico , Virginia , until September 1926 , as a student in the Marine Corps School , Quantico , from then until June 1927 , and as Post Quartermaster of the Marine Barracks , Philadelphia Navy Yard , from July 1927 to March 1931 . In April 1931 , Smith began another tour of sea duty , this time aboard the USS California as Aide to the Commander and Force Marine Officer of the Battle Force , U . S . Fleet . He served in those capacities until June 1933 , commanded the Marine Barracks at the Washington Navy Yard from then until January 1935 , and served the following two years at San Francisco , California , as Chief of Staff , Department of the Pacific . From there he was ordered to Marine Corps Headquarters in March 1937 , to serve two years as Director of the Division of Operations and Training , after which he was Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps under Major General Thomas Holcomb from April to September 1939 . World War II . After the latter assignment , General Smith assumed command of the 1st Marine Brigade at Quantico , taking that unit to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , for extended amphibious training in October 1940 . In February 1941 , when the brigade was redesignated the U . S . 1st Marine Division , he became that organization ' s first commander . He returned with the division to Quantico in April 1941 , and in June of that year he was detached from it to take command of the organization that eventually became the Amphibious Force , Atlantic Fleet . Under this command , the 1st Marine Division and the 1st and 9th Army Division s received their initial training in amphibious warfare . Moving to San Diego in August 1942 , the general took command of the Amphibious Corps , Pacific Fleet , under which he completed the amphibious indoctrination of the 2d and 3d Marine Division s before they went overseas , and the 7th Army Division and other units involved in the Aleutians operation . The Amphibious Corps , Pacific Fleet , was later redesignated the V Amphibious Corps , and in September 1943 , as commander of that unit , General Smith arrived at Pearl Harbor to begin planning for the Gilberts campaign . He continued to head the V Amphibious Corps until August 1944 , when he was named Commanding General , Fleet Marine Force , Pacific , at Pearl Harbor . Subsequently , he commanded the Fleet Marine Force . In addition to that post , he commanded Task Force 56 in the Battle of Iwo Jima before returning to the United States in July 1945 , to head the Marine Training and Replacement Command at Camp Pendleton , California . Holland was known for the quote " In our corps without responsibility and discipline we would not have won the Battle of Iwo Jima . " US Navy Admirals Raymond Spruance and Richmond Turner wanted General Smith to command the Okinawa invasion forces . They were overruled by Nimitz because General Smith had sacked a US Army General , Ralph Smith , during the Saipan campaign , and strong animosity amongst senior US Army staff existed towards General Smith . US Army General Simon Bolivar Buckner was appointed to command the Okinawa invasion in his place . ( see Max Hastings , Retribution - the Battle for Japan 1944 - 1945 , p . 376 . ) Retirement . A lieutenant general when he was retired May 15 , 1946 , at the age of 64 , he was promoted to general on the retired list for having been especially commended in combat . Smith took up residence in La Jolla , California , where he pursued his hobby , gardening . Following a long illness , General Smith died January 12 , 1967 at the U . S . Naval Hospital in San Diego , California , aged 84 . Funeral services were held on January 14 , at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Chapel , the general was interred with full military honors in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery overlooking San Diego harbor and North Island . At the time of his death , General Smith , was survived by a son , Rear Admiral John V . Smith . General Smith ' s wife , the former Ada B . Wilkinson , had died in 1962 . Quotes . " We ’ re not accustomed to occupying defensive positions . It ’ s destructive to morale . " — Lt . Gen . H . M . “ Howlin ’ Mad ” Smith | Iwo Jima , 1945 Awards and honors . General Smith was awarded : Camp H . M . Smith , located on Oahu , Hawaii , is a Marine Corps base named after General Smith . It is home to the Pacific Command , Marine Forces Pacific and other commands . There are two Marine Corps League Detachments in General Smith ' s name : In the film Flags of Our Fathers , General Smith is portrayed by actor Gordon Clapp .