Keller E . Rockey Lieutenant General Keller Emrick Rockey ( September 22 , 1888 – June 6 , 1970 ) commanded the Fifth Marine Division in the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II and the Third Amphibious Corps during the occupation of North China following the war . For outstanding services with the Third Amphibious Corps , he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal ( Army ) , and for exceptionally meritorious service with the Fifth Marine Division , he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal ( Navy ) . The citation for the latter reads in part : Early life and career . Keller Rockey was born September 22 , 1888 , in Columbia City , Indiana . He was a graduate of Gettysburg College with a Bachelor of Science degree , and was a student at Yale University . He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps , November 18 , 1913 . His first duty assignment as a Marine Corps junior officer was a student under instruction at the Officers Basic School , Norfolk , Virginia . Following graduation there in May , 1915 , he went to sea ; first as a member of the Marine Detachment aboard , then a member of the Marine Detachment aboard . World War I . Following sea service , Rockey sailed for France in June 1917 , and one year later , as a member of the Fifth Marine Regiment , participated in the Aisne - Marne Defensive ( Château - Thierry ) . He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions at Château - Thierry where , on July 6 , 1918 , he performed distinguished service by bringing up supports and placing them in the front lines at great personal exposure , showing exceptional ability and extraordinary heroism . Rockey also received the Distinguished Service Cross and was cited in the General Orders of the Second Division , American Expeditionary Forces . He was entitled to wear the French Fourragère . Interwar years . Shortly after returning to the United States in 1919 , Rockey went to foreign shore duty in Haiti as a member of the Haitian Constabulary , where he remained until 1921 , then returned to this country to join Marine Barracks , Washington , D . C . Following duty at Headquarters Marine Corps , Washington , D . C . , he became a student in the Field Officers ' Course , Marine Corps Schools , MCB Quantico , Virginia . After graduation in July 1925 , he was again assigned to school , this time as a student at the Command and General Staff School , Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . Upon graduation in June 1926 , he became an instructor in the Department of Tactics , Marine Corps Schools . From January to November 1928 , he was Commanding Officer , First Battalion , Eleventh Artillery Regiment , Second Marine Brigade , stationed in Nicaragua , where he was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Cross for outstanding services . Rockey next became Base Intelligence , Operations and Training Officer of the MCB San Diego , California , and later Chief of Staff of the Base . In June 1934 , he was assigned to duty as Chief of the War Plans Division , Marine Corps Headquarters , following which he became Force Marine Officer , U . S . Battle Force aboard the . He returned to Washington in July 1939 , to assume duties with Operations , Navy Department ( War Plans ) and in August 1941 , became Chief of Staff of the Second Marine Division in which position he was found upon the country ' s entry into World War II . World War II . Rockey was assigned duties as Director , Division of Plans and Policies at Headquarters Marine Corps , in August 1942 , and one year later assumed duties as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps . In February 1944 , he went to the Pacific where he was successively Commanding General of the Fifth Marine Division and the Third Amphibious Corps . Following deactivation of the Third Amphibious Corps , he assumed command of the First Marine Division ( Reinforced ) , with headquarters at Tientsin , China . He returned to the United States and became Commanding General of the Department of the Pacific , San Francisco , California , in September 1946 . Post - war years . On January 1 , 1947 , he was advanced to lieutenant general ( temporary ) , and the following day assumed command of the Fleet Marine Force , Atlantic with headquarters in Norfolk , Virginia . On July 1 , 1949 , when he was detached to again become Commanding General , Department of the Pacific , San Francisco , California , he returned to his permanent rank of major general . He retired as a lieutenant general on September 1 , 1950 . General Rockey died of a heart attack , aged 81 , June 6 , 1970 , in Harwich Port , Massachusetts . Funeral services with full military honors were held June 11 , 1970 at Arlington National Cemetery , Arlington , Virginia .