Wallace M . Greene General Wallace Martin Greene , Jr . ( December 27 , 1907 – March 8 , 2003 ) was a four - star United States Marine Corps general who served as the 23rd Commandant of the Marine Corps from January 1 , 1964 to December 31 , 1967 . At the end of his term as Commandant , he retired with 37 years of active service in the Marine Corps . Greene served in China in the 1930s , in the South Pacific in World War II , and was Commandant during the military buildup in Southeast Asia and when the first U . S . troops entered South Vietnam . During General Greene ' s tenure , the Marine Corps grew from 178 , 000 active - duty personnel to nearly 300 , 000 . Biography . Early life . Wallace Martin Greene , Jr . was born on December 27 , 1907 in Waterbury , Vermont . In 1925 , he graduated from high school in Burlington , Vermont , then attended the University of Vermont for a year before entering the U . S . Naval Academy in Annapolis , Maryland . U . S . Marine Corps career . Upon graduation from the Naval Academy on June 5 , 1930 , he was commissioned a U . S . Marine Corps second lieutenant and ordered to Marine Officers ’ Basic School at the Philadelphia Navy Yard . After completing Basic School in June 1931 , Greene served for a year at the Marine Barracks , Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , Kittery , Maine . During July 1932 , he completed the Sea School at San Diego , California , and joined the Marine Detachment aboard the . Returning from sea duty in March 1934 , he served briefly at Pensacola , Florida , and Quantico , Virginia , before reporting to the Marine Barracks , Naval Air Station Lakehurst , New Jersey , that November . He was promoted to first lieutenant the same month . Except for a temporary assignment at Edgewood Arsenal , Maryland , where he completed a course in the Chemical Warfare School , he remained stationed at Lakehurst until March 1936 . After that , he served at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot , San Diego , until he sailed for Guam in October 1936 . He was stationed there until June 1937 , when he embarked for Shanghai , China , to join the 4th Marine Regiment . During September 1937 , the 4th Marines became a part of the 2nd Marine Brigade and he was promoted to captain . Along with his unit , Greene was commended for performance of duty while attached to the defense forces of the International Settlement during the Sino - Japanese hostilities of 1937 and 1938 . Upon his return from China in August 1939 , he entered the Junior Course , Marine Corps Schools , Quantico . He completed the course in May 1940 , then took command of the 1st Chemical Company , 1st Marine Brigade , sailing with it that October for Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . While there , the brigade was redesignated the 1st Marine Division . Returning with his unit in April 1941 , Greene served at Quantico and New River ( later Camp Lejeune ) , North Carolina , as Assistant Operations Officer , 1st Marine Division . In November 1941 , he was ordered to London , England , as a Special Naval Observer . During that assignment , he attended the British Amphibious Warfare School in Inverary , Scotland , and the Royal Engineer Demolitions School in Ripon , York , England . He was promoted to major in January 1942 and returned to the United States the following month . Named Assistant Chief of Staff , G - 3 , 3rd Marine Brigade , in March 1942 , Greene sailed with the brigade for Upolu , Western Samoa , the following month . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in August 1942 and remained on Samoa until November 1943 when he joined the V Amphibious Corps in Hawaii . For outstanding service as Assistant Chief of Staff , G - 3 , Tactical Group One , during the planning and execution of the Marshall Islands invasion , Greene was awarded his first Legion of Merit with Combat “ V ” . Following the disbanding of the group in March 1944 , he joined the 2nd Marine Division as G - 3 , earning a second Legion of Merit for outstanding service in this capacity prior to and during combat on Saipan and Tinian . He remained with the 2nd Division until his return to the United States in September 1944 . In October 1944 , Greene was appointed Officer in Charge , G - 3 , Operations , Division of Plans and Policies , Headquarters Marine Corps ( HQMC ) . He held that post until July 1945 , then served as Executive Officer , Special Services Branch , Personnel Department . In April 1946 , he was ordered to Little Creek , Virginia , as G - 3 , Troop Training Unit , Amphibious Training Command , U . S . Atlantic Fleet . While there , he was promoted to colonel in February 1948 , with rank from August 1947 . Detached from Little Creek in June 1948 , Greene reported to Pearl Harbor that August as G - 3 , Fleet Marine Force ( FMF ) , Pacific . He returned from that assignment in June 1950 and for the next two years was Chief of the Combined Arms Section , Marine Corps Schools , Quantico . He also served briefly as Chief of the Coordination and Evaluation Section there , before entering the National War College , Washington , in August 1952 . He graduated in June 1953 and the following month became Staff Special Assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff for National Security Council Affairs . Prior to his departure from Washington , he was promoted to brigadier general on September 1 , 1955 . Later that September , Greene assumed duty as Assistant Commander , 2nd Marine Division , Camp Lejeune . In May 1956 , he was transferred to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island , South Carolina , where he served as Commanding General , Recruit Training Command , until March 1957 , when he became Commanding General of the Recruit Depot . That July he became Commanding General of the Marine Corps Base , Camp Lejeune . In January 1958 , BGen Greene reported to HQMC as Assistant Chief of Staff , G - 3 . While serving in this capacity , he was promoted to major general in August 1958 . Following this assignment , he served from March through December 1959 as Deputy Chief of Staff ( Plans ) . On January 1 , 1960 , he was designated as Chief of Staff , with the rank of lieutenant general . Lieutenant General Greene was nominated by President John F . Kennedy on September 24 , 1963 to become the 23rd Commandant of the Marine Corps for a four - year term . Upon assuming his post as Commandant on January 1 , 1964 , he was promoted to four - star rank . During his tenure , there was a proliferation of troops in Southeast Asia . In 1964 , there were fewer than a thousand Marines in Vietnam but by 1968 , the III Marine Amphibious Force in Vietnam numbered more than 100 , 000 Marines and sailors . During his tour as Commandant , he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal , February 1964 , and again in 1968 . Post - military . General Greene retired on December 31 , 1967 . He was a founding member of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation . General Greene died on March 8 , 2003 in Alexandria , Virginia at age 95 . He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery . Personal . Greene was married to the former Vaughn H . Emory ( d . 2001 ) in 1931 . They had two children , a son , retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Wallace M . Greene III and a daughter , Vaughn .