Richard Marshall ( general ) Richard Jaquelin Marshall ( 16 June 1895 – 3 August 1973 ) was a major general in the United States Army . He served in the 1st Division during World War I and became the Chief of Staff of United States Army Forces in the Pacific Theater of Operations by the end of World War II . Early life . Richard J . Marshall was born in Markham , Fauquier County , Virginia , on 16 June 1895 , the son of Marion Lewis Marshall and his wife Rebecca Coke Marshall . His maternal grandfather , Richard Coke Marshall , was a colonel for the Confederacy in the Civil War , and great grandson of the first supreme court justice , John Marshall . He was also a distant cousin of George Catlett Marshall . He attended public schools and Norfolk Academy in Norfolk from 1907 to 1911 . In 1911 he entered Virginia Military Institute , Lexington , Virginia . He graduated eighth in his class of 56 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1915 , and went to work as an assistant chemist for Consolidated Electric Light and Power Co . , in Baltimore , Maryland . He enlisted in the 4th Maryland Infantry , National Guard while employed in Baltimore . When the Guard was called into the service for the Mexican Border War , 18 June 1916 , he was commissioned First Lieutenant and Battalion Adjutant . While at Eagle Pass , Texas , in August , 1916 he took examinations for the Regular Army and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the field artillery in November 1916 . In March , 1917 he joined first Regular Army unit , 8th Field Artillery at Fort Bliss , Texas . World War I . After war was declared in April , 1917 , expansion of the Regular Army was accelerated and the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Field Artillery was sent to Fort Sill , Oklahoma , to form the 14th Field Artillery . In May he was transferred to the 6th Field Artillery , one of the oldest Regular Army units , which was at Douglas , Arizona , preparing for overseas service as part of the 1st Infantry Division , the first division unit sent to serve with the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front . Marshall saw combat in the Battle of Soissons , the St . Mihiel offensive , and the Meuse - Argonne , where , on the morning of 1 November 1918 , he was wounded by fragments of a German 105 mm shell . He was in Army hospitals in France until March 1919 . He had been promoted to captain and was a battery commander of B Battery , 6th Field Artillery . Between the wars . Upon returning to the U . S . after the war , Marshall was assigned to the postwar Quartermaster Corps . He oversaw construction of Fitzsimons Hospital , Denver , Colorado . He was Quartermaster at Ft . Benning , Georgia 1924 , then attended Quartermaster School in 1926 , graduated in 1927 and was assigned to Ft . Monmouth , NJ . In 1929 he was sent to the Philippines and assigned as Quartermaster of the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays . He took up residence on Corregidor Island at Fort Mills where he had under his direction the start of construction of the West end of the Malinta Hill Tunnel . In World War II this same Tunnel became General MacArthur ' s Command Post on Corregidor . Marshall returned to the U . S . in 1932 , attending Command and Staff School at Ft . Leavenworth , Ks , followed by the Army Industrial College , Washington , D . C . He graduated in 1935 and after summer maneuvers with the First Army entered the Army War College , graduating 1936 . He was then placed in charge of the Water Transportation Branch . He married Nell B . Mutter . They had two children , Richard J . Marshall , Jr . , who died on 2 March 1943 in World War II , and Harriette Marshall Olsen , who married John E . Olson , who survived the Bataan Death March . After Nell died in 1934 , he married Isabel Crum in Montgomery , Alabama on 28 December 1935 . From the marriage , he gained a stepdaughter , Dorothy , and step son , Lieutenant Kenneth Roscoe Lummus , who died on 28 March 1943 . In 1939 , upon the request of General Douglas MacArthur , Marshall was assigned to duty again in the Philippines . A vacancy had occurred through the return of Col . Dwight D . Eisenhower to duty in the U . S . The officers on this duty were assisting Gen . MacArthur in advising the Philippine Commonwealth Government in forming and training an army for the defense of the Islands after Independence which was to be granted in 1946 . He was on this duty in July 1941 when Gen . MacArthur was recalled to active duty . He was detailed to General Staff with troops and Deputy Chief of his Command , the United States Army Forces in the Far East . In October , 1941 he was promoted to temporary Colonel . World War II . After Pearl Harbor , Marshall was promoted to Brigadier General and remained as Deputy Chief of Staff . He was left in charge of the old Command Post at # 1 Victoria in Manila when Gen . MacArthur went to Corregidor to establish his Command Post on December 24 , 1941 . He remained there until directed to bring the balance of the Staff to Corregidor , January 1 , 1942 . As the Japanese invasion of the Philippines advanced , the fall of Corregidor appeared imminent . As a result , on the night of March 11 , 1942 MacAurthur , his family , and his staff , including Marshall , evacuated under cover of night in four PT boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three , with the lead boat commanded by Lieutenant John D . Bulkeley . After an open ocean voyage of several hundred miles they reached Mindanao , then flew to Darwin , Australia , reaching there on March 17 , 1942 . From Darwin , MacArthur chose to travel south by train because of his wife ' s fear of flying . As Quartermaster , Marshall was sent ahead to assess troop strength and resources for the potential immediate return to the Philippines . In a historic moment , reenacted in the movie , " MacArthur " , Marshall met MacArthur ' s train upon arrival in Adelaide and broke the news to him that U . S . forces in the Pacific would not be sufficient to support any sort of immediate effort to recapture the Philippines . This made clear to MacArthur the war would be more than just a few months in duration . After a few weeks in Australia the Allied arrangements for a Southwest Pacific Command were completed and Marshall was detailed as Gen . MacArthur ' s Deputy Chief of Staff . In July the US Army Service of Supply , SWPA succeeded the former command for the US Army Forces in Australia and he became Commanding General , with promotion to Major General . In early 1942 Marshall was given additional duty as Deputy Chief of Staff of USAFFE ( U . S . Armed Forces Far East ) when it was used to provide a US Army agency for Gen . MacArthur to exercise command over US Army troops in SWPA ( South West Pacific Army ) . Increase in size of SWPA Command rapidly increased the administrative problems of Gen . MacArthur ' s Headquarters . In November , 1944 , he was detailed as Gen . MacArthur ' s Chief of Staff , USAFFE . When MacArthur became commander of AFPAC ( U . S . Army Forces in the Pacific ) , Marshall became Deputy Chief of Staff . In 1945 , with entry into Japan after the surrender , Marshall became Deputy Chief of Staff of SCAP ( Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers ) . On October 10 he was ordered to Headquarters in Tokyo to take over the as Chief of Staff . On September 2 , 1945 he accompanied MarArthur on board the for the signing of the surrender treaty with the Japanese delegation . Post - World War II . In May 1946 Marshall was ordered to temporary duty in the Office of the Chief of Staff , US Army , Washington , D . C . in order that he be available to become Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute . He retired from the Army on Nov 30 , 1946 and became the 7th Superintendent of VMI until he resigned in June 1952 . While at VMI his neighbor , Washington and Lee University , conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws ( LL D ) . President Harry S . Truman appointed him to serve as Deputy Chief of the Bell Mission to make an economic survey of the Philippines . He received the rank of Minister without portfolio for that appointment . Military record and death . During his Army career , Marshall received the Silver Star during World War I , and the Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf cluster s from the three command and staff positions that he held in World War II . He was made an Officer of the Legion of Honor of France , and a Grand Officer of the Order of Orange - Nassau with Crossed Swords ( Netherlands ) , and received the Distinguished Service Star of the Philippines with an oak leaf cluster . During his last year at VMI , the State of Virginia paid him the great honor of promoting him to Lieutenant General . Following the disruptions of World War II he got the VMI Foundation off the ground with an increase in funds from $ 100 , 000 to $ 600 , 000 . General Marshall , a 1915 graduate , expanded the Corps of Cadets from 300 to 950 during the six years of his administration , both academic and military offerings were expanded and the faculty was enlarged to meet the demands of the growing Cadet Corps , growth made possible by the planning and completion during his administration of the new cadet barracks . He retired in 1952 after suffering a stroke and moved to Florida . He died at Fort Lauderdale on 3 August 1973 , and is buried in Section 7 of Arlington National Cemetery . His brother , Marine Corps Brigadier General St . Julien Ravenel Marshall , was subsequently buried next to him in 1989 . Decorations . Here is the ribbon bar of Major General Richard J . Marshall :