Thomas Holcomb General Thomas Holcomb ( August 5 , 1879 – May 24 , 1965 ) was the seventeenth Commandant of the United States Marine Corps ( 1936 – 1943 ) . He was the first Marine to achieve the rank of General . After retiring from the Marine Corps , Holcomb served as Minister to South Africa ( 1944 – 1948 ) . Early years . Holcomb was born on August 5 , 1879 in New Castle , Delaware . He attended private schools there until 1893 when his family moved to Washington , D . C . He graduated from Western High School in 1897 . Marine Corps career . Holcomb was appointed a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps from civilian life on April 13 , 1900 . Second Lieutenant Holcomb was on detached duty with a company of Marines organized for service with a Marine battalion attached to the North Atlantic Fleet from September 1902 to April 1903 . He was promoted to first lieutenant March 3 , 1903 . He served in the Philippine Islands from April 1904 to August 1905 , and in October and November 1906 . He was on duty with the Legation Guard in Peking , China , from September 1905 to September 1906 . He was appointed a captain May 13 , 1908 and from December of that year to July 1910 , he again served with the Legation Guard at Peking . He continued on duty in Peking as Attache on the Staff of the American Minister for study of the Chinese language and remained until May 1911 . In December 1911 , he was again ordered to the Legation at Peking to continue his study of the Chinese language and continued in that capacity until May 1914 . Captain Holcomb served as Inspector of Target Practice in the Marine Corps from October 1914 to August 1917 . While serving as such , he was promoted to the rank of major on August 29 , 1916 . World War I . From August 1917 to January 1918 , Maj Holcomb commanded the 2d Battalion , 6th Marine Regiment , at the Marine Barracks , Quantico , Virginia , in preparation of overseas duty . From February 1918 to July of the next year , following his appointment to lieutenant colonel on June 4 , 1920 , he served with the American Expeditionary Force ( AEF ) in France . He commanded the 2d Battalion from August 1918 and served as second in command of the 6th Marine Regiment , taking part in the Aisne Defensive ( Chateau Thierry ) , the Aisne - Marne Offensive ( Soissons ) , the Marbache Sector , the St . Mihiel Offensive , the Meuse - Argonne Offensive ( Champagne ) , the Meuse - Argonne Offensive ( Argonne Forest ) , and the March to the Rhine in Germany following the Armistice . In recognition of his distinguished services in France , he was awarded the Navy Cross , the Silver Star with three Oak Leaf Clusters , a Meritorious Service Citation by the Commander - in - Chief , AEF , the Purple Heart , and was three times cited in General Orders of the Second Division , AEF . The French Government conferred on him the Cross of the Legion of Honor and three times awarded him the Croix de Guerre with Palm . 1920s - 1936 . From September 1922 to June 1924 , he commanded the Marine Barracks , Naval Station , Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , and on his return to the United States was ordered to the Command and General Staff School of the Army at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . Upon completion of the course as a Distinguished Graduate , in June 1925 , he was ordered to Headquarters Marine Corps ( HQMC ) for duty in the Division of Operations and Training , where he remained until June 1927 . He was promoted to colonel on December 22 , 1928 . From August 1927 to February 1930 , Col Holcomb commanded the Marine Detachment , American Legation , Peking , China . In June 1930 , he went to the Naval War College as a student , Senior Course . He graduated in June 1931 . He was then ordered to the Army War College , graduating a year later . From June 1932 to January 1935 , prior to his appointment to brigadier general , he served in the Office of Naval Operations , Navy Department . He was promoted to brigadier general on February 1 , 1935 . He served as Commandant of the Marine Corps Schools at Quantico , Virginia , until November 1936 . Commandant of the Marine Corps . On December 1 , 1936 , Holcomb returned to Headquarters Marine Corps to assume the office of the Commandant of the Marine Corps . In April 1941 the US Navy convened its General Board to discuss expansion of the Corps . Holcomb said that African Americans had no right to serve as Marines . He said , " If it were a question of having a Marine Corps of 5 , 000 whites or 250 , 000 Negroes , I would rather have the whites . " With his advancement to lieutenant general on January 20 , 1942 , he became the highest - ranking officer ever to command the Marine Corps up to that time . On August 5 , 1943 , when LtGen Holcomb reached the regular retirement age , President Franklin D . Roosevelt announced he was continuing LtGen Holcomb as Commandant of the Marine Corps , in recognition of his outstanding services in that capacity . Holcomb continued as Commandant until December 31 , 1943 . He was succeeded by LtGen Alexander A . Vandegrift . During LtGen Holcomb ’ s seven year tour of duty as Commandant , the Marine Corps expanded from 16 , 000 to about 300 , 000 Marines . Also , on February 13 , 1943 , he officially announced that women were eligible to serve in the Marine Corps ; a date that is recognized and celebrated as the anniversary of women in the Marine Corps . On April 12 , 1944 , Holcomb was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his outstanding work as Commandant . Retirement from the Marine Corps ; 4 - star general . After nearly 44 years as a Marine , LtGen Holcomb retired on January 1 , 1944 . Because he had been specially commended for his performance of duty in actual combat , he was advanced one rank on the retired list in accordance with a newly passed Act of Congress . He thus became the first Marine ever to hold the rank of General . Medals and decorations . A list of Gen Holcomb ’ s medal s and decoration s includes : Minister to South Africa . On March 9 , 1944 , President Roosevelt nominated Gen Holcomb for the position of United States Minister to the Union of South Africa . He resigned from this position on June 15 , 1948 . Retirement . In retirement , Holcomb lived in St . Mary ' s City , Maryland , where he managed the family farm until 1956 . He then moved to Chevy Chase , Maryland . In 1962 , he moved to Washington , D . C . Following a serious illness in the spring of 1964 , he returned to his native New Castle . General Holcomb died in New Castle , Delaware on May 24 , 1965 , aged 85 . He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery .