Talk:Chesty Puller

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Contents 1 Expansion of military acronyms 2 DSC 3 Incorrectly named page 4 1941 - 1st Marine Division - location 5 Changing out Korean War picture

[edit] Expansion of military acronyms

'XO' and 'CO' need expansion. I'm guessing they mean 'executive officer' and 'commanding officer', but I'm not sure. - Molinari 20:32 3 Jul 2003 (UTC)

That is correct. An executive officer (XO) is the assistant to a commanding officer (CO). -- Olathe November 23, 2003

I am under the impression that the Nicaragua war around 1924 was also referred to as the Banana wars. Is this correct?

24 August 2003/ LJW

Seems to be more generalized. EG http://www.scholarly.com/bkdetail.asp?0-8420-5046-9 Niteowlneils 01:48, 26 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Yes, the Nicaragua Action was part of the various wars fought in SOuth America at the time. To preserve American interests, the US President landed American Marines to deal with the insurgency and to stabilize the country.

[edit] DSC

How did Puller get a Distinguished Service Cross -- is it awarded to Marines? (or had they run out of Navy Crosses because of him.. :) Sivamo 23:28, 29 Nov 2004 (UTC)

It's not awarded by the Marines, but

... In addition to his Navy Crosses (the next-highest decoration to the Medal of Honor for Naval personnel), he holds its Army equivalent, the Distinguished Service Cross.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and his fifth Navy Cross for heroism in action as commander of the 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, during the bitter fight to break out of Korea's Chosin Reservoir area. The latter citation, covering the period from 5-10 December 1950, states in part:

http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Whos_Who/Puller_LB.htm

According to that link, he won three Air Medals; the wiki article only says "Air Medal". Also, in this picture, http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/IMAGES/Whos_Who/Hi_Res/PullerLB.jpg, one can see an Air Medal with two stars, strongly arguing that he was awarded three Air Medals. I suggest amending the wiki article to so state. :) Sivamo 04:00, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Presumably the DSC was awarded by Almond or MacArthur, who, being Army officers, couldn't have given out Navy medals.

—wwoods 00

59, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Chesty deserves a Medal of Honor.

I have a problem with calling anyone not awarded the Medal of Honor the "most decorated" soldier, sailor, airman or Marine. Better to say that a person has been awarded "more medals or other decorations" than any other servicemember. I think that distinction needs to be made. One other minor point: never say a person "won" a medal. War is not a lottery! Medals are earned--usually at a terrible cost to the individual being recognized. DrDale 23:21, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

I dissagree. The MOH should be reserved for specific acts of valor under fire. And with a few exceptions (Gen MacArthur), it has not been given in the cases where the Commanding Officer lead a valiant action (as opposed to actual action in combat). Chesty's legacy is as one of the finest leaders in the history of the Corps, not as an actual hands-on warrior. These actions do not rate the MOH in my opinion, but they are very deserving of the awards he did recieve. Giving The Medal in these situations cheapens the status of the award. Mushrom 18:27, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Incorrectly named page

This page should be called "Lewis Burwell Puller" with a redirect from "Chesty Puller". Anyone care to move it and fix the refering pages? Mr. Jones 19:54, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

No, it shouldn't. The manual of style says to use the most common name (and, for the record, to omit the middle name unless it helps disambiguate). 'Chesty Puller' is much, much more common than 'Lewis Burwell Puller'; thus, the article should be located at Chesty Puller. →Raul654 20:39, Dec 11, 2004 (UTC)

OK. That makes sense. What about a redirect? So in that case, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom should be called Queen Elizabeth II, then? I don't know of any other Queen Elizabeth IIs alive at the moment, or even in living memory. Perhaps I should take this there. What's your opinion? Mr. Jones 19:10, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Yes, absolutely, there should be a redirect. →Raul654 20:06, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)

Strike that. Lewis Burwell Puller is a disambig page already - it disambiguates between Chesty PUller and his son (who was also named Lewis Burwell Puller). So it's fine as-is. →Raul654 20:08, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)

Chesty as "Most Decorated Marine"

This is in response to DrDale's post. The fact that Chesty did not recieve an award he truly deserved does not change the fact that he was the most decorated marine in the history of the corps. As a former Marine myself, we were taught that Chesty was,and is, considered the greatest Marine to have ever worn the uniform.My question is this, if a person wins one Medal Of Honor, does that make them the most decorated? Idon't think so. The term "DECORATED", as it applies to military service, refers to the ribbons wron on ones uniform. So, if there is only one ribbon, even if it is the Medal of Honor, how can they be called the most decorated? I feel the Chesty derves the honor of that distiction and has,in fact, earned it209.23.168.222 14:18, 13 September 2006 (UTC)LedZepGuy 13/09/06

[edit] 1941 - 1st Marine Division - location

An anon IP changed the location of Chesty Puller in 1941, 1st Marine Division from Camp Lejeune to Camp Pendleton. The Marine Corps biography (see article References), lists it as Camp Lejeune. If there are other reliable references to show that this might be an error, please be sure to reference this if making a change. — ERcheck (talk) @ 02:08, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

1stMarDiv is located in Camp Pendleton, 2nd is in Lejeune. 1/7 is currently based in 29 Palms, and was formed in San Diego (The Bn. that Chesty Puller Commanded.) I can't find anything on the official 1st MarDiv page for it having ever been in Lejeune. Doesn't mean it wasn't, and maybe you have some info that I can't locate right now, so I'll not change it to Pendleton.. although I'm pretty sure it was that. And this [1] sort of leans towards the West Coast vice the East Coast aswell.. Gelston 23:05, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Trying to piece it together from other sources:

1st Marine Division Lineage, 1st Marine Division Association:

"Redesignated 1 February 1941 as the 1st Marine Division;

Relocated during May 1941 to Quantico, Virginia and Parris Island, South Carolina;

Deployed during April - July 1942 to Samoa and Wellington, New Zealand."

From this is it seems that in May 1941, the 1st Marine Division was not at Pendleton. But, it doesn't confirm where they were in August 1941.

— ERcheck (talk) @ 23:33, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

This seems to be definitive that they were at Camp Lejeune — reference: History of the 7th Marine Regiment, 7th Marine Regiment, USMC.

"With the cloud of World War II on the horizon, the nation expanded the size of the Corps and on the first of January 1941, the Seventh Marine Regiment was re activated in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and was assigned to the First Marine Brigade; The Regiment moved to what is today Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. On the second of April 1942, the Regiment embarked for the Pacific..."

With the information from the 7th Marine Regiment putting them at Camp Lejeune after Guantanamo and before begin deployed to the Pacific Theatre, it seems that the Marine Corps biography information is confirmed. — ERcheck (talk) @ 23:39, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

• (I have added this reference and citation to the article). Wikibofh_(talk) 23:47, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

So it was at Lejeune, good job folks. Gelston 21:22, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

It was Camp Lejeune. And there is one very good reason why it was not at Camp Pendleton: Camp Pendleton did not even exist until 1942. The person who made the change simply assumed that the current base of the division was correct, and forgot that this was not always the case. Mushrom 18:31, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Changing out Korean War picture

The image in the Korean War section was Image:ChestyPuller.jpeg, which was just a face shot. I've replaced it with a DOD photo of Chesty Puller cutting the Marine Corps birthday cake in Korean. 05:08, 4 November 2006 (UTC)