Wilbur Bestwick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wilbur Bestwick
1st Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps (1957-1959)
Born	(1911-11-27)November 27, 1911 Sabetha, Kansas
Died	July 10, 1972(1972-07-10) (aged 60) Palo Alto, California
Place of burial	Skylawn Memorial Park^[1]
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1934-1959
Rank	Sergeant Major
Unit	3rd Marine Division Mare Island Shipyard Marine Corps Depot of Supplies MCRD Parris Island 1st Marine Division 1st Air Delivery Company HQMC
Commands held	Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of Bougainville Battle of Guam Korean War
Awards	Navy Commendation Medal

Sergeant Major Wilbur Bestwick was the first Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. He served in the post of senior enlisted U.S. Marine from 1957 to 1959.

Biography

Bestwick was born on November 27, 1911, in Sabetha, Kansas, and graduated from high school there in 1932. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1934 and received his basic training at San Diego, California.

Military career

Bestwick saw pre-World War II duty at sea aboard the USS Louisville, and served at Marine posts in Bremerton, Washington; San Diego, and Camp Elliott, California. Appointed a Sergeant Major in 1943, he saw World War II combat while serving in this capacity with the 3rd Marine Division in the Bougainville and Guam campaigns.

On his return to the States, in December 1944, Bestwick served as Sergeant Major of the Mare Island (California) Shipyard. He was transferred to San Francisco in 1945, and completed a four-year tour of duty there as Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Depot of Supplies. In 1949, he became Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.

During the Korean War, he joined the 1st Marine Division in Korea in October 1952 as Division Sergeant Major, and after a year overseas returned to the States. For excellent service in Korea he was awarded the Navy Commendation Ribbon with Combat "V". In 1954, he began a two-year assignment as Sergeant Major, Inspector and Instructor Staff, 1st Air Delivery Company, San Jose, California.

Transferred to Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., in June 1956, Sergeant Major Bestwick served as Sergeant Major to the Secretary of the General Staff until May 23, 1957, when he assumed the newly established post of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.

Retirement & death

Bestwick served as the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps until he retired from active duty on September 1, 1959. He died July 10, 1972, at Stanford University Hospital and according to official records, was interred at the Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, California. However, this was later revealed to be a mistake, and was found to be buried at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo, California.^[1]^[2]

Awards

His personal decorations include:

Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal w/ valor device		Navy Unit Commendation		Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal w/ 6 service stars
American Defense Service Medal	American Campaign Medal		Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 3 service stars		World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Service Medal	Korean Service Medal w/ 3 service stars		Korean Presidential Unit Citation		United Nations Korea Medal

Notes

↑ 1.0 1.1 Zimmerman, Gunnery Sgt. F.B. (3/10/2009). "Marines use resources to locate, properly honor first sergeant major of the Marine Corps". Headquarters Marine Corps (United States Marine Corps). Retrieved 2012-12-23. Check date values in: |date= (help)
↑ FindAGrave, Wilbur Bestwick - with headstone photo

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.

Official Marine Corps biography
"Sergeant Major Wilbur Bestwick, USMC". Who's Who in Marine Corps History. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 2007-10-28.

Military offices
Preceded by N/A	Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps 1957–1959	Succeeded by Francis D. Rauber

v t e Leadership of the United States Marine Corps

Commandants	Nicholas Burrows Wharton Gale Henderson Harris Zeilin McCawley Heywood Elliott Biddle Barnett Lejeune Neville Fuller Russell Holcomb Vandegrift Cates Shepherd Pate Shoup Greene Chapman Cushman Wilson Barrow Kelley Gray Mundy Krulak Jones Hagee Conway Amos

Assistant Commandants	Cole Lejeune Long Neville Feland Williams Fuller Myers Russell McDougal Little H. Smith Vandegrift Barrett Keyser Schmidt Rockey Peck Turnage Shepherd O. Smith Silverthorn Thomas Pate Megee McCaul Munn Hayes Mangrum Chapman Walt McCutcheon R. Davis Anderson Jaskilka Barrow McLennan Kelley J. Davis Morgan Went J. R. Dailey Boomer Hearney Neal Dake Williams Nyland Magnus Amos Dunford Paxton

Sergeants Major	Bestwick Rauber McHugh Sweet J. W. Daily Puckett Black Massaro Crawford Cleary Sommers Overstreet Lee McMichael Estrada Kent Barrett

Secretary of the Navy (navbox) Four-star generals Headquarters Marine Corps Category

Persondata
Name	Bestwick, Wilbur
Alternative names
Short description	1st Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Date of birth	November 27, 1911
Place of birth	Sabetha, Kansas
Date of death	July 10, 1972
Place of death	Palo Alto, California

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.