Robert H. Pepper

Robert Houston Pepper
Robert H. Pepper as MG
Born	(1895-04-22)April 22, 1895 Georgetown, Delaware
Died	June 1, 1968(1968-06-01) (aged 73) Arlington County, Virginia
Buried	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1917-1957, 1961-1962
Rank	Lieutenant General
Service number	0-755
Commands held	Fleet Marine Force, Pacific 3rd Marine Division 1st Marine Division MCRD Parris Island 11th Marine Regiment 3rd Defense Battalion
Battles/wars	World War I Haitian Campaign Yangtze Patrol World War II Attack on Pearl Harbor Battle of Tulagi Battle for Henderson Field Battle of Guadalcanal Battle of Cape Gloucester Korean War
Awards	Legion of Merit Navy Commendation Medal

Robert Houston Pepper (April 22, 1895 - June 1, 1968) was an officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of Lieutenant General, who is most noted for his work in the development of the Marine defense battalions during World War II and later as Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific or 3rd Marine Division.

World War II

Lieutenant colonel Pepper has been transferred to the Marine Barracks Parris Island at the beginning of October 1939 and was appointed Commanding officer of the newly established 3rd Defense Battalion. During April 1940, he sailed for Hawaii and was replaced in command by Colonel Harry K. Pickett at the end of August 1940. However Pepper remained with the regiment as Deputy Commander until the beginning of February 1941, when he was again promoted to the capacity of Battalion Commander. He was subsequently tasked with the preparation of the defenses of Midway Atoll.

With the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Pepper was located on Hawaii and participated in the defense of the islands. His unit was subsequently transferred to Guadalcanal at the beginning of August 1942 and Pepper has been meanwhile promoted to the rank of Colonel in May 1942. He led his unit during the Battle of Tulagi and subsequently in the defense of the Henderson Field during October 1942. Pepper distinguished himself and subsequently received Legion of Merit with Combat "V" for his leadership during the campaign.^[1]

He was relieved by Lieutenant colonel Harold C. Roberts on March 15, 1943 and subsequently transferred to the staff of the 11th Marine Artillery Regiment located in Australia for rest and refit after heavy combats on Guadalcanal. He relieved Colonel Pedro del Valle as Commanding Officer on March 29, 1943. Pepper led his regiment to New Guinea in December 1943 and participated in the Battle of Cape Gloucester.

Colonel Pepper has been relieved by William H. Harrison at the end of January 1944 and subsequently returned to the United States the following month. After one month of medical leave, Pepper was appointed Chief of staff to the Commanding General of Camp Lejeune, Major general John Marston. He was also promoted to the rank of Brigadier general at the same time. Pepper remained in this capacity until June 1945, when he was ordered back to the Pacific and assigned to the V Amphibious Corps Artillery as its commander. For his service at Camp Lejeune, he was decorated with Navy Commendation Medal.

Decorations

Here is the ribbon bar of Lieutenant General Robert H. Pepper:^[1]

1st Row	Legion of Merit with Combat "V"					Navy Commendation Medal						Navy Presidential Unit Citation with one star
2nd Row	Navy Unit Commendation				Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal with two stars				World War I Victory Medal with West Indies clasp				Haitian Campaign Medal
3rd Row	Yangtze Service Medal				American Defense Service Medal with Base Clasp				Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three 3/16 inch service stars				American Campaign Medal
4th Row	World War II Victory Medal				National Defense Service Medal with one star				Korean Service Medal				United Nations Korea Medal

References

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