68 Facts About Chesty Puller

Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller was a United States Marine Corps officer.

Chesty Puller was awarded five Navy Crosses and one Distinguished Service Cross.

Chesty Puller retired from the Marine Corps in 1955, after 37 years of service.

Chesty Puller lived in Virginia and died in 1971 at age 73.

Chesty Puller was born in West Point, Virginia, to Matthew and Martha Chesty Puller.

Chesty Puller was of English ancestry; his ancestors who came to America emigrated to the colony of Virginia from Bedfordshire, England in 1621.

Chesty Puller's father was a grocer who died when Puller was 10 years old.

Chesty Puller grew up listening to old veterans' tales of the American Civil War and idolizing Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

Chesty Puller wanted to enlist in the United States Army to fight in the Border War with Mexico in 1916, but he was too young and could not get parental consent from his mother.

Corporal Chesty Puller received orders to serve in the Gendarmerie d'Haiti as a lieutenant, seeing action in Haiti.

Chesty Puller received orders to deliver supplies to Mirebalais and Lascahobas.

Chesty Puller kept his force moving rapidly to avoid risking an ambush or night attack by the Caco.

Later on, the small force of Gendarmes led by Chesty Puller ran into an equally surprised column of about one hundred Cacos coming from the opposite direction around a bend in the road.

Chesty Puller ordered a charge and spurred his horse forward to attack the Cacos.

The next day, Chesty Puller made a 34-hour round trip to Lascahobas to deliver the final supplies and then returned to Port-au-Prince completing his supply run.

Chesty Puller was assigned a new duty to begin offensive operations against the Cacos.

Chesty Puller inherited a force of one hundred Gendarmes who were supported unofficially by about the same number of female camp followers.

Chance encounters such as Chesty Puller's supply run were rare because the Cacos knew the terrain and had good intelligence of constabulary activities.

Chesty Puller placed the main body of men in a line facing the bandit camp and sent the smaller crews with three Lewis machine guns to the flank in a position where they covered the enemy rear, setting an L-shaped ambush.

Chesty Puller later participated in more patrols as he gained experience and learned the peculiarities of small wars.

On October 28,1919, Chesty Puller went on a patrol with Brunot and a mixed force of fifteen American Marines and Gendarmes.

Chesty Puller aimed his rifle at a man he later believed was Georges, but waited for the main attack instead of firing.

Chesty Puller's patrol took twenty seven rifles, swords, and machetes, and several dozen gamecocks.

Chesty Puller had better luck, with two Cacos killed and sixteen captured.

Chesty Puller returned stateside and was finally recommissioned as a second lieutenant on March 6,1924.

Chesty Puller led American Marines and Nicaraguan National Guardsmen into battle against Sandinista rebels in the last major engagement of the Sandino Rebellion near El Sauce on December 26,1932.

Chesty Puller moved eastward for a five-day sweep, but soon received orders to head northeast.

Chesty Puller's men joined in the attack and fired their weapons while charging the enemy position.

Seven dead rebel bodies were found and Chesty Puller's force suffered no casualties.

Chesty Puller's patrol found two rifles, one pistol, and ten machetes.

At Santa Fe, Chesty Puller picked up an additional fifteen Guardias.

Chesty Puller was certain that the three wounded bandits who had gone over the cliff had died.

Chesty Puller's force captured documents which showed that one of their previous operations on August 19,1930, wounded a minor chief of the rebels.

Chesty Puller discovered a trail which seemed to be used by rebels.

Chesty Puller's men penetrated the center of a rebel encampment, killing at least 16 rebels.

An expedition of eight American marines and 64 Nicaraguan National Guardsmen led by Chesty Puller were sent to El Sauce on the December 26,1932.

Chesty Puller returned to the States in June 1936 as an instructor at The Basic School in Philadelphia, where he trained Ben Robertshaw, Pappy Boyington, and Lew Walt.

Major Chesty Puller returned to the US on August 28,1941.

Chesty Puller led his battalion in a fierce action along the Matanikau, in which Chesty Puller's quick thinking saved three of his companies from annihilation.

Later on Guadalcanal, Chesty Puller was awarded his third Navy Cross, in what was later known as the "Battle for Henderson Field".

Chesty Puller commanded 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, one of two American infantry units defending the airfield against a regiment-strength Japanese force.

Chesty Puller was wounded himself on November 8,1942, during the Battle of Koli Point, suffering arm and leg wounds during a Japanese attack on his command post.

Chesty Puller was then made executive officer of the 7th Marine Regiment.

Chesty Puller was promoted to colonel effective February 1,1944, and by the end of the month had been named commander of the 1st Marine Regiment.

In September and October 1944, Chesty Puller led the 1st Marine Regiment into the protracted battle on Peleliu, one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history, and received his first of two Legion of Merit awards.

The 1st Marines under Chesty Puller's command lost 1,749 killed and wounded out of approximately 3,000 men, but these losses did not stop Chesty Puller from ordering frontal assaults against the well-entrenched enemy.

Chesty Puller would come under significant criticism for not asking for reinforcements when both he and his regiment were at the point of exhaustion.

Colonel William Coleman, a member of the corps staff, had the impression that Chesty Puller was completely exhausted both mentally and physically.

General Robert Cushman believed that while Chesty Puller was a great combat leader, his aggressive nature limited his understanding of combat to launching constant attacks, regardless of the circumstances.

Chesty Puller returned to the United States in November 1944, was named executive officer of the Infantry Training Regiment at Camp Lejeune and, two weeks later, commanding officer.

At the outbreak of the Korean War, Chesty Puller was assigned as commander of the 1st Marine Regiment.

Chesty Puller participated in the landing at Inchon on September 15,1950, and was awarded the Silver Star Medal.

In January 1951, Chesty Puller was promoted to brigadier general and was assigned duty as assistant division commander of the 1st Marine Division.

Chesty Puller completed his tour of duty as assistant commander and left for the United States on May 20,1951.

Chesty Puller took command of the 3rd Marine Division at Camp Pendleton in California until January 1952, and then was assistant commander of the division until June 1952.

Chesty Puller then took over Troop Training Unit Pacific at Coronado, California.

In July 1954, Chesty Puller took command of the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina until February 1955 when he became Deputy Camp Commander.

Chesty Puller suffered a stroke, and was retired by the Marine Corps on November 1,1955, with a promotion to lieutenant general.

Chesty Puller's nickname was related to the way his barrel chest stood out due to his aggressive stance, with legends claiming that a steel plate had been inserted by surgeons to treat a battle wound.

Lieutenant General Chesty Puller broke down sobbing at seeing his son for the first time in the hospital.

Chesty Puller was an Episcopalian and parishioner of Christ Church Parish in Saluda and is buried in the historic cemetery there next to his wife, Virginia Montague Evans.

Chesty Puller received the second-highest US military award six times : five Navy Crosses and one US Army Distinguished Service Cross.

Chesty Puller was the second of two US servicemen to ever receive five Navy Crosses.

Colonel Chesty Puller's actions contributed materially to the breakthrough of the First Marine Regiment in the Chosin Reservoir area and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.

Chesty Puller's actions contributed materially to the success of this operation and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Military Service.

Chesty Puller remains a well-known figure in US Marine Corps folklore with both true and exaggerated tales of his experiences being constantly recounted among US Marines.

Chesty Puller insisted upon good equipment and discipline; once he came upon a second lieutenant who had ordered an enlisted man to salute him 100 times for missing a salute.

Chesty Puller was made a master mason at Hiram Lodge Number 57 in Virginia, where he was a member until his death.