27 Facts About James Devereux

James Patrick Sinnott Devereux was a United States Marine Corps general, Navy Cross recipient, and Republican congressman.

James Devereux was the officer-in-charge of the 1st Defense Battalion Detachment during the defense of Wake Island in December 1941.

James Devereux was captured on Wake Island as a prisoner of war, along with his men, after a 15-day battle with the Japanese.

James Devereux later represented the second congressional district of the state of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives for four terms from 1951 to 1959.

James Devereux was an unsuccessful candidate for election as Governor of Maryland in 1958.

James Devereux attended the Army and Navy Preparatory School in Washington, DC, then the Tome School overlooking the Susquehanna River at Port Deposit, Maryland, LaVilla in Lausanne, Switzerland, and later Loyola College of Baltimore, a Jesuit Roman Catholic institution in Maryland.

James Devereux enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in July 1923 at age 20, was commissioned a second lieutenant in February 1925, and then was assigned to duty in Norfolk, Virginia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Marine barracks at Quantico, Virginia, and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In 1938, following a tour of duty with the Marine detachment on board the USS Utah, James Devereux was transferred to the Marine Corps Base at San Diego.

In January 1941, James Devereux was ordered to Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands and later dispatched to Wake Island as the officer-in-charge of the 1st Defense Battalion's Detachment on Wake Island, located in the northwest Pacific Ocean.

James Devereux remained there until December 9,1942, when he was transferred to Jiangwan, where he spent 29 months imprisoned.

James Devereux was released from the Hokkaido Island prison camp on September 15,1945.

James Devereux served as the commanding officer of the Division's Headquarters Battalion until retiring on July 31,1948.

James Devereux was advanced to the rank of brigadier general upon retirement in accordance with law, having been specially commended for the performance of duty in actual combat.

Major James Devereux was responsible for directing defenses of that post during the Japanese siege from 7 through December 22,1941, against impossible odds.

Major James Devereux's inspiring leadership and the valiant devotion to duty of his command contributed in large measure to the outstanding success of these vital missions and reflect great credit upon the United States Naval Service.

James Devereux became eligible for the Prisoner of War Service Medal when it was authorized on November 8,1985.

James Devereux took up horse farming, with a farm near Glyndon, Maryland, in suburban Baltimore County; and following his retirement from the Marine Corps, James Devereux moved to a 200-acre farm at Stevenson, Maryland.

In 1950, James Devereux was elected as a Republican to the US Congress for Maryland's 2nd Congressional District by defeating incumbent Democratic Rep.

James Devereux would serve four terms in the US House of Representatives from January 3,1951, to January 3,1959.

James Devereux was not a candidate for renomination in 1958, but was an unsuccessful candidate for election as Governor of Maryland against Democrat J Millard Tawes from Crisfield on Maryland's lower Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

James Devereux later served as director of public safety for Baltimore County, Maryland, from December 1962 to 1966, supervising the police and fire departments.

James Devereux was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

James Devereux was resident of Ruxton, Maryland, until his death.

Mrs James Devereux died of complications from diabetes in 1942, shortly after his capture by the Japanese on Wake Island.

James Devereux married a third time, to Edna Burnside Howard, in 1978, gaining a stepson and three stepdaughters.

Brigadier General James Devereux died at age 85 in Stella Maris Hospice in the county seat of Towson, Maryland, just north of Baltimore on August 5,1988, from pneumonia.

James Devereux is interred in Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia overlooking the Potomac River.