Naval War College Review Volume 55 Article 23 Number 1 Winter 2002 Chesty: The tS ory of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC Cole C. Kingseed. Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review Recommended Citation Kingseed., Cole C. (2002) "Chesty: The tS ory of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC," Naval War College Review: Vol. 55 : No. 1 , Article 23. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol55/iss1/23 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Kingseed.: Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC 158 NAVAL WAR COLLEGE REVIEW in the social whirl of Washington, D.C. error to creep in, but these are few and There he met Phyllis Thompson, a soci- minor, limited generally to a garbled ac- ety reporter for the thriving Washington ronym or the misspelling of a ship’s Star. They were married within a year. name. Otherwise the book rings with the Throughout the rest of his career they re- authority of an action report. mained a devoted couple. Phyllis was al- Admiral Jerauld Wright is a delightful ways the exemplary Navy wife (she book, easy to pick up and hard to put published a book by that title), uncom- down. It is a biography of a splendid in- plaining about the frequent moves and dividual whose service and contributions long separations, and a pillar of support to his country constitute a significant his- for her husband in all his varied endeav- torical record in itself. It is a story that ors and often bizarre adventures. unfolds with the candor and humor of a During World War II, Wright commanded special person whose intellect and charm major forces in action and served on per- made him a “diplomat among warriors.” sonal liaison missions for the Allies. After J. L. HOLLOWAY the war he served in the Pentagon, where, Admiral, U.S. Navy, Retired because of his combat experience, he was assigned to develop the operating policies for the postwar Navy. The real star in Wright’s crown, however, was his tour as Supreme Allied Com- Hoffman, Jon T. Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant mander, Atlantic, one of the two top General Lewis B. Puller, USMC. New York: Random posts in Nato. He handled that job with House, 2001. 629pp. $35 such distinction that he served for six In the heralded history of the U.S. Ma- years in what was normally a two-year as- rine Corps, Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller oc- signment. His experiences in that critical cupies a unique position. Long revered as post at the height of the Cold War should the greatest hero in the Corps, Puller is be of special interest to naval historians the only Marine to earn five Navy and students of modern history. Crosses. His career spanned thirty-seven After retiring from active duty as a years, during which he mastered the en- four-star admiral in 1960, he performed tire spectrum of warfare, from chasing his final service to the country in 1963, the guerrilla leader Augusto Sandino in when, at the urging of the secretary of the jungles of Nicaragua to commanding state, President John F. Kennedy ap- a Marine regiment in the bitter fighting pointed Wright to serve as U.S. ambassador near the Chosin reservoir. Most Marines to Taiwan. Again Wright answered the are familiar with Burke Davis’s 1962 ac- call of his country to serve in an assign- count of Puller’s life, but fellow leather- ment of great responsibility and unusual neck Jon T. Hoffman has produced what sensitivity, one especially significant be- is likely to become the definitive biogra- cause of the instability of the Chinese phy of this extraordinary officer. Nationalist government and the potential Hoffman is no stranger to biography. His threat to U.S. vital national interests. Once a Legend: “Red Mike” Edson of the David Key’s lack of familiarity with mili- Marine Raiders earned rave reviews from tary jargon has allowed an occasional a number of distinguished military histo- rians and editors. As he did with Edson, Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2002 1 Naval War College Review, Vol. 55 [2002], No. 1, Art. 23 BOOK REVIEWS 159 Hoffman uses private papers, personal It was on New Britain that Puller first at- military records, and recently declassified tracted a great deal of criticism for alleg- federal documents in his attempt to dis- edly using his own casualty figures as a cover the “real” Puller, stripped of decades measuring stick of how aggressively his of mythology and near canonization. men were fighting. This criticism reached What makes this current biography so new heights after Peleliu in September intriguing is Hoffman’s willingness to 1944, where a visibly tired Puller, now a confront the more controversial aspects regimental commander, sustained dis- of Puller’s career, such as his perfor- proportionate casualties in eradicating mance at Peleliu, where his unit’s casu- the Japanese defenders. Hoffman rushes alty rate exceeded 54 percent, as well as to his defense, noting that Puller’s unit his alleged indifference toward junior of- did not have as much naval gunfire sup- ficers and to other services. port available as the other regiments did, Puller was born in the Virginia Tidewater and that service doctrine dictated main- in 1898 and enlisted in the Marine Corps taining momentum, which Puller’s regi- on 25 July 1918, too late to fight in ment had gained. Moreover, Hoffman World War I. He first saw combat during points out, the terrain at Peleliu offered the interwar period, when the United little opportunity for maneuver; frontal States frequently dispatched Marines to assault is almost always costly. quell domestic disturbances throughout Allegations of Puller’s lack of tactical the Caribbean. The Puller legend was imagination resurfaced in Korea, where born in Haiti and Nicaragua, where he his regiment was instrumental in retak- earned the sobriquet “El Tigre” and es- ing Seoul in the immediate aftermath of tablished a reputation as a brilliant the Inchon landing. House-to-house small-unit leader. His aggressive leader- fighting proved slow and deadly, but ship won two Navy Crosses. Extended Puller took justifiable pride in his regi- foreign service in China and aboard Cap- ment’s role in seizing the South Korean tain Chester Nimitz’s flagship, USS capital. Puller’s leadership during the Augusta (CA 31), added new laurels to fighting withdrawal from the Chosin res- Puller’s growing reputation. ervoir, in contrast, attracted a great deal With the advent of World War II, Puller of favorable publicity. It was in fact noth- actively sought combat duty. In Septem- ing short of inspirational, earning him ber 1942 his battalion deployed to his fifth and final Navy Cross. Guadalcanal. One month later, he had Unfortunately, the years following Korea earned his third Navy Cross, in the de- brought only disillusionment to Puller. fense of Henderson Field. Following a Like General George S. Patton, Chesty short interlude, Puller won a fourth Navy Puller was ill suited to the peacetime es- Cross in the battle at Cape Gloucester, on tablishment. He was never politically as- New Britain Island. On both occasions, tute; his blunt remarks about rugged Puller’s spirited leadership prevented the training and a “soft” American public desperate and determined enemy from created a hailstorm of criticism from a penetrating his defenses. On Guadalcanal country long tired of war. What Puller particularly, his officers and men were al- desired most was command of a Marine most universal in their praise of his cour- division, but soon after he finally age and leadership under fire. achieved that lofty ideal in 1954, a stroke https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol55/iss1/23 2 Kingseed.: Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC 160 NAVAL WAR COLLEGE REVIEW felled him, and he was relieved of com- mand. Rather than retiring gracefully, however, Puller fought the medical ex- La Bree, Clifton. The Gentle Warrior: General Oliver aminer’s board for over a year before the Prince Smith, USMC. Kent, Ohio: Kent State Univ. secretary of the Navy informed him in Press, 2001. 268pp. $32 October 1955 that he would be retired. Oliver Prince Smith was not present at For Puller, his forced retirement from ac- Belleau Wood or Chateau Thierry. Nei- tive service was the ultimate betrayal by ther did he chase Sandino in Nicaragua. the commandant and Headquarters, Ma- He never served in Shanghai with the 4th rine Corps. In his twilight years, how- Marines. He missed the fighting on ever, Puller mellowed a bit and took Guadalcanal and Tarawa—early 1941 saw personal satisfaction in seeing his family him with the 1st Marine Brigade in Ice- reach maturity. He volunteered for active land, returning to the United States in service during the Vietnam War (his re- May 1942 for an eighteen-month stint in quest was understandably denied). A vo- the newly formed headquarters Division cal critic of government policy during the of Plans and Policies. Consequently, war, Puller watched his son, Lewis Puller, Smith’s first taste of combat did not Jr., carry on the Puller name in combat. come until early 1944—fully twenty- As a sidelight, Hoffman provides an inti- seven years after commissioning—at mate portrayal of the relationship be- New Britain, where he served initially as tween father and son in the elder Puller’s chief of staff for the 1st Marine Division last days.