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Graves Erskine was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps at the height of the First World War, in which he was concussed so severely by a German shell that he spent nine months in a hospital. He served as Holland Smith's chief of staff throughout the first years of the Pacific War, where his administrative and diplomatic skills served Smith well. Although relatively young at 47 years of age, he commanded 3 Marine Division in the Iwo Jima campaign.
Leckie (1962) says of him that "He was soft-voiced and
his smile could be gentle, but his eyes were green and cold. He was
stern. On Guam, he had court-martialed artillerymen for firing short rounds that killed Marine riflemen. But he had the respect of his men ..."
| 1897-6-28 |
Born at Colombia, Louisiana |
|
| 1917 |
Louisiana National Guard |
|
| 1917-5-21 |
Enrolls in Marine Corps pending graduation
from Louisiana State University |
|
| 1917-7-5 |
Second
lieutenant |
Commissioned in the Marine Corps |
| 1918-1 |
Platoon leader, 6
Marine Regiment, France |
|
| 1918-10 |
Evacuated to United States with wounds |
|
| 1924-9 |
Depot quartermaster, Marine
Barracks, Quantico |
|
| 1926 |
Army Infantry School |
|
| 1928-3 |
2 Marine Brigade, Nicaragua |
|
| 1930 |
Instructor, Basic School, Marine
Barracks, Philadelphia |
|
| 1932 |
Command and General Staff School |
|
| 1934 |
Instructor, Marine Corps School,
Quantico |
|
| 1935-1 |
Marine detachment, American
Legation, Peiping |
|
| 1937-6 |
Section chief, Marine Corps
Schools |
|
| 1940 |
Lieutenant colonel |
Executive officer, 5
Marine Regiment |
| 1941 |
Chief of staff, Amphibious
Force, Atlantic Fleet |
|
| 1942-9 |
Brigadier general |
Chief of staff, Amphibious
Corps, Pacific Fleet |
| 1943-9 |
Chief of staff, V Amphibious
Corps |
|
| 1943-11 |
Deputy commander, V Amphibious Corps | |
| 1944-9 |
Major general |
|
| 1944-10-14
|
Commander, 3
Marine Division |
|
| 1945-10 |
Administrator, Retraining and
Reemployment Administration |
|
| 1947-6 |
Commander, Marine Barracks, Camp Pendleton |
|
| 1947-7 |
Commander, 1 Marine Division | |
| 1949-5 |
Deputy Commander, Fleet Marine
Force, Pacific |
|
| 1950-6 |
Chief, Military Group, Joint
State-Defense Mutual Defense Assistance Program Survey Mission,
Southeast Asia |
|
| 1950-12 |
Commander, Department of the
Pacific |
|
| 1951-7 |
Lieutenant
general |
Commander, Fleet Marine Force,
Atlantic |
| 1953-7-1 |
General |
Retires to accept appointment as
Director of Special Operations, Department of Defense |
| 1961-10-31 |
Retires from Defense Department |
|
| 1973-5-21
|
Dies at Bethesda, Maryland |
References
United States Marine Corps History Division (accessed 2008-9-27)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2008, 2010-2011 by Kent G. Budge. Index
