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Congressional Gold Medal Recipient
George Catlett Marshall
George Catlett Marshall b. Uniontown, Fayette, Pennsylvania, 31 December 1880
d. Washington, D.C., 16 October 1959
Ernest Joseph King b. Lorain, Lorain, Ohio, 23 November 1878
d. Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire, 25 June 1956
Friday, 22 March 1946
JOINT RESOLUTION Tendering the thanks of Congress to General of the Army George Catlett Marshall and to Fleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King and to the members of the armed forces of the United States who served under their direction; and providing for the striking and presentation to General Marshall and Fleet Admiral King of appropriate gold medals in the name of the people of the United States. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of the Congress are hereby tendered to General of the Army George Catlett Marshall for his distinguished leadership, as Chief of Staff of the Army and as a member of the Combined Chiefs of Staff of the United Nations, in planning the expansion, equipment, training, and deployment of the great Army of the United States and in formulating and executing the global strategy that led to victory in World War II; and to the members of the Army of the United States who served under his direction with such heroic devotion and personal sacrifice. SEC. 2. That the thanks of the Congress are hereby tendered to Fleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King for this distinguished leadership, as Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations and as a member of the Combined Chiefs of Staff of the United Nations, in planning the expansion, equipment, training, and operation of the United States Navy and in formulating and executing the global strategy that led to victory in World War II; and to the members of the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps and the United States Coast Guard and to the members of the Reserve Forces who served under his direction with such heroic devotion and personal sacrifice. SEC. 3. The President of the United States is requested to cause gold medals to be struck, with suitable emblems, devices, and inscription, in General Marshall's and Admiral King's honor. When the medals have been prepared, the President is requested to present them to General Marshall and Admiral King, together with a copy of this joint resolution engrossed on parchment, in the name of the people of the United States. SEC. 4. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, such sum as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this joint resolution. 60 Stat. 1134-1135
George Catlett Marshall
General President American Red Cross; ex-Secretary of State and of Defense; Delegate U.N.; Originator of "Marshall Plan" Biography
George Catlett Marshall (December 31, 1880-October 16, 1959), America's foremost soldier during World War II, served as chief of staff from 1939 to 1945, building and directing the largest army in history. A diplomat, he acted as secretary of state from 1947 to 1949, formulating the
Marshall Plan, an unprecedented program of economic and military aid to foreign nations.
Marshall's father owned a prosperous coal business in Pennsylvania, but the boy, deciding to become a soldier, enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute from which he was graduated in 1901 as senior first captain of the Corps of Cadets. After serving in posts in the Philippines and the United States, Marshall was graduated with honors from the Infantry-Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in 1907 and from the Army Staff College in 1908. The young officer distinguished himself in a variety of posts in the next nine years, earning an appointment to the General Staff in World War I and sailing to France with the First Division. He achieved fame and promotion for his staff work in the battles of Cantigny, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne. After acting as aide-de-camp to
General John J. Pershing from 1919 to 1924, Marshall served in China from 1924 to 1927, and then successively as instructor in the Army War College in 1927, as assistant commandant of the Infantry School from 1927 to 1932, as commander of the Eighth Infantry in 1933, as senior instructor to the Illinois National Guard from 1933 to 1936, and as commander, with the rank of brigadier general, of the Fifth Infantry Brigade from 1936 to 1938. In July, 1938, Marshall accepted a post with the General Staff in Washington, D. C., and in September, 1939, was named chief of staff, with the rank of general, by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He became general of the army in 1944, the year in which Congress created that five-star rank.
In his position as chief of staff, Marshall urged military readiness prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, later became responsible for the building, supplying, and, in part, the deploying of over eight million soldiers. From 1941 he was a member of the policy committee that supervised the atomic studies engaged in by American and British scientists. The war over, Marshall resigned in November, 1945.
But Marshall could not resign from public service; his military career ended, he took up a diplomatic career. He had been associated with diplomatic events while chief of staff, for he participated in the conference on the Atlantic Charter (1941-1942), and in those at Casablanca (1943), Quebec (1943), Cairo-Teheran (1943), Yalta (1945), Potsdam (1945), and in many others of lesser import. In late 1945 and in 1946, he represented
President Harry Truman on a special mission to China, then torn by civil war; in January, 1947, he accepted the Cabinet position of secretary of state, holding it for two years. In the spring of 1947 he outlined in a speech at Harvard University the plan of economic aid which history has named the
Marshall Plan.
For one year during the
Korean War General Marshall was secretary of defence, a civilian post in the U. S. Cabinet. Having resigned from this post in September, 1951, three months before his seventy-first birthday, he retired from public service, thereafter performing those ceremonial duties the public comes to expect of its famous men.
Chronology
born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on 31 December 1880
graduated from Virginia Military Institute, 1901
married Elizabeth Carter Cole, 1902 (deceased 1927)
was commissioned a second lieutenant, February 1902, and served with the 30th Infantry in the Philippines, 1902-1903, and at Fort Reno, 1903-1906
was promoted to first lieutenant, March 1907
at Fort Leavenworth, graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School (1907) and was a student (1908) and instructor (1908-1910) at the Staff College
was inspector-instructor of the Massachusetts National Guard, 1911-1912, then served with the 4th Infantry at Forts Logan H. Roots and Crocket, and the 13th Infantry in the Philippines, 1913-1916
was promoted to captain, July 1917, and then to temporary major, August 1917, lieutenant colonel, January 1918, and colonel, August 1918
served with the American Expeditionary Forces in France as operations officer of the 1st Division and the First Army, and chief of staff of the VIII Corps, 1917-1918, participating in the Cantigny, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne operations
was aide to General John J. Pershing, 1919-1924
was promoted to permanent major, July 1920, and lieutenant colonel, August 1923
commanded the 15th Infantry in China, 1924-1927
was instructor at the Army War College, 1927, and assistant commandant of the Infantry School at Fort Benning, 1927-1932
married Katherine Boyce Tupper Brown, 1930
was promoted to colonel and placed in command of the 8th Infantry at Fort Screven, September 1933
was senior instructor of the Illinois National Guard, 1933-1936
was promoted to brigadier general, October 1936, and was commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade, 1936-1938
was head of the War Plans Division, General Staff, 1938
was deputy chief of staff, 1938-1939, and acting chief, July-September 1939
was promoted to major general and immediately full general, September 1939
was chief of staff of the United States Army, 1 September 1939-18 November 1945
centralized the professional leadership of the Army in the chief of staff's office
exercised control over mobilization, staff planning, industrial conversion, and personnel requirements
streamlined administration and tactical organization
mastered grand strategy and was the principal American military architect of Allied victory
was promoted to temporary grade of General of the Army, December 1944 (made permanent retroactively in April 1946)
was special representative of the president to China, 1945-1947
retired from active service February 1947
was secretary of state, 21 January 1947-21 January 1949
was the architect of the Marshall Plan to aid European nations, April 1948
was restored to the active list, March 1949
was president of the American Red Cross, 1949-1950
was secretary of defense, 12 September 1950-12 September 1951
received the Nobel Peace Prize for the Marshall Plan, 1953
was chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission, 1949-1959
died in Washington, D.C., on 16 October 1959.
Links to other sites
The George C. Marshall Foundation is a living memorial of George C. Marshall.
George C. Marshall Lecture Series & Leadership Award presented by the City of Vancouver, WA.
Selected Bibliography
Acheson, Dean, General of the Army George Catlett Marshall, in Sketches from Life of Men I Have Known, pp. 147-166. New York, Harper, 1961.
Frye, William, Marshall: Citizen Soldier. Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1947.
Jouvenel, B., L'Amrique en Europe: Le Plan Marshall et la coopration intercontinentale. Paris, 1948.
Marshall, George C., Report on the Army, July 1, 1939, to June 30, 1941: Biennial Report of General George C. Marshall. Washington, The Infantry Journal, 1941.
Marshall, George C., Selected Speeches and Statements of General of the Army George C. Marshall, ed. by H.A. De Weerd. Washington, The Infantry Journal, 1945.
Marshall, George C., The Winning of the War in Europe and the Pacific: Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, July 1, 1943, to June 30, 1945, to the Secretary of War. New York, Simon & Schuster, 1945.
Marshall, Katherine Tupper, Together: Annals of an Army Wife. New York, Tupper & Love, 1946.
Payne, Robert, The Marshall Story. New York, Prentice-Hall, 1951. Contains a select bibliography.
Pogue, Forrest C., George C. Marshall: Education of a General. New York, Viking Press, 1963. Contains an excellent bibliography.
Pogue, Forrest C., George C. Marshall: Ordeal and Hope. New York, Viking Press, 1968.
Sherwood, Robert E., Roosevelt and Hopkins: An Intimate History. New York, Harper, 1950.
United States Army in the World War 1917-1919: Military Operations of the American Expeditionary Forces. Washington, Historical Division, Department of the Army, 1948. Volumes 8 and 9 describe the battles of St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne.
From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam
George Catlett Marshall
Fleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King Ernest Joseph King was born in Lorain, Ohio, on November 23,1878. As a young boy he read an article in the Youth's Companion about the Naval Academy which stimulated his interest towards a Navy career. Upon graduating from Lorain High School in 1897, he was appointed to the Naval Academy by Representative Kerr of the Fourteenth District of Ohio. When he left home, his father, a railway mechanic, gave him a round-trip railway pass in case he might change his mind. He never used the return portion, although he kept it for many years. In the Summer of 1898, during the
Spanish American War, King served as a Naval Cadet in the USS San Francisco, flagship of the Northern Patrol Squadron, for which he received his first decoration, the Sampson Medal. He graduated with distinction in the Class of 1901, and served the two years at sea -- then required by law -- before being commissioned Ensign on June 7, 1903. His assignments during his first sea cruise included service in USS Eagle surveying Cienfriegas, Cuba, in USS Cincinnati, a protected cruiser in the Asiatic Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, in USS Illinois, flagship of the European Squadron, and USS Alabama, flagship of the second Division of the Atlantic Fleet. His first shore duty came in 1906 when he went to the Naval Academy as an instructor in Ordnance and Gunnery for two years, followed by one year on the Executive Staff. Officers who were midshipmen at that time still remember him as a strict but fair duty officer. There followed another sea cruise of three years beginning as Aide on the Staff of Commander Battleship Division Two, Atlantic Fleet in USS Minnesota, one year as Engineer Officer of USS New Hampshire and one year on the Staff of the Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet in USS Connecticut. His next shore cruise started in 1912 in command of the Engineering Experimental Station at Annapolis. After two years, in l914, he went to sea again, this time in destroyers in command of USS Cassin, then as aide to Commander Torpedo Flotilla Atlantic Fleet, Commander Sixth Division of the Flotilla. In 1916 he went to the staff of Admiral H. T. Mayo on which he served during WWI while the Admiral was Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. In 1919, Admiral King, then a Captain, became head of the Postgraduate School at the Naval Academy. Following that tour of duty, he commanded USS Bridge for a short period. In July 1922, he commenced a series of assignments which placed him in intimate contact with submarine operations when he was assigned to duty on the staff of Commander Submarine Flotillas, Atlantic Fleet, and as Commander Submarine Division Eleven. In 1923 he took command of the Submarine Base at New London with additional duty as Naval Inspector of Ordnance in Charge of the Mine Depot there. It was during this period in September 1925 that he was in charge of the salvage of USS S-51 which was sunk off Block Island. Having had sea duty in destroyers, submarines and battleships, Captain King now began his career in Naval Aviation which was then taking its place in the Fleet. In 1926 he took command of the aircraft tender USS Wright with additional duties as Senior Aide on the Staff of Commander Air Squadrons, Atlantic Fleet, In January of 1927, he reported to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola for flight training and was designated naval aviator 3368 in May of that year. He rejoined Wright on completion of this training. When USS S-4 was sunk in December of that year off Provincetown, however, he was again assigned to command of her salvage operations. Upon completion he returned to his command of the Wright, and had a short cruise as Commander Aircraft Squadrons, Scouting Fleet, until 1928, when he went ashore as Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. In 1929 he assumed command of the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia. In June of 1930 he went to sea in command of USS Lexington for a two year cruise in that ship. He then had a year in the senior officers' course at the Naval War College. In 1933, with the rank of Rear Admiral, he became the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics until 1936. During the next five years, except for the year 1940 on the General Board he commanded Aircraft Base Force, Aircraft Scouting Force, and as a Vice Admiral in 1938, Aircraft Battle Force. In February 1941, he was given the rank of Admiral as Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet and on 30 December of that year he became Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Fleet. In March 1942, the President by Executive Order, combined the office of Commander in Chief and the Chief of Naval Operations, and Admiral King assumed those combined duties on 18 March, when he relieved Admiral Stark as Chief of Naval Operations, the first and only officer to hold such an assignment. On 17 December 1944 he was advanced to the newly created rank of Fleet Admiral. In 1945, when the position of Commander in Chief, U. S. Fleet ceased to exist, as an office established by the President pursuant to Executive Order 99635, Admiral King became Chief of Naval Operations in October of that year. In December he was relieved by Fleet Admiral Nimitz. From that time he served in an Advisory Capacity in the office of the Secretary of the Navy, and as President of the Naval Historical Foundation. He died at the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, New Hampshire on 25 June 1956.
PROMOTIONS Graduated from the Naval Academy - Class of 1901
Ensign - June 7, 1903
Lieutenant (junior grade) - June 7, 1906
Lieutenant - June 7, 1906
Lieutenant Commander - July 1, 1913
Commander - July 1, 1917
Captain - September 21, 1918
Rear Admiral - November 1, 1933
Vice Admiral - January 29, 1938
Admiral- February 1, 1941
Fleet Admiral - December 17, 1944
DECORATIONS AND AWARDS Navy Cross
Distinguished Service Medal with two gold stars
Spanish Campaign Medal
Sampson Medal
Mexican Service Medal
Victory Medal, Atlantic Fleet Clasp
American Defense Service Medal, with bronze "A"
American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Service Medal Autobiographical Fleet Admiral King: A Naval Record (with W. M. Whitehill, 1952).
Fleet Admiral Earnest Joseph King at Naval Academy
Fleet Admiral Earnest Joseph King U.S.N.
Lorain Admiral King High School Named in Honor of Fleet Admiral Earnest Joseph King
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