George Marshall

For the Olympic athlete, see George Marshall (athlete).

Military Career

After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute in 1901, he entered the U.S. Army, where he was to have a long and distinguished career. Until World War I, he was posted to various positions in the US and the Philippines, and was trained in modern warfare. During the War he had roles as a planner of both training and operations. Between WWI and WWII, he was a key planner and writer in the War Department, spent three years in China, and taught at the Army War College.

Related Topics:
1901 - U.S. Army - World War I - Philippines - WWII - War Department - China

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He went to France in the summer of 1917 as the director of training and planning for the 1st Infantry Division. In mid-1918, he was promoted to American Expeditionary Forces headquarters, where he was a key planner of American operations. He was instrumental in the design and coordination of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, which contributed to the defeat of the German Army on the Western Front.

Related Topics:
France - 1917 - 1st Infantry Division - 1918 - Meuse-Argonne offensive - German Army

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In 1919 he became an aide-de-camp to General John J. Pershing. Between 1920 and 1924, while Pershing was Army Chief of Staff, Marshall worked in a number of positions in the US Army, focusing on training and teaching modern, mechanised warfare.

Related Topics:
1919 - John J. Pershing - 1920 - 1924

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He was promoted to Brigadier General in October 1936. In 1939 he was selected by Franklin D. Roosevelt to be Army Chief of Staff, a position he held until 1945.

Related Topics:
1936 - 1939 - Franklin D. Roosevelt - Army Chief of Staff - 1945

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Marshall's highest rank, General of the Army, is the American equivalent to the rank of Field Marshal. Marshall once joked that he was glad the U.S. never created a "Field Marshal" rank during World War II, since he would then have to be addressed as "Marshal Marshall."

Related Topics:
General of the Army - Field Marshal

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Dates of rank

• Second Lieutenant, United States Army: February 2, 1902
• First Lieutenant, United States Army: March 7, 1907
• Captain, United States Army: July 1, 1916
• Major, National Army: August 5, 1917
• Lieutenant Colonel, National Army: January 5, 1918
• Colonel, National Army: August 27, 1918
• Major, Regular Army (reverted to peacetime rank): July 1, 1920
• Lieutenant Colonel, Regular Army: August 21, 1923
• Colonel, Regular Army: September 1, 1933
• Brigadier General, Regular Army: October 1, 1936
• Major General, Regular Army: September 1, 1939
• General, Regular Army, for service as Army Chief of Staff: September 1, 1939
• General of the Army, Army of the United States: December 16, 1944
• General of the Army rank made permanent in the Regular Army: April 11, 1946

Awards and decorations

United States

• Distinguished Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster
• Silver Star
• World War I Victory Medal with four battle clasps
• American Defense Service Medal with ?Foreign Service? Clasp
• American Campaign Medal
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars
• Mexican Border Service Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• Army of Occupation of Germany Medal
• National Defense Service Medal

Foreign awards

• British Order of the Bath
• French Legion of Honor
• French Croix de Guerre
• Soviet Order of Suvarov
• Soviet Grand Cross Order of Military Merit
• Moroccan Grand Cross of Ouissam Alaouite
• Philippine Campaign Medal
• Cuban Order of Military Merit, First Class
• Liberian Centennial Medal
• Greek Grand Cross Order of George I with swords
• Order of the Crown of Italy
• Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
• Netherlands Grand Cross with Swords in the Order of Orange Nassau
• Montenegro Silver Medal for Bravery
• Panamanian Medal of La Solidaridad, Second Class
• Peruvian Gran Oficial del Sol del Peru
• Brazilian Order of Military Merit
• Chilean Order del Merito
• Ecuadorian Star of Abdon Calderon, First Class
• Columbian Grand Cross of the Order of Boyaco Cherifien

Civilian awards

• Nobel Peace Prize 1953 for the Marshall Plan