Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller, whose barrel chest and blunt manner inspired his nickname, was a thirty-seven-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps who rose from enlisted man to the rank of lieutenant general. Puller was born in West Point, Virginia, on June 26, 1898. A second cousin of General George S. Patton and the grandson of a Confederate veteran, he enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute in 1917 but left after a year with hopes of fighting in World War I.
The most-decorated Marine in history, he earned five Navy Crosses, the U.S. Navy’s second-highest decoration, for fighting in Nicaragua, at Guadalcanal and in New Guinea during the World War II, and at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.
Puller was loved by enlisted men for his constant actions to improve their lot–so much so that even now, many Marines end the day with “Goodnight, Chesty, wherever you are.”
After Puller and his wife retired to a quiet life in rural Virginia, he always welcomed all passing or visiting Marines in his home and would gladly talk to them about the Marine Corps. Puller died on October 11, 1971, at the age of seventy-three and was buried in Saluda, in Middlesex County, Virginia.
Further Reading
- Davis, Burke. Marine!: The Life of Lt. Gen. Lewis B. (Chesty) Puller, USMC (Ret.). Boston: Little, Brown, 1962.
- Hoffman, Jon T. Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC. New York: Random House, 2001.
This Vignette Provided By
This Vignette is drawn from an Encyclopedia Virginia entry by Bradford A. Wineman, associate professor of Military History at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Quantico, Virginia.
