Marines salute during a ceremony honoring Marine Corps hero Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller and his wife, Virginia Montague Evans, at their gravesites in Saluda, Va., Oct. 23, 2020. Marines visit the site annually to honor Puller, the most decorated Marine in history.
Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller, born June 26, 1898 served as a United States Marine Corps officer. He began his career fighting guerrillas in Haiti and Nicaragua during the ‘Banana Wars’ and later served in World War II and the Korean War. Puller retired at the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.
Despite being an all around badass, Chesty Puller is well known as the most decorated Marine in American History. He is one of only two servicemen to be awarded five — that’s right, FIVE — Navy Crosses and one Army Distinguished Service Cross. He earned two Navy Crosses in Nicaragua in the 1930s, two while fighting the Japanese in the Pacific and one for his actions in Korea.
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Marines salute during a ceremony honoring Marine Corps hero Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller and his wife, Virginia Montague Evans, at their gravesites in Saluda, Va., Oct. 23, 2020. Marines visit the site annually to honor Puller, the most decorated Marine in history.
Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller, born June 26, 1898 served as a United States Marine Corps officer. He began his career fighting guerrillas in Haiti and Nicaragua during the ‘Banana Wars’ and later served in World War II and the Korean War. Puller retired at the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.
Despite being an all around badass, Chesty Puller is well known as the most decorated Marine in American History. He is one of only two servicemen to be awarded five — that’s right, FIVE — Navy Crosses and one Army Distinguished Service Cross. He earned two Navy Crosses in Nicaragua in the 1930s, two while fighting the Japanese in the Pacific and one for his actions in Korea.
It was at the Battle of Chosin Resevoir during his service in Korea when Puller uttered his famous quote:
We’ve been looking for the enemy for some time now. We’ve finally found him. We’re surrounded. That simplifies things.
You can find a book about Chesty Puller and his service online, here.
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