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Thomas Holcomb
General Thomas Holcomb (August 5, 1879 – May 24, 1965) was a United States Marine Corps officer who served as the seventeenth Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1936 to 1943. He was the first Marine to achieve the rank of general, and was a strong supporter of racial segregation in the Marine Corps. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Holcomb served as the U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to South Africa from 1944 to 1948. One of his ancestors was Joshua Barney, a naval hero of the War of 1812.
Holcomb was born on August 5, 1879, in New Castle, Delaware, one of four children, the son of Elizabeth Hindman Barney, daughter of Confederate naval officer Joseph Nicholson Barney, and Thomas Holcomb, an attorney and Speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives. He attended private schools there until 1893 when his father took a position in the Treasury Department of president Cleveland's second administration and moved the family to Washington, D.C. He graduated from Western High School in 1897. His curriculum included military drills in uniform; here Holcomb learned about military discipline.
His father encouraged Holcomb to enter the business world. In 1898 Holcomb took a job as a cost clerk at the Bethlehem Steel works in Sparrows Point, Maryland, for two years.
Holcomb was appointed a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps from civilian life on April 13, 1900. Second Lieutenant Holcomb was on detached duty with a company of Marines organized for service with a Marine battalion attached to the North Atlantic Fleet from September 1902 to April 1903. Holcomb’s first claim to fame was winning the International long distance rifle championship in 1902 Montreal, Canada. He was promoted to first lieutenant March 3, 1903 and put in charge of the US Marine Corps rifle team bringing to championship in 1911. He served in the Philippine Islands from April 1904 to August 1905, and in October and November 1906.
He was on duty with the Legation Guard in Peking, China, from September 1905 to September 1906. He was appointed a captain May 13, 1908 and from December of that year to July 1910, he again served with the Legation Guard at Peking. He continued on duty in Peking as attache on the staff of the American Minister for study of the Chinese language and remained until May 1911. In December 1911, he was again ordered to the Legation at Peking to continue his study of the Chinese language and continued in that capacity until May 1914.
Captain Holcomb served as Inspector of Target Practice in the Marine Corps from October 1914 to August 1917. While serving as such, he was promoted to the rank of major on August 29, 1916. On November 11, 1916, he married Beatrice Miller Clover, daughter of Admiral Richardson Clover. Then Commandant of the Marine Corps, Major General George Barnett, and his wife hosted a luncheon for them at the Commandant's House.
From August 1917 to January 1918, Major Holcomb commanded the 2d Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, at the Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia, in preparation for overseas duty. From February 1918 to July of the next year, he served with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in France. He commanded the 2d Battalion from August 1918 and served as second in command of the 6th Marine Regiment, taking part in the Third Battle of the Aisne, Château-Thierry, Soissons (in the Aisne-Marne Offensive), the Marbache Sector, St. Mihiel, the Meuse–Argonne offensive, and the march to the Rhine in Germany following the Armistice.
In recognition of his distinguished services in France, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star with three Oak Leaf Clusters, a Meritorious Service Citation by the Commander-in-Chief, AEF, and the Purple Heart, and was three times cited in General Orders of the Second Division, AEF. The French Government conferred on him the Cross of the Legion of Honor and three times awarded him the Croix de Guerre with Palm. He was appointed lieutenant colonel on June 4, 1920.
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Thomas Holcomb
General Thomas Holcomb (August 5, 1879 – May 24, 1965) was a United States Marine Corps officer who served as the seventeenth Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1936 to 1943. He was the first Marine to achieve the rank of general, and was a strong supporter of racial segregation in the Marine Corps. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Holcomb served as the U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to South Africa from 1944 to 1948. One of his ancestors was Joshua Barney, a naval hero of the War of 1812.
Holcomb was born on August 5, 1879, in New Castle, Delaware, one of four children, the son of Elizabeth Hindman Barney, daughter of Confederate naval officer Joseph Nicholson Barney, and Thomas Holcomb, an attorney and Speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives. He attended private schools there until 1893 when his father took a position in the Treasury Department of president Cleveland's second administration and moved the family to Washington, D.C. He graduated from Western High School in 1897. His curriculum included military drills in uniform; here Holcomb learned about military discipline.
His father encouraged Holcomb to enter the business world. In 1898 Holcomb took a job as a cost clerk at the Bethlehem Steel works in Sparrows Point, Maryland, for two years.
Holcomb was appointed a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps from civilian life on April 13, 1900. Second Lieutenant Holcomb was on detached duty with a company of Marines organized for service with a Marine battalion attached to the North Atlantic Fleet from September 1902 to April 1903. Holcomb’s first claim to fame was winning the International long distance rifle championship in 1902 Montreal, Canada. He was promoted to first lieutenant March 3, 1903 and put in charge of the US Marine Corps rifle team bringing to championship in 1911. He served in the Philippine Islands from April 1904 to August 1905, and in October and November 1906.
He was on duty with the Legation Guard in Peking, China, from September 1905 to September 1906. He was appointed a captain May 13, 1908 and from December of that year to July 1910, he again served with the Legation Guard at Peking. He continued on duty in Peking as attache on the staff of the American Minister for study of the Chinese language and remained until May 1911. In December 1911, he was again ordered to the Legation at Peking to continue his study of the Chinese language and continued in that capacity until May 1914.
Captain Holcomb served as Inspector of Target Practice in the Marine Corps from October 1914 to August 1917. While serving as such, he was promoted to the rank of major on August 29, 1916. On November 11, 1916, he married Beatrice Miller Clover, daughter of Admiral Richardson Clover. Then Commandant of the Marine Corps, Major General George Barnett, and his wife hosted a luncheon for them at the Commandant's House.
From August 1917 to January 1918, Major Holcomb commanded the 2d Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, at the Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia, in preparation for overseas duty. From February 1918 to July of the next year, he served with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in France. He commanded the 2d Battalion from August 1918 and served as second in command of the 6th Marine Regiment, taking part in the Third Battle of the Aisne, Château-Thierry, Soissons (in the Aisne-Marne Offensive), the Marbache Sector, St. Mihiel, the Meuse–Argonne offensive, and the march to the Rhine in Germany following the Armistice.
In recognition of his distinguished services in France, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star with three Oak Leaf Clusters, a Meritorious Service Citation by the Commander-in-Chief, AEF, and the Purple Heart, and was three times cited in General Orders of the Second Division, AEF. The French Government conferred on him the Cross of the Legion of Honor and three times awarded him the Croix de Guerre with Palm. He was appointed lieutenant colonel on June 4, 1920.