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West Point,Virginia
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Puller reenlisted as a corporal and was deployed to Haiti for five years to train the newly formed Gendarmerie d'Haiti, a constabulary force of Haitian enlisted personnel and Marine officers.
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and given the rank of Second Lieutenant and imditaly put on the inactive list due to post-war troop reductions.
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After earning his first Navy Cross for his leadership against a rebellion led by Augusto Sandino in Nicaragua, Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller returns to the United States to teach at the Marine Officers Basic School.
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Puller earned another Navy Cross for his gallantry in fighting local rebel forces during a daring ten-day march in Nicaragua
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He then traveled to China to take command of the famous "Horse Marines" guarding American settlements around Beijing.
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He was recalled to the United States to teach at the Marine Officers Basic School at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
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Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller returns to China as the executive officer of the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment in Shanghai.
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When World War II began, Puller was commanding the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment at New River (later renamed Camp Lejeune), North Carolina, and was sent with his unit to Guadalcanal in the summer of 1942.
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Puller, a Lt colonel, commanded the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, holding a line over a mile long.
The Japanese force, greater in number than Puller’s own forces, assaulted the line, but they held the line one man to every 5 yards. By 3:30 a.m. They had launched 6 major attacks on Puller’s line.
“By his tireless devotion to duty and cool judgement under fire, he prevented a hostile penetration of our lines and was largely responsible for the successful defense of the sector,” -
Puller earned his fourth Navy Cross while serving as executive officer of the 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division while fighting in Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Papua New Guinea. “His forceful leadership and gallant fighting spirit under the most hazardous conditions were contributing factors in the defeat of the enemy during this campaign,” according to his citation.
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He returned to the United States the following month to train recruits at Camp Lejeune, where he remained for the rest of the war.
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He then earned his fifth Navy Cross at the Chosin Reservoir later that year by "attacking in a different direction" against ten Chinese divisions.
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At the outbreak of the Korean War, Puller received command of his old unit, the 1st Marine Regiment, and led them during the landing at Inchon in September 1950.
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promoted
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promoted again
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In 1954, he assumed command of the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune
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he is forced to retire due to ill health
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He requested a return to service in 1966 to fight in Vietnam but was refused because of his age.
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He was buried at Christchurch, in Middlesex County Virginia
