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DeWitt Peck 4th Marines China commanding officer


Bob Hudson
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The small stand-mounted plaque was presented to Dewitt Peck when he was commanding officer of the 4th Marines in China, pre-WWII. He was wounded in WWI, served in Nicaragua, was on Halsey's staff planning attacks early in WWII, served as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps at the end of WWII and came under attack from the Communists when he was back in China in 1946 as Commanding General 1st Marine Division.

 

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His silver-tipped swagger stick with his name engraved. The wood is light, maybe hollow. I'd guess it's made in China.

 

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The last digit of the hat contract is faded, but it is "7" so I wonder if the last two numbers - 37 - are the year?

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There are two pre-WWII medals - there's a bunch of pre-WWII wide ribbons: the ones shown below are pin back. There's a leather box full of more older ribbons and ribbon bars.

 

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The large EGA on the campaign cover has the Hamburger Hilborn logo on it: but it's just an outline of the H&H eagle. The globe seems to be very thin, not quite like any other H&H piece i can recall.

 

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"Meanwhile, Brigadier General DeWitt Peck, the ComSoPac War Plans Officer, with the aid and assistance of Halsey's capable staff, devised a scheme--dubbed TOENAILS--for the invasion of the Central Solomons. Early in January Halsey sent Peck to Washington to present his TOENAILS concept to the Joint Chiefs. Peck pleaded in vain for the additional forces necessary to assault vulnerable Japanese positions in the New Georgia group.

At a meeting at Pearl Harbor in March, South Pacific staff officers suggested execution of the TOENAILS plan, and recommended its commencement about 1 April. MacArthur's representatives at the conference agreed that New Georgia should be struck. But they demurred on the suggested date, 1 April, because this was too close at hand and the Southwest Pacific forces did not have enough time to prepare for concomitant operations. The question, therefore, was referred to the Joint Chiefs for solution. And the Joint Chiefs directive of 28 March solved the problem: Mac Arthur would determine the date.

When apprised of this decision, Admiral Halsey directed General Peck and Admiral Turner to continue with their planning and collection of intelligence. A few days later he flew to Brisbane to consult MacArthur, who--in practice--had become Halsey's immediate superior and as such had to approve any stratagem devised by the ComSoPac staff.

Admiral Halsey arrived at General MacArthur's headquarters early in April. Here the two commanders conferred informally, and worked out details for coordination of operations in the Central Solomons and in the Trobriands (the next Southwest Pacific target). As a result of this meeting MacArthur approved the admiral's plan to invade New Georgia at an early date and promised to support the operation by launching neutralizing air strikes against Rabaul before and during the initial stages of the TOENAILS attack. L-Day (the day of the landing) was set for 15 May to coincide with planned advances in New Guinea and the Trobriands."

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There are also four plaques which belonged to his son, who was also a Marine officer, who commanded 3/11 in 63-64.

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There were no documents with this - he died about 44 years ago so who knows what happened to other artifacts of his 31 years active duty.

 

But there's a lot about Gen Peck to be found online. This is from ancestry.com:

 

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His first name is written with a space in it - De Witt. If you do a google search you will get different results on him with "De Witt Peck" than for "DeWitt Peck." So search both of those to find info online.

 

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Another awesome grouping from a great Marine. I'm envious of this collection. Please send more pictures.

 

This has never been in a collection: it came out of an estate this week, Wish I had more to photograph, but that's it. But, for a Marine General with a career like his, it is a small but impressive grouping.

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Brian Dentino

All I can say is WOW! High ranking 2 war USMC grouping there Bob. As usual, fantastic pictures of some really great items. Were there any uniforms at the estate sale?

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