NOVEMBER 2009

Book Reviews

FOR COUNTRY AND CORPS: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith

The Life of a Legend

Reviewed by Heather Leahy

>Ms. Leahy is an intern at the History Division, Marine Corps University.

Gail Shisler, the admiring granddaughter of the late Gen O.P. Smith, in a compilation of interviews, oral histories, and family letters, has produced what will surely be the definitive biography on a largely unsung hero of the Marine Corps. For Country and Corps: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith neatly complements the biography written by Clifton La Bree in 2001 (The Gentle Warrior: General Oliver Prince Smith, Kent State University Press). Writing her undergraduate thesis on the Korean War gave Shisler a unique perspective on the history of that particularly difficult conflict. However, her knowledge of the sources that she used is quite masterful. Not only does she understand the Korean War but she also is very familiar with the historic and insular nature of the Marine Corps officer corps. Moreover, her personal experience relating to the life of Gen Smith lends added credence to what she has to write about in her book.

Shisler seamlessly constructs a purely unique Marine Corps history of O.P. Smith and his Marines and recounts their valiant action at Peleliu, Okinawa, Inchon, Seoul, and especially the Chosin Reservoir. Interestingly, she uses quotations from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, the journal of one of the most successful Roman emperors in history, to underscore each chapter as it related to the life of her grandfather. Amazingly this technique really helps to set the tone for each and every chapter. Both men were known for their legendary reserve and their ability to remain steadfast to their principles in the face of adversity. They believed that the “denial of emotion will free a man from the pains and pleasures of the material world, creating a barrier of protection.” While Shisler’s use of Marcus Aurelius quotes was sometimes a bit of a stretch, she nonetheless reinforced the idea in the reader’s mind that O.P. Smith was very similar to the Roman leader in style and temperament.

Shisler noted that Oliver P. Smith started his career at the age of 18 as a Reserve Officer Training Corps student at the University of California at Berkeley. Upon graduation he accepted a commission with the Marine Corps simply because it paid more than any other opportunity he had going for him at the time. Initially assigned to the Marine Barracks at Guam, the newly commissioned Smith missed service with the Marine Corps on the battlefields of France during World War I. But to his amazement, Smith was one of the officers retained on active duty following a postwar Corps-wide drawdown of personnel. Returning to Mare Island, CA in 1919, he is promoted to the rank of captain. After a sea duty tour onboard the USS Texas (BB 35), where in his own words he learned much about leadership, during the 1920s and 1930s he saw service at Headquarters Marine Corps; Haiti; Marine Corps Schools, Quantico; San Diego, CA; and Fort Benning, GA. During the mid-1930s Smith was the commanding officer of the legendary 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, and in 1941 he accompanied the Marines sent to occupy Iceland during Lend-Lease and remained there until early 1942. Transferred back to Headquarters Marine Corps, Smith was appointed to command the 5th Marine Regiment during the New Britain campaign and especially distinguished himself in combat with the enemy. Promoted to brigadier general soon afterward, Smith was appointed the Assistant Division Commander, 1st Marine Division, where he was again instrumental in the Marine assault on Peleliu. This would not be Smith’s last association with this illustrious Marine organization. By December 1944 he is named the Marine Deputy Chief of Staff, Tenth Army, then in Hawaii making preparations for the invasion of Okinawa. Following participation in the Okinawa campaign, Smith was once again assigned to another academic job as the Commandant, Marine Corps Schools, Quantico. Appointed a major general in 1949, Smith’s next and most important assignment was to command his old World War II outfit, the 1st Marine Division, soon after the outbreak of hostilities in Korea. He was in command during the Inchon invasion and the fighting that followed. Redeployed with his Marines to the area around the Chosin Reservoir, Smith led the 1st Marine Division throughout its now legendary withdrawal to the sea in late 1950. While Smith and the Marine Corps received tremendous congratulations from all quarters for the historic and highly successful Chosin Reservoir retreat, he was replaced as commanding general by early 1951. Returning to the United States, he was assigned to be the Commanding General, Camp Pendleton. On 1 July 1953, Smith received his third star and was assigned as Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic, in Norfolk, VA. Smith retired from active duty on 1 November 1955 and was advanced to the rank of full general.

Like his historical role model, Marcus Aurelius, Shisler noted that “Smith never politicked for an assignment, never angled for favored subordinates, and never was less than loyal to his friends or to those with whom he served.” While his performance of duty was always topnotch and most of his assignments were “demanding,” they were also “thankless and faceless.” Nonetheless, Smith believed that duty well done was reward enough, and he served as a Marine Corps officer for nearly 40 years. Interestingly, during the interwar period, Shisler noted that Smith was the first Marine officer to graduate from the prestigious École de Guerre in France, and despite his sterling service as a leader he was instead seen as one of the Corps’ leading intellectuals and not necessarily a warfighter on the level of other leading lights within the Marine officer corps. But Shisler also made it clear that Smith, when given the opportunity to lead and command in combat, always seemed to do a superb job. However, his command of the 1st Marine Division and his performance during the breakout at the Chosin Reservoir was clearly the pinnacle of his military career—and he was featured on the 25 September 1950 cover of Time magazine. Following Chosin, Smith finally received the notoriety he deserved and was a nationally recognized war hero. But Shisler was quick to note that he did not allow his newly won fame to go to his head and remained until the end of this life in 1977 the “quiet warrior.”

At times Shisler becomes too much of an advocate for Smith, but her inclination is easy to understand once you see how consistently successful he was in each and every assignment he had been given in his long and illustrious career. It is also clear after reading through Shisler’s extensive sources that Smith was of the “old breed” of Marine Corps officer—extensively traveled, a veteran campaigner, and a superb military professional. No matter what the task or assignment he was determined to get the job done and to do his duty well. This praise for Smith can be, at times, a bit daunting. Indeed, his military record is almost too good to be true, and his purposeful practice of not seeking the limelight has perhaps led him to become one of the Marine Corps’ less appreciated senior combat commanders. But as Shisler frequently pointed out, he was “okay” with that. As one of his Chosin survivors noted, “I would follow [Smith] to hell because I knew he would get me out.” This was all the acclaim that Smith really desired.

For Country and Corps is based primarily on the vast O.P. Smith letters and document collection located in the Marine Corps Archives at the Alfred M. Gray Research Center, Quantico. The rarity of such an extensive collection of writings being stored at a single location gave the author an outstanding advantage—being his granddaughter and personally familiar with the man was just icing on the cake. In chronicling her grandfather’s life, Shisler has been able to finally shed some light on this incredible Marine.