Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak dies at 95

Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, USMC (ret.) died at the age of 95, Monday at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California.

Lt. Gen. Victor H. Krulak saw action in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. In 1934, he was commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy on May 31, 1934. His pre-World War Two assignments included: sea duty aboard USS Arizona; the U.S. Naval Academy; 6th Marines in San Diego; and, the 4th Marines in China. As a Lieutenant Colonel, during World War Two, he earned the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart on Choiseul Island, where his battalion staged a week-long diversionary raid to cover the Bougainville invasion.

At the outbreak of the Korean War he was serving as Assistant Chief of Staff, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. He served in Korea with the 1st Marine Division as the Chief of Staff.

In 1964, Victor H. Krulak was the Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. Between 1964 and 1968, he made over 50 trips to Vietnam. Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak retired in the 1968 and is the author of First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps.

According to the book description of First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps, “In this riveting insider's chronicle, legendary Marine General "Brute" Krulak submits an unprecedented examination of U.S. Marines—their fights on the battlefield and off, their extraordinary esprit de corps. Deftly blending history with autobiography, action with analysis, and separating fact from fable, General Krulak touches the very essence of the Corps: what it means to be a Marine and the reason behind its consistently outstanding performance and reputation.

Krulak also addresses the most basic but challenging question of all about the Corps: how does it manage to survive—even to flourish—despite overwhelming political odds and, as the general writes, "an extraordinary propensity for shooting itself in the foot?" To answer this question Krulak examines the foundation on which the Corps is built, a system of intense loyalty to God, to country, and to other Marines. He also takes a close look at Marines in war, offering challenging accounts of their experiences in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. In addition, he describes the Corps's relationship to other services, especially during the unification battles following World War II, and offers new insights into the decision-making process in times of crisis. First published in hardcover in 1984, this book has remained popular ever since with Marines of every rank.”

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