Former Marine Commandant Shepherd Dies

Former Marine Corps Commandant Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., who fought in three wars during his 42 years of service, died Monday in San Diego at the age of 92.

Shepherd served as commandant, the Marines’ highest-ranking officer, from 1952 to 1956.

A native of Norfolk, Va., Shepherd was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marines in May, 1917, and a short time later was on his way to France as part of 5th Marine Regiment.

He fought in two World War I campaigns, the Chateau-Thierry and Bellau Wood battles and was twice wounded. He was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross and the French Croix de Guerre.

Between World War I and World War II, Shepherd held assignments that included as a White House aide-de-camp, commanding officer of the Marine detachment aboard the battleship Idaho, with U.S. forces then serving in Haiti, and at the Naval War College.

At the beginning of World War II, then-Col. Shepherd organized and trained the 9th Marine Regiment, which became part of the 3rd Marine Division.

In 1943, he was promoted to brigadier general and became assistant commander of the 1st Marine Division. He took part in the South Pacific campaigns at Cape Gloucester and New Britain.

In 1944, he took command of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, which spearheaded the recapture of Guam from Japanese forces.

Shepherd was then promoted to major general and led the newly organized 6th Marine Division during the battle for Okinawa. At the end of the war, he took the division to Tsingtao, China, where he accepted the surrender of Japanese forces in the region.

When the Korean War broke out, Shepherd was commanding general of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He participated in the Marine landing at Inchon, Korea, and in the evacuation of Marines from Hungnam, Korea, after the Marine retreat from the Chosin Reservoir after the entry of Chinese troops into the war.

Shepherd became commandant, the Marines’ only four-star general, on Jan. 1, 1952, and was the first commandant to become a member of the joint chiefs of staff.

Two months after his retirement in 1956, Shepherd was recalled to active duty to serve as chairman of the Inter-American Defense Board, a post he held for 3 1/2 years.

Shepherd, who had lived in San Diego for many years, is survived by sons Lemuel C. Shepherd III of La Jolla, a retired Marine colonel; Wilson E.D. Shepherd of Coronado, also a former Marine officer, and a daughter, Virginia Ord of Nantucket, Mass., wife of a retired Marine colonel.

Funeral services will be held later this week at St. James by the Sea Episcopal Church in La Jolla. Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery.