George C. Marshall

General George Catlett Marshall is broadly acknowledged as America’s most

revered and admired generals of the 20th century. Few have come close the

professionalism and officership that Marshall exemplified. Even today, Marshall can be

used as prime example of professional and principled bearings that many officers can

look to as a beacon if their moral compass has been lost. Marshall Life as both a soldier

and outside of the military created the advent of America’s rise to and acceptance of

global responsibilities. As a statesman as well as soldier, his character and

accomplishments are so exceptional that he is regularly placed in the company of George

Washington when parallels are sought.

      Marshall grew up in Pennsylvania, his father owning a prosperous coal business,

decided that mining coal wasn’t for him, and enrolled at Virginia Military Institute from

which he graduated in 1901 as senior first captain of the Corps of Cadets. Nobelprize.org

states that after serving in posts in the Philippines and the United States, Marshall was

graduated with honors from the Infantry-Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in 1907 and

from the Army Staff College in 1908. For the next 10 years, he served in several of the

posts in the U.S. and the Philippines in various posts that gave him the experience and

leadership that many World War I officers lacked. He went to France in the summer of

1917 as the director of training and planning for the First Infantry Division. In mid-1918,

he was promoted to American Expeditionary Forces headquarters, where he was a key

planner of American operations. From 1919 to 1924 he was aide to the U.S. commander

in chief, General John Pershing, from which Marshall gained much experience during the

next three years he saw service in China. Marshall taught in various army schools and

organizations from 1927 to 1936, when he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general....