Victor H. Krulak

Infobox Military Person
name= Victor H. Krulak
born= Birth date and age|1913|1|7
died=
placeofbirth= Denver, Colorado
placeofdeath=
placeofburial=


caption=
nickname= "Brute"
allegiance= United States of America
branch=United States Marine Corps
serviceyears= 1934 - 1968
rank= Lieutenant General
commands=2nd Parachute Battalion 5th Marine Regiment Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Fleet Marine Force, Pacific
unit=
battles=World War II
*Vella Lavella
*Raid on Choiseul
*Battle of OkinawaKorean War Vietnam War
awards= Navy Cross Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit (3) Bronze Star Purple Heart Air Medal
laterwork= Newspaper columnist [ [http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/USO/appD.html Letter from Victor H. Krulak to Mr. Fletcher Prouty, March 15, 1985.] ]

Victor H. Krulak (born January 7, 1913 in Denver, Colorado) was a decorated United States Marine Corps officer who saw action in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Krulak, considered a visionary by fellow Marines, [cite web
url=http://www.mclm.com/tohonor/biography.html
title=Prominent Marines
publisher=Marine Corps Legacy Museum
accessdate=2006-07-11] is the author of "First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps" and the father of Charles C. Krulak the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Marine Corps career

Victor H. Krulak was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy on May 31, 1934. His early Marine Corps service included: sea duty aboard USS Arizona, an assignment at the U.S. Naval Academy; duty with the 6th Marines in San Diego and the 4th Marines in China (1937-39); completion of the Junior School, Quantico, VA (1940); and an assignment with the 1st Marine Brigade, FMF, later the 1st Marine Division.

World War II

At the outbreak of World War II, he was a captain serving as aide to the Commanding General, Amphibious Corps, Atlantic Fleet, General Holland M. Smith. He volunteered for parachute training and on completing training was ordered to the Pacific area as commander of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, 1st Marine Amphibious Corps. He went into action at Vella Lavella with the 2nd New Zealand Brigrade.

As a Lieutenant Colonel in the fall of 1943, 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. Later, he joined the newly formed 6th Marine Division and took part in the Okinawa campaign and the surrender of Japanese forces in the China area, earning the Legion of Merit with Combat "V" and the Bronze Star.

;Navy Cross citation: "The Navy Cross is presented to Victor H. Krulak, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of the Second Battalion, First Marine Parachute Regiment, during operations on Choiseul Island, Solomon Islands, October 28 to November 3, 1943. Assigned the task of diverting hostile attention from the movements of our main attack force en route to Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville Island, Lieutenant Colonel Krulak landed at Choiseul and daringly directed the attack of his battalion against the Japanese, destroying hundreds of tons of supplies and burning camps and landing barges. Although wounded during the assault on October 30, he repeatedly refused to relinquish his command and with dauntless courage and tenacious devotion to duty, continued to lead his battalion against the numerically superior Japanese forces. His brilliant leadership and indomitable fighting spirit assured the success of this vital mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service." [cite web
url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor/1_Citations/03_wwii-nc/nc_06wwii_usmcH.html
title=Navy Cross Awards to members of the U.S. Marines in World War II
publisher=HomeOfHeroes.com
accessdate=2006-07-11 ]

Post-war years

After the war, Krulak returned to the United States and served as Assistant Director of the Senior School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, and, later, as Regimental Commander of the 5th Marines at Camp Pendleton. He was serving as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, when the Korean War erupted, and subsequently served in Korea as Chief of Staff, 1st Marine Division, earning a second Legion of Merit with Combat "V" and Air Medal.

From 1951 to 1955, Krulak served at Headquarters Marine Corps as Secretary of the General Staff, then rejoined Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, as Chief of Staff. In July 1956, he was promoted to brigadier general and designated Assistant Commander, 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa. From 1957 to 1959, he served as Director, Marine Corps Educational Center, Quantico. He was promoted to major general in November 1959, and the following month assumed command of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego.

General Krulak was presented a third Legion of Merit by General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for exceptionally meritorious service from 1962 to 1964 as Special Assistant for Counter Insurgency Activities, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On March 1, 1964, he was designated Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, and promoted to Lieutenant General.

Vietnam War

For the next four years, Krulak was responsible for all Fleet Marine Force units in the Pacific, including some 54 trips to the Vietnam theater. At the beginning of the War, Krulak put forward the "Spreading Inkblot Theory." This promoted a spreading inkblot of small units actions to pacify South Vietnam village by village. When large enemy units were encountered then General Westmoreland's overwhelming firepower should be employed. He also called for intensive bombing of North Vietnam and mining of Haiphong Harbor. Krulak's plans were eventually rejected as Westmoreland favored hammering the enemy into submission through superior firepower and the Johnson administration feared relentless bombing of the North would provoke Soviet and Chinese intervention. [Crocker(2006): 365.]

LtGen Krulak retired on June 1, 1968, receiving a Navy Distinguished Service Medal for his performance during that period.

Medals and decorations

Krulak's medals and decorations include:"Who's Who in Marine Corps History".] the Navy Cross, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with Combat "V" and two Gold Stars in lieu of second and third awards, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, the Presidential Unit Citation with three bronze stars indicative of second through fourth awards, the China Service Medal with one bronze star, the American Defense Service Medal with Base clasp, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three bronze stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia clasp, the National Defense Service Medal with one bronze star, the Korean Service Medal with four bronze stars, the Vietnam Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the Korean Order of Service Merit second class, the Republic of Vietnam National Order Medal third class, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, two Korean Presidential Unit Citations, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Books written by Victor Krulak

*cite book
year=1991
title=First to Fight: View of the U.S. Marines
publisher=Simon & Schuster
isbn=0671730126
*cite book
year=1990
title=Panama: An Assessment
publisher=U.S. Strategic Institute
isbn=ISBN 0913187038
*cite book
year=1983
title=Organization for National Security: A Study
publisher=U.S. Strategic Institute
isbn=ISBN 0913187003

Honors

In 2004, LtGen Krulak was the recipient of the U.S. Naval Academy's Distinguished Graduate award, which honors alumni who have "provided a lifetime of service to the nation or armed forces, have made significant and distinguished contributions to the nation via their public service and have demonstrated a strong interest in supporting the Navy or Marine Corps and the United States Naval Academy. These individuals are the embodiment of the Naval Academy’s mission to provide graduates who will be ready '…to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.'" [cite web|url=http://www.usna.com/News_Pubs/Publications/Shipmate/2004/09/DGA.htm
title=2004 Distinguished Graduate Award Recipients Honored
author= Kurz, Laura
work=Shipmate Magazine
publisher=U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation
year=2004
accessdate=2006-07-11]

In 2007, at the Marine Corps Association's first annual banquet, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recounted the story of Krulak's time in China and his career:cite news
accessdate=2007-12-19
url=http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1170
title=Marine Corps Association Annual Dinner (Arlington, VA) — Remarks as by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates
date=July 18, 2007] cquote
Krulak’s was, of course, a legendary career: Navy Cross; counterinsurgency advisor to the Joint Staff; commander of the Fleet Marines in the Pacific during the Vietnam War; and, father of a future Marine Commandant, Chuck Krulak.... Victor Krulak’s story and accomplishments teach us a good deal:

*About learning from the experiences and setbacks of the past;
*About being open to take ideas and inspiration from wherever they come; and
*About overcoming conventional wisdom and bureaucratic obstacles thrown in one’s path.

ee also

*List of Korean War veterans who are recipients of the Bronze Star

2008

He now is retired and residing at Wesley Palms Retirement Home, in San Diego, CA.

Notes

References

:Marine Corps;Web
*cite web|accessdate=2008-01-03
url=http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Whos_Who/Krulak_VH.htm
title=Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Retired)
work=Who's Who in the Marine Corps History
publisher=History Division, United States Marine Corps;Bibliography
*cite book
last = Crocker
first = H.W.
coauthors =
year = 2006
title = Don't Tread on me: A 400-year history of America at War, from Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting
publisher = Crown Forum
location =
id = ISBN 1-40005-363-3
*Krulak, Victor H. "Organization for National Security", Cambridge, Massachusetts: United States Strategic Institute, 1983. (ISBN 0-913187-00-3)

*Krulak, Victor H. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870217852 "First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps"] , Anapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1984. (ISBN 0-87021-785-2) [This book is on the Chief of Naval Operations' Professional Reading List [cite web|url = http://www.usna.edu/Library/Cnoread.html#Intermediate
title=CNO Professional Reading List
publisher=Nimitz Library, United States Naval Academy
date=May 5, 2005
accessdate=2006-07-11] and the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading List. [cite web
url=http://www.usmc.mil/almars/almar2000.nsf/d50a617f5ac75ae085256856004f3afc/91c8a9b3b9a2b59785256a55005e129d?OpenDocument&Highlight=2,handbookhttp://www.usmc.mil/almars/almar2000.nsf/d50a617f5ac75ae085256856004f3afc/91c8a9b3b9a2b59785256a55005e129d?OpenDocument&Highlight=2,handbook |title=The Marine Corps Professional Reading Program
work=ALMAR 246/96
author=Commandant of the Marine Corps
date= 2006-07-08
accessdate=2006-07-11] ]

Further reading

*cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003141-00/sec3.htm
title=Diversionary Landings
work=Top of the Ladder: Marine Operations in the Northern Solomons
author= Chapin, Captain John C., USMCR (Retired)
year=1997
publisher= Marines in World War II Commemorative Series, Marine Corps Historical Center, United States Marines Corps
accessdate=2006-07-11
*Hove, Duane T. (2003). "American Warriors: Five Presidents in the Pacific Theater of World War II," Burd Street Press, ISBN 1-57249-307-0.