Oscar F Peatross

[Vulture6]

OSCAR F PEATROSS
MAJOR GENERAL, USMC



Major General Oscar F. Peatross, decorated combat veteran of World War II, Korea, and the Vietnam War, died 26 May 1993, and was buried at Veterans National Cemetery, Beaufort, South Carolina. His final duty assignment was as Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, where he retired from active duty, 31 May 1971.

Oscar Franklin Peatross was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on 2 March 1916. After graduating from Broughton High School there in 1934, he went on to graduate from North Carolina State College with a B.S. degree in 1939.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1940, reporting to Quantico, Virginia that November where he entered Officer’s Candidate School. Upon completion of the school in February of 1941, he was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant.
Lieutenant Peatross then reported to the 2d Marine Division in California and served as a company officer for several months before being shipped overseas with the 2d Marine Raider Battalion. As a company officer with Company B, he earned the Navy Cross for his actions during the Makin Island Raid. He also participated in the Guadalcanal, Bougainville and Iwo Jima Campaigns, earning the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”. At the close of World War II he had been promoted to major.

Major Peatross attended the Command and Staff School at Quantico in 1944 and served successively in the 28th Marine Regiment as a Regimental S-3 Officer, Battalion Executive Officer, and Battalion Commanding Officer on the West Coast and overseas, including the occupation of Japan. He returned to Quantico in 1946 as an instructor with the Tactical Section, The Basic School, for the next three years. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1951 while serving as the Amphibious Warfare Instructor at the Armored School in Fort Knox, Kentucky.
His next assignment took him overseas as a battalion commander with the 1st Marine Division. While participating with the Division in combat in Korea in 1952 and 1953, Lieutenant Colonel Peatross was awarded the Legion of Merit with Combat “V”.

Lieutenant Colonel Peatross was then transferred to Headquarters Marine Corps, where he served as Assistant Head, Officer Procurement Branch, Personnel Department, for the next three years. He assumed command of the 1st Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island, South Carolina, later serving as the S-3 Officer and, then, Executive Officer of the Recruit Training Regiment. He was detached from Parris Island in July of 1959, the same month in which he was promoted to colonel.

Returning to Quantico, Colonel Peatross attended the Senior School and after graduation in June of 1960, commanded the Schools Demonstration Troops. He remained at Quantico until July of 1963, serving successively as Chief, Ground Combat Section, Landing Force Development Center, and as Chief, Publications Branch, Marine Corps Education Center.

Colonel Peatross then joined the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California, serving for several months as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, and then as Chief of Staff of the XI Marine Expeditionary Force during Exercise “Winter Night.” In March of 1964, he became Commanding Officer of the 7th Marines. When the 7th Marines was redesignated as the 7th Regimental Landing Team, 3d Marine Division, Colonel Peatross sailed with his unit to South Vietnam.

Colonel Peatross was the Landing Force Commander during Operation Starlite at Chu Lai, South Vietnam and employed the Regiment on the Chu Lai Perimeter. The Regimental Landing Team was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions during the Operation. For his actions during Operation Starlite, Colonel Peatross was awarded the Silver Star Medal. He commanded eight regimental-size operations and was the Chief of Staff in Operation Utah. He then served for one month as Deputy Chief of Staff, 1st Marine Division. For service in Vietnam, he was also awarded a Gold Star in Lieu of a second Legion of Merit and four Vietnamese Medals; the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm three times and one Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star.

Upon his return to the United States, he reported to Headquarters Marine Corps where he served consecutively as Head, Training Branch, G-3 Division; as Deputy Chief of Staff (Administration); and as Director, Management Anaylsis Group. For his service in the latter capacity, he was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a third Legion of Merit. He was promoted to brigadier general, 3 November 1966.
While stationed at Headquarters Marine Corps, General Peatross was ordered to Harvard University to attend the Advance Management Program, Graduate School of Business Administration, during September-December 1966. Prior to his detachment, he was promoted to the rank of major general, 18 October 1968. He reported to Parris Island, South Carolina, the following month, where he earned the Distinguished Service Medal for exceptionally meritorious service as Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, from November 1968 through May 1971.

A complete list of his medals and decorations includes: the Navy Cross; the Distinguished Service Medal; the Silver Star Medal; the Legion of Merit with Combat “V” and Gold Stars in lieu of second and third awards; the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”; the Presidential Unit Citation with two bronze stars; the Navy Unit Commendation with one bronze star; the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal; the Navy Occupation Service Ribbon with Asia clasp; the National Defense Service Medal with one bronze star; the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars; the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm, three times; the Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star; and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

[Vulture6]

I had the priviledge of knowing Major General Peatross during his retirement. For everyone who has gone through Parris Island in the last 10 or so years, the assault course out at Page Field is named for him. He was a member of the 2d Raider battalion under Col. Evans Carlson, and participated in the raid on Makin Island in 1942 as a part of the larger strategy of the Guadalcanal landings.

General Peatross' story of his experience on Makin is a wonderful first person account of a battle that is mostly a little known footnote to the history of World War II, and brings up some excellent lessons learned that still impact our operations today.

After arriving off the coast of Makin in two submarines, Carlson changed his plans that originally involved splitting his forces. Everyone got the word except then Lieutenant Peatross, who continued his mission and landed alone with his small team of 13 Marines. His actions that day earned him the Navy Cross. To read Peatross' first person account, follow this link to the History section of this forum.

General Peatross died in 1993 and is burried in the Beaufort National Cemetery outside of Parris Island.

[Vulture6]

A brief history of the Makin raid, August 17-18, 1942 as told by Major General Peatross:

On the evening of 16 August 1942 two U.S. submarines – the Argonaut and the Nautilus surfaced off the coast of Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. 220 Marines of the 2nd Marine Raider battalion were embarked with the mission of conducting a raid on the Japanese garrison. The purpose of the raid was to distract the Japanese attention from the recent landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. The belief was that the Japanese would try to reinforce their entire defensive perimeter instead of focusing on Guadalcanal.

The plan for the raid was for Company A to land via rubber rafts on one end of the island, and for Company B would land on the other end of the island. They would then fight their way to a church (a landmark) in the middle of the island. When the Marines debarked around midnight, rough surf and winds brought a great deal of confusion. To begin the raid, a rubber boat from the Argonaut was to come pick up Col Carlson from the Nautilus but it didn’t show up. So, Lt. Oscar Peatross (XO, Company A) was tasked with taking Carlson over to the Argonaut. When he returned to the Nautilus, the rest of Company A was gone. Because of the high surf and chaos, Carlson passed the word that both companies would land in Company B’s zone. Not being aware of these changes, Lt. Peatross proceeded according to the original plan, only to find the beach empty. Peatross and his 12 Marines proceeded to where the rest of his company was supposed to be. There had been no firing, and Peatross assumed that Company A had secured their objective with no resistance. They continued moving cautiously along the beach road to the church where the two companies were to meet. About the time that they reached the church, “All hell broke loose” about a half mile from them toward Company B.

At this point, Peatross and his Marines encountered several confused Japanese soldiers heading toward the gunfire, either on foot, in trucks, or on bicycles. Each group was engaged and either killed or driven off by Peatross and his Marines. Peatross led his Marines toward the firing and engaged several machine gun positions, losing two of his Marines, and having several wounded. He eventually sent two Marines along the beach to link up with Carlson and inform him of their status. As evening fell, Peatross ordered his Marines to destroy the abandoned Japanese HQ and then, according to plan, led his Marines back to their rubber boat, and eventually back to the waiting submarines. Almost 50 years after the raid, Peatross commented on the most important lesson that he learned was to have everyone in top physical shape because of the exertion that was needed to paddle through the surf and back to the sub after fighting all day.

When they got back to the submarine, they found that no other Marines were present. Throughout the course of the night, only about half of the battalion made it back to the subs, one or two boats at a time. Those returning reported to Peatross that although casualties from combat weren’t bad, but that struggling through the high surf had capsized virtually every boat, dumping gear, wounded, and exhausted Marines overboard. They said that each boat that had tried had capsized at least six times, and that wounded Marines were drowning in the surf. The situation was so desperate then that Carlson was making plans to surrender. This was difficult because the only interpreter had been killed. A corporal who spoke a few phrases of Japanese was dispatched with a not from Carlson to find the Japanese commander to discuss surrender.

Just before dawn on the 18th, Peatross put together a team of five volunteers to go ashore and attempt to contact Carlson and the rest of the battalion. If these Marines did not make it back, all of the Marines on the subs, as well as every available sailor, were to go ashore and join the fight.

Shortly before dark, Carlson contacted the sub by signal lantern. He directed the subs to go to the other side of the island and extract the Raiders through the lagoon. It turns out that the corporal sent to deliver the surrender eventually found a Japanese soldier, gave him the note and waited for his return. He never came back. The corporal eventually returned to Carlson, and a patrol was sent out, but no living Japanese were found.

Overall, about 160 Japanese on the island on the island were killed, two aircraft (one a flying boat) and two small ships had been destroyed, as well as all stores and equipment that the Marines could locate were destroyed. After the submarines returned to Pearl Harbor, it was determined that there were 18 Raiders killed, and 12 listed as missing in action. It turns out that nine Marines had been inadvertently left on the island. They were listed as “Missing” and eventually surrendered to the Japanese who came to reinforce the island. They were executed on 16 October 1942.

Of the 220 Marines who conducted the raid on Makin, one (Sgt Clyde Thomason) was awarded the Medal of Honor (posthumously) and fifteen (including Lt. Peatross) were awarded the Navy Cross for actions during the raid.







Primary Sources:

USMC Amphibious Warfare School Amphibious Raids curriculum: 1989 (an article written by Major General Oscar F. Peatross originally published in the Marine Corps Gazette – date unknown)

Peatross, Oscar F. bless ‘em all: the raider marines of world war II. Irvine, CA, ReView Publications, 1995.

Personal interviews I conducted with Major General Peatross in Beaufort, SC 1990-1991.