Thomas Holcomb is one of the most prominent and talented US military and politicians of the early 20th century. His track record and awards will impress any connoisseur of martial arts history.
Biography
Holcomb was born on August 5, 1879 in New Castle, Delaware, one of four children. His mother is Elizabeth Hindman Barney, daughter of US Navy Captain Nicholas Barney, father is Thomas Holcomb, a lawyer and speaker of the Delaware State House of Representatives. Holcomb attended a private school until his family moved to Washington in 1893 to work for the US Treasury Department during Cleveland's second term as President. Holcomb graduated from Western High School in 1897. The training course also included drill in uniform, in these lessons Holcomb got acquainted with military discipline.
Holcomb's father convinced him to pursue a career in business. In 1898 he took a job as a clerk at Bethlehem Steel in Sparrow Point, Maryland, and worked there for two years.
Career
On April 13, 1900, Holcomb was drafted into the Marine Corps and promoted to second lieutenant. From September 1902 to April 1903, Holcomb served in a Marine Corps battalion assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron. In 1902, he won the Long Range Rifle Championship in Montreal, Canada. On March 3, 1903, he was promoted to first lieutenant and led the command of the Marine Corps, which became champion in 1911. From April 1904 to August 1905 and from October to November 1906, he served in the Philippine Islands.
From September to 1905 to September 1906, Holcomb served as security guard at the embassy in Beijing. On May 13, 1908, he was promoted to captain and from December 1908 to July 1910 he continued to serve in the guard of the embassy in Beijing. He was then appointed attaché to the command of the American minister for the study of the Chinese language and served in this position until May 1911. In December 1911 he was again assigned to the embassy in Beijing, where he continued to study the Chinese language, and remained in the embassy until May 1914.
From October 1914 to August 1917, Captain Holcombe served as a rifle training inspector. In this position, he was promoted to major on August 29, 1916. On November 11, 1916, he married Beatrice Miller Clover, daughter of Admiral Richardson Clover. The commandant of the corps, Major General George Barnett, and his wife, on this occasion, invited them to lunch at the commandant’s residence.
From August 1917 to January 1918, Major Holcomb commanded the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment at the Marine Corps Barracks in Quantico, Virginia, preparing for service overseas. From February 1918 he served in the American Expeditionary Force in France, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on June 4, 1920. From August 1918, he commanded the second battalion and was the second person in command of the 6th Marine Regiment, participated in the defense of the Aene (at Château-Thierry), the offensive of Ene-Marne (the so-called spring offensive) at Soissons, served in the Marbach sector, participated in the San Miel offensive, the Meuse-Argonne offensive (in Champagne and in the Argonne forest) and the march to the Rhine in Germany after the signing of the armistice.
Holcomb was noted for Distinguished Service in France, he received the Naval Cross, the Silver Star with Three Oak Leaves, Commendation for Service from the Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), the Purple Heart, and was mentioned three times in general orders for the AEF Second Division. The French government awarded him the Legion of Honor cross and three military crosses with palm leaves.
From September 1922 to June 1924, he commanded the Marine Corps barracks at the Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After returning to the United States, he was assigned to the Command and Staff School in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After completing the course with honors in June 1925, he was assigned to the operational training department of the main headquarters of the Marine Corps, where he stayed until June 1927.
From August 1927 to February 1930, Holcomb commanded a Marine Corps Guard of the diplomatic mission in Beijing, China. On December 22, 1928, he was promoted to colonel. In June 1930 he entered the senior course at the Naval College, which he graduated in June 1931. He was then sent to the Army War College and graduated the following year.
From June 1932 to January 1935, before being promoted to Brigadier General, Holcombe served in the Naval Operations Directorate of the Department of the Navy. On February 1, 1935, he was promoted to brigadier general and until November 1936 served as commandant of the Marine Corps Schools in Quantico, Virginia.
On December 1, 1936, Holcomb returned to Marine Corps Headquarters and assumed the position of Corps Commandant.
In April 1941, the naval command convened a large council on the expansion of the Corps. Holcomb stated that Negroes were not allowed to serve in the Marine Corps. He said: "If the question arises: who will be in the corps - 5 thousand whites or 250 thousand blacks, I would rather choose whites."
After being promoted to lieutenant general on January 20, 1942, Holcomb became the highest ranked officer ever to command a corps.
On August 4, 1943, Lieutenant General Holcomb reached retirement age, but President Franklin Roosevelt announced that he would leave him as commandant in recognition of his distinguished service. Holcomb continued to serve as commandant until December 31, 1943, when he was succeeded by Lieutenant General Alexander Vandergrift.
During Holcomb's seven-year tenure as commandant, the number of the Marine Corps increased from 16 thousand to about 300 thousand. On February 13, 1943, he officially announced that women could serve in the ranks of the corps, this date is celebrated as the anniversary of women in the Marine Corps.
On April 12, 1944, Holcomb received the Distinguished Service Award for his service as Commandant.
Career decline
After nearly 44 years of service in the corps, Lieutenant General Holcombe retired on January 1, 1944. Since he was particularly noted for his duty in battle, he was promoted to the list of retirees under a recent act of Congress and became the first Marine to reach the rank of full (four-star) general.
On March 9, 1944, President Roosevelt appointed him Secretary of State for the South African Union. Holcomb retired on June 15, 1948.
After his retirement, Holcomb lived in St. Mary City, Maryland, where he ran the family farm until 1956. He then moved to Chevy Chase, Maryland and in 1962 to Washington.
In the spring of 1964, suffering from a serious illness, he returned to his homeland - New Castle, Delaware, where he died on December 24, 1965 at the age of 85 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
