''OLD BREED GENERAL: How Major General William Rupertus Broke the Back of the Japanese from Guadalcanal to Peleliu'' is a 2022

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

and work of

military history Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human history, history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to Politics, local and international relationship ...

about Major General

William H. Rupertus William Henry Rupertus (November 14, 1889 – March 25, 1945) was a major general in the United States Marine Corps, who commanded the famed 1st Marine Division in the Pacific in World War II and also authored the USMC Rifleman's Creed. Persona ...

who commanded the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine (military), Marine Division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine E ...

in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and also authored the USMC

Rifleman's Creed The Rifleman's Creed (also known as My Rifle and The Creed of the United States Marine) is a part of basic United States Marine Corps doctrine. Major General William H. Rupertus wrote it during World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor ...

. Believed to be the first biographical work on Rupertus, and the first in-depth work on the historical account of the

Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo The Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo was a land battle of the Pacific War, Pacific campaign of World War II, between the forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allies of World War II, Allied (mainly United States Marine Corps) ground fo ...

, America's first ground victory in World War II, OLD BREED GENERAL is co-authored by military author and historian Don Brown, and Amy Rupertus Peacock, who is General Rupertus's granddaughter, and written in a style of

creative nonfiction Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction, narrative nonfiction, literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts ...

. Largely using Rupertus's wartime diary and other first-hand sources as historical guides, the authors recount Rupertus’ command in the Pacific from 1942–1944, including not only Tulagi but also the

Battle for Henderson Field The Battle for Henderson Field, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal or Battle of Lunga Point by the Japanese, took place from 23 to 26 October 1942 on and around Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The battle was a land, sea, and air battle ...

, the largest and final land battle on

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

, with U.S Marine ground forces falling under the command of General Rupertus, largely because Major General

Alexander Vandegrift Alexander Archer Vandegrift (March 13, 1887 – May 8, 1973) was a United States Marine Corps highly decorated four-star general (United States), general, Medal of Honor recipient, and a Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, Commandant of ...

who at that time was still the overall commander of the 1st Marine Division, had left Guadalcanal to Noumea,

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

to meet with

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

William Halsey Jr. William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (30 October 1882 – 16 August 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II. He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others be ...

, at Halsey's direction. The book also chronicles the 1st Marine Division's respite in Australia in early 1943, where much of the division was recovering from malaria, and where Rupertus served as a military escort for former First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

on her visit to Melbourne and concludes with the final two battles under Rupertus's Command, the

Battle of Cape Gloucester The Battle of Cape Gloucester was fought in the Pacific theater of World War II between Japanese and Allied forces on the island of New Britain, Territory of New Guinea, between 26 December 1943 and 16 January 1944. Codenamed Operation Backh ...

in late 1943, and the

Battle of Peleliu The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the United States Armed Forces, US military, was fought between the United States and Empire of Japan, Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War II, from 15 Septe ...

in late 1944. On

Flag Day A flag day is a flag-related holiday, a day designated for flying a certain flag (such as a national flag) or a day set aside to celebrate a historical event such as a nation's adoption of its flag. Flag days are usually codified in national s ...

, June 14, 2022, Brown & Rupertus-Peacock were invited to speak at

The National WWII Museum The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street. The ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, where they shared Rupertus's wartime story, as recounted in the book. Later, on August 17, 2022, they were invited to speak about the book at the

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the presidential library and burial site of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States (1981–1989), and his wife Nancy Reagan. Located in Simi Valley, California, the library is administere ...

Simi Valley, California Simi Valley (; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in Simi Valley (valley), the valley of the same name in southeastern Ventura County, California, United States. It is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater ...

On September 17, 2022,

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

aired a national broadcast of Brown & Rupertus-Peacock's presentation about Old Breed General from the National World War II Museum Old Breed General is published by Rowman & Littlefield, through Stackpole Books.Rowman & Littlefield Website - Old Breed General
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References

{{Reflist 2022 non-fiction books Books about the United States military World War II memoirs Non-fiction books about the United States Marine Corps