US Marine Corps Recruit Depot - Yearbook (Parris Island, SC)

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,aw-x Awe, BRIGADIER GENERAL GEORGE R. E. SHELL USMC C ornrnanding General, Recruit Training C onznzanaf RIGADIER GENERAL GEORGE RICHARD EDWIN SHELL, whose outstanding service as a Marine artillery commander earned him a Legion of Merit Medal in World War II, assumed duty as Com- manding General, Recruit Training Command, Parris Island, South Carolina, on 25 May 1957. The General commanded the 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines, 2nd Ma- rine Division, during the Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Saipan campaigns of World War II. ' Following World War II, General Shell served on the Joint Staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a member of the Joint. Strategic Plans Group, the National Security Council Staff, and Staff Assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff Representative to the National Security Council. He also served as Staff Planning Officer in the Policy Branch, Plans, Policy and Operations Division, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe. Prior to assuming command at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, he served as Commanding General, lst Marine Brigade, Fleet Marine Force Pacific, in Hawaii. In addition to the Legion of Merit and the Purple Heart Medal, General Shell's medals and decorations include the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal with three bronze stars, American Area Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal and National Defense Service Medal. General Shell was born October 20, 1908, at Phoebus, Virginia, and graduated from high school at Hampton, Va., in 1927. He then at- tended the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, graduating in 1931 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. He was appointed a Marine second lieutenant on june 11, 1951. The following month he entered the Marine ofliceris basic school at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. ' General Shell is married to the former Alice Cushing, and they have three children: Elizabeth, Beverly and George. 7' L I, MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT AB. LUCKEY USMC . 1- Commanding General, Marine C orpr Recruit Depot MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT BURNESTONE LUCKEY, who saw action with Marine Artillery units at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Okinawa in World War II, and is also a veteran of pre-war sea duty and expeditionary service in Nicaragua and China, assumed duty as Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, on 3 July 1957. During World War II, among other jobs the General served as Regimental executive ofhcerg of the 11th Marines at Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester and as commander of the 15th Marines Cartilleryj at Okinawa, Guam and Tsingtao, China during the surrender and repatriation of Japanese forces. Since World War II, the General has served as Division Artillery Officer with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune and commander of the 4th and 10th Marines. He commanded the Marine Barracks, Washington, D. C., for two years, then returned to Camp Leieune in july 1951 to serve as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, 2nd Marine Division and later as Chief of Staff. In June 1953 he became Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps School at Quantico, Va. In September 1954, General Luckey returned to Camp Leieune where he served as Commanding General, Force Troops, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic until june 1955. He then reported at Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D. C., as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3 CPlansJ, and served in that capacity until june 1956, when he became Deputy Chief of Staff fResearch and Devel- opmentl. The General was promoted to his present rank November 1, 1956. In addition to the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star Medal with Gold Star in lieu of a second, General Luckey holds the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon with two bronze stars, the Navy Unit Citation Ribbong the Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal, the China Service Medal, the American Defense Service Medal with Base claspg the American Area Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal with four bronze stars, the Worltl War ll Victory Medal, the National Defense Service Medalg the Nicaraguan Medal of Merit and the Chinese Order of the Cloud and Banner. General Luckey was born july 9, 1905, in Hyattsville, Md., graduated from the University of Maryland in 1927, and was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant August 6 of that year. He completed the Basic School for Marine Corps officers at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in February, 1928. The General is married to the former Miss Cary Walker of Vineyard Haven, Mass. They have a daughter, Laura, and two sons, Thomas and William. f 1. ' I

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P ARRIS ISLAND, home of basic training for today's Marines east of the Mississippi, has had a long and colorful history. Although the first Marine Corps activity on the island was in June, 1891, the story of its occupancy by the white man reaches back into anti- quity for over three centuries. Located off the South Carolina coast, Parris Island is midway between Charleston, S. C. and Savannah, Ga., opposite Port Royal, S. C. This flat, sandy piece of land covers an area of approximately 8400 acres and it's covered with the verdure of the semi-tropics. Coming of the White Man The first attempt of the white people to settle within the present bounds of South Caro- lina took place on Parris Island. Probably the first white man to discover the island was Velaquez de Ayllon, a Spaniard in search of slaves and gold. De Ayllon landed in 1526, named the island St. Helena, and claimed it for Spain. Fifty years later the French Hu- guenots, intent on planting a colony, landed at Parris Island. Jean Ribaut and his Huguenot friends left France for America on February 18, 1562, and after a hazardous two months at sea, reached Parris Island, Ribaut built Charles Fort fArx Carolinaj, named for Charles IX, King of France, on the southeastern itip of the island. Here he left the 26 men he hoped would form the nucleus of a colony and returned to France. First Map Drawn Historians are indebted to one member of this expendition in particular. He was a car- tographer named Lenoyne, a man of considerable ability, who drew a map of the region. The map firmly establishes that Charles Fort was located on Parris Island.4In the office of the present day Commanding General are photographic copies of this ancient map and its legend in translation. Charles Fort, long abandoned, was rediscovered in 1663 by William Hilton of Barbados while exploring the newly chartered province of Carolina. A title to the island was established in 1700. In the year 1698, the Lords Proprietors of South Carolina made a grant to Major Robert Daniell in the extent of 48,000 acres. Par- ris Island was among the lands selected by Major Daniell, and the grant certificate, dated june 14, 1700 is still preserved. Property Changes Hands Before the end of the year in 1700, Port Royal Island, as it was then known, became the property of Edward Archer. In 1715, the public treasurer of South Carolina, Alexander Parris, secured title to the island. The present day name of Parris Island dates back to this ownership. Down through the years Charles Fort became obscured by a dense growth of trees and underbrush, and the island itself became the site of seven plantations. At one time a row of slave huts stood near the site of the ancient Fort. In 1861, during the War Between the States, a fleet of Federal vessels anchored off Port Royal, bombarded and captured Fort Beauregard and Fort Walker on Bay Point and Hil- ton Head. Marines and seamen held the Forts and surrounding territory until relieved by the forces of General Sherman. Shipping Center In olden days the harbor of Port Royal was used extensively as a shipping point for foreign and coastwise shipping. It was such a fine natural harbor that the entire United States Fleet rode at anchor there in 1874. The Marines landed on June 26, 1891. On that day First Sergeant Richard Donovan, USMC, and a small detachment of Marines were posted on Parris Island for duty with the Naval Station. This Marine Corps post rendered outstanding service in preserving life and property during the hurricane and tidal wave disaster of 1893. The unit was again com- mended for heroic action during the severe storms of 1898. . Training School Set Up The first Marine Corps school started on the island was the Officers school that was established in 1909. Two years later a small recruit depot was set up, only to be trans- ferred later to Norfolk, Virginia, and to Charleston, South Carolina. The buildings that were built for the Marine Corps on Parris Island then reverted to the Navy for use as Naval Disciplinary Barracks.