General Thomas Holcomb

"You will be the first officer of the Corps to hold the rank of General - the highest rank in our Armed Forces. I know of no other officer to whom that distinction more fittingly belongs." - Secretary of the U.S. Navy, 1944<p> On December 1, 1936, (then) Major General Thomas Holcomb was appointed to the office of Major General of the Marine Corps. Continued beyond the mandatory retirement age - by order of the President - and advanced to Lieutenant General on January 20, 1942, Lieutenant General Holcomb became the highest ranking officer ever to command the United States Marine Corps up to that time.<p> On January 1, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt - pursuant to an act of Congress - advanced Lieutenant General Holcomb one rank on the retired list. He thus became the first U.S. Marine ever to hold the rank of General.<p> General Holcomb came home to his native New Castle, Delaware in 1964.<p> In his honor and memory Semper Fidelis