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Wheeler, Edwin B.
Edwin B. Wheeler U.S. Marine Corps WWII
Edwin B. Wheeler U.S. Marine Corps WWII
 
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Date of Birth: 3/17/1918
Died On: 10/14/1985
Street Address: 77 Glendale Place
Service Number: unknown
Branch of Service: U.S. Marine Corps-WWII

Veteran Code: USMC-71


BIOGRAPHY
 
Edwin B. Wheeler was born in New York in 1918. In Rye his family lived at 77 Glendale Place. Ed graduated Port Chester High School in 1935 and served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.

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Edwin B. Wheeler United States Marine Corps Major General.

In March 1941, while attending the New York University Law School, he enlisted in the United States Marines Corps and was assigned to Officers Training School in Quantico, Virginia. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in May, 1941. He served with the famous Marine Raiders during World War II and earned the Silver Star for gallantry in action at New Georgia, Solomon Islands on July 20, 1943.

During his thirty-one years of service, he was awarded five Legions of Merit, three with Combat V. The first was earned for service while leading a reconnaissance patrol on the British Solomon Islands in March 1943; the second for service as Battalion Commander and Executive Officer in Korea from June 1952 until May 1953; the third for service as Commanding Officer, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa and the Republic of Vietnam from July 1964 until September 1965; the fourth for service rendered as the Commanding General, 2nd Marine Division from November 1967 until May 1969; the fifth upon his retirement. In addition, He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal while serving as the Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam from June 1969 until May 1970.

He is, to date, the only Marine officer to have commanded every type of ground unit, from platoon to division, while in combat. He retired from active service in 1972. For two years, he served as the Deputy Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare for California Governor, Ronald Reagan and was appointed to the American Battle Monuments Commission in December, 1981. He died of a heart attack at the age of 67.
Links to this Veterans History

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