Description:

ARMY GENERAL SMITH VS. MARINES GEN. SMITH - THE CASE THAT ROCKED THE SERVICES
On the afternoon of June 24, 1944, a messenger from the Marines' V Amphibious Corps headquarters entered the frontline command post of the Army's 27th Infantry Division on Saipan and handed a message to Major General Ralph C. Smith. Smith read the message, pocketed it without comment, and returned to the task at hand-the battle raging just outside his tent. Before dawn, Smith would be on an airplane, relieved of command by Marine Gen. Holland M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith, who had appealed to Adm. Chester Nimitz to dismiss Smith for failing to attack in a timely manner and thereby cost the lives of Marines and other soldiers and sailors. The relief of Smith erupted into an inter-service brawl reaching the highest levels of the military, as Gen. Robert C. Richardson, the "Army Smith's" commander, made an immediate flight to Saipan, awarded decorations in the field to members of the 27th, and launched an Army investigation into "Marine Smith's" actions. Offered here is Richardson's personal file "Relief of MAJ GEN RALPH C. SMITH" containing thirty documents and table of contents, all stamped "TOP SECRET" or "SECRET", approx. 70pp. 4to. in all, 1944-46. Included in the file, in chronological order, are copies of cables concerning the relief of Smith, a copy of a June 30, 1944 report on the 27th by Maj. Gen. Sanderford Jarman (who replaced Smith), as well as a startling 3pp. report by Jarman in which he claims that "Army Smith" had admitted that he could not motivate the regiment and would make an attempt to do so, a copy of "Marine Smith's" request that he be allowed to relieve Gen. Smith and thereby assume direct command of the 27th, copies of further extensive reports on the 27th's movements and activities prior to Smith being relieved, Richardson's calling a board of inquiry, battle maps showing the disposition of forces on Saipan, comparison of marine and Army casualties, a judge advocates report on possible negative effects of inter-service squabbling, and a four page opinion by a staff judge advocate as to the propriety of Nimitz and Gen. H. M. Smith relieving Gen. Smith and naming his successor. In the end, Army general Smith was exonerated, but the damage had been done. The press had picked up on the controversy and the incident continued to taint Army-Marine relations through Korea and even Vietnam. In both of these conflicts, the Army went to great lengths to avoid having Army soldiers serve under Marine commanders, and to prohibit Marines from commanding above division level. It was not until the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act mandated the creation of joint commands and doctrine that leadership of the major commands would move between the services,

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September 9, 2014 11:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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