Marine general William Rupertus is best known today for writing the Corps- Rifleman-s Creed, which begins, -This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine--which has been made famous by films such as Full Metal Jacket and Jarhead. Rupertus was one of the outstanding Marines of the twentieth century, standing alongside men such as Smedley Butler, Chesty Puller, and Arthur Vandegrift, but he hasn-t yet received his due.
Rupertus -made his bones- in the USMC-s -savage wars of peace- before World War II: Haiti for three years after World War I, China in 1929 (where he lost his wife and children to Spanish flu) and again in 1937 (where he witnessed the beginning of Japan-s war against China that turned into the Pacific War of World War II).
In World War II, Rupertus commanded during four important battles: Tulagi and Henderson Field during the Guadalcanal campaign; the Battle of Cape Gloucester; and Peleliu. It was a series of blistering battles-and ultimately
