DeWitt Peck

DeWitt Peck (May 29, 1894 – January 13, 1973) was a decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of major general, who served as the 18th Assistant to the Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps during World War II. He later commanded the 1st Marine Division during Operation Beleaguer within Chinese Civil War.

Early years DeWitt Peck was born May 29, 1894, in Bakersfield, California, the son of Frank Harrison Peck and his second wife, Margaret Hubbard. His father was an 1880 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point who declined a commission in the regular army but later served as captain of Company F, 9th Regiment Infantry New York Volunteers during the Spanish–American War. His parents were natives and residents of Jefferson County, New York, but his father had a temporary job as a civil engineer in California from September 1893 to March 1896.

He attended additional training at Marine Officers School at Portsmouth, Virginia, and subsequently sailed for Haiti with the 1st Brigade of Marines in January 1916. During his time in Haiti, Peck was stationed in Jacmel and served with local Gendarmerie units.

Peck was subsequently relieved by Colonel Samuel L. Howard on May 13, 1941, and returned to Washington, D.C., where he was attached to the staff of the commander in chief, United States Fleet, Admiral Ernest King. He was directly assigned to the War Plans Division of that command and served under Richmond K. Turner until May 1942. Meanwhile, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in March 1942. Peck was subsequently transferred to the Southern Pacific theater and assigned as assistant chief of staff for war plans to the South Pacific area Commander, Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley. Admiral Ghormley was relieved by William Halsey Jr. in October 1942, and Peck remained on his staff. He subsequently participated in the planning of the allied advanced to the Central Solomon Islands for the upcoming New Georgia Campaign and flew from Pacific to Washington, D.C., in January 1943 to present the outline of the operation.

Peck also requested additional forces necessary to assault Japanese positions in the New Georgia Islands, but his plea was rejected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Marshall, King, Leahy and Arnold). In March 1943, he flew with Vice Admiral Turner for a meeting at Pearl Harbor, where they introduced their plan to the USAFFE Commander, General Douglas MacArthur, who approve it.

He remained in China until the beginning of June 1946, when he was succeeded by General Keller E. Rockey and returned to the United States. For his service there, he was decorated with his second Legion of Merit

After a few months of medical leave in the United States, Peck finally retired from the Marine Corps on November 5, 1946, with the rank of major general. He resided in New York City and during 1953 served for a brief period as deputy director of manpower utilization in the Department of Defense.

Peck died on January 13, 1973, in Andrews Air Force Base Hospital, Maryland, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery together with his wife Elizabeth Davis Peck (1889–1967). They had together one son, William Hubbard Peck (1922–1998), who also served with the Marines and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Decorations

Major General Peck's ribbon bar: