James F. Moriarty

James Frederick Moriarty (May 8, 1896 – January 30, 1981) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of brigadier general. A veteran of World War I, he distinguished himself several times as a company officer with the 6th Machine Gun Battalion and received four awards of the Silver Star.

Moriarty remained a Marine following the war and took part in the several expeditionary tours. During the World War II, he served as the commanding officer of the Marine barracks at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone.

Early career and World War I

James F. Moriarty was born on May 8, 1896, at Holyoke, Massachusetts. He was the son of William and Sarah Jane Moriarty. Following high school, he entered the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, and graduated in April 1917 with a bachelor's degree. Following graduation, Moriarty was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on April 30, 1917, and was ordered to Port Royal, South Carolina, for basic officer training.

Upon the completion of training, he was ordered to Marine Barracks Quantico, Virginia, where he joined the newly activated 5th Marine Regiment as a platoon leader. Moriarty participated in intensive training until August 1917, when he was transferred to the newly activated 6th Machine Gun Battalion.

Moriarty then served with the Marine barracks on Guam until his return to the United States in June 1929. Another tour in China followed in November 1931, when he returned to Shanghai and served with the Marine detachment aboard the gunboat USS Palos and took part in the patrol cruises in the lower Yangtze River and its tributaries. Moriarty departed China in December 1934 and then served in the Paymaster Department, Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C. as Assistant Paymaster under Brigadier general George Richards, before he was ordered back to China for his third tour of duty in October 1937. He was stationed in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War and served as an intelligence officer with the 2nd Marine Brigade under Brigadier General John C. Beaumont.

World War II

Moriarty returned to the United States in February 1941 and joined the First Marine Brigade at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He assumed duty as commanding officer of the 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division on April 2, 1941, and later commanded the regiment during the amphibious exercise at Onslow Beach, North Carolina, under Major General Philip H. Torrey in late of that year. The exercise did not go well for the 1st Marine Division and its regiments, because of the problems with landing boats and insufficient ground warfare training of the 1st Division men. Major General Holland Smith, commanding general of the Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet, questioned the command abilities of Torrey and some division's commanding officers.

Based on this experience, General Smith relieved 1st Marine Division commanding general Philip H. Torrey at the end of March 1942 and appointed Alexander Vandegrift as his substitute. Vandegrift made his own personnel changes and relieved Moriarty as commanding officer of the 1st Marine Regiment; Colonel LeRoy P. Hunt as Divisional Chief of Staff; Colonel George E. Monson as Divisional Logistics officer and others.

Moriarty never held a combat command again and was ordered for brief duty to Marine Barracks, Parris Island, South Carolina and subsequently to Marine Corps Base San Diego, California.

He returned to the United States in March 1946 and served briefly with the Marine barracks at Brooklyn Navy Yard and Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, before he was ordered for retirement. Moriarty retired from the Marine Corps on December 1, 1946, after almost 30 years of active duty and was advanced to the rank of brigadier general for having been specially commended in combat.