Samuel C. Cumming

Samuel Calvin Cumming (October 14, 1895 – January 14, 1983) was a highly decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of major general. He is most noted for his service as assistant division commander of the 4th Marine Division during Mariana Islands Campaign and previously as commanding officer of 25th Marine Regiment during Battle of Kwajalein. He was a nephew of Hugh S. Cumming, former Surgeon General of the United States.

World War I

Samuel Calvin Cumming was born on October 14, 1895, in Kobe, Japan. He spent his first eleven years of age in Japan, where his father served as Presbyterian missionary at church in Toyohashi.

His family later moved back to the United States in 1906 and settled in Virginia. Cumming attended the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in April 1917. He was in the same class as later the 20th commandant of the Marine Corps, Lemuel C. Shepherd. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on April 7, 1917.

First Lieutenant Cumming was appointed again a platoon leader in 51st Company on June 1, 1918, and subsequently led his unit to the Battle of Belleau Wood. During the fighting near the town of Château-Thierry, he led his platoon to the attack and was hit by enemy machine gun fire to his right leg on June 11. His whole platoon was wiped out except himself and another soldier. Cumming later described his engagement as follows:

Upon basic treatment at a first aid station, Cumming was taken to the U.S. Army Hospital No. 1 at Vichy for surgery. His recovery took seven weeks and he rejoined the 5th Marine as a regimental intelligence officer on August 1, 1918. For his previous gallantry in action in Belleau Wood, he was decorated with the Silver Star citation and Croix de guerre 1914–1918 with Gilt Star by the Government of France.

Colonel Cumming was appointed commanding officer of the 25th Marine Regiment at the end of July 1943. He relieved Colonel Richard H. Schubert in command of the regiment and continued in extensive training. He and his men subsequently sailed to Camp Pendleton, California, via the Panama Canal and arrived there on September 10, 1943. Cumming and his regiment were then attached to 4th Marine Division under Major General Harry Schmidt and began with preparations for the upcoming Kwajalein Operation.