LIEUTENANT GENERAL
JOHN C. MCQUEEN, USMC
(DECEASED)
Lieutenant General John Crawford McQueen, who was promoted to his final rank upon retirement from the Marine Corps, 1 July 1958, died on 7 December 1985 in Menlo Park, California.
His World War II service earned General McQueen three awards of the Legion of Merit. The first was awarded him while on a joint Army-Navy Staff during planning phases of the Attu and Kiska operations. The second was earned while he was Operations Officer on the Staff of the Commanding General, Expeditionary Troops, during the Saipan, Tinian, and Guam operations. He received the third while serving as Chief of Staff for the Sixth Marine Division during the Okinawa campaign.
General McQueen was born in Carrollton, Missouri, 5 July 1899, and listed Colorado Springs, Colorado, as his legal residence. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy on 3 June 1921, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Engineering, and was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant.
Assigned to the First Marine Brigade at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he served with that organization from 1923 to 1925. The high spot of his earlier duties began in 1928, when he served in Nicaragua as commander of the Marine Detachment aboard the USS Cleveland. The detachment served ashore during a major portion of the time until April 1929. General McQueen returned to Nicaragua again the following year, serving in the Guardia Nacional (native constabulary) and later as Department Commander of Esteli, in the suppression of bandit activities. He was awarded the Nicaraguan Cross of Valor and Diploma for service in the latter capacity.
In 1936, when the rumbling of the Spanish Civil War began to be heard throughout the world, General McQueen commanded the Marine Detachment aboard the newly-commissioned USS Quincy. In this capacity, he laid the ground work for the evacuation of refugee nationals from Spain. The Quincy, operating from ports along the Spanish Coast, carried several loads of refugees to safety in nearby France.
In July, 1939, the general entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Graduation brought an assignment as an instructor in the tactical section of the Marine Corps Schools at Quantico, Virginia.
Ordered to Great Britain as a military observer in 1940, General McQueen witnesses the devastating bombardment of cities and industrial centers, and was in London during the Christmas week night bombings. Shortly after his return to the United States in July 1941, he was assigned as chief of intelligence on the Staff of the Commander, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet. Serving in this capacity, he was a member of the Joint Planning Staff for the Attu and Kiska operations, and participated in their seizure and occupation.
The general was later assigned to the Fifth Amphibious Corps, Pearl Harbor, where he served as operations officer (G-3). With the subsequent organization of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, he served with that unit in a similar capacity, and participated in the Marshall and Marianas Islands campaigns. In November 1944, he was named Chief of Staff of the Sixth Marine Division, and served with the division during the Okinawa campaign. Later, with that division, he participated in the occupation of China, the formal surrender of Japanese military units, and the repatriation of Japanese troops from the port of Tsingtao.
In April 1946, General McQueen was named chief of staff of the Troop Training Unit, Little Creek, Virginia. He remained there until February 1948, when he became director of the Twelfth Marine Corps Reserve District at San Francisco, California. In May 1950 he was promoted to brigadier general and that September was named Director of Marine Corps Public Information. Named Director of the Marine Corps Reserve in August 1952, he served in that capacity until May 1954, and was then ordered to San Diego, California, to serve as Commanding General of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. He was transferred to the Hague, Netherlands, in August 1956, and served there as Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group, from September 1956 until his retirement.
The general's medal and decorations included the Legion of Merit with Combat "V" and two gold stars in lieu of second and third awards; Bronze Star Medal; Presidential Unit Citation with bronze star; Navy Unit Commendation; World War I Victory Medal with Atlantic Fleet clasp; Expeditionary Medal; Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal; American Defense Sevice Medal with Base clasp; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one silver star in lieu of five bronze stars; World War II Victory Medal; China Service Medal; Nicaraguan Cross of Valor and Diploma; Chinese Order of Cloud and Banner (5th Class).