Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

78 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
the disorders.” 5 Ohashi’s assertion was one more reminder of the
danger inherent in imposing embargoes on Japan.
Army Chief of Staff
General George C. Marshall
Chief of staff of the Army at this time was General George
C. Marshall. Marshall had graduated from Virginia Military
Institute in 1901 and began his military career as a second lieutenant
in 1902. Th e Spanish-American War had just ended and
he was assigned the task of accompanying infantry troops to the
Philippines. He entered World War I as a captain and before it
ended was promoted to temporary colonel. In May of the following
year, he became aide-de-camp to the World War I hero
General John J. Pershing, but was returned to his permanent rank
of captain shortly thereafter. After the war he had to begin again
to work his way up to colonel, a slow process in peacetime. 6
General Douglas MacArthur, a contemporary of Marshall’s
but a graduate of West Point (1903), became chief of staff in 1930
and served in that capacity until 1935. At that time, Pershing suggested
to MacArthur that he promote Marshall, his former aide,
to brigadier general. Marshall had spent most of his career up to
that time in service schools and staff positions and had only just
attained the rank of full colonel. To round out his experience, so
as to become qualifi ed for a generalship, he was given a command
assignment with a top regiment. Th is was during the early years of
FDR’s New Deal, when the Army had been asked to help establish
the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Marshall devoted
so much of his energies to the CCC that his regiment’s training
program was found to have suff ered seriously. Th us Marshall
5 Ibid., p. 39.
6 Katherine Tupper Marshall, Together: Annals of an Army Wife (New York/
Atlanta: Tupper & Love, 1946), Appendix 1, pp. 283–90.