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The most famous family in the Marine Corps, possibly even more so than the Puller family, would be the Krulak family. Victor H. Krulak was a rough and tumble bad son of a b...shut your mouth. When World War 2 kicked off, Victor did too! As an aide to the famed General Holland "Howlin Mad" Smith, Krulak learned from the very best how to be a no-shit-ass-kicking-name-taking-bubble-gum-chewing warrior of warriors. Except he was all out of gum on the island of Choiseul, but he wasn't out of the ass-kicking stuff.
The raid on the Choiseul Island was a diversion to cover the main attack of Bougainville where anywhere between 45,000 and 65,000 enemy combatants were dug in. But we're not here to talk about Bougainville, that's another day and another time. On Choiseul Island, Lt. Colonel Victor H. Krulak in command of a force of 750, versus the 3,000 to 6,000 enemy combatants dug in. Here is an excerpt from the citation of his Navy Cross for his actions on the island;"...Lieutenant Colonel Krulak landed at Choiseul and daringly directed the attack of his battalion against the Japanese, destroying hundreds of tons of supplies and burning camps and landing barges. Although wounded during the assault on October 30, he repeatedly refused to relinquish his command and with dauntless courage and tenacious devotion to duty, continued to lead his battalion against the numerically superior Japanese forces. His brilliant leadership and indomitable fighting spirit assured the success of this vital mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."[caption id="attachment_17395" align="alignnone" width="750"]
Now you listen here, I've been slayin' bodies since you were knee-high to a grasshopper![/caption]As we've said before when talking about Colonel Bryan Mccoy, field grade officers aren't usually in a whole lot of danger nowadays, but back then, they were right in the fight with their men, and Lt. Colonel Victor H. Krulak was no exception, in fact, as you can all see, despite being wounded, he continued to push the assault on the island. They killed 143 enemy soldiers and destroyed tons of equipment, only losing 13 of their own men.Read more stories of American Grit here:
