1. General David Shoup, USMC
Leo R. Sandy

2. General David Shoup
A decorated general of the United States Marine Corps who was awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II, became the 22nd Commandant of the Marine Corps, and, after retiring, became one of the most prominent critics of the Vietnam War.
Born in Indiana to an impoverished family, Shoup joined the military for financial reasons. Rising through the ranks in the interwar era, he was twice deployed to China during the Chinese Civil War.
He served in Iceland at the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II, and as a staff officer during the Pacific War.

3. Shoup cont’d
He was unexpectedly given command of the 2nd Marines, and led the initial invasion of Tarawa, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Order. He served in the Marianas campaign, and later became a high-level military logistics officer.
Solidifying his reputation as a hard-driving and assertive leader, Shoup rose through the senior leadership of the Marine Corps, overhauling fiscal affairs, logistics, and recruit training
He was selected as commandant by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and later served in the administration of John F. Kennedy. He reformed the Corps, emphasizing combat readiness and fiscal efficiency, against what was perceived as politicking among its officers.

4. Shoup cont’d
Shoup opposed the military escalation in response to events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs invasion, but his strongest opposition was to U.S. involvement in South Vietnam.
His opposition grew in strength after he retired from the military in 1963; he was hostile to both the strategy of the conflict and the excessive influence of corporations and military officials upon foreign policy.
His high-profile criticism later spread to include the military industrial complex and what he saw as a pervasive militarism in American culture. Historians consider Shoup's statements opposing the war to be among the most pointed and high-profile leveled by a veteran against the Vietnam War.

5. Shoup cont’d
David Monroe Shoup was born on 30 December 1904 in Battle Ground, Indiana. His family lived on a farm in Ash Grove, but moved to Covington to live on a new farm in 1916.At age 12 he was enrolled in Covington High School, a competitive high school with an advanced curriculum
Shoup was an excellent student, maintaining high marks in French, English, physics, and history. Additionally, he was involved in several extracurricular activities, including basketball, and was class president in his senior year. He graduated in 1921
He later affectionately referred to his impoverished upbringing as that of an "Indiana plowboy.” Regarded by friends as very sociable, he met Zola De Haven in his freshman year and later said he had been instantly attracted to her. They were both very competitive in academics and athletics, and the two dated throughout high school; they were married in 1931.

6. Shoup cont’d
After high school, Shoup attended DePauw University where he was one of 100 awarded the Edward Rector Scholarship, giving him full tuition. Majoring in mathematics, he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity and maintained high marks, narrowly failing the selection criteria for Phi Beta Kappa Society
He was on the track and field and rifle teams, and also competed in the wrestling and football teams. He won the Indiana and Kentucky Amateur Athletic Union marathon in 1925
Lack of funds compelled him to take a year off after his junior year to teach school, and his expenses were further strained when he contracted a severe case of pneumonia and incurred hospital bills

7. Shoup cont’d
He opted to enroll in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) to offset his living expenses, and later recalled that this was the only reason he joined the military. He graduated from DePauw in 1926
From an early age, Shoup was molded by the progressive ideas of Indiana politicians, sympathizing with rural progressives fighting against the interests of big businesses
He developed an anti-imperialist attitude,and his skepticism about American foreign policy, influenced by his small-town background, made him an outspoken opponent of the unnecessary use of military force. He felt the use of troops for economic or imperialist consideration was wrong, a viewpoint he would carry for his entire career.

8. Shoup cont’d
While at a Scabbard and Blade honors society conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, Shoup heard a speech by Major General John A. Lejeune, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, offering commissions in the U.S. Marine Corps to interested officer candidates. Shortly after being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve in May 1926, Shoup applied, and was offered a commission in the Marine Corps
In August 1926 he resigned his commission in the Army and traveled from Camp Knox, Kentucky, to Chicago, Illinois, for physical exams. On 25 August 1926, he arrived at the Marine Corps barracks at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and commenced Marine Officers Basic School

9. Shoup cont’d
Shoup maintained that he had never previously considered a military career and had only chosen to become a military officer for the pay. Throughout his service, he excelled in athletics and marksmanship, and during his early career he would coach recreational athletic teams in addition to his regular assignments
He quickly established himself as an assertive and demanding leader, impressing both his commanders and his subordinates. Despite his no-nonsense demeanor, those he commanded later recalled his ability to keep morale with his sense of humor.He often sported a clenched cigar, which became something of a trademark during his front-line service.

10. Shoup cont’d
He was frequently an opponent of military action against the Soviet Union. He refused to fall into what he referred to as the "hate the Communists movement”
When U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond criticized the military for not training its troops about communism, Shoup regarded the criticism as interference. He appealed to Secretary of the Navy Fred Korth, and the matter was dropped
Shoup opposed military action against Cuba, warning against any attempt to intervene militarily against Fidel Castro
Shoup later warned against an armed response during the Cuban Missile Crisis, noting how difficult it would be to invade the country

11. Shoup cont’d
Shoup was strongly opposed to military intervention in Indochina from the beginning. In 1961, when the Pathet Lao threatened the American-backed government of Laos, he rejected calls for armed intervention
He opposed any plans for combat in Vietnam, and later said "every responsible military man to my knowledge" was against the war as well. Shoup's staunch opposition to involvement there had a great impact on Kennedy, who, before his assassination on 22 November 1963, indicated that he wanted to end U.S. involvement in South Vietnam, seeing it as an internal struggle. Shoup was Kennedy's favorite general

12. Shoup cont’d
Shoup was unable to directly influence the Johnson administration, which expanded U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He became increasingly wary of what he felt was undue influence by the CIA and big businesses on foreign policy
He said that anticommunism had given way to a new, aggressive defense establishment in the United States.
Shoup said the country was seeking military solutions to issues that could be resolved politically. He accused military leaders of propagating the war for their own career advancement, and accused the veterans group Veterans of Foreign Wars of propagandizing for the armed forces establishment. Shoup blamed the American education system for what he saw as discouraging independent thought and stressing obedience

13. Shoup cont’d
Shoup joined the Business Executives Move for Vietnam Peace.By 1971, Shoup publicly endorsed the anti-war veteran group Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Shoup's broader critique of American society and militarism was seen as more extreme than other officers who had simply criticized the strategy of the war
Shoup's opposition to the war garnered resentment from many of the other officers in the Marine Corps, and was met with criticism that he was becoming mentally unfit or was treasonous in his actions

14. Shoup cont’d
By December 1967, he had lost favor with the Johnson administration, his activities were monitored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and his patriotism was called into question in the media
After 1971, Shoup's speaking and writing diminished, and he faded from the public eye after the U.S. military withdrawal from Vietnam in After the war, he stayed out of the public spotlight. He suffered from illness late in life, and he died on 13 January 1983 in Alexandria, Virginia. He was buried in section 7-A of Arlington National Cemetery

15. Shoup cont’d Commands Held:
2nd Marines Service Command, FMF, Pacific Basic School USMC Inspector General 1st Marine Division 3rd Marine Division MCRD Parris Island Commandant of the Marine Corps

16. Shoup cont’d Battles/Wars: World War II Battle of Tarawa
Battle of Saipan
Battle of Tinian

17. Shoup cont’d
Awards:
Medal of Honor Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit (2) Purple Heart (2)
Yangtze Service Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 4 stars
World War II Victory Medal
American Defense Service Medal

18. Awards: Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal
American Campaign Medal
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal
Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
British Distinguished Service Order
Navy Presidential Unit Citation
National Defense Service Medal

19. Quotes
I believe that if we had and would keep our dirty, bloody, dollar-soaked fingers out of the business of these nations so full of depressed, exploited people, they will arrive at a solution of their own—and if unfortunately their revolution must be of the violent type because the "haves" refuse to share with the "have-nots" by any peaceful method, at least what they get will be their own, and not the American style, which they don't want and above all don't want crammed down their throats by Americans
The galleries are full of critics. They play no ball; they fight no fights. They make no mistakes because they attempt nothing. Down in the arena are the doers. They make mistakes because they try many things. The man who makes no mistakes lacks boldness and the spirit of adventure. He is the one who never tries anything. His is the brake on the wheel of progress. And yet it cannot be truly said he makes no mistakes, because his biggest mistake is the very fact that he tries nothing, does nothing, except criticize those who do things.

20. Videos General Shoup on Vietnam War 1968
General Agrees with JFK, Then Bashes Him

21. References
David M. Shoup. Retrieved from
David M. Shoup Quotes. Retrieved from
General Shoup on War in Vietnam Retrieved from
General Agrees with JFK Then Bashes Him. Retrieved from