Word: rathvon
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Named within hours as Hochmuth's successor was Major General Rathvon McClure Tompkins, 55, a Colorado-born veteran of Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Saipan, where he won the Navy Cross and picked up a load of Japanese shrapnel that still causes him to limp at the end of a ten-mile hike. Known as "Tommy Two-Star" behind his back, Tompkins served in the Dominican Republic during the 1965 crisis before becoming commander of the Marines' Parris Island boot camp in June, 1966. When Marine Corps Chief of Staff Lieut. General Henry Buse called from Washington to ask Tompkins...
Just to Loosen Up. At Camp Lejeune, N.C., the 34 marines designated officially by Commandant David Shoup to uphold the honor of the corps, took the 50 miles in stride. Led by Brigadier General Rathvon McClure Tompkins, 50, who still limps from an old shrapnel wound, all finished within the time limit, carrying 24-lb. combat packs. Tompkins finished ninth. Bachelor Lieut. Donald Bernath trotted in first-in 11 hr. 44 min.-just in time to keep a date with his best girl. At Great Lakes Naval Training Center, a contingent of marines managed to finish 53 miles, took exactly...