John Archer Lejeune

1867 - 1942

John Archer Lejeune
Lejeune was born on January 10, 1867, at the Old Hickory Plantation near Lacour, Louisiana, in Pointe Coupee Parish. He was the son of Confederate army captain Ovide Lejeune. He attended the preparatory program at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge from September 1881 to April 1884, leaving to prepare for the entrance exam for the U.S. Naval Academy. Subsequently, he secured an appointment as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1888, ranking second academically in his class of thirty‐two midshipmen. At the completion of a two year cruise as a midshipman, he was appointed to Naval Engineering, but was desperate to join the Marine Corps. Exhausting all conventional channels, he contacted his senator and eventually the Secretary of the Navy arranged his appointment to the Marine Corps. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on July 25, 1890.

Lejeune had a variety of posts

and positions leading up to World War I. He also was promoted several times and by the World War I began he had been promoted to colonel. With the American entry into World War I in April 1917, Lejeune assumed command of the newly constructed Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia; however, his overseas service was inevitable, and in June 1918, he arrived at Brest, France. He was promoted to major general on July 1, 1918 and assumed command of the 2nd Division after its former commander, Major General James Harbord, had been reassigned to command the AEF's Services of Supply. He was the second Marine officer to hold an Army divisional command, Brigadier General Charles A. Doyen having previously commanded the division for two weeks. Lejeune commanded the 2nd Division during the victorious action at the battle of St. Mihiel in September.

During the war, he was recognized by the
Croix de guerre
French government as a strategist and leader, as evidenced by the Legion of Honor, and the Croix de guerre bestowed upon him by France. The C‐in‐C of the AEF, General Pershing, awarded Lejeune the U.S. Army's Distinguished Service Medal. The U.S. Navy's Distinguished Service Medal

was conferred upon him when he returned to the United States following the occupation of Germany.

From 1920 to 1929 Lejeune was the Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps. During his time as Commandant the Marine Corps League was established and Lejeune is credited with the creation of the organization. In 1929, after 40 years in the military Lejeune expressed his desire not to retire, although he was relieved as Commandant in March of the same year. In November of 1929 Lejeune retired to become Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute.

Lejeune is often referred to as the "greatest of all Leathernecks" and the "Marine's Marine".

Lejeune passed away on November 20th, 1942.

In 1919, while serving during World War I, Lejeune became a Mason, joining Overseas Lodge No. 1 in Coblenz, Germany. He retained his membership in the lodge, which moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and was renamed Overseas Lodge No. 40. He went on to join the Scottish Rite and the Shrine in Washington, D.C. in the early 1920s. Recognized as an extraordinary Mason, fellow Freemasons in Quantico, Virginia, formed a lodge named in Lejeune's honor in 1925. This lodge, Lejeune Lodge No. 350, and Camp Lejeune are tangible reminders of his legacy as "a Marine's Marine&auot; and a devoted Freemason.

Bro. Lejeune is currently featured in The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library's new exhibit, The Masonic Hall of Fame. If you are interested in learning more about John Lejeune and other famous Freemasons, you can view the exhibition in person in Lexington, Massachusetts at the museum.