Profiles of Valor: MajGen Smedley Butler (USMC)

Smedley Butler was born in 1881, the eldest of three sons in their West Chester, Pennsylvania, family. His parents, Thomas and Maud, were descendants of prominent Quaker families, so Smedley would later earn the nickname “The Fighting Quaker.” He would also collect a few other monikers during his career: “Maverick Marine,” “Old Gimlet Eye,” and “Fighting Hell-Devil.”
Butler’s first Medal of Honor was awarded in 1914 for actions in Vera Cruz, Mexico, during the Mexican Revolution. In response to a diplomatic attack at Tampico, then-Major Butler led his men through urban warfare and sniper fire in order to retake the city and secure the diplomatic mission. His MoH citation notes, “Butler was eminent and conspicuous in command of his battalion.”

A year later, after Haitian President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam was murdered by a mob, Woodrow Wilson ordered Butler and his Marines to that country to help restore order. On October 24, 1915, some 400 Cacos rebels ambushed a Marine patrol, including SgtMaj Dan Daly, and the ensuing battle was the engagement for which Daly received his second Medal of Honor.

Three weeks later, Butler and three companies of Marines returned to the area to further secure it, and they again were surrounded by and fought off repeated attacks by about 100 Cacos rebels. On November 17, 1915, they encircled Fort Rivière in order to retake it from rebel forces. Butler and his Marines did so in hand-to-hand combat in just 20 minutes. Impressed with his exploits, then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt personally recommended Butler for his second Medal of Honor.