Victor H. Krulak

Krulak was born in Denver, Colorado, to Jewish parents, Bessie (Zall) and Morris Krulak. He later denied Jewish ancestry and claimed to have been raised Episcopalian.[4] He was married to Amy Chandler from 1936 until her death in 2004. The couple had three children.

Krulak was commissioned a U.S. Marine Corps second lieutenant upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy on May 31, 1934. His early Marine Corps service included: sea duty aboard USS Arizona, an assignment at the U.S. Naval Academy; duty with the 6th Marines in San Diego and the 4th Marines in China (1937–39); completion of the Junior School, Quantico, Virginia (1940); and an assignment with the 1st Marine Brigade, FMF, later the 1st Marine Division.

While stationed as an observer in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Krulak took photographs with a telephoto lens of a ramp-bowed landing boat that the Japanese had been using. Recognizing the potential use of such a craft by the U.S. armed forces, Krulak sent details and photographs back to Washington, but discovered years later that they had been filed away as having come from "some nut out in China". Krulak built a model of the Japanese boat design and discussed the retractable ramp approach with boat builder Andrew Higgins who incorporated elements of Krulak's input into the Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or "Higgins boat", which played critical roles in the Normandy Landings and amphibious assaults in the Pacific.[5]

Vietnam War

See also: Krulak Mendenhall mission

Lt. Gen Krulak in a training exercise at Camp Pendleton, May 7, 1964

From 1962 to 1964, Krulak served as special assistant for counter insurgency activities, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; for which he was presented a third Legion of Merit for exceptional meritorious service by General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During this period, American military advisors were providing assistance to the South Vietnamese in their war against the Viet Cong. In September 1963, then Major General Krulak and Joseph Mendenhall, a senior Foreign Service officer, led a fact-finding mission to learn about the progress of the war. Krulak said that the situation was very good and supported President Ngo Dinh Diem, while Mendenhall claimed the opposite, leading Kennedy to famously ask the pair if they had visited the same country. In late December 1963, the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, ordered an interdepartmental group to be headed by Krulak with the purpose of studying OPLAN 34A and selecting from it those targets the United States could hit in North Vietnam with the least amount of risk to its people. This was in keeping with the administration's policy of graduated pressure on the North Vietnamese.[8]

Krulak inspecting Marines from First Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company in Hawaii, April 1965.

On March 1, 1964, Krulak was designated Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, and promoted to lieutenant general. For the next four years, Krulak was responsible for all Fleet Marine Force units in the Pacific, including some 54 trips to the Vietnam theater. Many sources including Coram (2010) report that the Chu Lai base, which commenced in May 1965, was named after Krulak's own Chinese name.[9]

At the beginning of the war, Krulak put forward the "Spreading Inkblot Theory." This promoted a spreading inkblot of small units actions to pacify South Vietnam village by village. When large enemy units were encountered then General Westmoreland's overwhelming firepower should be employed. He also called for intensive bombing of North Vietnam and mining of Haiphong Harbor. Krulak's plans were eventually rejected as Westmoreland favored hammering the enemy into submission through superior firepower and the Johnson administration feared relentless bombing of the North would provoke Soviet and Chinese intervention.[10] Krulak opposed the establishment of the Khe Sanh Combat Base.[11]

Krulak hoped to become the next Commandant of the Marine Corps, but in 1967 Lyndon B. Johnson selected Leonard F. Chapman, Jr.. As a result, Krulak retired on June 1, 1968, receiving a Navy Distinguished Service Medal for his performance during that period.[11] Military historian Robert Coram states that it was Krulak's comments to President Johnson criticizing the restraints placed on American military operations in Vietnam that resulted in Johnson's selection of Chapman over Krulak.[7] General Krulak's son Charles C. Krulak eventually became the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, serving from 1995 to 1999.

Medals and decorations

Krulak's medals and decorations include:

Badge	Navy/Marine Corps Parachutist Insignia
1st row	Navy Cross								Navy Distinguished Service Medal
2nd row	Legion of Merit w/ 2 award stars & valor device				Bronze Star with "V" device				Purple Heart				Air Medal
3rd row	Navy Presidential Unit Citation w/ 3 service stars				China Service Medal w/ 1 service star				American Defense Service Medal w/ Base clasp				American Campaign Medal
4th row	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 3 service stars				World War II Victory Medal				Navy Occupation Service Medal				National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 service star
5th row	Korean Service Medal w/ 4 service stars				Vietnam Service Medal w/ service star				Order of Service Merit, Second Class				National Order of Vietnam, Commander
6th row	Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/ palm				Korean Presidential Unit Citation				United Nations Korea Medal				Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badge	Rifle Expert Marksmanship Badge								Pistol Expert Marksmanship Badge

Krulak was an early advocate of using helicopters as attack platforms. He was also instrumental in the development of Higgins boats, which enabled beach landings of men and material in World War II.[12]

After retiring from the Marine Corps, Krulak worked for Copley Newspapers, including serving as president of Copley News Service and vice president of Copley Press. He retired from Copley in 1977, though he continued to contribute to their news service.[13] Krulak also wrote a number of books, including the iconic Marine Corps history First to Fight.[14]

Krulak was a personal friend of Ronald Reagan. They wrote each other regularly.[15]

In retirement, Krulak was active in community organizations, as well as participating in Marine Corps activities. He served as president and trustee of the Zoological Society of San Diego.[16] His wife, Amy, died in 2004.[11]

On December 29, 2008, Lieutenant General Krulak died at age 95 in San Diego, California.[14][17] He was survived by his three sons – retired Marine Corps Commandant General Charles Krulak, Reverend Victor Krulak (Commander Navy Chaplain Corps), Reverend William Krulak (Colonel USMCR) – four grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.[16] Krulak's funeral was held on January 8, 2009, in the chapel at MCAS Miramar, with burial at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.[16]

In 2004, Lieutenant General Krulak was the recipient of the U.S. Naval Academy's Distinguished Graduate award, which honors alumni who have "provided a lifetime of service to the nation or armed forces, have made significant and distinguished contributions to the nation via their public service and have demonstrated a strong interest in supporting the Navy or Marine Corps and the United States Naval Academy. These individuals are the embodiment of the Naval Academy's mission to provide graduates who will be ready '…to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.'"[18]

In 2007, at the Marine Corps Association's first annual banquet, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recounted the story of Krulak's time in China and his career:[19]

Krulak's was, of course, a legendary career: Navy Cross; counterinsurgency advisor to the Joint Staff; commander of the Fleet Marines in the Pacific during the Vietnam War; and, father of a future Marine Commandant, Chuck Krulak.... Victor Krulak's story and accomplishments teach us a good deal:

• About learning from the experiences and setbacks of the past;
• About being open to take ideas and inspiration from wherever they come; and
• About overcoming conventional wisdom and bureaucratic obstacles thrown in one's path.

His book First to Fight won the 1984 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature.[20][21]

The Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Creativity (BKCIC) at the Marine Corps University is named after Victor Krulak.

• First to Fight: View of the U.S. Marines. Simon & Schuster. 1991. ISBN 0-671-73012-6.
• Panama: An Assessment. U.S. Strategic Institute. 1990. ISBN 0-913187-03-8.
• Organization for National Security: A Study. U.S. Strategic Institute. 1983. ISBN 0-913187-00-3.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.

• Crocker, H.W. (2006). Don't Tread on me: A 400-year history of America at War, from Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting. Crown Forum. ISBN 1-4000-5363-3.
• Krulak, Victor H. (1983). Organization for National Security, Cambridge, Massachusetts: United States Strategic Institute. ISBN 0-913187-00-3.
• Krulak, Victor H. (1984). First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-785-2. This book is on the Chief of Naval Operations' Professional Reading List and the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading List.
• Chapin, Captain John C., USMCR (Retired) (1997). "Diversionary Landings". Top of the Ladder: Marine Operations in the Northern Solomons. Marines in World War II Commemorative Series, Marine Corps Historical Center, United States Marines Corps. Retrieved July 11, 2006.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Coram, Robert (2010). Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak, U.S. Marine. Little, Brown & Co. ISBN 978-0-316-75846-8.
• Hove, Duane T. (2003). American Warriors: Five Presidents in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Burd Street Press. ISBN 1-57249-307-0.
• Miller, Stephen (January 3, 2009). "Military Innovator Who Sought New Approach to Battle in Vietnam (Victor H. Krulak 1913–2008)". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 3, 2009.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victor Krulak.

• "Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, Sr. – Deceased". USMC General Officer & Senior Executives Biographies. United States Marine Corps. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
• "Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Deceased)". Who's Who in the Marine Corps History. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
• Rholes, LCpl Ryan (January 8, 2009). "Marine Corps legend 'Brute' Krulak passes away at age 95". Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Public Affairs. United States Marine Corps. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
• Victor Harold "Brute" Krulak at Find a Grave