Alexander Vandegrift

General Alexander Archer Vandegrift, USMC was a General in the United States Marine Corps. He commanded the 1st Marine Division to victory in its first ground offensive of World War II, the Battle of Guadalcanal. For his actions during the Solomon Islands campaign, he received the Medal of Honor. Vandegrift later served as the 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps, and was the first U.S. Marine to hold the rank of fourstar general while on active duty.

Alexander Archer Vandegrift was born on March 13, 1887 in the small town of Charlottesville, Virginia where his father of Dutch descent was an architect and contractor. Young Vandegrift, known as Archer in his boyhood, had an interest in the military both from reading military history novels and from stories of ancestors who fought in various wars.

Source: Wikipedia