This Military Service Page was created/owned by
CWO2 Philip E. Montroy
to remember
Marine BGen Bankson Holcomb Jr..
If you knew or served with this Marine and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Wilmington
Last Address U.S. Consulate London, England
Date of Passing Oct 05, 2000
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
BGen B. Holcomb, USMC retired in 1952. He was given a "Tombstone Promotion" to BGen upon retirement.
Other Comments:
BGen Holcomb was a cousin to Gen Thomas Holcomb, 17th CMC, and served under him from 1936-1943.
BGen Bankson Holcomb Jr., along with his friend & cohort Col. Alva Lasswell, is considered one of the "Founding Fathers" of the USMC Cryptologic Program. Like Lasswell, his career seems to have been impacted due to his years of duty with Naval Intelligence. The problems this caused didn't dampen the BGen.'s dedication or performance. He served his Corps and Country well. Holcomb, like Lasswell, blazed the trail for all of the Crypto/Signal Intelligence Marines to follow. BGen Holcomb was a great Marine Officer and a fine example for all Marines to follow.
Korean War/CCF Intervention (1950-51)/Battle of the Chosin Reservoir (Battle of Changjin)
From Month/Year
November / 1950
To Month/Year
December / 1950
Description The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Changjin Lake Campaign was a decisive battle in the Korean War. "Chosin" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Korean name, "Changjin". The UN forces relied on Japanese language maps dating from their occupation of Korea which had only ended five years earlier at the conclusion of World War II. Shortly after the People's Republic of China entered the conflict, the People's Volunteer Army 9th Army infiltrated the northeastern part of North Korea.
On 27 November, the Chinese 9th Army surprised the US X Corps commanded by Major General Edward Almond at the Chosin Reservoir area. A brutal 17 day battle in freezing weather soon followed. In the period between 27 November and 13 December 1950, 30,000 United Nations troops (later nicknamed "The Chosin Few") under the field command of Major General Oliver P. Smith were encircled and attacked by approximately 120,000 Chinese troops under the command of Song Shi-Lun, who had been ordered by Mao Zedong to destroy the UN forces. The UN forces were nonetheless able to make a fighting withdrawal and broke out of the encirclement while inflicting crippling losses on the Chinese. While the battle resulted in the Chinese pushing the UN out of North Korea, it was a Pyrrhic victory. The evacuation of the X Corps from the port of Hungnam marked the complete withdrawal of UN troops from North Korea.
