When Dwight Eisenhower reached past nine senior generals in August of 1959 to select David Monroe Shoup as commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, no one was more surprised than Shoup himself. Said he: ...

Of all the fine fighting men of the U.S. Marine Corps, few have performed with greater gallantry and dogged skill under fire than a stocky (5 ft. 9 in., 175 Ibs.), spectacled Indianian named David ...