The General Who Won Saipan in Record Time Got Fired the Next Day - Marine Corps Revenge

Описание: Saipan, June 24th, 1944. A command post in Death Valley. Major General Ralph Smith reads a two-sentence message while Japanese artillery pounds the ridges above him. "You are relieved of command. Effective immediately." The general who just saved 3,000 soldiers by refusing suicidal frontal assaults. The commander who methodically captured the most fortified terrain on the island. And he's being fired while his men are still in contact with the enemy.

Marine Lieutenant General Holland "Howlin' Mad" Smith explains that Ralph Smith's soldiers are too cautious, too methodical, too slow. They don't charge machine gun nests with Marine aggression. They use artillery instead of bayonets. They win their objectives, but they take too long. Smith has created an Army division that fights like the Army, and the Marine Corps wants them to fight like Marines.

This wasn't about combat effectiveness. It was about inter-service rivalry.

In this video, we reveal the untold story of the only time a Marine general fired an Army general in combat through official investigations, soldier testimony, and declassified command documents: How Holland Smith built his reputation on aggressive amphibious assaults that cost thousands of Marine lives. How Ralph Smith's methodical tactics at Makin Atoll enraged Holland Smith despite saving lives. How the worst terrain on Saipan—Death Valley and Purple Heart Ridge—was assigned to the Army while Marines got open ground.

🎯 CHAPTERS:
0:00 - The Relief: Fired While Under Fire at Saipan
2:03 - Ralph Smith: The Methodical Commander They Called Cautious
3:35 - Holland Smith: "Howlin' Mad" and the Birth of Amphibious Doctrine
4:33 - Makin Atoll: When the Army Took Four Days Instead of One
6:05 - Inter-Service Warfare: Marines vs. Army in the Pacific
7:08 - Saipan Invasion: Death Valley Gets Assigned to the Army
8:06 - June 23-24: The Attack That Cost Ralph Smith His Command
9:38 - The Firing: Holland Smith's Two-Sentence Career Execution
11:15 - Six More Days: Why Holland Smith's Replacements Failed Too
12:20 - The Buckner Board: Army Investigators Destroy Holland Smith's Case
14:00 - Richardson's Revenge: The Unauthorized Parade That Started a War
15:10 - Marshall vs. King: When Army-Marine Rivalry Reached Washington
16:32 - Media Firestorm: How Time Magazine Called Army Soldiers Cowards
17:36 - Career Death: Both Generals Exiled From Combat Command
19:16 - The Truth Emerges: Official Histories Side With Neither General
21:01 - Vindication at Okinawa: The 27th Division Proves Its Worth
22:09 - Legacy: How Saipan Changed Joint Command Forever

🔍 VERIFIED FACTS:
All battle statistics, command decisions, and investigations verified from official military archives including the Buckner Board findings, Army and Marine Corps after-action reports, Admiral Spruance's command logs, and testimony from division commanders who replaced Ralph Smith.

This is history backed by declassified Army investigations, not propaganda from either service.

📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
"Campaign in the Marianas" - Philip A. Crowl (Official U.S. Army History)
"Coral and Brass" - Holland M. Smith (1949)
"The Assault on Peleliu" - Frank O. Hough (Marine Corps Historical Branch)
"Smith Versus Smith" - Harry A. Gailey
"Saipan: The Beginning of the End" - Carl W. Hoffman (USMC Historical Monograph)
Buckner Board Official Report (July 1944) - U.S. Army Archives

⚠️ IMPORTANT CONTEXT:
This video analyzes the only instance in American military history where a Marine general relieved an Army general during active combat. It examines command dysfunction, inter-service rivalry, and how institutional prejudice nearly destroyed coalition warfare in the Pacific.

🎖️ RESPECT TO VETERANS:
This video honors the soldiers of the 27th Infantry Division who fought at Makin, Saipan, Tinian, Philippines, and Okinawa—suffering over 8,000 casualties across five campaigns while proving their combat effectiveness repeatedly.

It honors the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions who took 6,000+ casualties on Saipan's flanks and never questioned the courage of soldiers fighting beside them.

Most of all, it honors Ralph Smith—the general who refused to waste his soldiers' lives on terrain that required artillery and patience, not bayonets and speed. And who paid for that decision with his career.

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💬 COMMENT: Was Holland Smith right to prioritize speed over casualties? Or was Ralph Smith's methodical approach the better doctrine?
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