[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 19, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2265-E2266]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN MEMORY OF GENERAL ROBERT H. BARROW

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 19, 2008

  Mr. SKELTON. Madam Speaker, it is with deep sadness that I inform the 
House of the death of a true gentleman, General Robert H. Barrow, 
United States Marine Corps, Retired--the 27th Commandant of the Marine 
Corps.
  General Barrow was born in 1922 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He 
graduated high school in 1939 and enrolled at Louisiana State 
University. In March 1942, he enlisted in the Platoon Leader's Class 
Program. He left school in the fall of 1942 and went to boot camp in 
San Diego, staying on after graduation as a drill instructor. Selected 
for Officer Candidate School, he left San Diego for Quantico in March 
1943; and in May 1943, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 
the Marines.
  After officer training, he was assigned to Marine Barracks, Naval 
Ammunition Depot, New Orleans. He was reassigned in February 1944 to 
the 51st Replacement Battalion in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During 
the last seven months of World War II, he led an American team serving 
with Chinese guerrilla forces in Japanese occupied Central China. He 
was awarded the Bronze Star.
  After World War II, he served as Aide de Camp to the Commanding 
General, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic. He completed Amphibious Warfare 
School, Junior Course in June 1949, and was transferred to the 2d 
Marine Division at Camp Lejeune. He was given command of Company A, 1st 
Battalion, 2d Marines.
  At the beginning of the Korean War, his company was transferred to 
Camp Pendleton and redesignated Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 
1st Marine Division. He led Able Company ashore at Inchon in September 
1950. For his leadership in the fighting on the outskirts of Seoul, he 
received the Silver Star. During the Chosin Reservoir Campaign, he was 
awarded the Navy Cross for the seizure and defense of Hill 1081 from 9-
10 December 1950.
  After the Korean War, he was reassigned as Officer-in-Charge, 
Infantry Desk, Enlisted Assignments, Headquarters Marine Corps. From 
there he was detailed out and sent on a classified assignment to the 
Far East, north of Taiwan. He returned to Headquarters Marine Corps, 
this time to the G-3.
  In February 1956, he returned to Camp Lejeune, where he served first 
as operations officer and then executive officer of 2d Battalion, 6th 
Marines. He joined the NROTC unit at Tulane University in 1957, and 
served as Marine Officer Instructor for three years. Returning to 
Quantico, he completed a tour with the Landing Force Development Center 
and attended the Officer's Senior Course in 1963. He left for another 
tour in the Pacific, where he served as G-3, III Marine Expeditionary 
Force, then G-3 Plans Officer at Fleet Marine Force Pacific in Hawaii.
  Attendance at the National War College followed, and upon graduation 
in 1968, he arrived in South Vietnam to take command of 9th Marines, 3d 
Marine Division. The regiment conducted a series of highly successful 
operations south of the western part of the Demilitarized Zone and in 
the Khe Sanh and Ba Long Valley areas. For his valor during Operation 
Dewey Canyon from 22 January to 18 March 1969, he received the 
Distinguished Service Cross.
  He was promoted to brigadier general in August 1969 by General 
Leonard F. Chapman, 24th Commandant of the Marine Corps. General 
Barrow's first tour as a general officer was Commanding General, Marine 
Corps Base, Camp Butler, Okinawa, where he served for three years. He 
then served as Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris 
Island, South Carolina for 32 months.
  In July 1975, he was assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, 
Headquarters Marine Corps. The following year, he became Commanding 
General, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia. He was 
Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1978 until a year 
later when he assumed the office as Commandant. Befitting his 
reputation and stature, when General Barrow stepped down as 27th 
Commandant of the Marine Corps in June 1983, President Ronald Reagan 
presided over the ceremony at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. General 
Barrow returned to Louisiana, where he lived in retirement.
  General Barrow's medals and decorations include the Navy Cross, 
Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Department 
of the Army Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, 
Silver Star, three Legions of Merit, two Bronze Stars, and the Combat 
Action Ribbon.
  Madam Speaker, General Barrow was an outstanding Marine and an 
exceptional American leader. I know the members of the House

[[Page E2266]]

will join me in extending heartfelt condolences to his family, his 
friends, and to all Marines. He will be greatly missed.

                          ____________________