Pedro del Valle

Puerto Rican-born military leader

• Born: August 28, 1893
• Birthplace: San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Died: April 28, 1978
• Place of death: Annapolis, Maryland

The first Latino to reach the rank of major general in the Marine Corps, Valle served in World War I and then in the occupations of Haiti and Nicaragua. During World War II, he was the commanding general of the First Marine Division during the battles of Guadalcanal, Guam, and Okinawa. Following the war, he became a leader of the anticommunist movement.

Early Life

Born Pedro Augusto Jose del Valle Barcay Muñoz in Puerto Rico when the island was still a Spanish possession, Pedro del Valle (PEH-droh dehl VAH-yeh) was the son of Francisco del Valle, a physician and former mayor of San Juan. In 1900, two years after Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States, the family moved to Maryland, and soon thereafter Pedro del Valle became a U.S. citizen. He attended public schools in Baltimore and completed his high school education at the Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. In 1910, he obtained an appointment by the Puerto Rican governor to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. After graduating from the academy in 1915, he was commissioned as second lieutenant of the Marine Corps.

Life’s Work

In 1916, the twenty-three-year-old Valle participated in the U.S. occupation of Santo Domingo, for which he was awarded the Legion of Merit. During World War I, he commanded the Marine detachment on the U.S.S. Texas in the North Atlantic, and he was present at the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet. During the 1920’s, he was stationed in Haiti, and he then participated in the guerrilla wars against Augusto Sandino in Nicaragua. Returning to the United States in 1929, he attended the Field Officers Court at the Marine Corps School in Virginia. In 1931, he helped the Marines to develop strategies for an amphibious assault, and the next year his essay, “Ship-to-Shore in Amphibious Operations,” appeared in the Marine Corps Gazette.

In 1933, following the Cuban Sergeants’ Revolt, Valle worked as an intelligence officer in Havana, Cuba. From 1935 to 1937, he served as the assistant naval attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. After accompanying Italian forces as U.S. observer of the Italian-Ethiopian War of 1936-1937, he published a comprehensive history of the conflict, Roman Eagle over Ethiopia (1940). He was then sent to attend the Army War College in Washington, D.C., and, following graduation, he was appointed executive officer of the Division of Plans and Policies of the Marine Corps. In March, 1941, he was named commanding officer of the Eleventh Marine Artillery Regiment.

Several months after the United States entered World War II, Valle’s regiment was dispatched to participate in the defense of Guadalcanal, where it played a major role in the bloody Battle of Tenaru. Valle was awarded the Legion of Merit for his leadership in the battle, and on October 1, 1942, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. During 1943, he served as the commander of Marine Forces overseeing Guadalcanal and other islands in the Solomon Archipelago. During the summer of 1944, he commanded the Third Artillery of the Third Amphibious Corps in the battle for Guam. He then served as the commanding general of the First Marine Division during the last major battle of the war, Okinawa, where he directed the capture of the strategically important Shuri Castle. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for his part in the military victory and subsequent occupation of Okinawa. Following the restoration of peace, Valle returned to the Marine headquarters, where he held the position of inspector general director of personnel until his retirement on January 1, 1948.

Entering civilian life, Valle accepted a position as vice president of International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) in Egypt, and later served for two years as the company’s chief executive officer for all of South America. Always a man of conservative values, he increasingly established close relations to a variety of conservative political and religious groups. Agreeing with Senator Joseph McCarthy’s fears of communist subversion, Valle tried to convince the Central Intelligence Agency to create a network of vigilante minutemen, but his suggestions were ignored. He also expressed strong anti-Semitic views, even accepting the authenticity of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (which is almost universally discredited as a fake), and he opposed U.S. participation in the United Nations. In 1951, he left ITT in order to work for conservative causes.

In 1953, Valle joined with other committed anticommunists to form the Defenders of the American Constitution (DAC), an educational organization that produced a regular paper, Task Force. In addition, in 1953, he entered Maryland’s Republican primary for governor, but he received few votes, in part because of his association with persons considered to be right-wing extremists. In addition to his work with the DAC, he supported other conservative organizations, including the Christian Crusade, the Committee to Restore the Constitution, and the Liberty Lobby. For many years he was a popular speaker among conservative and patriotic groups throughout the country. Following his death at the age of eighty-four in 1978, he was buried at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium. A collection of his speeches, writings, and correspondence is located at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Significance

An outstanding commander who was the first Latino to become a major general, Valle was a role model who helped to break down negative stereotypes of Latinos in the military. Although his extremely conservative ideology and particularly his anti-Semitism have been widely rejected for good reasons, it should be noted that many people found his fears of communist infiltration to be reasonable during the height of the Cold War. Even many of his critics, moreover, can appreciate his dedication to the values of patriotism, responsibility, and hard work. The study of Valle demonstrates the great diversity that is found among persons of Latino heritage.

Bibliography

Bemis, Frank M., and Pedro del Valle. Reminiscences of Pedro Augusto del Valle. New York: Columbia University Library, 1966. An oral history interview that discusses Valle’s military career and efforts to promote Christianity and anticommunism.

Bendersky, Joseph W. Jewish Threat: Anti-Semitic Politics of the U.S. Army. New York: Basic Books, 2001. Includes material relating to Valle’s ideas about a Jewish oligarchy that controlled the United States for half a century.

Leckie, Robert. Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II. New York: Penguin, 2010. Includes information about Valle’s role in the brutal event.

Mintz, Frank. The Liberty League and the American Far Right: Race, Conspiracy, and Culture. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1985. A useful account of the right-wing movements in which Valle played an important part.

Valle, Pedro A. del. Semper Fidelis: An Autobiography. Hawthorne, Calif.: Christian Book Club of America, 1976. Fascinating discussion of Valle’s military career and participation in the anticommunist movement.