American Heroes: The Legend of Chesty

Welcome back to American Heroes. I’m your host, Nathan Weiss.

In the lore of the United States Marine Corps, there are names that are spoken with a kind of hushed reverence. But there is one name that every recruit learns to shout until their lungs burn. A man who earned five Navy Crosses, survived forty-two engagements in the jungles of Haiti, and once looked at an enemy army surrounding his position and told his men, "They can't get away this time."

Today, we’re looking at the life of Lewis Burwell Puller. But you probably know him better as "Chesty."

The Making of a Marine

Chesty didn’t start at the top. In 1918, he dropped out of the Virginia Military Institute because he was afraid he’d miss the Great War. He enlisted as a private. But the ...