Ole Gimlet Eye

Smedley Darlington Butler was born in West Chester, PA on July 30, 1881. Over his father's objections, but with the help of his mother, at the age of 16 he left home and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1898, just 38 days short of his 17th birthday. He was promoted to Brevet Captain for his heroic action during the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. Thus began a career that lasted 33 years from the Spanish American War, through World War ...