Francis Patrick Mulcahy

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(March 9, 1894 – December 11, 1973) was a general and commander in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

during World War II. Mulcahy commanded the

2nd Marine Aircraft Wing The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW) is the major east coast aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered in Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The Wing provides the aviation combat element for the ...

, the

Cactus Air Force Cactus Air Force refers to the ensemble of Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal August 1942 until December 1942 during the early stages of the Guadalcanal Campaign, particularly those operating from Henderson Field. The term " ...

, and the

Tactical Air Force, Tenth Army The Tactical Air Force, Tenth Army (TAF) was a joint aviation command of the Tenth United States Army that was responsible for commanding all land-based aviation and aviation command and control units during the Battle of Okinawa. The TAF's headqu ...

Military career

Mulcahy, a native of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, graduated from

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campus ...

in 1914. In 1917, he was commissioned and attended naval flight school, becoming a

naval aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

. Like

Roy S. Geiger General Roy Stanley Geiger (January 25, 1885 – January 23, 1947) was a United States Marine Corps four-star General (United States), general who served in World War I and World War II. In World War II, he became the first Marine Corps general to ...

, Mulcahy flew bombing missions in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He became one of the Marine Corps pioneers of

close air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...

to ground operations during the inter-war years of expeditionary campaigns in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

At the time of the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

, Mulcahy was serving as an observer with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Western Desert Air Force The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 G ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. He deployed to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in command of the

. In the closing months of the

Guadalcanal campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...

, Mulcahy served in command of Allied Air Forces in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

, also known as the

. In August 1943, Mulcahy moved from Guadalcanal to

New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the 200th-largest island in the world. Geography New Georgia island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most of ...

to command air units operating out of the newly captured airfield at Munda Point. In September 1944, Mulcahy succeeded Major General

Ross E. Rowell Ross Erastus Rowell (22 September 1884 – 6 September 1947) was a highly decorated United States Marine Corps aviator who achieved the rank of lieutenant general by the end of his 40 years of service. He served as the Marine Corps' Director of A ...

, USMC, as the commanding general of Aircraft, Fleet Marine Force. He was also commanding general of the Marine Fleet Air, West Coast. Mulcahy volunteered to lead the

during the

Invasion of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. He was deployed ashore early to the freshly captured air fields at Yontan and Kadena, and worked to coordinate the combat deployment of his joint-service aviators against the

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

threat to the fleet and in support of the Tenth Army in its protracted inland campaign. On June 11, 1945, he was relieved by Louis E. Woods because of poor health. Upon his retirement he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. He died on December 11, 1973.

Awards

Mulcahy was the recipient of the following awards:

Notes

References

: ;Web * * * * * ;Print *

External links

Arlington National Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulcahy, Francis P. 1894 births 1973 deaths Military personnel from Rochester, New York United States Marine Corps generals United States Naval Aviators University of Notre Dame alumni Air Corps Tactical School alumni United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Naval War College alumni United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I United States Marine Corps World War II generals Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from New York (state)

Military career

Awards

See also

Notes

References

External links