COL John "Jack" Jessup - Anybody heard of him?

[CSB]

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q...VjOTg4Yzc3NGY=

According to the article, he enlisted at age 16 (1943) during WWII, was a Navy "frogman," then got out, got a college education, then an OCS graduate, then a Ranger in Korea, then got a PhD while an ROTC commander, wrote "the manual" on military history long used "in all officer training," then SF, one of the first members of SFOD Delta, served in DS/DS at age 64? Retired after 30 years of SF service.

Quite a history, but Google shows only this obit piece and an entry from an fraternity roster from 1963. He does not appear in the Infantry OCS Hall of Fame, an automatic entry for any graduates who reach the rank of Colonel (O6).

The author of the article is a spinmaster lobbyist from a Alexandria, VA (Washington, DC) PR firm.

[Trip_Wire (RIP)]

Originally Posted by CSB

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q...VjOTg4Yzc3NGY=

According to the article, he enlisted at age 16 (1943) during WWII, was a Navy "frogman," then got out, got a college education, then an OCS graduate, then a Ranger in Korea, then got a PhD while an ROTC commander, wrote "the manual" on military history long used "in all officer training," then SF, one of the first members of SFOD Delta, served in DS/DS at age 64? Retired after 30 years of SF service.

Quite a history, but Google shows only this obit piece and an entry from an fraternity roster from 1963. He does not appear in the Infantry OCS Hall of Fame, an automatic entry for any graduates who reach the rank of Colonel (O6).

The author of the article is a spinmaster lobbyist from a Alexandria, VA (Washington, DC) PR firm.

The COL has an impressive military history. As a Korean War Ranger and member of RICA I checked the Company rosters of all the Companies that fought in Korea. I did not find his name listed in any of the rosters.

I enlisted at age 15 Years myself, in the close of 1946.

[Team Sergeant]

I cannot find anyone by the name of John E. Jessup ever receiving the DSC in Korea. Only one in WWII:

Jessup, Ernest D., U.S. Army - World War II

http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor/02...ndex-DSCj.html


I sent an email to the SFA, if he was SF or "other" will shall soon know.

Team Sergeant

[Richard]

Maybe he's related to Marine COL Nathan R. Jessup (A Few Good Men).

Here's a pic at the memorial pages site - doesn't say DSC.

http://www.gunterfuneralhome.com/load_obit.asp?ID=895

Richard's $.02

[CSB]

Thanks guys. he was apparently quite the bullshitter around Georgetown and the military history crowd. It appears that young Mr. Carallo was taken in hook, line and sinker while a student at Georgetown.

Jessup is cited in a Georgetown web page as being:

Col. John Jessup, U.S. Army Ret. (G'64, Ph.D.'70) (former Commandant, G.U.R.O.T.C.)

Commandant? There is no such T.A.D. position. The senior member of the ROTC is the Professor of Military Science. Sounds like a faculty / honorary position.

http://www.tboyle.net/University/Canon_Lawe_Suit.html

So with a degree from Georgetown (University of Maryland?) in 1964, and a Ph.D. from 1970, he appears to have spent much of the Viet Nam era at Georgetown University.

Moreover, the book he supposedly wrote on military history contains the following preface (see page 10):

http://www.cgsc.army.mil/carl/downlo...ssup_intro.pdf

In which he recites that from 1971 until he retired in October 1974 he was with the Office of the Chief of Military History.

And finally, there is the rendering he gives of his Korean service at his retirement home in Florida.
Carefully read the paragraph on page five, and then pick up with his non-Ranger service in Korea:

http://www.moaastpetearea.com/Office...%2006%20OC.pdf

You would think that a historian would do a better job of writing at least plausible fiction.

Originally Posted by CSB

Jessup is cited in a Georgetown web page as being:

Col. John Jessup, U.S. Army Ret. (G'64, Ph.D.'70) (former Commandant, G.U.R.O.T.C.)

Commandant? There is no such T.A.D. position. The senior member of the ROTC is the Professor of Military Science. Sounds like a faculty / honorary position.

When I was in ROTC in the early 60's our PMS was referred to as, the "Commanding Officer, Army ROTC" Department of Military Science.

[longrange1947]

I have only heard "Commandant of Cadets" at military academies.

May be wrong, have been in the past.

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by CSB

Thanks guys. he was apparently quite the bullshitter around Georgetown and the military history crowd. It appears that young Mr. Carallo was taken in hook, line and sinker while a student at Georgetown.

Jessup is cited in a Georgetown web page as being:

Col. John Jessup, U.S. Army Ret. (G'64, Ph.D.'70) (former Commandant, G.U.R.O.T.C.)

Commandant? There is no such T.A.D. position. The senior member of the ROTC is the Professor of Military Science. Sounds like a faculty / honorary position.

http://www.tboyle.net/University/Canon_Lawe_Suit.html

So with a degree from Georgetown (University of Maryland?) in 1964, and a Ph.D. from 1970, he appears to have spent much of the Viet Nam era at Georgetown University.

Moreover, the book he supposedly wrote on military history contains the following preface (see page 10):

http://www.cgsc.army.mil/carl/downlo...ssup_intro.pdf

In which he recites that from 1971 until he retired in October 1974 he was with the Office of the Chief of Military History.

And finally, there is the rendering he gives of his Korean service at his retirement home in Florida.
Carefully read the paragraph on page five, and then pick up with his non-Ranger service in Korea:

http://www.moaastpetearea.com/Office...%2006%20OC.pdf

You would think that a historian would do a better job of writing at least plausible fiction.

Anyone write Mark Corallo or National Review and tell them the truth?

info@corallocomstock.com

letters@nationalreview.com

This needs to be fixed, ASAP.

Team Sergeant

[Trip_Wire (RIP)]

CSB:

I read his Platoon Leader article. Sounds pretty accurate for that period of the war. I went through Camp Drake and the same route to the Japanese troop carrier ship. I don't remember the voyage to Pusan being 36 hours. It seems like it was an overnight trip. (But I do have the CRS syndrome.) We slept on typical japanese mats ship board and I don't remember any food being served on board.

The ship was clean as most Japanese facilities usually are. I had no inter-action with the crew; however, the female crew member that knocked out the soldier sounded interesting!

We were able to smell Pusan quite a few miles before we landed there. The replacement depot was a real mess! Most everybody was being sent to the 1st Cavalry division, 8th Cavalry Regiment as they had lost most of that Regiment at that time. I was lucky and went to the 25th ID and the 27th (Wolfhounds)

My CSR came to.: My Japanese troop carrier left from the US Navel base at Sasebo Japan. I made two trips on it both to Pusan. The first one to the repple depot and by train to the MSR and the 25th ID. The other back to Korea to Pusan after being wounded and air lifted to Japan.

[FILO]

Trip,

You probably took the trip over to Pusan with my Dad. He was in Japan with the 25th when they shipped over to Pusan. He was 17 in 1946 when he enlisted.

[Trip_Wire (RIP)]

Originally Posted by FILO

Trip,

You probably took the trip over to Pusan with my Dad. He was in Japan with the 25th when they shipped over to Pusan. He was 17 in 1946 when he enlisted.

I was an unassigned replacement in the 'pipeline.' At Camp Drake I asked for assignment to the 25th ID because I had served with them in Japan on Occupation duty. No assignment!

I asked again at the repple depot in Pusan and was granted my wish. The train from the Pusan area to the MLR was something else. No seats, just two wooden slabs/platforms running the length of the car like a lower and upper berth. When it got dark they pulled the blinds, saying that local guerrillas like to take pot shots at the windows.

People got off the train at various stop fro the outskirts of Pusan to the MLR. They were usually met by a 2 1/2 ton and an NCO and driver.

Of course my trip was in 1951 where the COL's was in 1950. The trip to the MLR was short in 1950 at the Nakdong River on the outskirts of Pusan. My unit was North of Seoul a little longer train ride.

[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by CSB

You would think that a historian would do a better job of writing at least plausible fiction.

Unfortunately, there are other examples of military historians exaggerating wildly their autobiographies and their works. The most notorious example remains Basil Liddell Hart but there was also S.L.A. Marshall, and, recently, Stephen Ambrose.*

In Col. Jessup's case, I am hoping that, somehow, the facts substantiate the sea stories. (These events cast into doubt the reliability of scholarship on important topics.) It is possible that the man used his knowledge of other men's achievements to embellish his own personal history. It is worth noting that in a 1978 article for Military Affairs (now The Journal of Military History), Jessup's biography, attached, was much less complicated.

I find it interesting how Mr. Corallo frequently expresses ambivalence in his article. At times, it seems that a part of him is grappling with his understanding of his mentor's past. In his piece, Corallo demonstrates four patterns.

1. He refers to examples of others being in disbelief of Jessup's achievements or others perhaps looking the other way.
2. He refers to a secret knowledge of Jessup's experiences in the field.
3. His discussion of Jessup's academic career is surprisingly vague: we learn nothing of the ideas Jessup contributed to the practice of history or the people whom he influenced.
4. He juxtaposes Jessup's career with the exploits of fictional characters.

[1.] Jessup's achievements as a member of the American armed services.

Jack Jessup lied about his age when he enlisted in the Navy. He was 15 or 16 years old, and he decided to go off to war to defend freedom and liberate the world from tyranny. Well, he was a big kid, and the recruiters weren’t too worried about birth certificates — especially when it came to a street tough from Queens who had already had a few run-ins with the law.

That’s still not an unusual story; plenty of guys lied about their ages to get into WWII and then made a career out of the armed services. The bit about SF, however, is a clue.

Fifteen years ago, when one of my buddies from Officer Candidate School saw my wedding picture, the one where Jack is standing next to me in his dress blues, he was temporarily speechless.....Officers don’t wear the badges earned for rating “expert” on a weapon, but if they did, Jack’s would have formed a ladder from his chest to his knees.

I asked him to tell me the story behind that medal....He was truly reluctant, but I pressed. I wanted to hear it from him. He began slowly and seemed pained by the memory.

[2.] Secret knowledge of COL. Jessup's career.

I had to go through a series of pre-selection interviews. The last round was held at Fort Meade — the home of the National Security Agency [one can only wonder what this reference is meant to imply] .... As they questioned me, they began to peruse my dossier. As the young captain came to Jack’s letter of recommendation, his eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. He quickly handed it to the first major, who had the same reaction. By the time it reached the colonel, the rest were just staring at me, saying nothing....The colonel asked me to step outside the room. After about five minutes, the captain came out, pulled me into another room and asked, “How well do you know Colonel Jessup? Do you know what he does?” I said that I knew him well enough, considered him my mentor, and was sure that whatever Jack had ever told me about his career was unclassified. The captain just looked at me, got this enormous grin and said, “This is SO-O-O COOL!” I was brought back into the room to find all of the officers standing, waiting to shake my hand and thank me for wanting to serve America as an Army officer. Interview over.

When I reported to Fort Stewart, the battalion adjutant told me that it was unlikely I would be accepted into the battalion: “The Old Man doesn’t want any broke [expletive] lieutenants.” He told me to go home for the weekend and report on Monday morning. I called Jack and told him what had happened....Then he told me to relax and report on Monday morning as ordered. When I walked into the personnel office at 0700, the officer said, “I don’t know who you are, where you came from or who you know, but the Commanding General called and ordered us to accept you into the Battalion. Apparently, the Army Chief of Staff called him. Who are you?” I just smiled and knew that Jack had picked up the phone. I have even better stories that I’ll keep to myself.

None of us in the younger generation who had been befriended and mentored by Jack knew a fraction of the details of his life. His life was classified.

And while he was heavily decorated for his valor in battle, he received no medals for being in places like Budapest in 1956 or Tehran in 1980.

[3.] Corallo's discussion of Jessup's scholarship is remarkably vague.

IMHO, it is unlikely that the following event took place.

....[H]e pursued a Ph.D. in Russian history....When he went for his dissertation board exam, the examiners had to admit that no one was qualified to test him.

In the 1970s, academic history was a profession in turmoil. For example, debates over the Cold War--its causes and consequences-- were exceedingly contentious. The only places where historians did not go after each other were in the parking structures of hotels hosting academic conferences. Are we to believe that Jessup was not exposed to this dynamic when he defended his dissertation?

While dissertations in history are supposed to represent the cutting edge of knowledge in a field, they are situated in a broader historiographical debate that has been framed by existing works. At the very least, his examiners could have vetted his understanding of that debate and how his dissertation advanced the discussion of that issue.* *

His manual on military history was long used in all officer training; as far as I know, it is still in use.

In fact, as stated in the forward for A Guide to the Study and Use of Military History, COL Jessup played a more limited role in getting that project to press than Corallo suggests. That role--centering around the conception and organization of the guide and enlisting the help of its contributors--was in and of itself a substantial achievement, it is not his guide.

Of all of the titles he earned, he was most proud of the Ph.D. He grinned like the cat that ate the canary every time someone called him “Doctor Jessup.”

The metaphor is revealing.

FWIW, my cursory search on COL. Jessup's published works indicates that he focused on reviewing scholarly works in several languages, encyclopedias, bibliographies, and a chronology. In his review of The Encyclopedia of the American Military, (1994) ed. John E. Jessup, LTC David Mets (USAF), retired, bends over backwards to say good things about the difficulties of putting together such a project, the merits of some of the essays, but then offers a conclusion that speaks poorly of the editor.***

But too many of the essays are not competent, the organization is poor, the coverage is not encyclopedic, [and] the treatment of both seapower and airpower is inadequate....[W]hat you get is a $320 camel which cannot be recommended either to scholars or university libraries.

[4.] Jessup as a larger than life figure compared to icons in mass popular culture.

He did things, faced danger, made sacrifices, and stormed the gates of Hell on more occasions than any of us could imagine. In hot wars from WWII at age 16 to Desert Storm at age 64, and a very long cold war in between, Jack Jessup was the living definition of selfless service.

What we did know, we loved and wanted to emulate, though we knew we could only fall short. He was the last of a rare breed. He was a hard-drinking, hard-living, tough-as-nails, loyal-to-the-end American hero that Hollywood couldn’t dream up....James Bond, Jack Bauer, and Rambo combined couldn’t measure up to the real-life Jack Jessup. His exploits as a Ranger in Korea, as a Green Beret in Vietnam, as one of the founding leaders of Special Detachment Delta (more commonly known as Delta Force), and as a Cold Warrior are legendary with soldiers of a certain age.

If the American people knew the full story, I believe they truly would be grateful.

Unfortunately, it seems that COL Jessup did not share this confidence in the American people.
________________________________________________
* References available upon request.
** I know of an accomplished historian who will listen thoughtfully to presentations and then phrase a devastatingly simple question: "So what?" Another historian lays a cunning trap that frequently leaves scholars snared: "Where are the women?" (Political and methodological differences aside, these questions are great gauges of one's intellectual--if not situational--awareness.)
**David R. Mets, review of Encyclopedia of the American Military, 3 vols, ed. John E. Jessup, The Journal of Military History, 58:4 (Oct., 1994), 736-739. In an exceptionally subtle way, Mets basically questions the editor's professional competence. Mets softens the blow by pointing some of the criticisms towards the editorial staff of the work's publisher.

[FILO]

Originally Posted by Trip_Wire

I was an unassigned replacement in the 'pipeline.' At Camp Drake I asked for assignment to the 25th ID because I had served with them in Japan on Occupation duty. No assignment!

I asked again at the repple depot in Pusan and was granted my wish. The train from the Pusan area to the MLR was something else. No seats, just two wooden slabs/platforms running the length of the car like a lower and upper berth. When it got dark they pulled the blinds, saying that local guerrillas like to take pot shots at the windows.

People got off the train at various stop fro the outskirts of Pusan to the MLR. They were usually met by a 2 1/2 ton and an NCO and driver.

Of course my trip was in 1951 where the COL's was in 1950. The trip to the MLR was short in 1950 at the Nakdong River on the outskirts of Pusan. My unit was North of Seoul a little longer train ride.

Dad went over at the onset in 1950 with the 25th. He loved occupation duty in Japan and in fact after his 12 month tour in Korea, he asked to be reassigned to Japan, but, he had been overseas since 1947 so they shipped him back to the States. My Dad was from upstate New York and was used to cold weather, but, he told me that he never was more cold than his time in Korea.

[Trip_Wire (RIP)]

Originally Posted by FILO

Dad went over at the onset in 1950 with the 25th. He loved occupation duty in Japan and in fact after his 12 month tour in Korea, he asked to be reassigned to Japan, but, he had been overseas since 1947 so they shipped him back to the States. My Dad was from upstate New York and was used to cold weather, but, he told me that he never was more cold than his time in Korea.

Sounds like your Dad and I have some things in common. I arrived in Japan for Occupation duty in June of 1947. I had enlisted for the 1st Cavalry Division and was assigned to A Troop, 5th Cavalry Regiment at Camp Drake. I was injured at the training area at Mt Fugi and spent some time in the 49th General Hosp. in Tokyo. I was reassigned to the Signal Company at the 25th ID in Osaka, Japan I stayed there until Oct 1949. Yes, I also loved Japan and almost married a Japanese girl who was really an American. She finally got her citizenship back. Due to family problems on both sides we never married. She was a great gal though!

My wife now is retired from NWA and we have made many trips to Japan both before and after her retirement. I still love Japan. (Although it took the war in Korea to really convince me.)

Korea; however, was another story. I had many bad memories from there and of course I must agree it is the coldest place in the world to me. I shudder when I see pictures of the winter war there. I have been back just once to the Pusan area for one day on a cruise and did visit the UN cemetery there. It was really different from the Pusan I remembered.

[FILO]

Trip,

PM in-bound. From your info, it wouldn't surprise me if you may have known him.