military_branch earl e. anderson
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale or its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations , or both . It is a systematically organized and executed attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers , long - or medium - range missiles , or nuclear - armed fighter - bomber ___MASK52___ to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy ' s war - making capability . General Earl Edward Anderson ( June 24 , 1919 -- November 12 , 2015 ) was an American Marine Corps general . The youngest active duty Marine ever promoted to the rank of General and the first active duty Marine Naval Aviator to be promoted to a 4 - star rank , became Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps on April 1 , 1972 . He was promoted to General on March 31 , 1972 . General Keith B . McCutcheon had been promoted to four star rank the day of his retirement for medical reasons on July 1 , 1971 . During his 35 - year Marine career , he has served in combat actions in World War II , the Korean War , and the Vietnam War . World War II ( often abbreviated to WWII or WW2 ), also known as the Second World War , was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945 , although related conflicts began earlier . It involved the vast majority of the world ' s nations  including all of the great powers  eventually forming two opposing military alliances : the Allies and the Axis . It was the most widespread war in history , and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries . In a state of " total war ", the major participants threw their entire economic , industrial , and scientific capabilities behind the war effort , erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources . Marked by mass deaths of civilians , including the Holocaust ( in which approximately 11 million people were killed ) and the strategic bombing of industrial and population centres ( in which approximately one million were killed , and which included the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ), it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities . These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history . The Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps ( ACMC ) is the second highest - ranking officer in the ___MASK34___ , and serves as a deputy for the Commandant of the Marine Corps ( CMC ). Before 1946 , the title was known as Assistant to the Commandant . The Fall of Saigon , or the Liberation of Saigon , depending on context , was the capture of Saigon , the capital of South Vietnam , by the People ' s ___MASK9___ of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam ( also known as the Vit Cng ) on April 30 , 1975 . The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam under the Socialist Republic . The Vietnam War , also known as the Second Indochina War , and known in Vietnam as Resistance War Against America or simply the American War , was a war that occurred in Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 . It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam . The North Vietnamese ___MASK9___ was supported by the Soviet Union , China and other communist allies and the South Vietnamese ___MASK9___ was supported by the United States , South Korea , Australia , Thailand and other anti - communist allies and the war is therefore considered a Cold War - era proxy war . The ___MASK34___ ( USMC ) is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection , using the mobility of the United States Navy , by Congressional mandate , to deliver rapidly , combined - arms task forces on land , at sea , and in the air . The U . S . Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches in the U . S . Department of Defense ( DoD ) and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States . The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , the highest - ranking military officer in the U . S . armed forces , is a Marine Corps general . The Commandant of the Marine Corps ( CMC ) is normally the highest - ranking officer in the ___MASK34___ and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The CMC reports directly to the United States Secretary of the Navy and is responsible for ensuring the organization , policy , plans , and programs for the Marine Corps as well as advising the President , the Secretary of Defense , the National Security Council , the Homeland Security Council , and the Secretary of the Navy on matters involving the Marine Corps . Under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy , the CMC designates Marine personnel and resources to the commanders of Unified Combatant Commands . The Commandant performs all other functions prescribed in Section 5043 in Title 10 of the United States Code or delegates those duties and responsibilities to other officers in his administration in his name . As with the other joint chiefs , the Commandant is an administrative position and has no operational command authority over ___MASK34___ forces . Hiroshima is perhaps best known as the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the ___MASK77___ ( USAAF ) dropped an atomic bomb on the city ( and later on Nagasaki ) at 8 : 15 a . m . on August 6 , 1945 , near the end of World War II .