Quaker Links to the US Marines
Yesterday I spontaneously decided to attend the Meeting For Worship at Arch Street Meeting House in Philly as a guest.
As a Quaker and former US Marine, I was surprised to find a memorial headstone for Major Samuel Nicholas (he pretty much started the Marines in Philly and is considered to be the first Commandant). I did not know he was a Quaker, but I was not surprised to learn that he was expelled for joining the military and "learning the art of war".
I am also familiar with another famous Marine who was raised a Quaker, Major General Smedley Butler. Butler came from a fairly influential Quaker family who successfully prevented his expulsion. He fought in many of the Imperialist conflicts that the US was involved in from the late 1800's until the 1st World War. He was awarded the Medal of Honor twice, even though he saw it as an undeserved decoration. He later came out as fervently anti-war, giving a speech called "War is a Racket" and calling himself and the US military "Gangsters for Capitalism".
It is funny that these are two names that I was required to learn in boot camp that I later learned had complicated relationship with Quaker peace testimony. Funnily enough, in boot camp we were never taught that they were both Quakers and about General Butler's eventual turn against the Military Industrial Complex.
Does anyone know of any other well-known military personnel that are/were Quakers? It seems a curious mix to me.