John Archer Lejeune (; January 10, 1867 – November 20, 1942) – pronounced "Luh-jern" – was a scholar, Freemason, United States Marine Corps lieutenant general and the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Lejeune served for nearly 40 years in the military, and commanded the U.S. Army's 2nd Division during World War I. After his retirement from the Marine Corps he became superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina was named in his honor during World War II. Biography Lejeune was born on January 10, 1867, at the Old Hickory Plantation near Lacour, Louisiana, in Pointe Coupee Parish. He was the son of Confederate States Army Captain Ovide Lejeune. He attended the preparatory program at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge from September 1881 to April 1884, leaving to prepare for the entrance exam for the U.S. Naval Academy. Subsequently, he secured an appointment as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1888, ranking second academically in his class of thirty-two midshipmen. At the completion of a two-year cruise as a midshipman, he was appointed to Naval Engineering, but was desperate to join the Marine Corps. Exhausting all conventional channels, he contacted his senator and eventually the Secretary of the Navy arranged his appointment to the Marine Corps. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on July 25, 1890. His immediate family was very involved with the Marine Corps, particularly during World War II. His daughter, Eugenia Lejeune, and his grandson, James Blair Glennon Jr., served with the Corps during the war and after. His granddaughter, Jeanne Glennon Hull, served in the Navy's WAVES and was married to Lt. Col. William Frederick Harris in 1946. U.S. Marine Corps career 1890s After receiving his Marine Corps commission, Lejeune was assigned to Marine Barracks, New York, on March 31, 1890, for Marine Corps "indoctrination and instruction". Afterwards, he reported for duty to the Marine Barracks, Norfolk, Virginia, on November 3, 1890. While in Norfolk, he met Ellie Harrison Murdaugh; they were engaged just before he began his first tour of sea duty. From October 1, 1891, to July 28, 1893, Lejeune served on board and was promoted to first lieutenant on February 26, 1892. On August 28, 1893, he was assigned to the Norfolk Marine Barracks, where he served until July 31, 1897. While stationed in