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Birth:          8 Aug 1901 Aurora, DuPage Co., Ill.
Death:          10 Jan 1954 Hagatna (Agana), Guam
Cause of Death: skull fracture from collapse
Burial:         Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.

Notes
awt robertson
1910 in Appleton, Outagamie Co., Wisc. with sister
1920 in Appleton, Outagamie Co., Wisc. roomer chemist at paper mill
1930 cannot find
Barbara Quinn Fam Tree on ancestry
findagrave
OFFICIAL USMC BIOGRAPHY OF COLONEL JOHN DEAN BLANCHARD

On 10 January 1954, thirty-four years of service to his Corps and Country came to an 
untimely end when Colonel John Dean Blanchard, USMC, died on the Island of Guam 
at the age of fifty-two. Colonel Blanchard was Commanding Officer of the Marine 
Barracks, Guam, and a member of the Staff of the Commander, Naval Forces, 
Marianas. On 7 January he suffered a fractured skull when he collapsed in a reception 
line waiting at the Naval Air Station to greet Admiral Roscoe Good. The Colonel's 
death resulted three days later.

Colonel Blanchard is survived by his wife, the former Olive Caldwell (daughter of Mrs. 
J.H. Caldwell and the late Judge Caldwell, of New York City) and by one son, James 
who is twelve years of age. Mrs Blanchard and their son were with the Colonel on 
Guam. A sister, Mrs. Elizabeth B. Caitlin, Appleton, Wisconsin.

Colonel Blanchard was a member of the Class of 1925, U.S. Naval Academy. He held 
the Navy Cross for heroism in Haiti in 1929, commanded two famous Marine Corps 
Regiments, had seen service at sea, and had been stationed at Philadelphia, New 
York, Wakefield, San Diego, Bremerton, Quantico, Norfolk, Pensacola, Alaska, 
Washington D.C., Cuba, China, Pearl Harbor, and Japan. He held important staff and 
command assignments throughout World War II.

John Dean Blanchard was born on August 8, 1901, at Aurora, Illinois. In March of 
1920, one year after graduation from high at Appleton, Wisconsin, he enlisted in the 
Marine Corps. With less than one year's service as an enlisted man, he won a highly 
competitive appointment to the Naval Academy. Following his graduation in June of 
1925, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.

As a young lieutenant, Colonel Blanchard's assignments included various posts in the 
United States and a tour of expeditionary duty with the 4th Marines in Shanghai. This 
Regiment was stationed in China for many years to protect American lives and 
interests which were threatened by internal strife and turmoil in that unfortunate 
country. The Colonel was to see more of the 4th Marines in China in later years.

In November of 1929, Colonel Blanchard again sailed for foreign duty. This time he 
reported to the 1st Marine Brigade in the Republic of Haiti. It was there that he earned 
the Navy Cross for heroism.

On December 6, less than a month after his arrival, the then Lieutenant Blanchard was 
in command of a patrol of twenty-one Marines near the Haitian city of Aux Cayes. 
About a mile from the city, his patrol discovered a mob of approximately fifteen 
hundred hostile Haitians, waving knives and machetes, intent on sacking Aux Cayes 
and slaughtering its inhabitants. Blanchard personally confronted the mob and made 
strenuous and repeated attempts to talk them into a peaceful return to their homes. 
After a short time, the hostile Haitians took positions in some surrounding cane fields 
and prepared to attack his small patrol. Seeing that persuasion was useless and that 
his men were in imminent danger of annihilation, the young lieutenant ordered a short 
burst of fire. This action routed the mob and saved the people of the threatened town.

Colonel Blanchard returned to the United States in April of 1932. During the next ten 
years, his assignments were widely scattered. Following promotion to captain, he was 
ordered to sea in June, 1935, as Commanding Officer of the Marine Detachment, USS 
INDIANAPOLIS. He returned ashore in June of 1937 upon completion of his tour. 
Another command billet saw him in charge of the Marine Detachment at the Naval Air 
Station, Kodiak, Alaska, from January 1940 to March 1941.

In April of 1941, Colonel Blanchard was ordered to Headquarters Marine Corps as 
Officer-in-Charge of the Ordnance Division, Marine Corps Quartermaster Department. 
His excellent service in this assignment earned him the Legion of Merit. It also held 
him on the staff of the Commandant during the first years of World War II.

In February of 1944, the Colonel was ordered to the Central Pacific area. His 
experience and particular abilities resulted in his assignment there to the Staff of the 
Commanding General, Service Command, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. Until June of 
1945, he was Officer-in-Charge of the Ordnance Division of that command. He was 
again decorated, this time being awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

During the last great battle of World War II, Colonel Blanchard was given command of 
the 22d Marines, an infantry regiment of the famous 6th Marine Division. In the final 
drive made by the Division to clear Southern Okinawa of the enemy, Colonel 
Blanchard led his Regiment with skill and precision.

With the Japanese surrender, the 6th Marine Division was ordered to North China to 
supervise the surrender of the Japanese forces there. Colonel Blanchard took his 
regiment to Tsingtao. When the 22d Marines was disbanded in the Spring of 1946, he 
returned to his old regiment, the 4th Marines in which he had served as a young 
second lieutenant at Shanghai. This time he was its Commanding Officer.

In August, 1946, Colonel Blanchard returned to Headquarters Marine Corps for another 
tour as head of the Ordnance Division. This was terminated by his entering the Naval 
War College at Newport, Rhode Island, in June of 1947. After completion of the 
course in May of 1948, the Colonel again returned to Washington D.C. This time he 
was Technical Planner and Marine Corps Liaison Officer in the Office of the Chief of 
Naval Operations.

In August, 1950, Colonel Blanchard was named Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4 
(Logistics) of Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, at Norfolk, Virginia. He continued in that 
capacity until November 1951, then served briefly in other staff duties at Norfolk until 
January 1952, when he embarked for Yokosuka, Japan. There he commanded the 1st 
Provisional Casual Company and the Marine Barracks until September 1952. The 
following month he assumed the command he held at his death.

In addition to the Navy Cross, Bronze Star Medal and Legion of Merit, the Colonel held 
the Yangtze Service Medal, the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, the American 
Defense Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the American Area 
Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal, the Brazilian Order of the 
Southern Cross (awarded him in 1936 while aboard the INDIANAPOLIS) and the 
Chinese Collar Order of the Cloud and Banner. 

Parents
BLANCHARD John Thomas (14 Nov 1852 - 13 Oct 1908)
CHAPEL Carrie (Jul 1859 - 1922)

Siblings
BLANCHARD Howard (26 Oct 1882 - 20 Jan 1892)
BLANCHARD Sarah Elizabeth (26 Nov 1885 - 3 Feb 1967)
BLANCHARD Bertha Miriam (14 Oct 1888 - 27 Jan 1892)
BLANCHARD John Dean (8 Aug 1901 - 10 Jan 1954)

Marriage To LAMPREY Ruth Bell (1905 - )
    m. 1929 Escambia Co., Fla.

Notes

Parents
LAMPREY Maurice S. ()
BALCH Fannie Augusta ()

Marriage To CALDWELL Olive (6 Jul 1902 - 22 Mar 1979)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
CALDWELL James H. ()
----- Ella ()

Children by CALDWELL Olive 6 Jul 1902 - 22 Mar 1979
BLANCHARD James ()

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