[1][2] John N. McLaughlin was born on September 21, 1918, in Charleston, South Carolina; however, his family moved to Savannah, Georgia, when he was four years old.

McLaughlin later attended the Benedictine Military School there and following his graduation in 1936 enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

He was subsequently attached to Company "C", 1st Battalion, 5th Marines under famous Lieutenant Colonel Merritt "Red Mike" Edson at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The 5th Marines spent the next two months with preparations for combat deployment, which occurred at the beginning of August 1942 with an amphibious landing on Guadalcanal.

While in Australia, a lot of men under his command recuperated from Malaria and other wounds and McLaughlin oversaw the training of his company and preparations for their next amphibious operation.

At the end of September 1943, the 5th Marines left Australia and sailed for Milne Bay, New Guinea for advanced training, emphasizing shore-to-shore operations and utilizing terrain closely resembling that on New Britain.

He then took part in combat in the vicinity of Mount Schleuther and helped to clear the village Talasea at the beginning of March 1944.

During the next two weeks, McLaughlin and his company repeatedly assaulted heavily fortified enemy positions along the Peleliu Airfield and after four days of intensive fighting, he bravely led his company in an assault under heavy fire to repulse several night counterattacks in which two enemy machine guns were captured, numerous Japanese killed and many tanks put out of action.

[1] McLaughlin served at Quantico until spring 1948, when he was attached to the course at Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

[1] As an officer with a great deal of experience in Amphibious warfare matters, McLaughlin was attached to Mobile Training Team Able under Colonel Edward H. Forney and ordered to Japan in January 1950.

With no communication with other allied troops, almost no ammunition and a number of wounded men, McLaughlin decided to negotiate terms of surrender.

Although the Chinese commander agreed, McLaughlin intentionally delayed the surrender to allow more men to slip out of the perimeter undetected.

[1][7] Major McLaughlin surrendered on November 30, 1950, and subsequently was forced to march with other Marines through freezing weather to the hills, where they were interrogated.

McLaughlin and his group of Marines, Army soldiers and several British commandos subsequently reached a Korean farmhouse somewhere in Chagang Province and stayed there until December 22.

McLaughlin was elected to that capacity and during the next months, he established an athletic and physical conditioning program, which contributed greatly to morale.

[9][7] Major McLaughlin was finally released from captivity on September 5, 1953, as a part of the Operation Big Switch, prisoner of war exchange.

Lieutenant Colonel Thrash, who was repatriated at the same time, subsequently sent a report of McLaughlin's actions in prisoner of war camp to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and recommended him for a decoration.

His new assignment was with the staff of Marine Corps Schools Quantico, which he knew well from his late World War II service.

He was promoted to the rank of colonel on July 1, 1960, and transferred to the staff of United States Sixth Fleet under Vice Admiral George W. Anderson.

He subsequently assumed command of the 6th Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune and served in that capacity until the end of December 1965.

[10] McLaughlin subsequently assumed duties as chief of staff of the 2nd Marine Division under Major General Ormond R. Simpson, but did not go to South Vietnam and stayed stateside.

In this capacity, McLaughlin relieved brigadier general Foster C. LaHue and simultaneously served as commander of Task Force X Ray in the area of Phu Bai Combat Base.

He succeeded Brigadier General John R. Chaisson in that capacity and was responsible for the planning of the military operations until August 1969.

[4] His final assignment came at the beginning of August 1975, when he assumed duties as commanding general, Fleet Marine Force Pacific with headquarters in Hawaii.

He held this largest field command of the Marine Corps until July 1, 1977, when he retired from active service after 36 years.

He was active in the Marine Corps Historical Foundation, where he received a Certificate of Appreciation by then-Commandant Robert H. Barrow for his contributions to the Oral History Program.