Gen. George C. Marshall is Uniontown's favorite son. He was born
in 1880 at the site of the current VFW on West Main Street in Uniontown
where he spent the first 16 years of his life. Marshall's life is
commerated across the street at Marshall Plaza.
The following synopis of Marshall's life was taken from Microsoft®
Encarta® Encyclopedia 2001. ©
George Catlett Marshall, (1880-1959), American military commander,
army chief of staff during World War II; as secretary of state
(1947-49) he played an important role in aiding the postwar economic
recovery of Western Europe.

Marshall
was born on December 31, 1880, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and
was educated at Virginia Military Institute. He was commissioned
a second lieutenant in the infantry in 1901 and served in the
Philippine Islands from 1902 to 1903. During World War I he served
as chief of operations with the U.S. First Army in France. He
became a colonel in 1918 and received wide military recognition
for his handling of troops and equipment during the Saint Mihiel
and Meuse-Argonne operations. From 1919 to 1924 he was aide to
the U.S. commander in chief, General John Pershing, and during
the next three years he saw service in China. Marshall taught
in various army schools and organizations from 1927 to 1936, when
he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
In 1939 Marshall was appointed U.S. army chief of staff with
the rank of general. He directed U.S. preparations for war over
the next two years, and after the nation's entry into World War
II in December 1941 he was chiefly responsible for the training,
organization, and deployment of U.S. troops in all sectors of
the fighting, and for the appointment of commanders in all major
operations. As one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's principal
advisers on strategy, Marshall participated in the Allied conferences
at Casablanca, Québec, Tehrân (Teheran), Yalta, and
Potsdam. In 1944 he was promoted to the rank of General of the
Army. When he retired in 1945, President Harry S. Truman appointed
him special representative, with the rank of ambassador, to China.
He spent two years in China attempting to mediate the differences
between the Chinese Communist and Nationalist leaders, but was
unsuccessful. In 1947 Marshall succeeded James Francis Byrnes
as U.S. secretary of state and initiated the so-called Marshall
Plan, by which the U.S. provided economic assistance to strengthen
anti-Communist elements in the war-torn countries of Western Europe.
Marshall was secretary of defense in 1950-51. He won the 1953
Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to European recovery. Marshall
died in Washington, D.C., on October 16, 1959.
"Marshall, George Catlett." Microsoft® Encarta®
Encyclopedia 2001. © 1993-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All
rights reserved.