George R. E. Shell

George Richard Edwin Shell (October 20, 1908 – October 30, 1996) was a decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of brigadier general, who is most noted as the commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines during World War II. He later served as the 9th Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute.

Early career

Shell was born on October 20, 1908, in Phoebus, Virginia, and later attended high school in Hampton. During the summer of 1927, he entered the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in June 1931. Shell was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps the same month and assigned for officers training to the Basic School at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Shell finished basic training in June 1932 and spent the following months serving at the Marine Barracks in Quantico. He was transferred to San Diego, California, at the end of March 1933 and spent a year of service there. He was attached to the Marine detachment aboard the newly commissioned heavy cruiser USS Astoria in March 1934 and took part in the shake-down cruise in the Pacific Ocean with the stops at Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Australia and Hawaii. While aboard that vessel, he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in November 1934.

Detached from the USS Astoria in June 1935, Shell spent the following three years of service at the Marine Corps Base San Diego and with the headquarters Department of the Pacific in San Francisco. He was promoted to the rank of captain in July 1938 and assigned to the Battery Commanders' course at Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in September of that year.