Clayton Barney Vogel

Clayton Vogel was born on September 18, 1882, in Philadelphia, the son of Theodore Knight and Clayonia Woods Vogel. Clayton was influenced by his father, who was a veteran of the Civil War and served with the Union Army's 198th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry as a brevetted Captain. His father was also a founding member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Following high school, Vogel attended Rutgers University and graduated in the summer of 1904 with a bachelor's degree. He entered Marine Corps service and was commissioned a second lieutenant on August 4, 1904. He was subsequently ordered to the School of Application at Annapolis, Maryland for basic officer training, which he completed in early November, 1905. He was then attached to the Marine barracks at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida and served in this capacity until June 1906. He was then ordered to Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. for service with a detachment of Marines being organized for duty at the American Legation in Peking, China. Vogel sailed for China in July 1906, arriving at Cavite, Philippine Islands in August, and then Peking one month later. In February 1908, while stationed in China, he was promoted to first lieutenant. Vogel returned to the United States in February 1909 and was posted to the Marine Officers' School at Port Royal, South Carolina, as adjutant to Eli K. Cole. He completed this duty in December of that year and was assigned to the 2nd Marine Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph H. Pendleton, attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade. Vogel subsequently sailed for the Panama Canal Zone, where the Marines assisted in maintaining order in Panama during the republic's elections. Following his return to the United States in March 1910, Vogel again served at the Port Royal Officers' School, until being reassigned to the 2nd Marine Regiment in January 1911 and ordered to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in order to protect American interests during internal disorder on the island. Vogel returned to the United States in June 1911, and following the disbandment of the regiment he assumed prestigious duty as a special aide at the White House during the tenure of President William Howard Taft. In May 1912, revolt again flared in Cuba, and Vogel was re-posted to the 2nd Marine Regiment. The regiment then sailed as a part of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade to Nipe Bay on the northern coast of Cuba and helped quell the revolt. Vogel came back to the United States in August 1912 and joined the Marine detachment aboard the battleship one month later. While aboard the ship, Vogel participated in the American occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution in May–June 1914. Vogel was promoted to the rank of captain in February 1915 and returned to the United States in December for assignment to the Marine barracks at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. This peaceful duty was interrupted when he was ordered to troubled Haiti in April 1916. Vogel reported to Port-au-Prince as an Inspector-Instructor of Haitian Constabulary – Garde d'Haïti, and helped train them to combat hostile Cacos bandits. He served in this capacity for most of the First World War and was promoted to the temporary rank of major in May 1917. ==Interwar period==

In December 1918, following the end of the Great War, Vogel returned to the United States. He reverted to his permanent rank of captain and was assigned to Marine Barracks Quantico, Virginia. From June to September 1919 he participated in the National Rifle Matches at Caldwell, New Jersey; he was then appointed commanding officer of the Marine detachment aboard the transport ship and took part in the repatriation of German prisoners of war. , New Caledonia, summer 1943. The Pocahontas was decommissioned in November 1919, and Vogel was promoted to the permanent rank of major and ordered to his native Philadelphia as officer in charge of local recruiting district. He was transferred to Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., in December 1920 and commanded the barracks until summer 1923. Vogel also commanded his marines during the rescue works at the Knickerbocker Theatre Disaster in January 1922. Holcomb planned to bring the brigade up to the fine standard of landing operation expertise now found in the 1st Marine Brigade and thought Vogel would fit the job. Vogel was appointed to the permanent rank of brigadier general in February 1939 and succeeded John C. Beaumont in command of 2nd Marine Brigade in San Diego during September of that year. ==World War II==

celebration in San Diego, 1943. , GEN Franklin A. Hart ret., LTG Joseph C. Burger, LTG Lewis B. Puller ret., BG Odell M. Conoley, LTG Thomas E. Watson ret., MG James P. Berkeley, Vogel, MG Robert B. Luckey, LTG Julian C. Smith ret. and GEN Edwin A. Pollock ret. Vogel activated 2nd Marine Division from the 2nd Marine Brigade at the beginning of February 1941 at Camp Elliott near San Diego. He oversaw the formation of the division and its initial training and was promoted to the rank of major general in May 1942. Vogel held that assignment until he was succeeded by Major General Charles F. B. Price in December 1941 and assumed command of newly formed 2nd Joint Training Force, consisting of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division and his 2nd Marine Division. Vogel was transferred to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, in May 1944 and appointed commanding general of that facility as a substitute for retiring Major General Emile P. Moses. He was responsible for the recruit training on the East Coast until his retirement on February 1, 1946, after 42 years of active service. Navajo Code Talkers On February 28, 1942, General Vogel tested the idea of the Navajo code talkers by "installing a telephone connection between two offices and wrote out six messages that were typical of those sent during combat. One of those messages read "Enemy expected to make tank and dive bomber attack at dawn." The Navajo managed to transmit the message almost verbatim: "Enemy tank dive bomber expected to attack this morning." The remaining messages were translated with similar proficiency, which duly impressed General Vogel. The Navajo were recommended, in part, because Nazi Germany had not infiltrated the Navajo as they were the only "tribe that has not been infested with German students during the past twenty years. These Germans, studying the various tribal dialects under the guise of art students, anthropologists, etc., have undoubtedly obtained a good working knowledge of all tribal dialects except Navajo." u ==Later life==

Vogel settled in Bedminster in Bucks County and was an hereditary Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He was active within the Loyal Legion until his death and served as the Legion's Commander-in-Chief in 1964. He was also president of the Valley Forge Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. Major General Clayton B. Vogel died on November 26, 1964, in Naval Hospital Philadelphia. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, together with his wife Margaret. ==Military awards==

Here is the ribbon bar of Major General Clayton B. Vogel: ==See also==