Marshall true to roots
Last weekend, an editorial by Francis P. Sempa about George C. Marshall’s childhood in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, appeared in the Scranton Times-Tribune.
Drawing from the two definitive biographies of Marshall–Forrest C. Pogue’s four-volume series and David L. Roll’s recent Defender of the Republic–Sempa explores how Marshall’s upbringing in Uniontown impacted his character and ultimate career trajectory. Sempa writes:
Uniontown’s values included thrift, self-reliance, and a strict moral code. Marshall’s most recent biographer David Roll, in “George Marshall: Defender of the Republic,” notes that throughout his great career of service to his country, Marshall “lived by a moral code that emphasized self-control, perseverance, integrity, truth, honor and duty,” and those character traits were instilled in Uniontown.
Sempa also draws a connection between Marshall and George Washington through a childhood visit Marshall took with his father to Ft. Necessity, the site of the first battle of the French and Indian War. Details of this visit and its influence on Marshall can be found in this blog post.
The full article, which is behind a paywall, can be read at the Times-Tribune website.