sentences:  After his graduation he was commissioned as a Marine officer.His pre-war assignments included the command of the Marine Detachment on the aircraft carrier "USS Lexington" as well as a tour at Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia.During World War II he was assigned to the 3rd Marine Division and participated in the Battle of Bougainville and the Battle of Guam, where he won the Navy Cross for successfully leading his battalion through a series of heavily fortified Japanese positions.