Sergeant Major Francis Drury Rauber, the 2nd Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, died on Feb. 19, 1991. He served as the Marine Corps senior enlisted from Sept. 1, 1959, until his retirement from active duty on June 28, 1962.
Born July 10, 1901, in Rochester, N.Y., Sergeant Major Rauber graduated from high school there in 1918, then saw two years active duty in the National Guard. He began his first enlistment in the Marine Corps on Dec., 9, 1921, rising to the rank of sergeant prior to his honorable discharge in February 1926. During this time, he attended recruit training at Parris Island, S.C., then was assigned to the 1st Marine Brigade at Port au Prince, Haiti; the 5th Marine Regiment, Marine Expeditionary Force, the forerunner of the Fleet Marine Force; the Marine Barracks, Norfolk, Va.; and the 29th Company, 4th Regiment, Marine Corps Base, San Diego, Calif.
Upon the Outbreak of World War II, he again offered his services to the Marine Corps, and on May 1, 1942, reenlisted and was re-appointed to the grade of sergeant. In January 1943, he completed First Sergeant's School at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. His service in the rank of Sergeant Major dates from February 1943 when he was named Post Sergeant Major at the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, and Sergeant Major of the 3rd Marine Corps Reserve District.
In March 1948, he was transferred to the West Coast for assignment to Fleet Marine Force, Pacific as Sergeant Major with the 9th Marines, 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. Arriving in Guam, Mariana Islands in May 1948, he served in this capacity until November, and in Tsingtao and Shanghai China until April 19409, when he returned to Camp Witek, Guam.
In March 1950, Sergeant Major Rauber embarked for the United States for a brief assignment as Sergeant Major, Inspector-Instructor Staff, 19th Infantry Battalion, Rochester, N.Y. Ordered to Cherry Point, N.C. in January 1951, he served consecutively as Squadron and Group Sergeant Major with MCGIS-5 and MACG-1, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. In March 1952, he joined the Marine Corps Air Station, Miami, Fla. as Operations Squadron 3 Sergeant Major, becoming Headquarters Sergeant Major in June 1953.
Transferred to Washington, D.C. in April 1954, the Sergeant Major began a four-year tour of duty as Sergeant Major of the Personnel Department, Headquarters Marine Corps. In May 1958, upon being transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, he became Sergeant Major of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. Following this assignment, he returned to Headquarters Marine Corps and in September 1959 assumed the Marine Corps top enlisted billet as Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.
