General Clifton Bledsoe Cates

Born in Cates Landing, Tennessee, on August 31, 1893, Clifton B. Cates attended school in Tiptonvile and the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico, Missouri. While excelling in varsity football and baseball, he received his law degree from the University of Tennessee in 1916. His early Marine service included combat commander duties in World War I and World War II. Wounded seven times in World War I, Cates received over thirty American and foreign medals. In 1942, he led the First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division on Guadalcanal.