Del Valle, Pedro A. (Pedro Augusto), 1893-1978

Pedro A. Del Valle (1893-1978) was a Lieutenant General in the United States Marine Corps and commanded the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. After the war he became Inspector General for the Marine Corps and Director of Personnel. Following his retirement, Del Valle devoted his energies to a defense of his beliefs in American ideals and in 1953 founded Defenders of the American Constitution, an organization dedicated to defending the ideals of patriotism, constitutionalism, and Christian society.

Marine Corps officer.

Pedro Augusto Del Valle was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on August28, 1893. He was educated at public schools in the city of Baltimore and graduate from the Mercersburg Academy at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in 1910. Del Valle entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and graduated with a B.S. degree in 1915, the same year in which he married Katherine Marchand Nelson. His professional training after his graduation for the Naval Academy included attendance at the Marine Corps School in 1928-1929, and the Army War College during 1937-1938.

Del Valle's career was in the United States Marine Corps where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and commanded the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. After the war, in 1946, he became Inspector General of the Marine Corps and Director of Personnel until his retirement in January 1948. Following his military service, Del Valle accepted a position as vice-president of International Telephone and Telegraph, and traveled, with Mrs. Del Valle, to twenty-six countries with periods of residence in Italy, Spain, and Argentina. In 1952, he retired from ITT in order to devote his energies to a defense of his beliefs in American ideals. The following year, in 1953, Del Valle, working closely with Colonel Matthew O. McKeon, Gordon Small, and Josephine Powell Beaty, organized the Defenders of the American Constitution (DAC).

Chartered in Washington, D.C. and dedicated to defend the ideals of patriotism, constitutionalism, and Christian society, the DAC was a non-profit, educational organization. Under its auspices, Del Valle produced two publications, Task Force and Alert . The former was a regular paper, which carried articles about national security, and constitutional matters, while the latter publication, usually a single sheet, attempted to clarify the specific context of actions by governmental agencies.

In addition to his work on behalf of DAC, Del Valle game active support to other conservative organizations such as the National Economic Council, Christian Crusade, National Youth Alliance, the Committee to Restore the Constitution, and Liberty Lobby. He died in 1978.