The following year, Puller attended the Virginia Military Institute but left in August 1918 as World War I was still ongoing, saying that he wanted to 'go where the guns are!' Inspired by the 5th Marines at Belleau Wood, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a private and attended boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. He wanted to enlist in the United States Army to fight in the Border War with Mexico in 1916, but he was too young and could not get parental consent from his mother. Puller grew up listening to old veterans' tales of the American Civil War and idolizing Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson. His father was a grocer who died when Puller was 10 years old. Puller was of English ancestry his ancestors who came to America emigrated to the colony of Virginia from Bedfordshire, England in 1621. Puller was born in West Point, Virginia, to Matthew and Martha Puller. He lived in Virginia and died in 1971 at age 73. Puller retired from the Marine Corps in 1955, after 37 years of service. With six crosses, Puller is second behind Eddie Rickenbacker for citations of the nation's second-highest military award for valor. He was awarded five Navy Crosses and one Distinguished Service Cross.

Puller is the most decorated Marine in American history. By the time of his retirement in 1955, he had reached the rank of lieutenant general. Beginning his career fighting guerillas in Haiti and Nicaragua as part of the Banana Wars, he later served with distinction in World War II and the Korean War as a senior officer. Lewis Burwell ' Chesty' Puller (J– October 11, 1971) was a United States Marine Corps officer. (son) Virginia Puller Dabney (daughter) William H.

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