Serving under General Douglas MacArthur, Robert Eichelberger led important operations against the Japanese in the jungles of the Pacific islands, including the make-or-break Battle of Buna during the New Guinea Campaign. Born in Urbana, Ohio, Eichelberger enrolled at Ohio State University, studying there from 1903 to 1905 until he received an appointment to West Point. After graduating from the military academy in 1909, he was commissioned in the infantry, gaining promotion to first lieutenant in 1915 and captain in 1917. After the United States entered World War I, Eichelberger was not sent to France but was instead posted in the South and Southwest, assigned to training and staff missions. He performed exceptionally and received a promotion to temporary major and an appointment as assistant chief of staff to General William Graves's Siberian Expeditionary Force in August 1918, an arduous assignment that earned him promotion to temporary lieutenant colonel in 1919.

Beginning in 1921, Eichelberger served in the Pacific and was posted to the Philippines and Tientsin (Tianjin), China. In 1921, he was also promoted to the regular rank of major and attached to the military intelligence division of the general staff. In 1924, he was reassigned to the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth. After graduating in 1926, Eichelberger remained at Fort Leavenworth as a staff officer. He enrolled in the Army War College in 1929, graduating in 1930, then transferred to West Point as adjutant and secretary, serving in these capacities from 1931 to 1935.

Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1934, Eichelberger was appointed secretary to the general staff in 1936. He served until 1938, when he was promoted to full colonel, and assigned command of the 30th Infantry at San Francisco. Two years later, he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general and appointed superintendent of West Point. In March 1942, after U.S. entry into World War II, Eichelberger was promoted to temporary major general and assigned to command 77th Infantry Division. He then briefly commanded XI Corps, then I Corps, which was assembling in Australia for action against the Japanese. By September, I Corps was ready for combat, and Eichelberger led his troops into New Guinea at the beginning of the Allies' "island hopping" campaign against the forces of the Japanese empire. Promoted to temporary lieutenant general in October, he won a major and remarkable victory against a deeply fortified position at Buna after a hard-fought battle spanning November 20, 1942 to January 22, 1943. General MacArthur's orders to him had been to take Buna or "not come back alive." Eichelberger understood that MacArthur was in earnest. . .

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