WIDDECKE, CHARLES F.

Charles Fred Widdecke, Maj. Gen., USMC (Ret.), 54, who with the 22nd Marines, took part in the attacks on several of the Marshall Islands and in the invasion of Guam during World War II, died May 13 [1973] in La Paz, Mexico, after suffering a heart attack while on a fishing trip.

For the Guam campaign he was awarded the Navy Cross for heroism and a Silver Star for action at Eniwetok.

After the war he was assigned to the Division of Reserve, and later was to become its director. At the outbreak of the fighting in Korea, he was ordered there and commanded a battalion in the 1st Marines, and later the 1st Division Headquarters Battalion.

Then came Washington assignments as Assistant Director, Marine Corps Institute and aide-de-camp to the Commandant, following which he commanded the 1st Recruit Training Battalion and was executive officer of the Recruit Training Command in San Diego.

He later commanded the 5th Marines in Vietnam, and was Chief of Staff, Fleet Marine Force Pacific. He was Director of the Marine Corps Reserve in 1969 and the following year became 1st Marine Division commander. He retired in 1971 after the division returned from Vietnam.

In addition he was on a joint staff in Panama administering military and economic aid to South American countries.

Gen. Widdecke was born in Bryan, Tex., on May 11, 1919. He was graduated from a Dallas high school and the University of Texas. He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1941, went to OCS and was commissioned in the Reserves. In 1942 he became a Regular.

He is survived by his wife, two children and a grandchild.