John Carsten Chapin

John Carsten Chapin (1920–2008) was a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and a military historian. After graduating from Yale University with a degree in history, he served in World War II and was wounded twice, in the landings on Roy-Namur and Saipan. Later assigned to the Marine Corps History Division, he wrote the official histories of the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and contributed for many years to the Marine Corps History Center's World War II commemorative series. His works in this collection cover Marine operations in the Northern Solomons, the landings in the Marshall Islands, and the battle for Saipan. Public information about him is limited, but his writing, grounded in firsthand combat experience and archival research, offers detailed accounts of campaign progress and unit actions and remains a useful reference for the Marine Corps' history in the Pacific War.