Jean-Marc Villeneuve

Jean-Marc Sorel Villeneuve (born June 12th, 1916) is an American government official and retired United States Army Sergeant who, since his appointment on February 26th, 1949, has served as the 1st United States Secretary of Defense. Prior to serving as Secretary of Defense, Villeneuve was the Mayor of Duluth, Rockford from 1948 to 1949.

Villeneuve was a Sergeant Major in the United States Army during the Second World War, seeing combat in Africa and Europe under the Seventh United States Army. He also served in the Duluth Police Department both before and after the war, reaching the rank of Sergeant, before running for Mayor.

Early Life and Education
Villeneuve was born on June 12th, 1916, in Superior, Wisconsin, in the 2nd Republic of the United States. At the age of seven, Villeneuve and his family moved to nearby Duluth, Minnesota, in the affluent Piedmont Heights neighborhood. Villeneuve graduated from Denfeld High School in 1934, and attended the College of St. Scholastica from 1934 until graduating in 1938.

Villeneuve would follow his Grandfather's example, and attended a Police academy in Minneapolis, graduating in 1939. (Villeneuve's grandfather served in the Parisian Police Force when he lived in France.)

Police Career (1939-1942) (1945-1948)
Villeneuve joined the Duluth Police Department in 1939, as a Police Officer I, and would quickly rise through the ranks leading up to the US involvement in World War II, having become a Police Officer III before joining the United States Army. Villeneuve returned to the Police force after returning from combat in Europe, and would eventually reach the rank of Police Sergeant, before leaving the Department in 1948, following his victory in the 1947 Duluth Mayoral Election.

Villeneuve was involved in a shootout in the Central Hillside district of Duluth in 1947, responding to a home invasion, and would kill the suspect in the shootout, while sustaining an injury from wood shrapnel.

U.S. Army Service (1942-1945)
Villeneuve joined the U.S. Army following the attack on Pearl Harbor, and entered service in February, 1942. He was originally assigned to the First Armored Corps, under the Command of General George Patton, and was deployed for Operation Torch in West Africa. During the redesignation period while U.S. forces were at sea bound for Sicily, Villeneuve (and the I Armored Corps) were redesignated into the Seventh U.S. Army, which he would remain in for the duration of the war.

Italy

Villeneuve fought in the Sicily campaign, apart of the force that captured Palermo and Messina, and it was during this time he was promoted to Sergeant Major, taking command of the 274th Infantry Regiment. Villeneuve was recorded to have 25 confirmed kills of mostly Italians.

Operation Dragoon

In 1944, while forces landed on Normandy to the far North, Villeneuve was apart of the 7th armies involvement in the invasion of Southern France. He would see combat at St. Tropez, Marseille, and across the Southern "Provence" region of France. Here he killed another 25-50 men, including an SS Commander who was captive, at the order of higher ranking officers.

The Battle of the Bulge

Villeneuve was in the 7th Army's offensive assist the Third Army in liberating Bastogne from encirclement by the German Army. During the battle, Villeneuve destroyed a Tiger II, commandeering a Panzerfaust rocket launcher left by the Wehrmacht.

Operation Undertone

Villeneuve was also apart of the U.S. advance on the Rhein and Saar region, taking part in the assault on the Siegfried Line, Villeneuve killed another 20 Germans, mostly SS and at least one Hitler Youth. He crossed the Rhein with the 7th, took Strasburg, and later took part in the battles of Frankfurt, Nuremberg, and Munich. Villeneuve's combat effectively ended when the Seventh Army crossed the Brenner Pass, and met the Fifth Army at Vipitino, Italy.

Villeneuve would be awarded with the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, and two silver stars for his service in the war, and was saluted by General George Patton shortly before his (Patton's) death. Villeneuve would leave Europe with 100 confirmed kills, and another 20 disputed.

Allegations of Misconduct

During the Italian Campaign, Villeneuve was accused of "fraternizing" local Italians in Palermo, primarily an instance that Sgt. Mjr. Villeneuve gave a chocolate ration to an Italian child while the U.S. Army was stopped in the city. An additional accusation that Villeneuve had an affair with an Italian woman was inconclusive.

While the U.S. Army was in Southern France, Villeneuve was accused of visiting a Brothel on four different occasions by a subordinate, though once again, the Military Police found no substantial evidence of misconduct.

Villeneuve was also accused of executing POWs, primarily Waffen-SS prisoners, following the Malmedy Massacre carried out by the SS against the US Army. Due to the No Prisoner order by the Army at the time, the US Military Police rejected the accusation, and no substantial evidence was provided that Villeneuve carried out any other act of execution.

Mayor of Duluth (1948-1949)
In 1947, Villeneuve won the Duluth Mayoral Election, defeating incumbent George W. Johnson with 52% of the vote. He would serve as the first Independent mayor of Duluth since the position became Partisan. Villeneuve campaigned on expanding post-war business in Duluth.

Though he served only a year in the Mayor's office, Villeneuve's administration would clear out the car and junk dump developing on the Duluth waterfront, and revitalize it into a boardwalk and beach, creating "Canal and Park Point." His administration would also work to incorporate the company town of Morgan Park into the city. The Villeneuve Administration was also developing a Public Works program deemed the "New Deal on the North Shore" by the Duluth News Tribune, which including plans for a new bridge to Superior and housing developments in the Piedmont Heights and Duluth Heights neighborhoods. Villeneuve resigned the office in February of 1949, having been nominated for Secretary of Defense.

Secretary of Defense (1949-Present)
In 1949 President Quentin Carter nominated Villeneuve to become the first Secretary of Defense of the United States, and was confirmed by the Senate on February 25th, 1949; Villeneuve was sworn in the next morning. Villeneuve was selected by the Carter Administration after President Carter's first nominee for Secretary of Defense, Myles Kinney, was struck down by the Senate for being "Soft on Communism."

Villeneuve would oversee Department of Defense operations during the Korean War, which he would assist in securing a United Nations victory alongside General MacArthur, threatening the Chinese Army which had entered the war a few months before, with annihilation, hinting at the use of Nuclear Weapons. China withdrew from the Korean peninsula on October 4th, 1952.