Robert Titus
Lieutenant General Robert M. Titus | |
|---|---|
 Lt. General Titus, photo taken shortly before the Scarlet Offensive in April, 1934, during the Great War | |
| Born | January 10th, 1883 |
| Died | September 21st, 1961 (Age 78) |
| Allegiance | File:Asterian Flag.jpg Federation |
| Service/ | File:Asterian Flag.jpg Federal Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1904 - 1937 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands held | Marine Corps Field Commander |
| Battles/wars | Great War |
| Awards | Congressional Metal of Honor, Purple Heart, Silver Star |
Robert Titus was a career military commander who is famous for his role as a Lieutenant General in the Great War. He is regarded as the "King Mut" of the Marines, also known as "Devil Dogs", and became extremely respected by leading and fighting alongside his men during Operation Ruby, Operation Citadel and the greater Caeseni Campaign, and the Scarlet Offensive that led to Gaullica's surrender to the Democratic Alliance. Lt. General Titus oversaw the persecution of Gaullican and Caeseni war criminals in the months after the war ended, and was one of the first Asterian commanders to take a public negative view against Kaxakh, a former ally of the Democratic Alliance.
Lt. General Titus was given offers to retire after the war's end, but refused to do so until East Hesia had been dealt with, and the last combatent in the Great War was defeated. However, after the atomic bomb was detonated over East Hesia, the General was terrified. He led a short-lived group among other generals, urging President Parker to keep an eye on Kaxakh nuclear development and do everything in his power to impede their progress. His warnings were noted by the President and the military, but never acted upon, for Kaxakh tested it's first nuclear weapons just a couple of years later.
After retirement, Robert Titus would go on to co-found the Asterian Preservation Organization, a group of former-military and civilians that opposed to use of nuclear weapons, and helped raise awareness for the true dangers of nuclear fallout, as well as being a lead voice in the anti-Communist movement. He would die on September 21st, 1961, at the age of 78, after fighting against aggressive cancer that was caused from radiation.
Childhood & Early Life
Family Background
Robert Franklin Titus, born to father James Kenneth Titus and mother Dorthy Melbrooke Titus (maiden: Rachton), was born and raised on a small farm just east of Marais, in the state of Dixon. The large farmlands in which they lived on had once been cotton fields tended by black slaves, but his grandfather was forced to free them in 1871 when the Federal Government issues the 13 Statement, which free'd all slaves. Robert's grandfather, Charles Titus, had earned his 47,000 acre property after serving in the Roessan-Asterian War more than 40 years prior. According to what Robert's father told him, his grandfather Charles had signed up with the Army of Dixon at the age of 16, in 1840 - lying about his age to serve. He had then left Marais, where his Regiment was stationed, to move south in anticipation of a Roessan attack, which came by December of 1840. His grandfather had apparently been among the few men in his regiment to fall back - the remnants of his Regiment fleeing to a plantation west of Marais, where they held off more than 5,000 Roessan Imperial soldiers, they themselves only with around 400, for more than three days before they were eventually forced to retreat. During this battle, it was told, that Charles Titus had discovered a pocketwatch belonging to the son of the plantation's owner, who had known his son joined the Army, but not that he had fough at his home, nor fell in battle. Charles Titus had apparently returned to Marais, only for the Imperial Roessan Army to sack the city on March of 1841.
Not much more is known about his grandfather's story, but Robert's father told him that Charles Titus returned to the plantation sometime after the war - recognizing the name on the stopwatch - and returned it to the plantation owner, who at the time, was very sick and dying. Warmed and touch that the young soldier had brought the stopwatch back, and knowing his son fell in battle, like a hero, the plantation owner had signed the property over to Charles Titus, and died shortly after. Robert's grandfather inherited one of the largest cotton plantations in the Marais area - owning more than 200 slaves, and in the years after the war with Roeselle, became a very rich man.
Robert's father, James, was born in 1850, and was poised to carry on the family name, and inherit the plantation. James, like Charles, rarely left the plantation, for it was mostly self-sufficent, and business had always been steady. However, in 1871, that all changed. Insutrialization had begun to set in again, with even more impact than in the 30s and 40s. Technology began being developed that made agriculture twice as easy and effecient, and over time, the use of slave labor became irrelivent. Congress passed the "Extensive Freedom Act" in 1871, and added the 13th Statement, which officially abolished slavery. For the Titus family, that had depended on slaves for years, the transition was difficult, and in the end, they lost fortunes. By the time Robert was born, the once-great Titus Plantation was nearly broke, even with new agricultural techniques, and the young boy would find himself struggling to maintain a dying estate.