fortitudine vol 23 no 4 - marines.mil vol 23... · historical quiz: the summer of 1944 lena m....

FORTITIJD.BULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGk1.

HISTORICAL BULLETIN VOLUME XXIII SPRING 1994 NUMBER 4"

U.S. COMMANDERS MADE TOUGH DECISIONS ON THE EvE OF THE WORLD WAR I ARMISTICE. SECOND

MARINE CORPS AVIAIDR'S PERSONAL PHOTO ALBUM REDISCOVERED AS HISIDRICAL ThEASURE.. WORLD

WAR II LIFE IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC FROM A MARINE'S SKE1tHBOOK. FUGHT LINES: STEARMAN NS-3

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FORTITUD.BULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGk1.

HISTORICAL BULLETIN VOLUME XXIII SPRING 1994 NUMBER 4'

U.S. COMMANDERS MADE TOUGH DECISIONS ON THE EvE OF THE WORLD WAR I ARMISTICE. . . SECOND

MARmJI CORPS AVIAIDR'S PERSONAL PHOTO ALBUM REDISCOVERED AS HISIORICAL ThEASURE. . . WORLDWAR II LIFE IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC FROM A MARINE'S SKE1tHBOOK. . . FUGHT LINES: STEARMAN NS-3

DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release; distribution isunlimited.

PCN 10401220100

FORTITUD INEMotto of the United States Marine Corps in the 1812 era.

Historical Bulletin Volume XXIII Spring 1994 No. 4

This quarterly bulletin of the Marine Corps historical program is published for Marines, atthe rate of one copy for every nine on active duty, to provide education and training in theuses of military and Marine Corps history. Other interested readers may purchase single co-pies or four-issue subscriptions from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office, Washington, DC. 20402.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HISTORYAND MUSEUMSDIVISION

Marine Corps Historical CenterBuilding 58, Washington Navy Yard

901 M Street, SoutheastWashington, D.C. 20374-5040

Telephone: (202) 433-3838, 433-3840, 433-3841

DIRECTOR

BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)Secretary to the Dzrector Mrs. Patricia E. Morgan.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Col William J. Davis, USMC

HISTORICAL BRANCH

Head: LtCol Thomas A. Richards, USMC. Histories Section:Mr. Benis M. Frank, Chief Historian; Dr. Jack Shulimson;Mr. Charles R. Smith; CaptJohn T. Quinn II, USMC. OralHistory Unit: Mr. Richard A. Long. Reference Section: Mr.DannyJ. Crawford; Mr. Robert V. Aquiina; Mrs. Ann A.Ferrante; Miss Lena M. Kaijot; Mrs. SheIla Gramblin. Ar-chives: Mr.FrederickJ. Graboske; Miss AmyJ. Cantin, Per-sonal Papers; Mrs. Joyce C. Hudson, Cpl Darian E. Hines,USMC, Official Papers.

MUSEUMS BRANCH

Head/Officer-in- Charge, Air-Ground Museum, Quantico:Col AlfredJ. Ponnwitz, USMC. Operations Officer CaptChristopher L. French, USMC. Museums Section: Mr.

Charles A. Wood, Chief Curator, Mr. Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas, Material History; Mr. John G. Griffiths, Ord-nance; Mr. Joseph E. Payton, SSgt Mitch Garringer, USMC,Restoration; Mr. Michael E. Starn, Aeronautics; Mr. Ronald

J. Perkins, Mr. Ronnie D. Alexander, Exhibits; Mrs. Nancy

F. King, Uniforms; Mrs. Jennifer L. Castro, Registrar, Mrs.

Kathryn R. frout, Programs Assistant. Security: SSgt HurelJ.Ward, USMC; Sgt Daryl L. Clark, USMC; Sgt Vincent L.Wright, USMC; Sgt Pete Basabe, USMC; Cpl Duward Mas-sey, USMC; Cpl Jose Rodriguez, USMC CplJeffreyJ. Weins,

USMC; LCpI Kanaya Easley, USMC.

MARINE CORPS MUSEUM UNIT, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Exhibits: Mr. James A. Fairfax; Mr. Gordon Heim; LCpI An-thony R. Hicks. USMC. Marine Corps Art Collection: Mr.John T. Dyer, Jr.

SUPPORT BRANCH

Head/Division Executive Officer LtCoI Dave Beasley, Jr.,

USMC. Editing andDesgn Section: Mr. Robert E. Struder;Mr. William S. Hill; Mrs. Catherine A. Kerns. Library: Miss

Evelyn A. Englander. Administration: IstLt John T. Simp-son, USMC; SSgt John Hudson, USMC; Sgt Exkchart Rat-tanachai, USMC; LCpI MichaelJ. Miksovsky, USMC; LCpITodd M. Halacy. USMC; LCpI Jean P. Duckett, USMC Secu-

rity Unit: SSgt Ricardo E. Harding, USMC.

Mr. Robert E. StruderSenior Editor/Editor Fortitudine

Memorandum from the Director: Marines in the Meuse-Argonne, Part LI,Crossing the Meuse

BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret) 3

Readers Always W'rite: World War LI Pamphlets Bring Bouquets and Brickbats 9

Newsmen Were Closest Marines to Normandy LandingsHerbert C. Merillat 10

Touring European lop Marines Visit Historical CenterCol William]. Davis, USMC 11

Young Marine Artist Recorded His World War LI World]ohn T Dyer, ]r 12

Center Hosts U.S. Field Historians and Combat ArtistsCol William]. Davis, USMC 14

Marine Corps Archives: Aviation History Bonanza in a 14-Year-Old EnvelopeFrederick]. Graboske 15

Historical Foundation Study Aid Program Grew in '93Charles R. Smith 17

Historical Quiz: The Summer of 1944Lena M. Kiljot 17

Acquisitions: Museum Gets Collection Rich in Historical AssociationsKenneth L. Smith-Christmas 18

Mentioned in Passing: Sergeant Major Huff, Was Among First Black MarinesBenis M. Frank 19

Center, Foundation to Sponsor Pacific War MeetLtCol Thomas A. Richards, USMC 19

Answers to the Historical Quiz: The Summer of 1944 19

Flight Lines: Stearman N25-3Michael E. Starn 20

W"orld W"ar II Chronology, 1941-1945: January-March 1945Robert i' Aquilina 21

Russian Naval Infantry Officers VisitCol William]. Davis, USMC 24

THE COVER

With the characteristic helmet and leg wrappings of the World War I era, a Marine riflemanis "With the Second Division" in this oil painting by Leroy C. Baldridge, himself a privatefirst class in the Army at the time the work was completed. The painting was given to theHistorical Center in 1976 by Mrs. James G. Harbord, in memory of her husband, the U.S.Army general who was a commander of the 4th Marine Brigade of the 2d Division, AEF,in France in 1918. BGen Simmons revisits the Marine Brigade and the 2d Division in thesecond part of his recollection of the Meuse-Argonne campaign, beginning on page 3. Thewar is drawing to a close, but the Marines have "one more river to cross:' Elsewhere in theissue readers will find the tale of a World War II Marine who made improvised sketchbookshis constant companions, with the result a highly personalized record of his service on theWest Coast and in the Central Pacific. Art Curator John T Dyer, Jr., tells the story of Ma-rine, American diplomat, and museum curator Ralph W. Richardson, beginning on page 12.

Fortitudine is produced in the Editing and Design Section of the History and Museums Division Thetext for Fortitudine is set in 10-point and 8-point Garamond typeface. Headlines are in 18-point or24-point Garamond. The bulletin is printed on 70-pound, matte-coated paper by offset lithography

For sale by the Supenntendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.20402.

2 Fortitudine, Spring 1994

FORTITUD INEMotto of the United States Marine Corps in the 1812 era.

Historical Bulletin Volume XXIII Spring 1994 No. 4

This quarterly bulletin of the Marine Corps historical program is published for Marines, atthe rate of one copy for every nine on active duty, to provide education and training in theuses of military and Marine Corps history. Other interested readers may purchase single co-pies or four-issue subscriptions from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HISTORYAND MUSEUMSDIVISION

Marine Corps Historical CenterBuilding 58, Washington Navy Yard

901 M Street, Southeast

Washington, D.C. 20374-5040Telephone: (202) 433-3838, 433-3840, 433-3841

DIRECTOR

BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)Secretary to the Director: Mrs. Patricia E. Morgan.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Col William J. Davis, USMC

HISTORICAL BRANCH

Head: LzCol Thomas A. Richards, USMC. Histones Section:Mr. Benis M. Frank, Chief Historian; Dr. Jack Shulimson;Mr. Charles R. Smith; Capt John T Quinn II, USMC. OralHistory Unit: Mr. Richard A. Long. Reference Section: Mr.DannyJ. Crawford; Mr. Robert V. Aquilina; Mrs. Ann A.Ferrante; Miss Lena M. Kaljot; Mrs. Shelia Gra.mblin. Ar-chives: Mr. FrederickJ. Graboske; Miss AmyJ. Cantin, Per-sonal Papers; Mrs. Joyce C. Hudson, Cpl Darian E. Hines,USMC, Official Papers.

MUSEUMS BRANCH

Head/Officer-in- Charge, Air-Ground Museum, Quantico:Col Alfred J. Ponnwitz, USMC. Operations Officer: CaptChristopher L. French, USMC. Museums Section: Mr.Charles A. Wood, Chief Curator: Mr. Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas, Material History; Mr. John G. Griffiths, Ord-nance; Mr. Joseph E. Payton, SSgt Mitch Garringer, USMC,Restoration; Mr. Michael E. Starn, Aeronautics; Mr. RonaldJ. Perkins, Mr. Ronnie D. Alexander, Exhibits; Mrs. NancyF. King, Uniforms; Mrs. Jennifer L. Castro, Registrar Mrs.Kathryn R. 'Ilout, Programs Assistant. Security: SSgt HurelJ.Ward, USMC; Sgt Daryl L. Clark, USMC; Sgt Vincent L.Wright, USMC; Sgt Pete Basabe, USMC; Cpl Duward Mas-sey, USMC; Cpl Jose Rodriguez, USMC; CplJeffreyJ. Weins,USMC; LCpI Kanaya Easley, USMC.

MARINE CORPS MUSEUM UNIT, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Exhibits: Mr. James A. Fairfax; Mr. Gordon Heim; LCpI An-thony R. Hicks. USMC. Marine Corps Art Collection: Mr.John T Dyer, Jr.

SUPPORT BRANCH

Head/Division Executive Officer LtCol Dave Beasley, Jr.,USMC. Editing and Design Section: Mr. Robert E. Struder;Mr. William S. Hill; Mrs. Catherine A. Kerns. Lsbra,y: MissEvelyn A. Englander. Administration: lstLt John T Simp-son, USMC; SSgt John Hudson, USMC; Sgt Exkchart Rat-tanachai, USMC; LCpl MichaelJ. Miksovsky, USMC; LCpITodd M. Halacy, USMC; LCpl Jean P. Duckett, USMC. Secu-rity Unit: SSgt Ricardo E. Harding, USMC.

Mr. Robert E. StruderSenior Editor/Editor; Fortitudine

Memorandum from the Director: Marines in the Meuse-Argonne, Part II,Crossing the Meuse

BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret) 3

Readers Always Write: World War II Pamphlets Bring Bouquets and Brickbats 9

Newsmen Were Closest Marines to Normandy LandingsHerbert C. Merillat 10

Touring European Top Marines Visit Historical CenterCol William]. Davis, USMC 11

Young Marine Artist Recorded His World War II WorldJohn T Dyer Jr 12

Center Hosts U.S. Field Historians and Combat ArtistsCol William]. Davis, USMC 14

Marine Corps Archives: Aviation History Bonanza in a 14-Year-Old EnvelopeFrederick]. Graboske 15

Historical Foundation Study Aid Program Grew in '93Charles R. Smith 17

Historical Quiz: The Summer of 1944Lena M. Kaijot 17

Acquisitions: Museum Gets Collection Rich in Historical AssociationsKenneth L. Smith-Christmas 18

Mentioned in Passing: Sergeant Major Huff, Was Among First Black MarinesBenis M. Frank 19

Center, Foundation to Sponsor Pacific War MeetLtCol Thomas A. Richards, USMC 19

Answers to the Historical Quiz: The Summer of 1944 19

Flight Lines: Stearman N2S-3Michael E. Starn 20

World War II Chronology, 1941-1945: January-March 1945Robert V Aquilina 21

Russian Naval Infantry Officers VisitCol William]. Davis, USMC 24

THE COVER

With the characteristic helmet and leg wrappings of the World War I era, a Marine riflemanis "With the Second Division" in this oil painting by Leroy C. Baldridge, himself a privatefirst class in the Army at the time the work was completed. The painting was given to theHistorical Center in 1976 by Mrs. James G. Harbord, in memory of her husband, the U.S.Army general who was a commander of the 4th Marine Brigade of the 2d Division, AEF,in France in 1918. BGen Simmons revisits the Marine Brigade and the 2d Division in thesecond part of his recollection of the Meuse-Argonne campaign, beginning on page 3. Thewar is drawing to a close, but the Marines have "one more river to cross." Elsewhere in theissue readers will find the tale of a World War H Marine who made improvised sketchbookshis constant companions, with the result a highly personalized record of his service on theWest Coast and in the Central Pacific. Art Curator John T Dyer, Jr., tells the story of Ma-rine, American diplomat, and museum curator Ralph W. Richardson, beginning on page 12.

Fort,tudine is produced in the Editing and Design Section of the History and Museums Division. Thetext for Fortitudine is set in 10-point and 8-point Garamond typeface. Headlines are in 18-point or24-point Garamond. The bulletin is printed on 70-pound, matte-coated paper by offset lithography

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.


Memorandum from the Director

Marines in the Meuse-ArgonnePart II: Crossing the Meuse

BGen Simmons

M AJGEN CHARLES P. Su1Au1sorders from First Army were to

press northward. Probably to his chagrin,the III Corps already had a foothold onthe east bank while his own V Corps wasstill on the west bank. Moreover, Summer-all was ordered to assist the I Corps, whichwas to cross at Mouzon, with his 1st and42d Divisions which he had been holdingin reserve.

In the early morning hours of 6 Novem-ber, the 1st Division passed through thelaggard 80th Division and took positionon the 2d Division's left. This created anew corps boundary between the I and VCorps. Summerall ordered the 89th Divi-sion to take over the defense of the riverline. The 89th was to extend to the leftas far as Pouilly.

That afternoon Summerall visited Maj-Gen John A.Lejeune at the 2d Division'spost of command and gave him verbalorders to prepare to march on Sedan. Thisimplied movement through I Corps. Con-firmation in writing came a few hourslater. Lejeune directed Neville to preparehis 4th Brigade of Marines for the marchwhile the 3d Brigade of Infantry, still inposition along the Meuse, took over theportion of the line vacated by the 4th. The4th Brigade, on pulling back from theriver, marched behind the 3d Brigade toan assembly area at La Forge Farm. Nosooner had the relief been made than theorders to march on Sedan were canceled.

N EXT DAY, 7 November, Summerall is-sued orders directing the 2d and

89th Divisions to be prepared to cross theMeuse river on a D-day and H-hour to bespecified. The 4th Brigade edged forwardfrom La Farge Farm to go into bivouacalong the Beaumont-Sommauthe Road. Arumor rippled through the ranks that theGermans had sent a delegation throughthe lines seeking an armistice. On the 8thorders came to the 2d Division to cross theriver at Mouzon and Letanne. Reconnais-

sance showed that the Germans had re-moved or destroyed all the bridges crossingthe river and were keeping the abutmentsilluminated and under artillery fire to pre-vent their repair. The 9th Infantry, 3dBrigade, managed to get a patrol acrosswhich encountered no Germans but wastold by the French still living in the areathat they were all around.

D-day was first fixed at 9 November.Lejeune learned that all the pontoonbridges had been allocated to the 89th Di-vision. Lejeune's own 2d Engineers wouldhave to fabricate four floating footbridges.

Lejeune planned for two simultaneouscrossings. The 4th Brigade would crosswith the 3d Brigade in support. On thenight of the 9th, Col Logan Feland's 5thMarines moved up near Letanne and ColHarry Lee's 6th Marines to near LeFaubourg. The 2d Engineer Regiment,which had been fabricating the floatingfootbridges at Beaumont and Yoncq, wasto bring them down to the river in sec-tions, to be installed after dark. It turnedout that the bridges could not be readyin time so Lejeune asked for a delay untilthe night of 10/11 November, risking thewrath of an already impatient Summerall.

The site of the Meuse River crossing by 5th Marines battalionsin the autumn of 1918 was photographed in the years immedi-

ately following the war providing a record of the landscape closeto its appearance to those who fought on the eve of the armistice.

Fortitudine, Spring 1994 3

In "Part I: Reaching the Meuse,"the writer took the reader with the4th Brigade of Marines from the restcamp after Blanc Mont to the westbank of the Meuse on 6 November1918. The war was nearing its endbut there remained one more riverto cross.

Memorandum from the Director

Marines in the Meuse-ArgonnePart II: Crossing the Meuse

BGen Simmons

M AJGEN CHARLES P. SIJMMERALJ.S

orders from First Army were topress northward. Probably to his chagrin,the III Corps already had a foothold onthe east bank while his own V Corps wasstill on the west bank. Moreover, Summer-all was ordered to assist the I Corps, whichwas to cross at Mouzon, with his 1st and42d Divisions which he had been holdingin reserve.

In the early morning hours of 6 Novem-ber, the 1st Division passed through thelaggard 80th Division and took positionon the 2d Division's left. This created anew corps boundary between the I and VCorps. Summerall ordered the 89th Divi-sion to take over the defense of the riverline. The 89th was to extend to the leftas far as Pouilly.

That afternoon Summerall visited Maj-Gen John A.Lejeune at the 2d Division'spost of command and gave him verbalorders to prepare to march on Sedan. Thisimplied movement through I Corps. Con-firmation in writing came a few hourslater. Lejeune directed Neville to preparehis 4th Brigade of Marines for the marchwhile the 3d Brigade of Infantry, still inposition along the Meuse, took over theportion of the line vacated by the 4th. The4th Brigade, on pulling back from theriver, marched behind the 3d Brigade toan assembly area at La Forge Farm. Nosooner had the relief been made than theorders to march on Sedan were canceled.

N EXT DA 7 November, Summerall is-sued orders directing the 2d and

89th Divisions to be prepared to cross theMeuse river on a D-day and H-hour to bespecified. The 4th Brigade edged forwardfrom La Farge Farm to go into bivouacalong the Beaumont-Sommauthe Road. Arumor rippled through the ranks that theGermans had sent a delegation throughthe lines seeking an armistice. On the 8thorders came to the 2d Division to cross theriver at Mouzon and Letanne. Reconnais-

sance showed that the Germans had re-moved or destroyed all the bridges crossingthe river and were keeping the abutmentsilluminated and under artillery fire to pre-vent their repair. The 9th Infantry, 3dBrigade, managed to get a patrol acrosswhich encountered no Germans but wastold by the French still living in the areathat they were all around.

D-day was first fixed at 9 November.Lejeune learned that all the pontoonbridges had been allocated to the 89th Di-vision. Lejeune's own 2d Engineers wouldhave to fabricate four floating footbridges.

Lejeune planned for two simultaneouscrossings. The 4th Brigade would crosswith the 3d Brigade in support. On thenight of the 9th, Col Logan Feland's 5thMarines moved up near Letanne and ColHarry Lee's 6th Marines to near LeFaubourg. The 2d Engineer Regiment,which had been fabricating the floatingfootbridges at Beaumont and Yoncq, wasto bring them down to the river in sec-tions, to be installed after dark. It turnedout that the bridges could not be readyin time so Lejeune asked for a delay untilthe night of 10/11 November, risking thewrath of an already impatient Summerall.

The site of the Meuse River crossing by 5th Marines battalionsin the autumn of 1918 was photographed in the years immedi-

ately following the war providing a record of the landscape closeto its appearance to those who fought on the eve of the armistice.


In "Part I: Reaching the Meuse,"the writer took the reader with the4th Brigade of Marines from the restcamp after Blanc Mont to the westbank of the Meuse on 6 November1918. The war was nearing its endbut there remained one more riverto cross.

That evening, 9 November, Summerallcalled together the commanding generalsand chiefs of staff of the 2d and 89th Di-visions and held forth on the subject ofriver crossings. Lejeune offered an alternateplan, stating that it was obvious that theeast bank of the Meuse was stronglydefended and recommending that the90th Division, which was already acrossthe river to the south, drive north to clearthe front of the 89th Division, whichcould then cross against no opposition.The 89th Division would repeat themaneuver, clearing the east bank where itfaced the 2d Division. The 2d Division,in turn, would then drive north and clearthe crossing site for the 77th Division.Summerall told Lejeune would take theplan under advisement, but when Lejeunereturned to his headquarters, he learnedthat it had not been approved and thatthe simultaneous crossing of the 2d and89th Division would proceed on the nightof 10/11 November.

B PJGADE HEADQUARTERS was at Beau-mont. The 5th Marines was in the

woods two miles west of Beaumont. The5th Marines now moved up to join the 6thwhich was in the Bois du Fond du Limonbetween Yoncq and Villemontry.

The main crossing, to be made by the6th Marines, reinforced with the 5th Ma-rines' 3d Battalion, was to be at Mouzon.The crossing at Letanne, to be made bythe 5th Marines, reinforced with a battal-ion from the 89th, was considered secon-dary, to be made mainly as a link with the89th Division which would be crossing atInor. The 2d Field Artillery Brigade wouldbombard the opposite bank and the

machine gun companies would cover thecrossing with overhead fire.

Two footbridges were to go across northof Mouzon and two near La Sartelle Farmnorth of Letanne. The two companies ofengineers who were to put across thebridges were to be assisted by two riflecompanies from the 9th Infantry. All bat-talions had the usual attachments ofmachine guns. The assault battalions wereto cross rapidly and seize the heights abovethe river bank. The artillery would fire acurtain of shells that would move gradu-ally point to point from the river.

T HE GERrIAN SIDE of the river was notfortified. Mouzon was the boundary

point between the Third Army of theCrown Prince's Army Group and Von derMarwitz's Fifth Army. The 31st Division,its strength a meager 850 men and 25

machine guns, extended from Mouzoneast to Alma Farm. From Alma Farm toLetanne was held by the 352d Regiment,88th Division—380 men and 11 machineguns. To the rear in reserve were two provi-sional regiments. One, with all the infan-try that could be found from the 52dDivision, was at Vigneron Farm. Theother, the remnant of the 236th Division,was between Autreville and Moulins.Together the two regiments probably didnot total more than a thousand men. The29th Machine Gun Battalion had onecompany on the river bank and one inreserve. German artillery, however, was stillstrong and there were still German aircraftin the sky.

The battalion commanders of the 6thMarines received their orders for the attackat Yoncq at about 5 p.m. on 10 Novem-ber. After crossing, the 6th Marines wasto take the ridge north of Mouzon. Ger-man artillery was interdicting the roadsbut fortunately all four Marine battalionswere using the railroad as their approachmarch route. There was some confusion asto the time of the attack. The artillery,which was to fire an hour-long prepara-tion, began its fires before the battalionshad left the wood. Most of the preparato-ry fire had been delivered before the regi-ment reached the river.

It was an inky dark night accentuatedby a heavy fog. The 2d Engineers formeda chain of men to act as guides from theBois du Fond du Limon to the crossingsite. The engineers had carried the sectionsof the bridges, essentially rafts, down to


Snapshot from a scrapbook of the war years shows one of the picturesque towns alongthe Meuse River its buildings, timber footbrzdge, and possible railway bridge appar-ently undamaged by fighting. Stone embankment appears older than bridges.

A shell crater makes a "dug-out" emplacement for two 2d Division troops and theirheavy-duty machine gun, all concealed by some of the sparse remaining vegetationin wartorn northeastern France where the Meuse-Argonne battles were fought.

1

' .

' :'4 '-I)-."

-— 'z-

That evening, 9 November, Summerallcalled together the commanding generalsand chiefs of staff of the 2d and 89th Di-visions and held forth on the subject ofriver crossings. Lejeune offered an alternateplan, stating that it was obvious that theeast bank of the Meuse was stronglydefended and recommending that the90th Division, which was already acrossthe river to the south, drive north to clearthe front of the 89th Division, whichcould then cross against no opposition.The 89th Division would repeat themaneuver, clearing the east bank where itfaced the 2d Division. The 2d Division,in turn, would then drive north and clearthe crossing site for the 77th Division.Summerall told Lejeune would take theplan under advisement, but when Lejeunereturned to his headquarters, he learnedthat it had not been approved and thatthe simultaneous crossing of the 2d and89th Division would proceed on the nightof 10/11 November.

B PJGADE HEADQUARTERS was at Beau-

mont. The 5th Marines was in thewoods two miles west of Beaumont. The5th Marines now moved up to join the 6thwhich was in the Bois du Fond du Limonbetween Yoncq and Villemontry.

The main crossing, to be made by the6th Marines, reinforced with the 5th Ma-rines' 3d Battalion, was to be at Mouzon.The crossing at Letanne, to be made bythe 5th Marines, reinforced with a battal-ion from the 89th, was considered secon-dary, to be made mainly as a link with the89th Division which would be crossing atInor. The 2d Field Artillery Brigade wouldbombard the opposite bank and the

machine gun companies would cover thecrossing with overhead fire.

Two footbridges were to go across northof Mouzon and two near La Sartelle Farmnorth of Letanne. The two companies ofengineers who were to put across thebridges were to be assisted by two riflecompanies from the 9th Infantry. All bat-talions had the usual attachments ofmachine guns. The assault battalions wereto cross rapidly and seize the heights abovethe river bank. The artillery would fire acurtain of shells that would move gradu-ally point to point from the river.

T HE GERMAN SIDE of the river was notfortified. Mouzon was the boundary

point between the Third Army of theCrown Prince's Army Group and Von derMarwitz's Fifth Army. The 31st Division,its strength a meager 850 men and 25

machine guns, extended from Mouzoneast to Alma Farm. From Alma Farm toLetanne was held by the 352d Regiment,88th Division —380 men and 11 machineguns. To the rear in reserve were two provi-sional regiments. One, with all the infan-try that could be found from the 52dDivision, was at Vigneron Farm. Theother, the remnant of the 236th Division,was between Autreville and Moulins.Together the two regiments probably didnot total more than a thousand men. The29th Machine Gun Battalion had onecompany on the river bank and one inreserve. German artillery, however, was stillstrong and there were still German aircraftin the sky.

The battalion commanders of the 6thMarines received their orders for the attackat Yoncq at about 5 p.m. on 10 Novem-ber. After crossing, the 6th Marines wasto take the ridge north of Mouzon. Ger-man artillery was interdicting the roadsbut fortunately all four Marine battalionswere using the railroad as their approachmarch route. There was some confusion asto the time of the attack. The artillery,which was to fire an hour-long prepara-tion, began its fires before the battalionshad left the wood. Most of the preparato-ry fire had been delivered before the regi-ment reached the river.

It was an inky dark night accentuatedby a heavy fog. The 2d Engineers formeda chain of men to act as guides from theBois du Fond du Limon to the crossingsite. The engineers had carried the sectionsof the bridges, essentially rafts, down to


Snapshot from a scrapbook of the war years shows one of the picturesque towns alongthe Meuse River its buildings, timber footbridge, and possible railway bridge appar-enily undamaged by fighting. Stone embankment appears older than bridges.

A shell crater makes a "dug-out" emplacement for two 2d Division troops and theirheavy-duty machine gun, all concealed by some of the sparse remaining vegetationin wartorn northeastern France where the Meuse-Argonne battles were fought.

the river. They were to be lashed end-to-end, and floated across.

T HE GERMANS SPUrrED the bridgingeffort and brought down heavy ar-

tillery and machine-gun fire. Dawn came.The bridges for the 6th Marines crossingwere still not in position. The Mouzoncrossing had failed. The battalion com-manders agreed to pull back from their ex-posed positions. The battalionscountermarched back into the Bois duFond du Limon and Bois de l'Hospice.Here they learned that the armistice hadbeen signed, to be effective at 11 a.m.

Things had gone differently for the 5thMarines at Letanne. Maj George Hamil-ton, of the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment,was in charge of the crossing force. Hisplan was for an hour's artillery preparationand then for Capt Charley Dunbeck's 2d

Battalion and the battalion from the 89thDivision to cross simultaneously, each us-ing one bridge. The 1st Battalion, undertemporary command of Capt LeRoy Hunt,would follow in support.

Dunbeck wrote out his orders to hiscompany commanders at 5:30 p.m. onsheets torn out of a German officer's fieldnotebook. He held out the 55th Compa-ny (also known as Company H in the Ar-my's nomenclature) as his battalionreserve. His orders to lstLt Sydney Thay-er, then in momentary command of thecompany, read in part as follows:

Your mission is to screen thebridge while other units pass over.

After all units have passed over,you will send one (1) platoon toBelle Font Farm, seize the place andconnect with 6th Marines, who are

operating north of Belle Font Farm.One platoon will remain at

bridge as bridge guard.Two (2) platoons will be at the

disposal of Battalion Commander.

The order, of course, was in error in itspresumption that the 6th Marines wasacross the river; the troops in the vicinityof Belle Font Farm were not friendly. Theengineers got the footbridges across. TheGermans immediately located them andbrought machine-gun and artillery fire tobear, knocking out one of the bridges. Thebattalion from the 89th had not yet ar-rived. Hamilton decided to cross on theone bridge with the 1st Battalion followedby the 2d Battalion. German artillery hithis Marines as they approached the bridge,causing many casualties. The bridge wasnothing more than planks supported bybox-like floats or rafts. "Like a railway trackturned upside down," is the way one Ma-rine described it. It was swept by machine-gun fire. The 1st Battalion worked its wayacross between the hours of 9:30 and 10:30p.m. Those who got across were furtherstruck as they went up the bank by thefires from a strong machine-gun nest. Few-er than one hundred Marines from the 1stBattalion could be assembled before day-light. Maj Hamilton reported by messageat 6:50 a.m. that he had organized theminto a single company.

D UNBECK'S ilD BATFAUON followedbehind the 1st Battalion. Dunbeck

led off with his headquarters, part of the55th Company, and a section of machineguns. One of Dunbeck's officers fell off thebridge and yelled, "Save me, Captain. Ican't swim." Dunbeck pulled the floun-dering officer to his feet and told him towade, the water was only waist-deep. Allof Dunbeck's battalion was across by 11:30p.m. Dunbeck was soaked to the skin andit would be hours before he could get afire going to dry out.

Dunbeck was followed across the riverby Capt Samuel C. Cumming with the51st Company (or Company G). Germanshells cut the bridge. As Capt Cummingremembered:

It was 11 o'clock at night and rain-ing and sleeting. Those of us in therear were able to get back to the westbank of the river and waited for en-gineers to come and repair thebridge, so we could cross. On arriv-


the river. They were to be lashed end-to-end, and floated across.

T HE GERMANS SPUfED the bridgingeffort and brought down heavy ar-

tillery and machine-gun fire. Dawn came.The bridges for the 6th Marines crossingwere still not in position. The Mouzoncrossing had failed. The battalion com-manders agreed to pull back from their ex-posed positions. The battalionscountermarched back into the Bois duFond du Limon and Bois de l'Hospice.Here they learned that the armistice hadbeen signed, to be effective at 11 am.

Things had gone differently for the 5thMarines at Letanne. Maj George Hamil-ton, of the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment,was in charge of the crossing force. Hisplan was for an hour's artillery preparationand then for Capt Charley Dunbeck's 2d

Battalion and the battalion from the 89thDivision to cross simultaneously, each us-ing one bridge. The 1st Battalion, undertemporary command of Capt LeRoy Hunt,would follow in support.

Dunbeck wrote out his orders to hiscompany commanders at 5:30 p.m. onsheets torn out of a German officer's fieldnotebook. He held out the 55th Compa-ny (also known as Company H in the Ar-my's nomenclature) as his battalionreserve. His orders to lstLt Sydney Thay-er, then in momentary command of thecompany, read in part as follows:

Your mission is to screen thebridge while other units pass over.

After all units have passed over,you will send one (1) platoon toBelle Font Farm, seize the place andconnect with 6th Marines, who are

operating north of Belle Font Farm.One platoon will remain at

bridge as bridge guard.Two (2) platoons will be at the

disposal of Battalion Commander.

The order, of course, was in error in itspresumption that the 6th Marines wasacross the river; the troops in the vicinityof Belle Font Farm were not friendly. Theengineers got the footbridges across. TheGermans immediately located them andbrought machine-gun and artillery fire tobear, knocking out one of the bridges. Thebattalion from the 89th had not yet ar-rived. Hamilton decided to cross on theone bridge with the 1st Battalion followedby the 2d Battalion. German artillery hithis Marines as they approached the bridge,causing many casualties. The bridge wasnothing more than planks supported bybox-like floats or rafts. "Like a railway trackturned upside down," is the way one Ma-rine described it. It was swept by machine-gun fire. The 1st Battalion worked its wayacross betsveen the hours of 9:30 and 10:30p.m. Those who got across were furtherstruck as they went up the bank by thefires from a strong machine-gun nest. Few-er than one hundred Marines from the 1stBattalion could be assembled before day-light. Maj Hamilton reported by messageat 6:50 a.m. that he had organized theminto a single company.

D UNBECK'S iD BATFAUON followedbehind the 1st Battalion. Dunbeck

led off with his headquarters, part of the55th Company, and a section of machineguns. One of Dunbeck's officers fell off thebridge and yelled, "Save me, Captain. Ican't swim." Dunbeck pulled the floun-dering officer to his feet and told him towade, the water was only waist-deep. Allof Dunbeck's battalion was across by 11:30p.m. Dunbeck was soaked to the skin andit would be hours before he could get afire going to dry out.

Dunbeck was followed across the riverby Capt Samuel C. Cumming with the51st Company (or Company G). Germanshells cut the bridge. As Capt Cummingremembered:

It was 11 o'clock at night and rain-ing and sleeting. Those of us in therear were able to get back to the westbank of the river and waited for en-gineers to come and repair thebridge, so we could cross. On arriv-


ing on the east bank I found CaptDunbeck had turned up river wherethere was heavy fighting, instead ofdown the river where we were or-dered to form a bridgehead for the6th Regiment crossing. I knew hehad, in the confusion, taken thewrong turn. I therefore turned downthe river to where he was supposedto form a head. I had with me threeand one-half companies of infantryand one machine gun platoon.

Heavy shelling by the Germans con-tinued. Cumming placed Capt HardinMassie at the head of the column with theremnants of 55th Company and themachine guns, and followed with the 51stCompany. Cumming, with two Marines,personally took out a German machinegun, shooting the gunner through thehead while his two Marines bayoneted theother two members of the crew. Hereached the point on the river where the6th Marines were supposed to cross and

set up a defensive position along the towpath with about 200 Marines. Capt Mas-sic was his only surviving officer.

D UNBECK HAD MOVED his bob-tailedbattalion, something less than a

company, up on Hamilton's left, and hadpushed patrols out toward BellefontaineFarm.

The battalion from the 89th Divisioncrossed some time after midnight and bydaybreak had come up on Hamilton'sright with some 300 effectives. The 89thDivision itself had crossed near Pouilly andwas working northward.

Three machine gun companies — the8th, 23d, and 81st—were to have accom-panied the infantry battalions. The 81stdid not make it across, its bridge was shotaway. The 23d Company, with just fiveguns left, covered the engineers as they putone of the bridges in place, but onlymanaged to get one gun across. The 8thCompany (which could claim to be the

most veteran of machine-gun companieshaving come across with the 5th Marines)did get across and managed a final gunduel with the Maxims at 100 yards range.

At brigade headquarters, by sometimeafter midnight, Neville knew only that theMouzon crossing had failed and that hehad two weakened battalions, with a thirdfollowing, across the Meuse. He askedLejeune for another battalion. Lejeunesent him the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines,to be held in support.

W HEN DAYUGHT CAME, Capt Cum-ming could see no sign of the 6th

Marines which he was expecting to crossthe river. He asked for a volunteer to swimthe river. The swimmer started at about7:30 a.m. and was two-thirds of the wayacross when German fire killed him. Cum-ming waited until 10 a.m. and then calledfor another volunteer. He picked one whosaid that he could swim the distance un-der water. The Germans apparently didnot see him until he reached the oppo-site bank. He dodged into some busheswith bullets whacking after him, butCumming was certain he would getthrough.

Lejeune afterward said that the night ofthis last battle of the war was the most try-ing night he had ever experienced. Itweighed heavily on him that in all proba-bility the armistice was about to be signed.At 6:05 a.m. his radio operators intercept-ed a message:

Marshall Foch to theCommanders-in-Chief:

1. Hostilities will be stopped onthe entire front beginning at 11

o'clock, November 11 (French hour).2. The Allied troops will not go

beyond the linereached at that houron that date until further orders.

(Signed) Marshal Foch5:45 a.m.

Was it a hoax? Lejeune called the chiefof staff of V Corps to verify the message.The chief of staff stiffly told him to ignorethe any word of an armistice unless it cameto him officially from V Corps. Not until8:45 a.m. did V Corps confirm the mes-sage. Lejeune repeated the order to hisbrigade commanders and then personal-ly directed Col Feland to expedite gettingthe message across the Meuse to MajHamilton and Capt Dunbeck.


Crossing of Meuse River by 2d and 89th DivisionsNovember 9—11, 1918

—— Front Line Gap in Line —xx— Division BoundaryNote direction of north on this sketch

ing on the east bank I found CaptDun beck had turned up river wherethere was heavy fighting, instead ofdown the river where we were or-dered to form a bridgehead for the6th Regiment crossing. I knew hehad, in the confusion, taken thewrong turn. I therefore turned downthe river to where he was supposedto form a head. I had with me threeand one-half companies of infantryand one machine gun platoon.

Heavy shelling by the Germans con-tinued. Cumming placed Capt HardinMassie at the head of the column with theremnants of 55th Company and themachine guns, and followed with the 51stCompany. Cumming, with two Marines,personally took out a German machinegun, shooting the gunner through thehead while his two Marines bayoneted theother two members of the crew. Hereached the point on the river where the6th Marines were supposed to cross and

set up a defensive position along the towpath with about 200 Marines. Capt Mas-sie was his only surviving officer.

D UNBECK HAD MOVED his bob-tailedbattalion, something less than a

company, up on Hamilton's left, and hadpushed patrols out toward BellefontaineFarm.

The battalion from the 89th Divisioncrossed some time after midnight and bydaybreak had come up on Hamilton'sright with some 300 effectives. The 89thDivision itself had crossed near Pouilly andwas working northward.

Three machine gun companies—the8th, 23d, and 81st—were to have accom-panied the infantry battalions. The 81stdid not make it across, its bridge was shotaway. The 23d Company, with just fiveguns left, covered the engineers as they putone of the bridges in place, but onlymanaged to get one gun across. The 8thCompany (which could claim to be the

most veteran of machine-gun companieshaving come across with the 5th Marines)did get across and managed a final gunduel with the Maxims at 100 yards range.

At brigade headquarters, by sometimeafter midnight, Neville knew only that theMouzon crossing had failed and that hehad two weakened battalions, with a thirdfollowing, across the Meuse. He askedLejeune for another battalion. Lejeunesent him the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines,to be held in support.

W HEN DAYUGHT CAME, Capt Cum-ming could see no sign of the 6th

Marines which he was expecting to crossthe river. He asked for a volunteer to swimthe river. The swimmer started at about7:30 a.m. and was two-thirds of the wayacross when German fire killed him. Cum-ming waited until 10 am, and then calledfor another volunteer. He picked one whosaid that he could swim the distance un-der water. The Germans apparently didnot see him until he reached the oppo-site bank. He dodged into some busheswith bullets whacking after him, butCumming was certain he would getthrough.

Lejeune afterward said that the night ofthis last battle of the war was the most try-ing night he had ever experienced. Itweighed heavily on him that in all proba-bility the armistice was about to be signed.At 6:05 a.m. his radio operators intercept-ed a message:

Marshall Foch to theCommanders-in-Chief:

1. Hostilities will be stopped onthe entire front beginning at 11

o'clock, November 11 (French hour).2. The Allied troops will not go

beyond the linereached at that houron that date until further orders.

(Signed) Marshal Foch5:45 a.m.

Was it a hoax? Lejeune called the chiefof staff of V Corps to verify the message.The chief of staff stiffly told him to ignorethe any word of an armistice unless it cameto him officially from V Corps. Not until8:45 a.m. did V Corps confirm the mes-sage. Lejeune repeated the order to hisbrigade commanders and then personal-ly directed Col Feland to expedite gettingthe message across the Meuse to MajHamilton and Capt Dunbeck.


Crossing of Meuse River by 2d and 89th DivisionsNovember 9—11, 1918

—— Front Line Gap in Line —xx— Division BoundaryNote direction of north on this sketch

A LMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY, Nevillelearned that the armistice had been

signed and that hostilities would cease at11:00 a.m. He sent the news forward to hisregiments hoping that they in turn wouldget the word through to the engaged bat-talions. Neville was only too aware that anarmistice was not peace. It was obvious tohim that the best possible defensive linehad to be occupied. He or perhaps Felanddetermined that this should be SenegalFarm Ridge as occupied by the 1st Battal-ion, 5th Marines, with the 2d Battalion ex-tending the line along the highway toBellefontaine Farm. Patrols which hadpushed forward as far as Moulins were tobe recalled.

During the last two hours before the ar-mistice, the Germans intensified their ar-tillery fire. A few minutes before 11:00a.m. there were tremendous bursts of firefrom both sides—and then silence.

On the ragged forward edge of the 5th

Marines' front line the situation was farfrom clear. In the morning the 1st Battal-ion moved out in support of the battal-ion from the 89th which was parallelingthe 2d Battalion in its advance. CaptHunt, leading the remnant of his 18thCompany, was about a mile from the riverand approaching Moulins when word ofthe armistice reached him at about 11:45a.m.

The last German order on this front wasissued at 10:50 a.m. when the 174th In-fantry was directed by its brigade com-mander to send its reserve battalion up tothe 166th Infantry on the left to block theAmerican advance. The order was not car-ried out.

A German battalion commander facingthe 2d Division reported: "At 11:15 hostil-ities cease. Not a shot is fired. Among ourmen quiet, depressed mood, and quietjoy, while among the enemy there is loudmanifestation of joy over the armistice."

G UMMING AND HIS MARINES on theeast bank at Mouzon were still iso-

lated. As Cumming, who would retire asa major general, later remembered:

Whenever we saw any Germanswe fired on them and this continueduntil about 2:15 in the afternoon ofNovember 11th.

I noticed the Germans were notreturning our fire and suddenly allalong the main highway fronting us,there appeared above the embank-ment German rifles with flags andwhite handkerchiefs waving. I or-dered my men not to fire and wewaited to see what they were goingto do.

Suddenly two Germans appearedand started walking toward ourlines. When they got half-way I sawone of them undo his pistol belt andthrow it to one side. I, therefore,called for a volunteer who couldspeak German to accompany me,and approached the German whowas a captain. Speaking in German,he said he knew he had us surround-ed and that we had no communica-tion with the main body of ourforces so he was informing us thatan armistice had been signed thatmorning between the German highcommand and the Allied command.All firing should have stopped at 11a.m. I had continued to fire on histroops causing some casualties. Herequested that I take his word aboutthe armistice and cease firing on histroops. I informed him that I hadheard of a possibility of an armistice


The Meuse-Argonne battles devastated much of the countryside rines carefully pick their way through a cratered and splinteredin northeastern France. Here MajGen Lejeune 's 2dDivision Ma- wood that earlier may have provided cover to enemy troops.

In another snapshot, a group of German prisoners of war is marched along a dirt pathback from the front lines; some walk with canes. A US. Army Signal Corps uni4 left,trek in the other direction, toward the fivnt, unreeling a spool of communications wire.

'1A LMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY, Neville

learned that the armistice had beensigned and that hostilities would cease at11:00 a.m. He sent the news forward to hisregiments hoping that they in turn wouldget the word through to the engaged bat-talions. Neville was only too aware that anarmistice was not peace. It was obvious tohim that the best possible defensive linehad to be occupied. He or perhaps Felanddetermined that this should be SenegalFarm Ridge as occupied by the 1st Battal-ion, 5th Marines, with the 2d Battalion ex-tending the line along the highway toBellefontaine Farm. Patrols which hadpushed forward as far as Moulins were tobe recalled.

During the last two hours before the ar-mistice, the Germans intensified their ar-tillery fire. A few minutes before 11:00a.m. there were tremendous bursts of firefrom both sides — and then silence.

On the ragged forward edge of the 5th

Marines' front line the situation was farfrom clear. In the morning the 1st Battal-ion moved out in support of the battal-ion from the 89th which was parallelingthe 2d Battalion in its advance. CaptHunt, leading the remnant of his 18thCompany, was about a mile from the riverand approaching Moulins when word ofthe armistice reached him at about 11:45a.m.

The last German order on this front wasissued at 10:50 a.m. when the 174th In-fantry was directed by its brigade com-mander to send its reserve battalion up tothe 166th Infantry on the left to block theAmerican advance. The order was not car-ried out.

A German battalion commander facingthe 2d Division reported: "At 11:15 hostil-ities cease. Not a shot is fired. Among ourmen quiet, depressed mood, and quietjoy, while among the enemy there is loudmanifestation of joy over the armistice."

GUMMING AND HIS MAPJNES on theeast bank at Mouzon were still iso-

lated. As Cumming, who would retire asa major general, later remembered:

Whenever we saw any Germanswe fired on them and this continueduntil about 2:15 in the afternoon ofNovember 11th.

I noticed the Germans were notreturning our fire and suddenly allalong the main highway fronting us,there appeared above the embank-ment German rifles with flags andwhite handkerchiefs waving. I or-dered my men not to fire and wewaited to see what they were goingto do.

Suddenly two Germans appearedand started walking toward ourlines. When they got half-way I sawone of them undo his pistol belt andthrow it to one side. I, therefore,called for a volunteer who couldspeak German to accompany me,and approached the German whowas a captain. Speaking in German,he said he knew he had us surround-ed and that we had no communica-tion with the main body of ourforces so he was informing us thatan armistice had been signed thatmorning between the German highcommand and the Allied command.All firing should have stopped at 11a.m. I had continued to fire on histroops causing some casualties. Herequested that I take his word aboutthe armistice and cease firing on histroops. I informed him that I hadheard of a possibility of an armistice


The Meuse-Argonne battles devastated much of the countryside rines carefully pick their way through a cratered and splinteredin northeastern France. Here MajGen Lejeune's 2dDivision Ma- wood that earlier may have provided cover to enemy troops.

In another snapshot, a group of German prisoners of war is marched along a dirt pathback from the front lines; some walk with canes. A US. Army Signal Corps unit, left,treks in the other direction, toward the front, unreeling a spool of communications wire.

and, on returning to my lines, wouldinform my men that it was an ac-complished fact and we would ob-serve the armistice. I picked up mypistol, which I had thrown to oneside, he picked up his, and we bothreturned to our lines.

A few minutes later Germans cameswarming over the embankment waving&ottles of brandy. Drinks were quicklytraded for American cigarettes. ". . . onewould thought they were long-lostbrothers," remembered Cumming. A half-hour later a Marine runner brought himofficial word of the armistice.

As Lejeune wrote later in an order pub-lished to the 2d Division:

On the night of November 10th,heroic deeds were done by heroicmen. In the face of a heavy artilleryand withering machine gun fire, theSecond Engineers threw two foot-bridges across the Meuse and •theFirst and Second Battalions of theFifth Marines crossed resolutely and

unflinchingly to the east bank andcarried out their mission.The front-line Marines were wet and ex-

hausted. Only gradually did it sink in thatthe war was over. They gathered in smallgroups. Bonfires were built. They beganto talk and sing songs. That night therewas a display of pyrotechnics as weaponswere fired into the air all along the line.Under the elation, though, there was anedge of bitterness. If it was known that thewar was to end, muttered the Marines, whyhad they been ordered to attack across theMeuse? Casualties in the brigade had beena seemingly unnecessary 31 killed and 148wounded. Total brigade losses since 1

November were 323 killed, 1,109wounded.

SOME WERE QUICK to lay the blame atGen Summerall's feet, but, as Lejeune

makes clear in his Reminiscences, the ord-ers had come down from the top. Foch on9 November had sent a telegram to thecommanders of each of the Allied armies:

The enemy, disorganized by our

repeated attacks, retreats along theentire front.

It is important to coordinate andexpedite our movements.

I appeal to the energy and the in-itiative of the Commanders-in-Chiefand of their Armies to make deci-sive the results obtained.

Pershing ordered his First and SecondArmies to press forward. The First Army,in turn, ordered the V Corps to press for-ward and so it was that Pershing was ableto report:

The Fifth Corps in the First Armyforced a crossing of the Meuse eastof Beaumont, and gained the com-manding heights within the reen-trant of the river, thus completingour control of the Meuse River line.

And what were Lejeune's privatethoughts? On the night of 11 Novemberhe wrote to his wife, "Last night we foughtour last battle. . . . To me it was pitifulfor men to go to their death on the even-ing of peace. L111775E1

"The Last Night of the U7ar," a painting by Frederick C. Yohn, of the Meuse. Yohn was a painter and illustrator (1875 -1933) whofocuses on the 5th Marines' struggle through artillery and rifle was famous for his battle scenes and whose illustrations appearedfire and the river itself to reach the German-held opposite bank frequently in Harper's, Scribner's, and Collier's magazines.


and, on returning to my lines, wouldinform my men that it was an ac-complished fact and we would ob-serve the armistice. I picked up mypistol, which I had thrown to oneside, he picked up his, and we bothreturned to our lines.

A few minutes later Germans cameswarming over the embankment waving&ottles of brandy. Drinks were quicklytraded for American cigarettes. ". . . onewould thought they were long-lostbrothers," remembered Cumming. A half-hour later a Marine runner brought himofficial word of the armistice.

As Lejeune wrote later in an order pub-lished to the 2d Division:

On the night of November 10th,heroic deeds were done by heroicmen. In the face of a heavy artilleryand withering machine gun fire, theSecond Engineers threw two foot-bridges across the Meuse and theFirst and Second Battalions of theFifth Marines crossed resolutely and

unflinchingly to the east bank andcarried out their mission.The front-line Marines were wet and ex-

hausted. Only gradually did it sink in thatthe war was over. They gathered in smallgroups. Bonfires were built. They beganto talk and sing songs. That night therewas a display of pyrotechnics as weaponswere fired into the air all along the line.Under the elation, though, there was anedge of bitterness. If it was known that thewar was to end, muttered the Marines, whyhad they been ordered to attack across theMeuse? Casualties in the brigade had beena seemingly unnecessary 31 killed and 148wounded. Total brigade losses since 1

November were 323 killed, 1,109wounded.

SoME WERE QUICK to lay the blame atGen Summerall's feet, but, as Lejeune

makes clear in his Reminiscences, the ord-ers had come down from the top. Foch on9 November had sent a telegram to thecommanders of each of the Allied armies:

The enemy, disorganized by our

repeated attacks, retreats along theentire front.

It is important to coordinate andexpedite our movements.

I appeal to the energy and the in-itiative of the Commanders-in-Chiefand of their Armies to make deci-sive the results obtained.

Pershing ordered his First and SecondArmies to press forward. The First Army,in turn, ordered the V Corps to press for-ward and so it was that Pershing was ableto report:

The Fifth Corps in the First Armyforced a crossing of the Meuse eastof Beaumont, and gained the com-manding heights within the reen-trant of the river, thus completingour control of the Meuse River line.

And what were Lejeune's privatethoughts? On the night of 11 Novemberhe wrote to his wife, "Last night we foughtour last battle. . . . To me it was pitifulfor men to go to their death on the even-ing of peace. L111775E1

"The Last Night of the UYar," a painting by Frederick C. Yohn, of the Meuse. Yohn was a painter and illustrator (1875 -1933) whofocuses on the 5th Marines' struggle through artillery and rifle was famous for his battle scenes and whose illustrations appearedfire andthe river itself to reach the German-held opposite bank frequently in Harper's, Scribner's, and Collier's magazines.


Readers Always W/rite

World War II Pamphlets Bring Bouquets and BrickbatsMANY TITLES PLANNED

Thank you for the three copies of Acmssthe Reef The Marine Assault of Tarawa,by Col Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret).It is a genuine pleasure to add all threeto the Nimitz Libral3y's collections.

In fact, all the publications in the Ma-rines in World War II Commemorative Ser-ies seem to prove very useful to mid-shipmen in their research. They are good,solid introductions to Marine Corps his-tory and also can be consulted to verify orfind specific information.

I have checked our holdings and Acrossthe Reef is the sixth title we have receivedin the Marines in World War II Com-memorative Series. We certainly hope thatmany more titles in this series are planned.

Barbara ParkerAssistant Librarian, Nimitz Library

U.S. Naval Academy

THE BRAVE OF TARAIVAI write to commend you on the "Tara-

wa" monograph. It is competently done,a thoroughly professional work which ex-hibits with stark clarity how courage andresolution can make up for weaknesses inplanning coordination.

There has always been a kindred spiritin my heart for the brave men who con-quered Tarawa. My part in their heroic ef-fort consisted of testing a loaded LVT (1)through heavy surf breaking over a coralreef. Congratulations to Col Alexander.

LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Ret)San Diego, California

SOME MINOR ERRORSJust a corrective note or two re the

World War II commemorative mono-graph, Up the Slot: Marines in the Cen-tral Solomons:

On page 31, the statement that plan-ning for the Yamamoto mission "fell toLieutenant Colonel L. S. Moore is

in error. Adm Mitscher assigned thatresponsibility to Col Edward L. Pugh,Fighter Commander, Aircraft Solomons.I accompanied Col Pugh, as his operationsofficer, to the initial conference on themission called by Adm Mitscher on 16April 1943 at Headquarters ComAirSols,Guadalcanal. The mission was planned on

16 and 17 April 1943 and was launchedearly on the morning of 18 April. ColMoore was the executive officer of MAG-12at Guadalcanal and administered thatcommand for Col Pugh while he was as-signed as Fighter Commander,ComAirSols.

On page 31, there is a paragraph abouta very successful intercept of an enemy airraid on 16 June" . . . before they reachedtheir target, the New Georgia invasionfleet." Since the New Georgia operationsdid not begin until 30June, the target in-dicated is in error and is confusing. 16June was indeed a very big day for thefighter command, but not in defendingthe "New Georgia invasion fleet."

On page 33 there is a statement at-tributed to Gen Mulcahy when he wasComAirNewGeorgia to the effect that theuse of aircraft close to the frontlines"proved to be impractical with accuracy."The statement as written is very mislead-ing. As I remember Gen Mulcahy's state-ment, it was to the effect that the junglecanopy so restricted visibility from boththe air and on the ground, that neitherthe ground units nor the aircraft knew pre-cisely where they were in terms of render-ing close air support. Thus, close airsupport of ground units in the jungle wasnot practical. Today we have position in-dicators accurate almost to the inch, butunfortunately they were not available incentral New Georgia.

These are really minor errors in anotherwise commendable monograph, butto avoid confusing posterity on events ofso long ago, I felt that since I had somefirsthand knowledge of the subjects co-vered, corrective statements were in order.

MajGen John P. Condon, USMC (Ret)Alexandria, Virginia

A MISPLACED ATTRIBUTION29 March 1994

I have received and read all of Breach-ing the Marianas: The Battle for Sa:Oan[Capt John C. Chapin, USMCR (Ret), inMarines in World War II CommemorativeSeries. Washington, D.C.: History andMuseums Division, Headquarters, U.S.Marine Corps, 1994], and want to thank

you for sending it to me. It is a good book,readable and well designed.

I am interested to note that I am quot-ed twice in the book and I am mystifiedby the quote on pages 4 and 5. I don'trecall ever seeing, writing, or having theexperience described. On D-Day I was atthe CP of 1/6 about 150 yards inland fromRed 2 Beach which in turn was almost twomiles north of Charan-Kanoa. We couldn'teven see the smokestack in question. I wasnever in Charan-Kanoa during the entirebattle. Our C Company was on our rightflank, the 8th Marines were between usand Charan-Kanoa. I was in a hole thatnight but it was dug as a shelter for thefarmer's family who had fled. The heavyfire we received came from our left flankguarded by 2/6 who stopped aJap coun-terattack mounted from Garapan alongthe coastal road. It was stopped by Com-panies F and I, NGF, and B Companytanks.

I would be most interested to learnwhere Capt Chapin got this story. It musthave been somone else and my name waserroneously added in editing.

Col James A. Donovan, USMC (Ret)Atlanta, Georgia

EDITOR'S NOTE: Col Donovan wroteagain on 14 April:

The enclosed note from Carl Hoffman[MajGen Carl W. Hoffman, USMC (Ret)]may help clear up the mystery of Chapin'smisquote of me in the Saipan monograph:

The words were lifted from my oralhistory on pages 39 and 40. Suchcareless documentation does littlecredit to an author with honors inhistory from Yale.

AITENTION SMITHSONIAN!You have every right to be proud of the

outstanding publications you've been put-ting out on World War II.

Capt Chapin's "Saipan" monograph issuperb—should be must reading for the

historians at the Smithsonian . . .

Richard HallionHistorian of the Air Force

Washington, D.C.


Readers Always W/rite

World War II Pamphlets Bring Bouquets and BrickbatsMANY TITLES PLANNED

Thank you for the three copies of Acrossthe Reef The Marine Assault of Tarawa,by Col Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret).It is a genuine pleasure to add all threeto the Nimitz Libravy's collections.

In fact, all the publications in the Ma-rines in World War II Commemorative Ser-ies seem to prove very useful to mid-shipmen in their research. They are good,solid introductions to Marine Corps his-tory and also can be consulted to verify orfind specific information.

I have checked our holdings and Acrossthe Reef is the sixth title we have receivedin the Marines in World War II Com-memorative Series. We certainly hope thatmany more titles in this series are planned.

Barbara ParkerAssistant Librarian, Nimitz Library

U.S. Naval Academy

THE BRAVE OF TARAIVAI write to commend you on the "Tara-

wa" monograph. It is competently done,a thoroughly professional work which ex-hibits with stark clarity how courage andresolution can make up for weaknesses inplanning coordination.

There has always been a kindred spiritin my heart for the brave men who con-quered Tarawa. My part in their heroic ef-fort consisted of testing a loaded LVT (1)through heavy surf breaking over a coralreef. Congratulations to Col Alexander.

LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Ret)San Diego, California

SOME MINOR ERRORSJust a corrective note or two re the

World War II commemorative mono-graph, Up the Slot, Marines in the Cen-tral Solo mons:

On page 31, the statement that plan-ning for the Yamamoto mission "fell toLieutenant Colonel L. S. Moore is

in error. Adm Mitscher assigned thatresponsibility to Col Edward L. Pugh,Fighter Commander, Aircraft Solomons.I accompanied Col Pugh, as his operationsofficer, to the initial conference on themission called by Adm Mitscher on 16April 1943 at Headquarters ComAirSols,Guadalcanal. The mission was planned on

16 and 17 April 1943 and was launchedearly on the morning of 18 April. ColMoore was the executive officer of MAG-12at Guadalcanal and administered thatcommand for Col Pugh while he was as-signed as Fighter Commander,ComAirSols.

On page 31, there is a paragraph abouta very successful intercept of an enemy airraid on 16 June" . . . before they reachedtheir target, the New Georgia invasionfleet." Since the New Georgia operationsdid not begin until 3OJune, the target in-dicated is in error and is confusing. 16June was indeed a very big day for thefighter command, but not in defendingthe "New Georgia invasion fleet."

On page 33 there is a statement at-tributed to Gen Mulcahy when he wasComAirNewGeorgia to the effect that theuse of aircraft close to the frontlines"proved to be impractical with accuracy."The statement as written is very mislead-ing. As I remember Gen Mulcahy's state-ment, it was to the effect that the junglecanopy so restricted visibility from boththe air and on the ground, that neitherthe ground units nor the aircraft knew pre-cisely where they were in terms of render-ing close air support. Thus, close airsupport of ground units in the jungle wasnot practical. Today we have position in-dicators accurate almost to the inch, butunfortunately they were not available incentral New Georgia.

These are really minor errors in anotherwise commendable monograph, butto avoid confusing posterity on events ofso long ago, I felt that since I had somefirsthand knowledge of the subjects co-vered, corrective statements were in order.

MajGen John P. Condon, USMC (Ret)Alexandria, Virginia

A MISPLACED A7TRIBUTION29 March 1994

I have received and read all of Breach-ing the Marianas: The Battle for Saipan[Capt John C. Chapin, USMCR (Ret), inMarines in World War II CommemorativeSeries. Washington, D.C.: History andMuseums Division, Headquarters, U.S.Marine Corps, 1994], and want to thank

you for sending it to me. It is a good book,readable and well designed.

I am interested to note that I am quot-ed twice in the book and I am mystifiedby the quote on pages 4 and 5. I don'trecall ever seeing, writing, or having theexperience described. On D-Day I was atthe CP of 1/6 about 150 yards inland fromRed 2 Beach which in turn was almost twomiles north of Charan-Kanoa. We couldn'teven see the smokestack in question. I wasnever in Charan-Kanoa during the entirebattle. Our C Company was on our rightflank, the 8th Marines were between usand Charan-Kanoa. I was in a hole thatnight but it was dug as a shelter for thefarmer's family who had fled. The heavyfire we received came from our left flankguarded by 2/6 who stopped ajap coun-terattack mounted from Garapan alongthe coastal road. It was stopped by Com-panies F and I, NGF, and B Companytanks.

I would be most interested to learnwhere Capt Chapin got this story. It musthave been somone else and my name waserroneously added in editing.

Col James A. Donovan, USMC (Ret)Atlanta, Georgia

EDITOR'S NOTE: Col Donovan wroteagain on 14 April:

The enclosed note from Carl Hoffman[MajGen Carl W. Hoffman, USMC (Ret)]may help clear up the mystery of Chapin'smisquote of me in the Saipan monograph:

The words were lifted from my oralhistory on pages 39 and 40. Suchcareless documentation does littlecredit to an author with honors inhistory from Yale.

AITENTION SMITHSONIAN!You have every right to be proud of the

outstanding publications you've been put-ting out on World War II.

Capt Chapin's "Saipan" monograph issuperb—should be must reading for the

historians at the Smithsonian . . .

Richard HallionHistorian of the Air Force

Washington, D.C.


Newsmen Were Closest Marines to Normandy Landingsby Herbert C. Merillat

T HE ROLE OF U.S. Marines on D-Dayin Normandy was pretty much limit-

ed to service on battleships and cruisersthat were bombarding the beaches. Acrack Marine battalion that had been sentto Londonderry early,in the war to helpdefend Northern Ireland never got into ac-tion in Europe; it was eventually dispersedamong units in the Pacific. Thus it hap-pened that the U.S. Marines who got theclosest to the Normandy beaches on thatfateful June morning were a team of threecombat correspondents attached to theLondon headquarters of the U.S. NavalForces in Europe. These were myself (thena captain), TSgt Richard T Wright, andcombat photographer SSgt James R."Scotty" Kilpatrick.

I arranged with the Royal Marines andRoyal Navy for the three of us to take partin D-Day proceedings on LCGs—LandingCraft, Guns. These were British tank-landing craft converted to serve as float-ing artillery. A twin-gun turret of 4.7-inchguns was mounted on each LCG. Withtheir shallow drafts the LCGs could getclose to the shoreline, just outside the beltof underwater obstacles, and deliver directfire against German pillboxes and othertargets on the beaches—part of Hitler'sAtlantic Wall—just before assault troopslanded. Then they could take on targetsfarther inland.

The skipper of LCG-1007, in which Iembarked, was Lt Hugh G. Ashworth,

Herbert C. Men//at, observer with RoyalMarines on D-Day, went on to become anoted military historian, author ofGuadalcanal Remembered (1982), andadistinguished historthn of the early church.

RNVR, and the commander of the RoyalMarines contingent was Lt George Hard-wick, RM. The ship's company consistedof 16 seamen and 46 Royal Marines whomanned the guns. We were assigned toJuno Beach in the British sector, where aCanadian division would land.

Q UR LCGs WEi part of a vast arma-da assembling at Portsmouth, one

of the many British ports from which thecross-Channel drive was to be mounted.We joined the ships on May 28, speculat-ing that we would shove off for Norman-dy about the 4th or 5th ofJune. Electricalengineer teams attached mysterious wiresand boxes to ships' masts; we later learnedthey were devices to foil enemy radar. Butbalmy summer weather turned wet andwindy. On the 4th everyone felt let downwhen word came that D-Day had beenpostponed. It was, however, rescheduledfor 6 June; as we now know, it was one ofGen Eisenhower's most difficult andmomentous decisions. Our flotilla set outfrom Portsmouth on the morning of the5th. Shortly after noon we entered the En-glish Channel from the Solent, the firstgroup after the minesweepers.

That night the Channel was alive withships—fast ones, slow ones, fighting shipsof all sizes, transports, landing craft, tinyrocket boats — overtaking or falling behindaccording to an intricate and inflexiblepattern that would get each to its properposition off the Normandy coast at dawn.As one who had taken part in the first U.S.amphibious attack in the war, against theJapanese at Guadalcanal in August 1942,I was much impressed by the variety of

new ships and boats that had been deve-loped for such operations.

One of our main engines broke downafter midnight. There were anxiousminutes while it was repaired and we triedto recover our position in the formation,with the skipper peering through thegloom at numbers on buoys and other ves-sels. All night long the sky over the Frenchcoastline ahead was alive with Germanack-ack, sweeping the skies like hoses offire as Allied bombers roared in, wave af-ter wave. As we later learned, some of theAllied planes carried parachutists in theearly morning hours.

BYo53o FT WAS growing light. Alreadythe big naval guns were bombarding

the shoreline of the American beacheswest of us. At our beach the heavy navalguns opened fire behind us at 0600 andheavy bombers began coming over to blastthe landing beaches. The shore was bare-ly visible through smoke and dust. Weclosed in with the first assault wave ofCanadian troops and began firing on ourfirst designated target—a German pillboxmounting three-inch guns.

Just before the assault waves reached thebeach sheets of flame rose from rocketcraft astern of us. Clusters of rocketszoomed over our heads and crashed on thebeach. As the Canadians went ashore, ourguns were silent. Later we fired at housesin the village of Courseulles, at a strong-point between two villages, and into thewoods beyond.

In the first exchanges of fire some near-by vessels had been holed. Among themwas our flotilla leader; one seaman waskilled. TSgt Wright, on that LCG, joinedin firing twin Oerlikon guns at beach tar-gets. By 0930 the last German gun shell-ing Allied vessels from Juno beach hadbeen silenced. Our own targets were nowinland, ahead of the Canadian advance.Our ships' main work done, we watchedin the afternoon as the Canadians movedslowly beyond the dunes.

T HE WSUALLY MOST SPECTACULARevents began at dusk. For hours the

sky was full of Allied planes, as in thenight before. First the bombers came,

Fortitudine, Spring 1994

Capt Herbert C. Menillat, cente observed the 6 June D-Day landing of Canadianforces over Juno Beach with Royal Navy Lt Hugh Ashworth, left, and Royal Ma-rine Lt George Hardwick, from the deck of a British landing craft, LCG-1007.

a

Newsmen Were Closest Marines to Normandy Landingsby Herbert C. Merillat

T HE ROLE OF U.S. Marines on D-Dayin Normandy was pretty much limit-

ed to service on battleships and cruisersthat were bombarding the beaches. Acrack Marine battalion that had been sentto Londonderry early,in the war to helpdefend Northern Ireland never got into ac-tion in Europe; it was eventually dispersedamong units in the Pacific. Thus it hap-pened that the U.S. Marines who got theclosest to the Normandy beaches on thatfateful June morning were a team of threecombat correspondents attached to thelondon headquarters of the U.S. NavalForces in Europe. These were myself (thena captain), TSgt Richard T. Wright, andcombat photographer SSgt James R."Scotty" Kilpatrick.

I arranged with the Royal Marines andRoyal Navy for the three of us to take partin D-Day proceedings on LCGs — LandingCraft, Guns. These were British tank-landing craft converted to serve as float-ing artillety. A twin-gun turret of 4.7-inchguns was mounted on each LCG. Withtheir shallow drafts the LCGs could getclose to the shoreline, just outside the beltof underwater obstacles, and deliver directfire against German pillboxes and othertargets on the beaches — part of Hitler'sAtlantic Wall — just before assault troopslanded. Then they could take on targetsfarther inland.

The skipper of LCG-1007, in which Iembarked, was Lt Hugh G. Ashworth,

Herbert C. Merillat, observer with RoyalMarines on D-Day, went on to become anoted military historian, author ofGuadalcanal Remembered (1982), and adistinguished historian of the early church.

RNVR, and the commander of the RoyalMarines contingent was Lt George Hard-wick, RM. The ship's company consistedof 16 seamen and 46 Royal Marines whomanned the guns. We were assigned toJuno Beach in the British sector, where aCanadian division would land.

Q UR LCGs WERE part of a vast arma-da assembling at Portsmouth, one

of the many British ports from which thecross-Channel drive was to be mounted.We joined the ships on May 28, speculat-ing that we would shove off for Norman-dy about the 4th or 5th ofJune. Electricalengineer teams attached mysterious wiresand boxes to ships' masts; we later learnedthey were devices to foil enemy radar. Butbalmy summer weather turned wet andwindy. On the 4th everyone felt let downwhen word came that D-Day had beenpostponed. It was, however, rescheduledfor 6 June; as we now know, it was one ofGen Eisenhower's most difficult andmomentous decisions. Our flotilla set outfrom Portsmouth on the morning of the5th. Shortly after noon we entered the En-glish Channel from the Solent, the firstgroup after the minesweepers.

That night the Channel was alive withships — fast ones, slow ones, fighting shipsof all sizes, transports, landing craft, tinyrocket boats — overtaking or falling behindaccording to an intricate and inflexiblepattern that would get each to its properposition off the Normandy coast at dawn.As one who had taken part in the first U.S.amphibious attack in the war, against theJapanese at Guadalcanal in August 1942,I was much impressed by the variety of

new ships and boats that had been deve-loped for such operations.

One of our main engines broke downafter midnight. There were anxiousminutes while it was repaired and we triedto recover our position in the formation,with the skipper peering through thegloom at numbers on buoys and other ves-sels. All night long the sky over the Frenchcoastline ahead was alive with Germanack-ack, sweeping the skies like hoses offire as Allied bombers roared in, wave af-ter wave. As we later learned, some of theAllied planes carried parachutists in theearly morning hours.

B Y 0530 iT WAS growing light. Alreadythe big naval guns were bombarding

the shoreline of the American beacheswest of us. At our beach the heavy navalguns opened fire behind us at 0600 andheavy bombers began coming over to blastthe landing beaches. The shore was bare-ly visible through smoke and dust. Weclosed in with the first assault wave ofCanadian troops and began firing on ourfirst designated target — a German pillboxmounting three-inch guns.

Just before the assault waves reached thebeach sheets of flame rose from rocketcraft astern of us. Clusters of rocketszoomed over our heads and crashed on thebeach. As the Canadians went ashore, ourguns were silent. Later we fired at housesin the village of Courseulles, at a strong-point between two villages, and into thewoods beyond.

In the first exchanges of fire some near-by vessels had been holed. Among themwas our flotilla leader; one seaman waskilled. TSgt Wright, on that LCG, joinedin firing twin Oerlikon guns at beach tar-gets. By 0930 the last German gun shell-ing Allied vessels from Juno beach hadbeen silenced. Our own targets were nowinland, ahead of the Canadian advance.Our ships' main work done, we watchedin the afternoon as the Canadians movedslowly beyond the dunes.

T HE VISUALLY MOST SPECTACULARevents began at dusk. For hours the

sky was full of Allied planes, as in thenight before. First the bombers came,


Capt Herbert C. Merillat, center observed the 6 June D-Day landing of Canadianforces over Juno Beach with Royal Navy Li' Hugh Ashworth, left, and Royal Ma-rine Lt George Hardwick, from the deck of a British landing craft, LCG-1007.

group after group. For half an hour the airwas full of their thunder. Then the big,black transports and gliders filed over.[Later the troops landed in our sector wereidentified as the 6 Air Landing Brigade.]Coming low from the north amid heavyantiaircraft fire, the planes crossed thebeach, wheeled, dropped their loads, andheaded back. Within our field of visionone craft fell in flames in the sea, anothercrashed trying to land in a field, while athird, smoke trailing from an engine,swooped low, then began rising steadilyand, as we all cheered, started back towardEngland.

The nighttime mission of our LCG wasto help guard that vast assemblage of ships

against possible attacks by German mo-tor torpedo boats from bases nearby in themouth of the Seine. It was not an E-boatbut a Junkers 88 that almost got us. TheGerman bomber dove low over the defenseline shortly before midnight. It was shotdown by a flak ship in our flotilla butcrashed into the sea dead ahead ofLCG-1007. It was too late to reverse en-gines, and as we crouched on the bridgeto take the shock of a possible explosionthe skipper shouted down the voice pipe,"Full ahead together." Our LCG crunchedinto the plane, cutting it in two, andpassed over the wreckage as German avia-tion gas drenched the gun crew in ourbow.

ALL NIGHT THE SKY and the land be-hind the beaches were aflame with

flares, bombs, artillery fire, burning build-ings and planes, and great whips of Ger-man antiaircraft fire that lashed across thesky, interlacing, criss-crossing. We stayedon station for three days and nights andthen returned to England. The three U.S.Marines who had been closest to the ac-tion left their friends of the Royal Marinesand Royal Navy with admiration andrespect and some vivid memories. Wecould not claim to have contributed muchif anything to the victory, but we werepleased that we had been able to witnessat close quarters one of the greatest bat-tles in history. Lu 775EJ

Touring European Top Marines Visit Historical Center

Q ON THE 19Th OF MAY, MarineCorps commandants from four Eu-

ropean countries visited the Marine CorpsHistorical Center and the Marine CorpsMuseum at the Washington Navy Yard.Visiting the museum were LtGen RobinJ. Ross, Commandant General, Royal Ma-rines; LtGen Arturo Paz Pasamar, Com-mandant General, Spanish Marine Corps;MajGen Roy Spiekerman van Weezelen-burg, Commanding General, RoyalNetherlands Marine Corps; and CaptJoseLuis Pereira Dc Almeida Viegas, Com-mandant, Portuguese Marine Corps.

The visiting commandants and their ac-companying delegations were nearing theend of their official tour of the UnitedStates. While in this country the Europe-an officers were escorted by the U.S. Ma-rine Commandant, Gen Carl E. Mundy,Jr.

by Cot William j Davis, USMCDeputy Director, Marine Corps History and Museums

can force of soldiers, seamen, militia, and103 Marines under the command of CaptSamuel Miller from the Marine Barracks,Washington, D.C., at the Battle ofBladensburg, Maryland.

The subsequent burning of the publicbuildings of Washington, except for theCommandant's House, gave rise to thelegend that the house was spared by Rossout of respect for the valor displayed bythe Marines at Bladensburg. After hisdeparture from Washington, Ross waskilled on 12 September 1814, at the Bat-tle of North Point by American militiaskirmishers, as his forces advanced on Bal-timore.

I N ADDITION 10 10URING the MarineCorps Museum, the Europeans visited

East Coast posts and stations and II Ma-rine Expeditionary Force units. They ob-served training at Camp Lejeune, PatrickAir Force Base, Parris Island, Cherry Pointand Quantico. The visit culminated in anEvening Parade in the commandants'honor at Marine Barracks, Washington,D.C.

The 10-day visit provided Gen Mundyand his European colleagues an opportu-nity to review developments in U.S. Ma-rine Corps training facilities andequipment and to discuss interoperabili-ty issues. 11J1775EJ

W HILE TOURING the HistoricalCenter, the visitors discussed a

historical event concerning an ancestor ofLtGen Ross, the British CommandantGeneral. Gen Ross' ancestor was MajGenRobert Ross, commander of land forcesduring the British invasion of the UnitedStates in 1814. Described by historians "asa very gallant and experienced officer,"Robert Ross commanded the seasonedPeninsula campaign veterans of theNapoleonic Wars, who defeated an Amen-


LtGen Ross, the Royal Marines Commandant General, presents a memento of the visitto Director of Marine Corps History and Museums BGen Edwin H. Simmons, watchedby, from the left, LtGen Pasamar, an aide, Capt Viegas, and MayGen Spieherman.

group after group. For half an hour the airfull of their thunder. Then the big,

black transports and gliders filed over.[Later the troops landed in our sector wereidentified as the 6 Air Landing Brigade.]Coming low from the north amid heavyantiaircraft fire, the planes crossed thebeach, wheeled, dropped their loads, andheaded back. Within our field of visionone craft fell in flames in the sea, anothercrashed trying to land in a field, while athird, smoke trailing from an engine,swooped low, then began rising steadilyand, as we all cheered, started back towardEngland.

The nighttime mission of our LCG wasto help guard that vast assemblage of ships

against possible attacks by German mo-tor torpedo boats from bases nearby in themouth of the Seine. It was not an E-boatbut a Junkers 88 that almost got us. TheGerman bomber dove low over the defenseline shortly before midnight. It was shotdown by a flak ship in our flotilla butcrashed into the sea dead ahead ofLCG-1007. It was too late to reverse en-gines, and as we crouched on the bridgeto take the shock of a possible explosionthe skipper shouted down the voice pipe,"Full ahead together." Our LCG crunchedinto the plane, cutting it in two, andpassed over the wreckage as German avia-tion gas drenched the gun crew in ourbow.

ALL NIGHT THE SKY and the land be-hind the beaches were aflame with

flares, bombs, artillery fire, burning build-ings and planes, and great whips of Ger-man antiaircraft fire that lashed across thesky, interlacing, criss-crossing. We stayedon station for three days and nights andthen returned to England. The three U.S.Marines who had been closest to the ac-tion left their friends of the Royal Marinesand Royal Navy with admiration andrespect and some vivid memories. Wecould not claim to have contributed muchif anything to the victory, but we werepleased that we had been able to witnessat close quarters one of the greatest bat-tles in history. Lu 775EJ

Touring European Top Marines Visit Historical Center

Q ON THE 19Th OF MAY, MarineCorps commandants from four Eu-

ropean countries visited the Marine CorpsHistorical Center and the Marine CorpsMuseum at the Washington Navy Yard.Visiting the museum were LtGen RobinJ. Ross, Commandant General, Royal Ma-rines; LtGen Arturo Paz Pasamar, Com-mandant General, Spanish Marine Corps;MajGen Roy Spiekerman van Weezelen-burg, Commanding General, RoyalNetherlands Marine Corps; and CaptJoseLuis Pereira Dc Almeida Viegas, Com-mandant, Portuguese Marine Corps.

The visiting commandants and their ac-companying delegations were nearing theend of their official tour of the UnitedStates. While in this country the Europe-an officers were escorted by the U.S. Ma-rine Commandant, Gen Carl E. Mundy,Jr.

by Col William J. Davis, USMCDeputy Director Marine Corps History and Museums

can force of soldiers, seamen, militia, and103 Marines under the command of CaptSamuel Miller from the Marine Barracks,Washington, D.C., at the Battle ofBladensburg, Maryland.

The subsequent burning of the publicbuildings of Washington, except for theCommandant's House, gave rise to thelegend that the house was spared by Rossout of respect for the valor displayed bythe Marines at Bladensburg. After hisdeparture from Washington, Ross waskilled on 12 September 1814, at the Bat-tle of North Point by American militiaskirmishers, as his forces advanced on Bal-timore.

I N ADDITION 10 1OURING the MarineCorps Museum, the Europeans visited

East Coast posts and stations and II Ma-rine Expeditionary Force units. They ob-served training at Camp Lejeune, PatrickAir Force Base, Parris Island, Cherry Pointand Quantico. The visit culminated in anEvening Parade in the commandants'honor at Marine Barracks, Washington,D.C.

The 10-day visit provided Gen Mundyand his European colleagues an opportu-nity to review developments in U.S. Ma-rine Corps training facilities andequipment and to discuss interoperabili-ty issues. 11J1775EJ

W HILE TOURING the HistoricalCenter, the visitors discussed a

historical event concerning an ancestor ofLtGen Ross, the British CommandantGeneral. Gen Ross' ancestor was MajGenRobert Ross, commander of land forcesduring the British invasion of the UnitedStates in 1814. Described by historians "asa very gallant and experienced officer,"Robert Ross commanded the seasonedPeninsula campaign veterans of theNapoleonic Wars, who defeated an Amen-


LtGen Ross, the Royal Marines Commandant General, presents a memento of the visitto Director of Marine Corps History and Museums BGen Edwin H. Simmons, watchedby, from the left, LtGen Pasamar an aide, Capt Viegas, and MayGen Spieherman.

Young Marine Artist Recorded His World War II World

T HE FIFTIETH ANNWERSAJW of theUnited States' entry into World War

II reminded many veterans to open sea-bags and locker boxes stored in attics andcellars for nearly half a century and renewtheir acquaintance with their warriors'legacies of uniforms and other souvenirs.If the contents of the bags and boxeshadn't long ago been commandeered byrelatives to suit periodic military-influenced fashion, donated to charitydrives, sold at yard sales, thrown out byaccident or design, lost in a move, or con-tributed to a museum, a nostalgic fewminutes might be spent with memoriesnot so distant and a veteran's personaltreasure. Former Marine searchlight oper-ator and section leader in two Marinedefense battalions, Ralph W. Richardsonmay have been among these veterans.

Does the moth-balled, thick, green-greykersey, or the pocketless dress blue uniformblouse comfortably fit what once was boot-camp hardened muscle?

Is the USMC-stamped Kabar fightingknife, designed for killing, sharp enoughto open a waxed K-ration box? And howdid that stuff really taste?

Old letters, old dreams, old three-centstamps, and "FREE" in envelope corners,tissue-paper-thin "V-Mail," and a minia-ture, photo-reduced newspaper on aneight-by-ten sheet.

by John T Dyer, Jr.Curator of Art

was accepted and an unexpected bonuscame with his well-written captions. Ex-cerpts from them are:

arrived at Johnston N.A.S. on2-9-43, direct from boot camp. We werethe first to arrive with the new M-1(Garand semi-automatic rifle) and newstyle helmet, and were quite the center of

attention! Sand Island, only 3.5 acres (andsome 400 personnel) was about a 15-

minute boat ride from Johnston.""The old Number 9 barracks: whenever

the 5" -battery had firing practice, thevibrations shook hundreds of cockroachesout of the nooks and crannies

"False-alarm 'alerts' or 'General Quart-

SKETCHBOOKS! Small watercolorswere made when the equipment was

available and time allowed; otherwise,pencil and fountain-pen notes on anypiece of paper at hand. The 18-year-oldMarine who liked to draw remembered hissubjects: Naval Air Station, Johnston Is-land; Sand Island; Majuro; Tinian and Sai-pan; and Okinawa. When RalphRichardson viewed his graphic art record,as many a World War II veteran does, seek-ing a safe home for personal treasure, hecontacted Marine Corps History andMuseums Director, BGen Edwin H. Sim-mons, and offered his seven watercolors ongood sketchbook paper, six pencil draw-ings, six small pen-and-ink and pencilsketches of various sizes, and seven sketchesin an 8"xS" World War II writing tablet,to the Marine Corps Museum. His offer


It was bring your own washpail to "Unit 9's Shower" under the palms on Majuro.Richardson notedthat the searchlight unifs position was "between hardstands of SBD's."

Sturdy coconut logs are prepared by Marines for the Fifty Calibre Machine Gun Posi-tion Under Constru ction" on Majuro. Richardson foundthe island 'a tropicalparadise."

Young Marine Artist Recorded His World War II World

T HE FIFTIETH ANN WERSARY of theUnited States' entry into World War

II reminded many veterans to open sea-bags and locker boxes stored in attics andcellars for nearly half a century and renewtheir acquaintance with their warriors'legacies of uniforms and other souvenirs.If the contents of the bags and boxeshadn't long ago been commandeered byrelatives to suit periodic military-influenced fashion, donated to charitydrives, sold at yard sales, thrown out byaccident or design, lost in a move, or con-tributed to a museum, a nostalgic fewminutes might be spent with memoriesnot so distant and a veteran's personaltreasure. Former Marine searchlight oper-ator and section leader in two Marinedefense battalions, Ralph W. Richardsonmay have been among these veterans.

Does the moth-balled, thick, green-greykersey, or the pocketless dress blue uniformblouse comfortably fit what once was boot-camp hardened muscle?

Is the USMC-stamped Kabar fightingknife, designed for killing, sharp enoughto open a waxed K-ration box? And howdid that stuff really taste?

Old letters, old dreams, old three-centstamps, and "FREE" in envelope corners,tissue-paper-thin "V-Mail," and a minia-ture, photo-reduced newspaper on aneight-by-ten sheet.

by John T Dyer, JrCurator of Art

was accepted and an unexpected bonuscame with his well-written captions. Ex-cerpts from them are:

". . arrived at Johnston N.A.S. on2-9-43, direct from boot camp. We werethe first to arrive with the new M-1(Garand semi-automatic rifle) and newstyle helmet, and were quite the center of

attention! Sand Island, only 3.5 acres (andsome 400 personnel) was about a 15-minute boat ride from Johnston."

"The old Number 9 barracks: wheneverthe 5" -battery had firing practice, thevibrations shook hundreds of cockroachesout of the nooks and crannies

"False-alarm 'alerts' or 'General Quart-

SKETCHBOOKS! Small watercolorswere made when the equipment was

available and time allowed; otherwise,pencil and fountain-pen notes on anypiece of paper at hand. The 18-year-oldMarine who liked to draw remembered hissubjects: Naval Air Station, Johnston Is-land; Sand Island; Majuro; Tinian and Sal-pan; and Okinawa. When RalphRichardson viewed his graphic art record,as many a World War II veteran does, seek-ing a safe home for personal treasure, hecontacted Marine Corps History andMuseums Director, BGen Edwin H. Sim-mons, and offered his seven watercolors ongood sketchbook paper, six pencil draw-ings, six small pen-and-ink and pencilsketches of various sizes, and seven sketchesin an 8"xS" World War II writing tablet,to the Marine Corps Museum. His offer


It was bring your own washpail to "Unit 9's Shower" under the palms on Majuro.Richardson noted that the searchlzght unit cposition was "between hardstands of SBD 's.'

Sturdy coconut logs are prepared by Marines for the "Fifty Calibre Machine Gun Posi-tion Under Construction " on Majuro. Richardson found the island 'i tropicalparadise."

ers' were frequent, for reasons neverspelled out to enlisted personnel. We sus-pected the major cause was the low posi-tioning of the island's primitive'bedsprings' radar."

"Bird's Eye View ofSandlsland,"above, provides the lay-out ofRichardson sJirst dutystation, "only 3.5 acres (and some 400 personnel)," about a 15-minute boat ride fromJohnston NavalAir Station. He brought along a then-new Ml rifle. On Sand Island,Marines ran for "Daylight General Quarters," below, only to find them 'false alarms,"pmbably attributable to "the low positioning of the island's primitive 'bedsprings' radar"

Lack of watercolors forcedRichardson to improvise with pen and pencil to record ex-periences on Saipan, Tini4n, and Okinawa. He made his newsprint-quality "ServiceW"riting Tablet" a graphic diary with sketches such as 'Road to Naha"from Okinawa.

HANKS it) THE SEABEES, our islandhad a general sprucing-up in the

fall of 1943: the rickety old movie hall wascompletely refurbished, new heads werebuilt, and several quonset huts wereerected."

"Searchlight Unit 9's position was locat-ed between hardstands of SBD's; the air-craft flew almost daily 'milk runs,'bombing Japanese units cut off on near-by islands in the Marshalls."

Hartzell contacted my parents inCalifornia to tell them I was 'safe' onJohn-ston Island, a gesture much appreciatedby my family".

"Work details ... unloading ships, ce-ment work, manhandling drums of 'avgas'and bales of sandbags —we joked we werereally 'junior Seabees!'

"After about 14 months of Sand Island'sbarren shores, Majuro was a tropical para-dise. I recall the sheer pleasure of goingoff into a pine grove, just to sit and drinkin the greenery. During our very first daysashore, there were many 'casualties':numerous Kabar knifecuts from trying toopen coconuts, and severe 'trots' from toomuch coconut milk!"

R ICHARDSON DESCRIBES his Tinian-Okinawa art: "Sketches after the Mar-

shalls are only pen/ink; I had to store myfootlocker at Pearl Harbor when weshipped out to Tinian, and my watrcolorsand colored pencils went in my locker".

Richardson did not pursue art as acareer after the war. When the war endedin Europe, a need for foreign serviceofficers to man reopening embassies wasannounced to Richardson by a Marine cap-tain on Okinawa. Richardson's love of trav-el and youthful concept of what a careerin foreign service would be like en-couraged him to apply to take a test, buthe lacked two years of college, a prerequi-site. This early disappointment didn't de-ter a twenty-five-year career with the StateDepartment that sent him to Lisbon,1952-53; Mozambique, 1954-55; Santia-go, Chile, 1956-60; Tufts UniversityGraduate School, 1960-61; the StateDepartment's Chilean Desk in Washing-ton, D.C., 1961-64; Lima, Peru, 1964-68;


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—S

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l

-

ers' were frequent, for reasons neverspelled out to enlisted personnel. We sus-pected the major cause was the low posi-tioning of the island's primitive'bedsprings' radar."

"Bird's Eye View of Sandlsland,"above, provides the lay-out ofRichardson 'sflrst dutystation, "only 3.5 acres (and some 400 personnel) ,"about a 15-minute boat ride fromJohnston Naval Air Station. He brought along a then-new Ml rifle. On Sand Island,Marines ran for "Daylight General Quarters," below, only tofindthem 'false alarms,"pmbably attributable to "the low positioning of the island's primitive 'bedsprings' radai"

Lack of watercolors forced Richardson to improvise with pen and pencil to record ex-periences on Sa:pan, Tinthn, and Okinawa. He made his newsprint-quality "ServiceW/riting Tablet" a graphic diary with sketches such as 'Road to Naha"from Okinawa.

HANKS 10 THE SEABEES, our islandhad a general sprucing-up in the

fall of 1943: the rickety old movie hall wascompletely refurbished, new heads werebuilt, and several quonset huts wereerected."

"Searchlight Unit 9's position was locat-ed between hardstands of SBD's; the air-craft flew almost daily 'milk runsbombing Japanese units cut off on near-by islands in the Marshalls."

". . . Hartzell contacted my parents inCalifornia to tell them I was 'safe' on John-ston Island, a gesture much appreciatedby my family'

"Work details. . . unloading ships, ce-ment work, manhandling drums of 'avgas'and bales of sandbags —we joked we werereally 'junior Seabees!'

"After about 14 months of Sand Island'sbarren shores, Majuro was a tropical para-dise. I recall the sheer pleasure of goingoff into a pine grove, just to sit and drinkin the greenery. During our very first daysashore, there were many 'casualties':numerous Kabar knifecuts from trying toopen coconuts, and severe 'trots' from toomuch coconut milk!"

R ICHARDSON DESCRIBES his Tinian-Okinawa art: "Sketches after the Mar-

shalls are only pen/ink; I had to store myfootlocker at Pearl Harbor when weshipped out to Tinian, and my watrcolorsand colored pencils went in my locker".

Richardson did not pursue art as acareer after the war. When the war endedin Europe, a need for foreign serviceofficers to man reopening embassies wasannounced to Richardson by a Marine cap-tain on Okinawa. Richardson's love of trav-el and youthful concept of what a careerin foreign service would be like en-couraged him to apply to take a test, buthe lacked two years of college, a prerequi-site. This early disappointment didn't de-ter a twenty-five-year career with the StateDepartment that sent him to Lisbon,1952-53; Mozambique, 1954-55; Santia-go, Chile, 1956-60; Tufts UniversityGraduate School, 1960-61; the StateDepartment's Chilean Desk in Washing-ton, D.C., 1961-64; Lima, Peru, 1964-68;


the Naval War College, Newport, RhodeIsland, 1968-69; Washington, D.C.,1969-72; Ascuncion, Paraguay, 1972-74;and Washington, D.C. again 1974-76.

A FTER RETIREMENT from diplomatic£1 service, graduate museum studies atthe University of Delaware, and seniorstaff membership at the Hagley Museumand Library, Wilmington, Delaware,Richardson satisfied his interest in Ameri-ca's architectural heritage and historicpreservation by writing five regionalguidebooks on the "Historic Districts ofAmerica": The South (1987), New En-gland (1989), The Mid-Atlantic (1991),The Vest (1994), and soon to be pub-lished, "The Midwest."He lives and worksin a 1903 home in Wilmington, NorthCarolina's historic district. D1775D

The more Richardson sketched from 1943 on, the more he produced sharp, sure, linedrawings. By the time he reached Okinawa, he composed "Pastoral Tranquility withBurning Japanese Plane," a pen-and-ink sketch which eliminates superfluous detail

Center Hosts U.S. Field Historians and Combat Artistsby Col Villiam J. Davis, USMC

Deputy Directo, Marine Corps History and Museums

Q N a6 AND 17 FEBRUARY more than60 historians and combat artists

from all branches of the U.S. armed forcesmet at the Marine Corps Historical Centerto share experiences and find ways to im-prove historical support of their operatingforces. The conference and associatedworkshops provided an interactive meet-ing for field historians and combat artiststo identify successes and failures during re-cent contingency operations. Many of theparticipants served as members of fieldhistory teams during recent operationssuch as those in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, andSomalia. Some participants were also ableto share their experiences as field histori-ans and combat artists during longer-termcampaigns, such as those in Korea andVietnam. Additionally, specific problemsassociated with Marine Corps and NavyReserve support to their respective histor-ical programs were identified and dis-cussed.

Following the introductory session theparticipants divided into three workinggroups for detailed discussion of reserve ac-tivation and mobilization, historical col-lection and writing, and combat art issues.These wide-ranging discussions proved

that while each service has organized itshistorical teams differently, and ap-proaches documentation and writing fromdifferent perspectives, they share commonobjectives to provide responsive, proficienthistorical teams. All participants agreedthat field historians and combat artistsmust deploy well forward in the battlearea, in order to document specific oper-ations or engagements. This was not a newidea but reinforced an axiom of militaryhistory. Gen Sir Ian Hamilton provided anexcellent illustration of this point in hisbook, A Staff Officer's Scrap-book duringthe Russo-Japanese JVar "On the actualday of battle, truths may be picked up forthe asking; by the following morning theyhave already begun to get into theiruniforms."

The conferees agreed that it is theresponsibility of field historians to ensurethat future military generations do notlearn about past exploits from someonethen stationed two continents away fromthe "sound of the guns." Official historiesand combat art should be firsthand ac-counts. To achieve this, historians andcombat artists not only must be trainedin their respective academic disciplines,

but also must be prepared for short no-tice contingency deployments.

T RAINING, THEN, is essential for suc-cess. Conference participants also

agreed that the ideal training programshould address the following: profession-al and general military training; mobili-zation; historical documentation in thefield; and the accession of documents andrecords upon return to the home station.

The conference was a first step in refin-ing standard operating procedures for fieldhistorians and combat artists. The Histor-ical Center's Mobilization Training Unitand those Individual Mobilization Aug-mentee's assigned to support the histori-cal program are currently working on animproved standard operating procedure.

The conference also strengthened theties between the services and the Officefor Joint History. Participants recognizedthat strong service historical programs con-stitute the foundation for capable jointhistory efforts. This improved interactionamong the services was deemed essentialfor successful historical support during fu-ture operations. E1775L1


(1

,

the Naval War College, Newport, RhodeIsland, 1968-69; Washington, D.C.,1969-72; Ascuncion, Paraguay, 1972-74;and Washington, D.C. again 1974-76.

A FTER RETIREMENT from diplomaticservice, graduate museum studies at

the University of Delaware, and seniorstaff membership at the Hagley Museumand Library, Wilmington, Delaware,Richardson satisfied his interest in Ameri-ca's architectural heritage and historicpreservation by writing five regionalguidebooks on the "Historic Districts ofAmerica": The South (1987), New En-gland (1989), The Mid-Atlantic (1991),The IVest (1994), and soon to be pub-lished, "The Midwest."He lives and worksin a 1903 home in Wilmington, NorthCarolina's historic district. D1775L1

The more Richardson sketched from 1943 on, the more he produced sharp, sure, linedrawings. By the time he reached Okinawa, he composed "Pastoral Tranquility withBurning Japanese Plane," a pen-and-ink sketch which eliminates superfluous detail.

Center Hosts U.S. Field Historians and Combat Artistsby Col lVilliam j Davis, USMC

Deputy Director Marine Corps History and Museums

Q N a6 AND 27 FEBRUARY more than60 historians and combat artists

from all branches of the U.S. armed forcesmet at the Marine Corps Historical Centerto share experiences and find ways to im-prove historical support of their operatingforces. The conference and associatedworkshops provided an interactive meet-ing for field historians and combat artiststo identify successes and failures during re-cent contingency operations. Many of theparticipants served as members of fieldhistory teams during recent operationssuch as those in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, andSomalia. Some participants were also ableto share their experiences as field histori-ans and combat artists during longer-termcampaigns, such as those in Korea andVietnam. Additionally, specific problemsassociated with Marine Corps and NavyReserve support to their respective histor-ical programs were identified and dis-cussed.

Following the introductory session theparticipants divided into three workinggroups for detailed discussion of reserve ac-tivation and mobilization, historical col-lection and writing, and combat art issues.These wide-ranging discussions proved

that while each service has organized itshistorical teams differently, and ap-proaches documentation and writing fromdifferent perspectives, they share commonobjectives to provide responsive, proficienthistorical teams. All participants agreedthat field historians and combat artistsmust deploy well forward in the battlearea, in order to document specific oper-ations or engagements. This was not a newidea but reinforced an axiom of militaryhistory. Gen Sir Ian Hamilton provided anexcellent illustration of this point in hisbook, A Staff Officer's Scrap-book duringthe Russo-Japanese W7ar "On the actualday of battle, truths may be picked up forthe asking; by the following morning theyhave already begun to get into theiruniforms."

The conferees agreed that it is theresponsibility of field historians to ensurethat future military generations do notlearn about past exploits from someonethen stationed two continents away fromthe "sound of the guns." Official historiesand combat art should be firsthand ac-counts. To achieve this, historians andcombat artists not only must be trainedin their respective academic disciplines,

but also must be prepared for short no-tice contingency deployments.

T RAINING, THEN, is essential for suc-cess. Conference participants also

agreed that the ideal training programshould address the following: profession-al and general military training; mobili-zation; historical documentation in thefield; and the accession of documents andrecords upon return to the home station.

The conference was a first step in refin-ing standard operating procedures fur fieldhistorians and combat artists. The Histor-ical Center's Mobilization Training Unitand those Individual Mobilization Aug-mentee's assigned to support the histori-cal program are currently working on animproved standard operating procedure.

The conference also strengthened theties between the services and the Officefor Joint History. Participants recognizedthat strong service historical programs con-stitute the foundation for capable jointhistory efforts. This improved interactionamong the services was deemed essentialfor successful historical support during fu-ture operations. El 775 LI


Marine Corps Archives

Aviation History Bonanza in a 14-Year-Old Envelope

W HEN MOST PEOPLE 'Fffl of an ar-chive, they think of the final scene

in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," in which thecrate containing the Ark of the Covenantis being trundled down an aisle in an enor-mous warehouse filled with similar crates.The implication is that the item will belost.

Real archives are not quite like that.Although they vary in size, they all haveshelves containing similarly sized and ap-pearing cardboard boxes filled with papersor photographs. We archivists trustinglybelieve that every single item in the archivehas been well described—or at leastlisted — on a location register. More oftenthan not this is true, though regrettably,reality can fall a bit short of the ideal. Thisin turn can lead periodically to some in-teresting discoveries by the staff.

A few weeks ago we found an unopenedpackage sitting among the boxes offmished, that is, well recorded, collections.It had arrived 14 years ago, according tothe postmark, but had been misfiled. So,it was with some interest that we openedit to see what it contained. Inside was aphoto album compiled by Bernard L.Smith, an early Marine Corps aviator. Hewas U.S. Naval Aviator No. 6 and held theAero Club of America's Expert Aviator

1).

by Frederick j GraboskeHead, Archives Section

T HE BEGINNING OF THE ALBUM con-tains photos from the early 1920s,

when Smith worked for Aeromarine WestIndies, flying seaplanes from Key Westand other Florida locations to Havana.However, the value of the collection is inits photographs of early aircraft, hardware,and fliers, such as Curtiss and famed navalaviators. Smith himself made major con-tributions to early naval aviation. There is

a 1913 photo of him piloting the first ap-proved Navy flying boat, which he haddesigned and built. He spent 14 years inthe Marine Corps, primarily as an aviator.

For those interested in hardware, thereare photos of a Sperry automatic pilotfrom 1913 and of a Davis non-recoil gunand mounting. There are photos of anEnglish-designed airplne engine starter.Of particular interest is a photo of aground flight instruction machine built byH. C. Richardson here at the Washington,D.C. Navy Yard in 1913.

Others might be interested in the pho-tos of the construction and testing of air-craft. One such is the Davis gun bus, aseaplane built at the Naval Aircraft Fac-tory in Philadelphia. Smith designed andbuilt his his own aircraft, the Smith GunScout, in cooperation with the Curtiss Co.in 1918. The scrapbook contains both adrawing and a photo. There also are pho-tos of the French method of training bom-ber pilots in 1918 and of the fabricationof 3- and 4-blade propellers in 1913.

T HE FIRST TEST FLIGHT of the Curtissseaplane NC-i in 1913 is pictured as

is the "first and only" flight test of theChambers "Folly" in 1913. The crashes ofthe AH-2 and the AB-4 during testing atNewport News are well-documented.There are photos of Smith flight testingthe first amphibian in 1913.


In the early 1920s, Smith worked for Aero marine JVest Indies, flying sea planes suchas this from Florida to Havana. Not a small plane, it featured passenger seating con-vertible to beds, galley, washroom, and; in the tail, crew quarters with hammocks.

Certificate No. 31 (Glenn Curtiss was No.

In this 1913 photograph from the album, Bernard L. Smith is at the controls of WI. Chambers' "Folly," a flying boat, in its first and only flight. Smith was US. NavalAviator No. 6 and the Marine Corps' second aviator following Alfred Cunningham.

—a

W HEN MOST PEOPLE THINK of an ar-

chive, they think of the fmal scenein "Raiders of the Lost Ark," in which thecrate containing the Ark of the Covenantis being trundled down an aisle in an enor-mous warehouse filled with similar crates.The implication is that the item will belost.

Real archives are not quite like that.Although they vary in size, they all haveshelves containing similarly sized and ap-pearing cardboard boxes filled with papersor photographs. We archivists trustinglybelieve that every single item in the archivehas been well described—or at leastlisted — on a location register. More oftenthan not this is true, though regrettably,reality can fall a bit short of the ideal. Thisin turn can lead periodically to some in-teresting discoveries by the staff.

A few weeks ago we found an unopenedpackage sitting among the boxes offmished, that is, well recorded, collections.It had arrived 14 years ago, according tothe postmark, but had been misfiled. So,it was with some interest that we openedit to see what it contained. Inside was aphoto album compiled by Bernard L.Smith, an early Marine Corps aviator. Hewas U.S. Naval Aviator No. 6 and held theAero Club of America's Expert Aviator

1).

by Frederick J. GraboskeHead, Archives Section

T HE BEGINNING OF THE ALBUM con-tains photos from the early 1920s,

when Smith worked for Aeromarine WestIndies, flying seaplanes from Key Westand other Florida locations to Havana.However, the value of the collection is inits photographs of early aircraft, hardware,and fliers, such as Curtiss and famed navalaviators. Smith himself made major con-tributions to early naval aviation. There is

a 1913 photo of him piloting the first ap-proved Navy flying boat, which he haddesigned and built. He spent 14 years inthe Marine Corps, primarily as an aviator.

For those interested in hardware, thereare photos of a Sperry automatic pilotfrom 1913 and of a Davis non-recoil gunand mounting. There are photos of anEnglish-designed airplne engine starter.Of particular interest is a photo of aground flight instruction machine built byH. C. Richardson here at the Washington,D.C. Navy Yard in 1913.

Others might be interested in the pho-tos of the construction and testing of air-craft. One such is the Davis gun bus, aseaplane built at the Naval Aircraft Fac-tory in Philadelphia. Smith designed andbuilt his his own aircraft, the Smith GunScout, in cooperation with the Curtiss Co.in 1918. The scrapbook contains both adrawing and a photo. There also are pho-tos of the French method of training bom-ber pilots in 1918 and of the fabricationof 3- and 4-blade propellers in 1913.

T HE FIRST TEST FLIGHT of the Curtissseaplane NC-i in 1913 is pictured as

is the "first and only" flight test of theChambers "Folly" in 1913. The crashes ofthe AH-2 and the AB-4 during testing atNewport News are well-documented.There are photos of Smith flight testingthe first amphibian in 1913.


Marine Corps Archives

Aviation History Bonanza in a 14-Year-Old Envelope

In the early 1920s, Smith worked for Aeromarine JVest Indies, flying sea planes suchas this from Florida to Havana. Not a small plane, it featured passenger seating con-vertible to beds, galley, washroom, and in the tail, crew quarters with hammocks.

Certificate No. 31 (Glenn Curtiss was No.

In this 1913 photograph from the album, Bernard L. Smith is at the controls of WI. Chambers' "Folly," a flying boat, in its first and only flight. Smith was US. NavalAviator No. 6 and the Marine Corps' second aviator following Alfred Cunningham.

The scrapbook contains photos of for-eign aircraft, such as the French G2llaudetD-2 and the Tellier seaplane. British air-craft are not excluded. There are photosof a de Havilland 9A and a 10, a VickersFB-12, and a Sopwith "Pup" with skids,experimenting with deck landings onHMS Furious in 1918. Other aircraftdesigned for deck landings also arepictured.

The photos are fascinating to people whohave no specific knowledge of early avia-

tion. I was particularly struck by photos ofthe enormous Handley-Page bomber,which could carry 6,000 pounds of bombsand had a range of 750 miles in 1918.There are photos of an unidentified four-wing seaplane that must have been quitea sight in the air. The Felixstowe "Fury"flying boat with a Sopwith "Camel"mounted on its top wing for defensemakes an interesting picture. The 1916Bleriot with its 4 motors mounted in asquare around the fuselage also is quitestriking.

SMITh WAS PART OF the occupyingforces at Vera Cruz in 1914 and has

pictures of the camp. He has photos oftraining and facilities at Pensacola, of test-ing at Hammondsport, New York, and offlying out of Guantanamo Bay. The lat-ter series contains one of Smith and LtAlfred Cunningham, the first two Marineaviators. I could go on and on, namingmore people, aircraft, and facilities. Thecollection should be of more than passinginterest to those researching the early daysof naval aviation. Eli 775E1


It's the tiny Sopwith "Camel" mounted on its top wing —fordefense—that catches the eye in this photograph of the Felix-stowe "Fury "flying boat. Smith's album is a virtual catalog of

the aircraft, then mainly experimental, of the period Other pic-tures are from his stint with the Vera Cruz occupying force in1914, and offlying out of Guantanamo Bay with Cunningham.

In 1918, the enormous Han dley-Page bomber could carry 6,000pounds of bombs and hada range of 750 miles. In Smith's al-bum photograph, the scale of the huge British aircraft is appar-

ent from the numerous workmen gathered beneath the wings.Another photo shows a British Sopwith "Pup" with skids, ex-perimenting with deck landings on HMS Furious as early as 1918.

'p.

t

The scrapbook contains photos of for-eign aircraft, such as the French GallaudetD-2 and the Tellier seaplane. British air-craft are not excluded. There are photosof a de Havilland 9A and a 10, a VickersFB-12, and a Sopwith "Pup" with skids,experimenting with deck landings onHMS Furious in 1918. Other aircraftdesigned for deck landings also arepictured.

The photos are fascinating to people whohave no specific knowledge of early avia-

tion. I was particularly struck by photos ofthe enormous Handley-Page bomber,which could carry 6,000 pounds of bombsand had a range of 750 miles in 1918.There are photos of an unidentified four-wing seaplane that must have been quitea sight in the air. The Felixstowe "Fury"flying boat with a Sopwith "Camel"mounted on its top wing for defensemakes an interesting picture. The 1916Bleriot with its 4 motors mounted in asquare around the fuselage also is quitestriking.

SMITH WAS PART OF the occupyingforces at Vera Cruz in 1914 and has

pictures of the camp. He has photos oftraining and facilities at Pensacola, of test-ing at Hammondsport, New York, and offlying out of Guantanamo Bay. The lat-ter series contains one of Smith and LtAlfred Cunningham, the first two Marineaviators. I could go on and on, namingmore people, aircraft, and facilities. Thecollection should be of more than passinginterest to those researching the early daysof naval aviation. Eli 775 El


It's the tiny Sopwith "Camel" mounted on its top wing—fordefense — that catches the eye in this photograph of the Felix-stowe "Fury"Jlying boat. Smith's album is a virtual catalog of

the aircraft, then mainly experimental, of the period Other pic-tures are from his stint with the Vera Cruz occupying force in1914, and ofjlying out of Guantanamo Bay with Cunningham.

In 1918, the enormous Handley-Page bomber could carry 6,000pounds of bombs and had a range of 750 miles. In Smith's al-bum photograph, the scale of the huge British aircraft is appar-

ent from the numerous workmen gathered beneath the wings.Another photo shows a British Sopwith "Pup" with skids, ex-perimenting with deck landings on HMS Furious as early as 1918.

Historical Foundation Study Aid Program Grew in '93by Charles R. Smith

Secretary, Marine Corps Historical Foundation

T HE MARINE CORPS Historical Foun-dation's grants and fellowships pro-

gram reached a new high in 1993 as an un-precedented five fellowships were awarded.The two Master's Thesis Fellowships wentto Susan E. Sax of the University of Al-berta, Canada, for a study of Marinerecruiting posters during the Vietnam Era,and to Mark R. Butler of Texas TechUniversity for a thesis on Marines in Chi-na during the inter-war years.

Because there were three outstandingapplicants for the Dissertation Fellowshipthis past year, all three were judged to befully deserving of the Foundation's supportand were awarded fellowships. Therecipients were Keith B. Bickel of JohnsHopkins University's Nitze School of Ad-vanced International Studies for a disser-tation on pre-World War II Marine Corpscounterinsurgency doctrine; Pedro A.Loureiro of the University of SouthernCalifornia for a study of intelligence oper-ations in pre-war China; and to CaptJames P. Herson, USA, assigned to theHistory Department at West Point, butpresenting his dissertation on British am-phibious operations during the siege of

Cadiz, 1808-1812, as a candidate at Flori-da State University.

A 1UfAI. OF FOUR Research Grantswere awarded during 1993. The first

went to assist a former Marine CorpsHistorical Center staff member, MajCharles D. Melson, USMC (Ret), inpresenting a paper on the Battle of QuangTn and the deployment of the VietnameseMarine Division in the spring of 1972, atthe Society for Military History symposi-um in Kingston, Ontario. The second wasawarded to retired Marine Col James D.McBrayer for an account of his pre-warservice in North China, and his captivityand escape from a Japanese prison campduring World War II. China was ColMcBrayefs first duty station after complet-ing Basic School in 1940, and he is nowprofessor emeritus at Georgia StateUniversity.

A grant was given to historian LtColMerrill L. Bartlett, USMC (Ret), for amonograph on the Marine Corps MessNight.

Finally, a grant was awarded to Profes-sor Yang Biao, who teaches United States

history at the Shanghai Education Insti-tute. He will produce a study of the post-World War II Marine occupation of NorthChina and its influence on the outcomeof the Chinese Civil War. This grant is thefirst given to assist a foreign historian togain access to the research resources at theMarine Corps Historical Center. His visitto the Center additionally provided an op-portunity for staff historians to interactwith the young Chinese scholar. El 775E

Master's thesis fellowship recipient MarkR. Butler conducts research on Marines inpre-war China at the Center's library. But-ler was one of two master's degree studentsawarded such a fellowship this past year.

(Photo by Pat Morgan)


Historical Quiz

The Summer of 1944by Lena M. KaljotReference Historian

Answer the following questions or identify the individualsor locations described:

1. What was the code name given to the U.S. operations thatled to the capture of the Mariana Islands in 1944.2. This general officer was commanding general of the Ex-peditionary Troops Command during the Marine operationsin the Marianas.3. How many Medals of Honor were awarded to Marines foractions on Saipan?4. D-Day for Saipan was set for this date.5. How many Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor for

heroism during the capture of Tinian?6. The assault on Tinian was set for what date?7. This future Commandant of the Marine Corps command-ed the First Provisional Marine Brigade during the liberationof Guam in 1944.8. How many Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor fortheir heroism during the liberation of Guam?9. Landing day for the Guam operation was set for what date?10. This island, captured from theJapanese during the sum-mer of 1944, was the departure point for the B-29 (the EnolaGay) carrying the atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima.

(Answers on page 19)

Historical Foundation Study Aid Program Grew in '93by Charles R. Smith

Secretary, Marine Corps Historical Foundation

T HE MARINE CORPS Historical Foun-dation's grants and fellowships pro-

gram reached a new high in 1993 as an un-precedented five fellowships were awarded.The two Master's Thesis Fellowships wentto Susan E. Sax of the University of Al-berta, Canada, for a study of Marinerecruiting posters during the Vietnam Era,and to Mark R. Butler of Texas TechUniversity for a thesis on Marines in Chi-na during the inter-war years.

Because there were three outstandingapplicants for the Dissertation Fellowshipthis past year, all three were judged to befully deserving of the Foundation's supportand were awarded fellowships. Therecipients were Keith B. Bickel of JohnsHopkins University's Nitze School of Ad-vanced International Studies for a disser-tation on pre-World War II Marine Corpscounterinsurgency doctrine; Pedro A.Loureiro of the University of SouthernCalifornia for a study of intelligence oper-ations in pre-war China; and to CaptJames P. Herson, USA, assigned to theHistory Department at West Point, butpresenting his dissertation on British am-phibious operations during the siege of

Cadiz, 1808-1812, as a candidate at Flori-da State University.

A 1UfAL OF FOUR Research Grantswere awarded during 1993. The first

went to assist a former Marine CorpsHistorical Center staff member, MajCharles D. Melson, USMC (Ret), inpresenting a paper on the Battle of QuangTn and the deployment of the VietnameseMarine Division in the spring of 1972, atthe Society for Military History symposi-um in Kingston, Ontario. The second wasawarded to retired Marine Col James D.McBrayer for an account of his pre-warservice in North China, and his captivityand escape from a Japanese prison campduring World War II. China was ColMcBrayer's first duty station after complet-ing Basic School in 1940, and he is nowprofessor emeritus at Georgia StateUniversity.

A grant was given to historian LtColMerrill L. Bartlett, USMC (Ret), for amonograph on the Marine Corps MessNight.

Finally, a grant was awarded to Profes-sor Yang Biao, who teaches United States

history at the Shanghai Education Insti-tute. He will produce a study of the post-World War II Marine occupation of NorthChina and its influence on the outcomeof the Chinese Civil War. This grant is thefirst given to assist a foreign historian togain access to the research resources at theMarine Corps Historical Center. His visitto the Center additionally provided an op-portunity for staff historians to interactwith the young Chinese scholar. El 775E1

Master's thesis fellowship recipient MarkR. Butler conducts research on Marines inpre-war China at the Center's library. But-ler was one of two master's degree studentsawarded such a fellowship this past year

(Photo by Pat Morgan)


Historical Quiz

The Summer of 1944by Lena M. KaljotReference Historian

Answer the following questions or identify the individualsor locations described:

1. What was the code name given to the U.S. operations thatled to the capture of the Mariana Islands in 1944.2. This general officer was commanding general of the Ex-peditionary Troops Command during the Marine operationsin the Marianas.3. How many Medals of Honor were awarded to Marines foractions on Saipan?4. D-Day for Saipan was set for this date.5. How many Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor for

heroism during the capture of Tinian?6. The assault on Tinian was set for what date?7. This future Commandant of the Marine Corps command-ed the First Provisional Marine Brigade during the liberationof Guam in 1944.8. How many Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor fortheir heroism during the liberation of Guam?9. Landing day for the Guam operation was set for what date?10. This island, captured from theJapanese during the sum-mer of 1944, was the departure point for the B-29 (the EnolaGay) carrying the atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima.

(Answers on page 19)

T HIS PAST AUTUMN, Richard F.

Taubert, a former Marine and WorldWar II veteran, contacted the History andMuseums Division and offered to donatetwo footlockers containing his late father'smemorabilia. His father, Albert A.

Taubert, had died in 1964 and had servedwith distinction during World War I inFrance with the 66th Company, 1st Bat-talion, 5th Marines. Subsequently, he alsowas decorated during the Second CacoRevolt in Haiti.

With the assistance of GySgt ThomasWilliams of the Marine Corps ReserveTraining Center in Madison, Wisconsin,the collection was shipped in January tothe Museums Branch at Quantico, wherethe triage of the collection began.

The most noteworthy aspect of this col-lection is Capt Albert A. Taubert's associ-ation with two key events in Marine Corpshistory and his award of the Navy Crossfor each of them. He received his firstNavy Cross (along with the U.S. Army'sDistinguished Service Cross) for heroismat the battle of Soissons in July 1918. Inthat action, he singlehandedly captured aGerman machine gun and killed its crew.Then-Sgt Taubert earned his second NavyCross in Haiti, when he and a patrol ofMarines under the command of CaptJesseL. Perkins cornered and killed the banditchieftain Benoit de Batraville on 19 May1920, and in doing so, brought the SecondCaco Revolt to an end. Only eight NavyCrosses were given for valor during the Se-cond Haitian campaign.

I N ADDITION 10 THE NAVY CROSS andthe Distinguished Service Cross, Capt

Taubert received decorations from thegovernments of Italy and France: theItalian War Cross and the French MedailleMilitaire. His Medaille Militaire was

awarded personally by Marshal Foch andhis Distinguished Service Cross was pinnedon by General Pershing. His medals alsoinclude the Marine Corps ExpeditionaryMedal, the Second Haitian Campaign Me-dal, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Me-dal, and the World War I Victory Medal.Rounding out this part of the collection

by Kenneth L. Smith-ChristmasCurator of Material History

The Navy Cross, at left, which then-SgtTaubert receivedfor heroism in the IVorldW"ar I battle at Soissons was accompaniedby an Army Distinguished Seri'ice Cross(No. 93). For his service in Haiti, Sgt72iubert received the Marine Corps Expedi-tionary Medil (No. 7560) andthe 2dHait-ian Campaign Medal (No. 124), at right.

are his marksmanship badges for both ex-pert pistol and rifle, and a wool fourragerefor the French Croix de Guerre.

Among the various items of insignia do-nated in this collection, one is especiallyinteresting. This is a hand-painted Indi-an head on a white silk star which isstitched onto a dark-red cloth patch. Ared-on-white floral pattern is on thereverse of the red patch, thus supportingthe stories that the first insignia worn bythe Marines of the 4th Marine Brigade inFrance were all homemade from whatevermaterials could be found close at hand.This particular patch was worn by the 1stBattalion, 5th Marines. An embroidered,but unused, standard-issue star-and-Indian-head patch was found in the col-lection, along with an enlisted man's col-lar disc and two sets of identification tags.These embroidered insignia reportedlywere produced during the occupation ofGermany and, when sewn on the various-ly colored and shaped wool backings, arethose most often encountered on the uni-forms worn by the Marines who servedwith the U.S. Army's 2d Division.

B 0Th THE GREEN KERSEY uniform ser-vice coat and the enlisted dress blue

coat have gunnery sergeant chevrons and

gold V-shaped overseas chevrons on theleft cuff. Accompanying the coats aretrousers, leggings, a Montana-peak fieldhat, and a dress blue frame cap, in addi-tion to a summer service cotton khaki coat.The coat from Capt Taubert's World WarII service with the Engineer TrainingCenter at Camp Pendleton has all of hisribbons and insignia, (with a small lot ofextra insignia included in the gift).

However, possibly the most significantitems in this gift are the M1911 Colt pistolwhich Capt Taubert used to kill deBatraville and the bandit leader's own .38Colt revolver. Both weapons are accompa-nied by their holsters, and de Batraville'sleather gun belt has a leather patch sewnover the hole left by one of the slugs whichkilled him. Although the museum's col-lection contains more than 3,000 smallarms, we have very few which can be tieddirectly to an event in which a Marineearned a personal decoration for valor.

Taubert had left the Marine Corps as agunnery sergeant in 1921, returned hometo the Madison area, and pursued a suc-cessful career in the construction business.At the outbreak of World War II, heoffered his services to the Marine Corpsand was given a commission and broughtback on duty. Capt Taubert's service inWorld War II ended when he was thrownfrom a truck and seriously injured.

D1775E]

Ben oit de Batraville 's .38 Colt revolver andthe M1911 Colt pistol used to kill him aredisplayedfor the camera. Note the leatherpatch sewn over bullet hole on gun belt.


Acquisitions

Museum Gets Collection Rich in Historical Associations

(t,j

T HIS PAST AUTUMN, Richard F.

Taubert, a former Marine and WorldWar II veteran, contacted the History andMuseums Division and offered to donatetwo footlockers containing his late father'smemorabilia. His father, Albert A.Taubert, had died in 1964 and had servedwith distinction during World War I inFrance with the 66th Company, 1st Bat-talion, 5th Marines. Subsequently, he alsowas decorated during the Second CacoRevolt in Haiti.

With the assistance of GySgt ThomasWilliams of the Marine Corps ReserveTraining Center in Madison, Wisconsin,the collection was shipped in January tothe Museums Branch at Quantico, wherethe triage of the collection began.

The most noteworthy aspect of this col-lection is Capt Albert A. Taubert's associ-ation with two key events in Marine Corpshistory and his award of the Navy Crossfor each of them. He received his firstNavy Cross (along with the U.S. Army'sDistinguished Service Cross) for heroismat the battle of Soissons in July 1918. Inthat action, he singlehandedly captured aGerman machine gun and killed its crew.Then-Sgt Tauben earned his second NavyCross in Haiti, when he and a patrol ofMarines under the command of Capt JesseL. Perkins cornered and killed the banditchieftain Benoit de Batraville on 19 May1920, and in doing so, brought the SecondCaco Revolt to an end. Only eight NavyCrosses were given for valor during the Se-cond Haitian campaign.

I N ADDITION 10 THE NAVY CROSS andthe Distinguished Service Cross, Capt

Taubert received decorations from thegovernments of Italy and France: theItalian War Cross and the French MedailleMilitaire. His Medaille Militaire was

awarded personally by Marshal Foch andhis Distinguished Service Cross was pinnedon by General Pershing. His medals alsoinclude the Marine Corps ExpeditionaryMedal, the Second Haitian Campaign Me-dal, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Me-dal, and the World War I Victory Medal.Rounding out this part of the collection

by Kenneth L. Smith-ChristmasCurator of Material Histo,y

The Navy Cross, at left, which then-SgtTaubert receivedfor heroism in the W7orldW'ar I battle at Soissons was accompaniedby an Army Distinguished Seri'ice Cross(No. 93). For his service in Haiti, SgtTaubert received the Marine Corps Fpedi-tionary Medil (No. 7560) and the 2dHait-ian Campaign Medal (No. 124), at right.

are his marksmanship badges for both ex-pert pistol and rifle, and a wool fourragerefor the French Croix de Guerre.

Among the various items of insignia do-nated in this collection, one is especiallyinteresting. This is a hand-painted Indi-an head on a white silk star which isstitched onto a dark-red cloth patch. Ared-on-white floral pattern is on thereverse of the red patch, thus supportingthe stories that the first insignia worn bythe Marines of the 4th Marine Brigade inFrance were all homemade from whatevermaterials could be found close at hand.This particular patch was worn by the 1stBattalion, 5th Marines. An embroidered,but unused, standard-issue star-and-Indian-head patch was found in the col-lection, along with an enlisted man's col-lar disc and two sets of identification tags.These embroidered insignia reportedlywere produced during the occupation ofGermany and, when sewn on the various-ly colored and shaped wool backings, arethose most often encountered on the uni-forms worn by the Marines who servedwith the U.S. Army's 2d Division.

B0Th THE GREEN KERSEY uniform ser-vice coat and the enlisted dress blue

coat have gunnery sergeant chevrons and

gold V-shaped overseas chevrons on theleft cuff. Accompanying the coats aretrousers, leggings, a Montana-peak fieldhat, and a dress blue frame cap, in addi-tion to a summer service cotton khaki coat.The coat from Capt Taubert's World WarII service with the Engineer TrainingCenter at Camp Pendleton has all of hisribbons and insignia, (with a small lot ofextra insignia included in the gift).

However, possibly the most significantitems in this gift are the M1911 Colt pistolwhich Capt Taubert used to kill deBatraville and the bandit leader's own .38Colt revolver. Both weapons are accompa-nied by their holsters, and de Batraville'sleather gun belt has a leather patch sewnover the hole left by one of the slugs whichkilled him. Although the museum's col-lection contains more than 3,000 smallarms, we have very few which can be tieddirectly to an event in which a Marineearned a personal decoration for valor.

Taubert had left the Marine Corps as agunnery sergeant in 1921, returned hometo the Madison area, and pursued a suc-cessful career in the construction business.At the outbreak of World War II, heoffered his services to the Marine Corpsand was given a commission and broughtback on duty. Capt Taubert's service inWorld War II ended when he was thrownfrom a truck and seriously injured.

D1775E]

Benoit de Batraville 's .38 Colt revolver andthe M1911 Colt pistol used to kill him aredisplayedfor the camera. Note the leatherpatch sewn over bullet hole on gun belt.


Acquisitions

Museum Gets Collection Rich in Historical Associations

Mentioned in Passing

Sergeant Major Huff, Was Among First Black Marines

SgtMaj Edgar R. HuffSgtMaj Edgar R. Huff, USMC (Ret), the

first black Marine to be promoted to thatrank, died at the age of 74 at CampLejeune Naval Hospital on 2 May aftersuffering a stroke. SgtMaj Huff was one ofthe first African-Americans to enlist in theMarine Corps when its ranks were openedto blacks in 1942. An impressive figure,he stood well over six feet tall, and he washardened by his work in steel mills inAlabama before he enlisted.

He received his recruit training at Mont-ford Point, and upon graduating fromboot camp, was assigned to the 51stDefense Battalion. Following a short tourwith the battalion, SgtMaj Huff entereddrill instructor's school at Montford Point,was assigned duty as a drill instructor, andby November 1944, he was field sergeantmajor of all recruit training at MontfordPoint. Huff was assigned to the 5th DepotCompany which left for the Pacific andserved as combat service support unit inthe Saipan and Okinawa operations. Inthe Korean War, in 1952, he was a com-pany gunnery sergeant in the 2d Battal-ion, 1st Marines, with which he saw actionin the Punch Bowl area.

In March 1955, Huff was assigned dutyas the guard chief of the Marine Barracks,Naval Air Station, Port Lyautey, FrenchMorocco. On 30 December 1955, he waspromoted to first sergeant, and to sergeantmajor the following day. From that day,until he retired in 1972, he served as ser-geant major of a number of units both athome and abroad. He was sergeant majorof III Marine Amphibious Force from May1967 to June 1968, and his final assign-ment was as sergeant major of the 2d Ma-

SgtMaj Huff in 1968

by Benis M. FrankChief Historian

rine Aircraft Wing at MCAS Cherry Point.Full military services were held for the

late SgtMaj Huff at Camp Lejeune's mainfield house on 9 May, with the Comman-dant of the Marine Corps, Gen Carl E.Mundy, Jr., delivering the eulogy.

LtCol Dale L. HarphamLtCol Dale L. Harpham, USMC, (Ret),

76, died of cancer at his home in Martins-ville, Indiana, on 4 December 1993. Hewas buried with full military honors inArlington National Cemetery on 15 June1994. The former Director of the U.S. Ma-rine Band joined the band in 1935 astrombonist and also played the cello in theband's orchestra. He served as assistant dir-ector of the band from 1955 until he wasnamed director in 1972. LtCol Harphamwas born in Michigan and raised in Indi-ana. He began studying the trombone

T HE MAiuNi CORPS Historical Centerand the Marine Corps Historical

Foundation are serving as co-sponsors ofa "War in the Pacific" historical conferencethis summer. Other sponsors of the con-ference with the World War II theme arethe Navy Historical Center, the NavyHistorical Foundation, the American So-ciety of Naval Engineers, the Marine CorpsAssociation, the Naval Order of the Unit-ed States, and the U.S. Naval Institute.

The conference will run from 10 to 12August at the Crystal City Hyatt RegencyHotel in Arlington, Virginia.

The list of speakers includes such dis-tinguished historians as BGen Edwin H.Simmons, USMC (Ret); Russell Weigley;Clay Blair; Edward Drea; Ronald Spector;Edward Bearss; and Dean Allard; andWWII veterans such as AdmJames L. Hol-loway III; Eugene B. Fluckey; Capt EdwardL. "Ned" Beach; BGen Gordon D. Gale,USMC (Ret); MajGen John P. Condon,and Paul Drury, to name a few. Scholarswill travel from as far as Japan and Aus-tralia to participate.

Then CW"O Harpham in 1956

when he was in the sixth grade, and afterattending a concert of the Marine Band,then on tour in the midwest, he becamedetermined to join the band. LtCol Har-pham retired in 1974, and returned to In-diana in 1986, following which he becameinvolved in teaching young musicians andremained active on the board of theAmerican Bandmasters Association.

D1775D

F urther information regarding theconference may be obtained by tele-

phone to either Benis M. Frank or LtColThomas A. Richards at the Marine CorpsHistorical Center at (202) 433-3837 or433-3839.

Registration materials may be obtainedby calling Ms. Sally Cooke, the ASNEmeeting coordinator at (703) 836-6727.

D1775E1

Answers to the Historical Quiz

The Summer of 1944(Questions on page 17)


Center, Foundation to Sponsor Pacific War Meetby LtCol Thomas A. Richards

Head, Historical Branch

1. Forager.2. LtGen Holland M. Smith held three commands simul.

taneously: commander of Expeditionary Troops, Forager:commander of Northern Troops and Landing Force/V Am-phibious Corps in the capture of Saipan; and commanderof the Marine Administrative Command, Central Pacific,which became Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, on l2July 1944.

3. (3) PFC Harold C. Agerhoim, PFC Harold G. Epper.son, and Sgt Grant F Timmerman.

4. 15 June 1944.5. (2) PFC Robert L. Wilson and Pvt Joseph W. Osbourn.6. 24 Juiy 1944 (i-Day).7. Then.BGen Lcmuel C. Shepherd, Jr., received his first

Distinguished Service Medal and was promoted to majorgeneral for distinguished leadership in the operation.8. (4) Capt Louis H. Wilson, Jr.; PFC Luther Skaggs, Jr.;

PFC Lconard F. Mason; and PFC Frank P. Witek.9. W.Day, originally 18 June, was set for 21 July.

10. Three days later a second B-29 also left Tinian carryingthe bomb to be dropped on Nagasaki.

Mentioned in Passing

Sergeant Major Huff, Was Among First Black Marines

SgtMaj Edgar R. HuffSgtMaj Edgar R. Huff, USMC (Ret), the

first black Marine to be promoted to thatrank, died at the age of 74 at CampLejeune Naval Hospital on 2 May aftersuffering a stroke. SgtMaj Huff was one ofthe first African-Americans to enlist in theMarine Corps when its ranks were openedto blacks in 1942. An impressive figure,he stood well over six feet tall, and he washardened by his work in steel mills inAlabama before he enlisted.

He received his recruit training at Mont-ford Point, and upon graduating fromboot camp, was assigned to the 51stDefense Battalion. Following a short tourwith the battalion, SgtMaj Huff entereddrill instructor's school at Montford Point,was assigned duty as a drill instructor, andby November 1944, he was field sergeantmajor of all recruit training at MontfordPoint. Huff was assigned to the 5th DepotCompany which left for the Pacific andserved as combat service support unit inthe Saipan and Okinawa operations. Inthe Korean War, in 1952, he was a com-pany gunnery sergeant in the 2d Battal-ion, 1st Marines, with which he saw actionin the Punch Bowl area.

In March 1955, Huff was assigned dutyas the guard chief of the Marine Barracks,Naval Air Station, Port Lyautey, FrenchMorocco. On 30 December 1955, he waspromoted to first sergeant, and to sergeantmajor the following day. From that day,until he retired in 1972, he served as ser-geant major of a number of units both athome and abroad. He was sergeant majorof III Marine Amphibious Force from May1967 to June 1968, and his final assign-ment was as sergeant major of the 2d Ma-

SgtMaj Huff in 1968

by Benis M. FrankChief Historian

rine Aircraft Wing at MCAS Cherry Point.Full military services were held for the

late SgtMaj Huff at Camp Lejeune's mainfield house on 9 May, with the Comman-dant of the Marine Corps, Gen Carl E.Mundy, Jr., delivering the eulogy.

LtCol Dale L. HarphamLtCol Dale L. Harpham, USMC, (Ret),

76, died of cancer at his home in Martins-yule, Indiana, on 4 December 1993. Hewas buried with full military honors inArlington National Cemetery on 15 June1994. The former Director of the U.S. Ma-rine Band joined the band in 1935 astrombonist and also played the cello in theband's orchestra. He served as assistant dir-ector of the band from 1955 until he wasnamed director in 1972. LtCol Harphamwas born in Michigan and raised in Indi-ana. He began studying the trombone

T HE MAIUN1I CORPS Historical Centerand the Marine Corps Historical

Foundation are serving as co-sponsors ofa "War in the Pacific" historical conferencethis summer. Other sponsors of the con-ference with the World War II theme arethe Navy Historical Center, the NavyHistorical Foundation, the American So-ciety of Naval Engineers, the Marine CorpsAssociation, the Naval Order of the Unit-ed States, and the U.S. Naval Institute.

The conference will run from 10 to 12August at the Crystal City Hyatt RegencyHotel in Arlington, Virginia.

The list of speakers includes such dis-tinguished historians as BGen Edwin H.Simmons, USMC (Ret); Russell Weigley;Clay Blair; Edward Drea; Ronald Spector;Edward Bearss; and Dean Allard; andWWII veterans such as Adm James L. Hol-loway III; Eugene B. Fluckey; Capt EdwardL. "Ned" Beach; BGen Gordon D. Gale,USMC (Ret); MajGen John P. Condon,and Paul Drury, to name a few. Scholarswill travel from as far as Japan and Aus-tralia to participate.

Then CW"O Harpham in 1956

when he was in the sixth grade, and afterattending a concert of the Marine Band,then on tour in the midwest, he becamedetermined to join the band. LtCol Hat-pham retired in 1974, and returned to In-diana in 1986, following which he becameinvolved in teaching young musicians andremained active on the board of theAmerican Bandmasters Association.

Lu 775E]

F urther information regarding theconference may be obtained by tele-

phone to either Benis M. Frank or LtColThomas A. Richards at the Marine CorpsHistorical Center at (202) 433-3837 or433-3839.

Registration materials may be obtainedby calling Ms. Sally Cooke, the ASNEmeeting coordinator at (703) 836-6727.

EJ1775E1

Answers to the Historical Quiz

The Summer of 1944(Questions on page 17)


Center, Foundation to Sponsor Pacific War Meetby LtCol Thomas A. Richards

Head, Historical Branch

1. Forager.2. LtGen Holland M. Smith held three commands simul-

taneously: commander of Expeditionaiy Troops, Forager:commander of Northern Troops and Landing Force/V Am-phibious Corps in the capture of Saipan; and commanderof the Marine Administrative Command, Central Pacific,which became Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, on 12 July 1944.

3. (3) PFC Harold C. Agerhoim, PFC Harold G. Epper-son, and Sgt Grant F. Timmerman.

4. 15 June 1944.5. (2) PFC Robert L. Wilson and Pvt Joseph W. Osbourn.6. 24 July 1944 U-Day).7. Then.BGen Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., received his first

Distinguished Service Medal and was promoted to majorgeneral for distinguished leadership in the operation.8. (4) Capt Louis H. Wilson, Jr.: PFC Luther Skaggs. Jr.:

PFC Leonard E Mason; and PFC Frank P. Witek.9. W-Day, originally 18 June, was set for 21 July.

10. Three days later a second 0-29 also left Tinian carryingthe bomb to be dropped on Nagasaki.

Flzght Lines

Stearman N2S-3by Michael E. StarnCurator of Aviation

T HE STEARMAN Aircraft Company wasformed by Lloyd Stearman in 1926.

Stearman designed the NSIN2S whichwould become one of America's mostfamiliar biplanes. Over 10,000 of these air-craft were manufactured by Stearman be-fore production was halted in 1945.

The Model 70, designed in 1934, metthe Army's requirement for a new primarytrainer. Shortly thereafter, the Navy placedthe first order for the Model 70, Navydesignation, NS-1. Powered by the 225-horsepower WrightJ-5 engine, the aircraftwas made of mixed wood and fabric con-

struction and had a welded steel-tubefuselage, fixed main landing gear, and atail skid. Sixty-one NS-ls were delivered tothe Navy between 1935 and 1936.

T HOUSANDS OF Marine Corps, Navy,and Army pilots received their initial

instruction in "Stearmans" which were con-sidered ideal for teaching basic flyingmaneuvers, aerobatics, and takeoffs. Land-ing the Stearman, however, presented achallenge to inexperienced pilots becauseof restricted forward visibility, lateral insta-bility during rollout, and rough touch-downs. The latter two problems were solvedwhen the tailskids were replaced by tailwheels in later models. This aircraft wasamong a number that have been given thenickname "Yellow Peril" in recognition ofits potentially dangerous landing charac-teristics and its vivid color.

A fully restored N2S-3 trainer BuNo 07481, was flight delivered to the Marine CorpsAir-Ground Museum at Quantico, and is currently on exhibit in the Early Years han-gai Thousands of Marine Corps pilots received their initial instruction in "Stearmans."

In 1941, Stearman Aircraft Company be-came re-identified as the Wichita Divisionof Boeing Airplane Company. Three yearslater, fully interchangeable parts betweenthe Army and Navy aircraft was achievedwith the Model E-75 powered by theLycoming R-680-17 engine. Known as theN25-5, the Navy received 1,450 of this lastmajor production variant for U.S. forces. Alimited number of these had canopies,cockpit heating, full blind-flying in-strumentation, and hood for instrumenttraining purposes.

The Stearman was phased out of mili-tary service after World War II and sold tothe public for as little as $700 each. A largenumber were also sold to foreign nations,such as the Philippines, Cuba, and Cana-da, for use as trainers.

In late 1985, the United States MarineCorps received an N25-3, BuNo 07481.This fully restored trainer was flight deli-vered to the Marine Corps Air-GroundMuseum, and is currently on exhibit in theEarly Years Hangar. E]1775L1]


Technical Data

Manufacturer: Stearman Aircraft Company, Division of Boeing, Wichita, Kansas.

Type: Primary trainer, land biplane.

Accommodation: Instructor and student pilot.

Power PI2nt: Continental R-670-4/220 h.p.

Dimensions: Length, 25 feet 1/4 inch; Height, 9 feet 2 inches; Span, 32 feet 2inches.

Weights: Empty, 1,936 Ibs; gross 2,717 lbs.

Performance: Max speed, 124 mph; Service ceiling, 11,200 feet; Range, 505 miles;Climb, 840 ft/mm.

Armaments: None.

Flzght Lines

Stearman N2S-3by Michael E. StarnCurator of Aviation

T HE STEARMAN Aircraft Company wasformed by Lloyd Stearman in 1926.

Stearman designed the NS/N2S whichwould become one of America's mostfamiliar biplanes. Over 10,000 of these air-craft were manufactured by Stearman be-fore production was halted in 1945.

The Model 70, designed in 1934, metthe Army's requirement for a new primarytrainer. Shortly thereafter, the Navy placedthe first order for the Model 70, Navydesignation, NS-1. Powered by the 225-horsepower WrightJ-5 engine, the aircraftwas made of mixed wood and fabric con-

struction and had a welded steel-tubefuselage, fixed main landing gear, and atail skid. Sixty-one NS-ls were delivered tothe Navy between 1935 and 1936.

T HOUSANDS OF Marine Corps, Navy,and Army pilots received their initial

instruction in "Stearmans" which were con-sidered ideal for teaching basic flyingmaneuvers, aerobatics, and takeoffs. Land-ing the Stearman, however, presented achallenge to inexperienced pilots becauseof restricted forward visibility, lateral insta-bility during rollout, and rough touch-downs. The latter two problems were solvedwhen the tailskids were replaced by tailwheels in later models. This aircraft wasamong a number that have been given thenickname "Yellow Peril" in recognition ofits potentially dangerous landing charac-teristics and its vivid color.

A fully restored N2S-3 trainer BuNo 07481, was flight delivered to the Marine CorpsAir-Ground Museum at Quantico, and is currently on exhibit in the Early Years han-gai Thousands of Marine Corps pilots received their initial instruction in "Stearmans."

In 1941, Stearman Aircraft Company be-came re-identified as the Wichita Divisionof Boeing Airplane Company. Three yearslater, fully interchangeable parts betweenthe Army and Navy aircraft was achievedwith the Model E-75 powered by theLycoming R-680-17 engine. Known as theN2S-5, the Navy received 1,450 of this lastmajor production variant for U.S. forces. Alimited number of these had canopies,cockpit heating, full blind-flying in-strumentation, and hood for instrumenttraining purposes.

The Stearman was phased out of mili-tary service after World War II and sold tothe public for as little as $700 each. A largenumber were also sold to foreign nations,such as the Philippines, Cuba, and Cana-da, for use as trainers.

In late 1985, the United States MarineCorps received an N2S-3, BuNo 07481.This fully restored trainer was flight deli-vered to the Marine Corps Air-GroundMuseum, and is currently on exhibit in theEarly Years Hangar. E]1775L1]


Technical Data

Manufacturer: Stearman Aircraft Company, Division of Boeing, Wichita, Kansas.

Type: Primary trainer, land biplane.

Accommodation: Instructor and student pilot.

Power Plant: Continental R-670-4/220 h.p.

Dimensions: Length, 25 feet 1/4 inch; Height, 9 feet 2 inches; Span, 32 feet 2inches.

Weights: Empty, 1,936 Ibs; gross 2,717 lbs.

Performance: Max speed, 124 mph; Service ceiling, 11,200 feet; Range, 505 miles;Climb, 840 ft/mm.

Armaments: None.

W7o rid Wr Chronology, 1941-1945

January-March 1945by Robert V Aquiina

Assistant Head, Reference Section

Fortitudine's World War II chronology continues in January1945 with the participation of Marine Corps aviation in the

recapture of the Philippine Islands. In February, three Marinedivisions comprising the Landing Force of V Amphibious Corpsundertook the invasion of Iwo Jima in the Volcano-Bonin ar-chipelago. By late March, preliminary operations had already be-gun in what would be the final Marine Corps campaign of WorldWar II — Okinawa.

The Philippines6-7Jan—U.S. Navy and Marine pilots from carriers of the ThirdFleet made repeated strikes on Luzon; more than 100 Japaneseaircraft were destroyed.9Jan—The U.S. Sixth Army landed on beaches of the LingayenGulf, Luzon.10 Jan —An advance party of Marine aviators from Marine Air-craft Groups 24 and 32 landed on Lingayen Beach.11 Jan — Squadrons from Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MarineFighting Squadrons 212, 222, and 223) landed at Guiuan, Sa-mar Island, under the operational command of the Fifth AirForce.11 Jan — Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, commanded by ColClayton C. Jerome, was organized on Luzon.11 Jan —The forward echelon of Marine Aircraft Group 24 ar-rived in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon.

Col W7illiam A. W7illis commanded Marine Aircraft Group 12,first Marine unit to return to the Philippines, on 3 December1944. MAG-12 supported the 10 March assault on Mindanao.

25 Jan —The first planes, from Marine Scout-Bombing Squadrons133 and 241, arrived at Mangaldan airstrip, Luzon, to provideclose air support for U.S. Army operations on Luzon.27 Jan—Aircraft of Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron 241 flewthe first mission by Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, in sup-port of U.S. Army operations in the Philippines.27Jan—Marine Aircraft Group 32 arrived at Mangaldan whereit became part of Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, under thecontrol of the 308th Bombardment Wing, Army Air Forces.1 Feb —The Lingayen Gulf beachhead was secured, and the U.S.Army concentrated its efforts on the capture of Manila.1-3 Feb—The 1st Cavalry Division, USA, at Guimba, LingayenGulf, pushed through La Union Province toward Manila, assist-ed by flyers of Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, who providedair cover, flank protection, and reconnaissance.3 Feb—U.S. Army troops entered Manila.16 Feb — U.S. Army parachute troops assaulted Corregidor.19 Feb—Forty-eight planes from Marine Aircraft Groups,Dagupan, struck derelict ships in Manila Harbor to assist theArmy's 37th Division's penetration of the waterfront sector.20 Feb—U.S. Army troops under cover of Marine aircraft werelanded on Bin Island to ensure control of the San BernardinoStraits.28 Feb—U.S. Army troops invaded Palawan.3 Mar— Manila fell to the U.S. Sixth Army.4 Mar—Air Warning Squadron 4 arrived at Leyte Gulf from LosNegros in the Admiralty Islands.31 Mar—Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, flew 186 separatemissions in northern Luzon in support of guerrilla fighters.10 Mar—Elements of the U.S. Eighth Army, augmented byground echelons of Marine Aircraft Groups 12 and 32, plus AirWarning Squadron 4, assaulted Mindanao near Zamboanga. Ma-rine Aircraft Group 12, furnished air support for the landing.15-18 Mar—Marine Fighting Squadrons 115, 211, 218, and 313from Marine Aircraft Group 12, flew onto Moret Field, Minda-nao, from Leyte. They were the first air units to arrive at the newMarine air base.18 Mar — Elements of the 40th Infantry Division, USA, supportedby Marine aircraft from Samar, landed on Panay.24-26 Mar— Marine Aircraft Group 32 (Marine Scout-BombingSquadrons 236, 142, 341, and 243) moved from Luzon to Zam-boanga, Mindanao.26 Mar — Elements of Marine Aircraft Group 14 supported thelanding of U.S. Army forces on Cebu Island.29 Mar—The 40th Infantry Division, USA, landed on NegrosIsland with air cover furnished by Marine Aircraft Group 14.

Iwo Jima

5 Jan — U.S. Navy vessels shelled Iwo Jima.24Jan—A powerful U.S. naval surface force bombarded IwoJima.10 Feb-4 Mar—Task Force 58 from Ulithi—including Marine


p

World iVar Chronology, 1941-1945

January-March 1945by Robert V Aquiina

Assistant Head, Reference Section

Fortitudine 's World War II chronology continues in January1945 with the participation of Marine Corps aviation in the

recapture of the Philippine Islands. In February, three Marinedivisions comprising the Landing Force of V Amphibious Corpsundertook the invasion of Iwo Jima in the Volcano-Bonin ar-chipelago. By late March, preliminary operations had already be-gun in what would be the final Marine Corps campaign of WorldWar II — Okinawa.

The Philippines6-7Jan—U.S. Navy and Marine pilots from carriers of the ThirdFleet made repeated strikes on Luzon; more than 100 Japaneseaircraft were destroyed.9Jan—The U.S. Sixth Army landed on beaches of the LingayenGulf, Luzon.10 Jan — An advance party of Marine aviators from Marine Air-craft Groups 24 and 32 landed on Lingayen Beach.11 Jan — Squadrons from Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MarineFighting Squadrons 212, 222, and 223) landed at Guiuan, Sa-mar Island, under the operational command of the Fifth AirForce.11 Jan — Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, commanded by ColClayton C. Jerome, was organized on Luzon.11 Jan —The forward echelon of Marine Aircraft Group 24 ar-rived in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon.

Col W7illiam A. Willis commanded Marine Aircraft Group 12,first Marine unit to return to the Philippines, on 3 December1944. MAG-12 supported the 10 March assault on Mindanao.

25 Jan —The first planes, from Marine Scout-Bombing Squadrons133 and 241, arrived at Mangaldan airstrip, Luzon, to provideclose air support for U.S. Army operations on Luzon.27 Jan —Aircraft of Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron 241 flewthe first mission by Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, in sup-port of U.S. Army operations in the Philippines.27 Jan — Marine Aircraft Group 32 arrived at Mangaldan whereit became part of Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, under thecontrol of the 308th Bombardment Wing, Army Air Forces.1 Feb —The Lingayen Gulf beachhead was secured, and the U.S.Army concentrated its efforts on the capture of Manila.1-3 Feb—The 1st Cavalry Division, USA, at Guimba, LingayenGulf, pushed through La Union Province toward Manila, assist-ed by flyers of Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, who providedair cover, flank protection, and reconnaissance.3 Feb—U.S. Army troops entered Manila.16 Feb — U.S. Army parachute troops assaulted Corregidor.19 Feb — Forty-eight planes from Marine Aircraft Groups,Dagupan, struck derelict ships in Manila Harbor to assist theArmy's 37th Division's penetration of the waterfront sector.20 Feb — U.S. Army troops under cover of Marine aircraft werelanded on Bin Island to ensure control of the San BernardinoStraits.28 Feb—U.S. Army troops invaded Palawan.3 Mar—Manila fell to the U.S. Sixth Army.4 Mar —Air Warning Squadron 4 arrived at Leyte Gulf from LosNegros in the Admiralty Islands.31 Mar — Marine Aircraft Groups, Dagupan, flew 186 separatemissions in northern Luzon in support of guerrilla fighters.10 Mar — Elements of the U.S. Eighth Army, augmented byground echelons of Marine Aircraft Groups 12 and 32, plus AirWarning Squadron 4, assaulted Mindanao near Zainboanga. Ma-rine Aircraft Group 12, furnished air support for the landing.15-18 Mar—Marine Fighting Squadrons 115, 211, 218, and 313from Marine Aircraft Group 12, flew onto Moret Field, Minda-nao, from Leyte. They were the first air units to arrive at the newMarine air base.18 Mar—Elements of the 40th Infantry Division, USA, supportedby Marine aircraft from Samar, landed on Panay.24-26 Mar— Marine Aircraft Group 32 (Marine Scout-BombingSquadrons 236, 142, 341, and 243) moved from Luzon to Zam-boanga, Mindanao.26 Mar — Elements of Marine Aircraft Group 14 supported thelanding of U.S. Army forces on Cebu Island.29 Mar—The 40th Infantry Division, USA, landed on NegrosIsland with air cover furnished by Marine Aircraft Group 14.

Iwo Jima

5 Jan — U.S. Navy vessels shelled Iwo Jima.24Jan—A powerful U.S. naval surface force bombarded IwoJima.10 Feb-4 Mar—Task Force 58 from Ulithi—including Marine


The command team offshore from Iwo Jima on 21 February,with the attack in its third day, was Marine LtGen Holland M.Smith, VAdm Richmond K Turner and RAdm Hairy JF Hili

Fighting Squadrons 112, 123, 216, 217, 212, and 451 on boardlarger carriers—attacked Toyko (16, 17, and 25 February), fur-nished air support for the Iwo Jima landing forces (beginning19 February), and participated in a series of strikes on Okinawa(1 and 2 March).16-18 Feb—Amphibious Support Force, Task Force 52, conduct-ed preparatory bombardment of Iwo Jima.19 Feb — Preceded by preliminary naval and air bombardment,the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions landed abreast on Green, Red,Yellow, and Blue Beaches along the southeast coast of the is-land. The 27th and 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, reachedthe western beach and isolated Mt. Suribachi. Front lines of the4th Marine Division extended to the eastern edge of the airfield.21 Feb—The 21st Marines, in V Amphibious Corps reserve, wascommitted in the 4th Marine Division zone. Japanese kamikazesattacked support ships off the island.22 Feb — Elements of the 28th Marines reached the base of Mt.Suribachi.23 Feb—A detachment from Company E, 2d Battalion, 28th

Mount Suribachi rises in the backgroundas the 4th and5th Ma-rine Divisions abreast storm Green, Red Yellow, and Bluebeaches along the southeast coast of Iwo Jima on 19 February.

Marines, raised the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi. The vol-cano was encircled when elements of Company E contacted the1st Battalion, 28th Marines, near the southern tip of the island.24 Feb — Elements of the 3d Marine Division began landing onBeach Black. Charlie-Dog Ridge, a strongly defended area run-ning along the southeastern edge of the east-west runway on Air-field No. 2, was secured by the 2d and 3d Battalions, 24thMarines. The 2d Separate Engineer Battalion rehabilitated a1,500-foot-long strip on the north-south runway of Airfield No.1 (24 and 25 February).25 Feb—The 3d Marine Division assumed responsibility for clear-ing the central portion of the Motoyama Village.26 Feb —Two planes from Marine Observation Squadron 4, thefirst U.S. aircraft to land on the island, flew in from the U.S.escort carrier Wake Island.27 Feb —The 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, in the 3d Marine Division zone, overran Hill Peter and the crest of 199 Oboe to thenorth of Airfield No. 2; the airfield was captured by the 1st and2d Battalions, 9th Marines. Marine Observation Squadron S be-gan operations from Airfield No. 1.28 Feb —The 3d Battalion, 21st Marines, captured Motoyama Vil-lage and the high ground overlooking Airfield No. 3.1 Mar— Sixteen light planes of Marine Observation Squadrons4 and S were based ashore. The Commander, Landing Force AirSupport Control Unit (Col Vernon E. Mcgee), assumed respon-sibility for support aircraft and became Commander, Air, IwoJima.2 Mar— Units of the 5th Marine Division overran Hill 362A, theheavily fortified western anchor of the Japanese main cross-islanddefenses.2 Mar—In the 4th Marine Division zone, the 2d Battalion, 24thMarines overran Hill 382.3 Mar —The 3d Marine Division cleared Airfield No. 3, Hills 357and 362B, east of the Motoyama Plateau. No importantJapaneseresistance remained between the 2d Battalion, 21st Marines, andthe eastern coast of the island.4 Mar—The first B-29 landed on the island.

The assault was preceded by hours of both naval and air bom-bardment, but the Japanese defense of the islandwas still strong.By the 22d the 28th Marines had reached the base of Suribach:


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The command team offshore from Iwo Jima on 21 February,with the attack in its third day, was Marine LtGen Holland M,Smith, VAdm Richmond K. Turner and RAdm Hairy W Hill.

Fighting Squadrons 112, 123, 216, 217, 212, and 451 on boardlarger carriers—attacked Toyko (16, 17, and 25 February), fur-nished air support for the Iwo Jima landing forces (beginning19 February), and participated in a series of strikes on Okinawa(1 and 2 March).16-18 Feb —Amphibious Support Force, Task Force 52, conduct-ed preparatory bombardment of Iwo Jima.19 Feb — Preceded by preliminary naval and air bombardment,the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions landed abreast on Green, Red,Yellow, and Blue Beaches along the southeast coast of the is-land. The 27th and 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, reachedthe western beach and isolated Mt. Suribachi. Front lines of the4th Marine Division extended to the eastern edge of the airfield.21 Feb —The 21st Marines, in V Amphibious Corps reserve, wascommitted in the 4th Marine Division zone. Japanese kamikazesattacked support ships off the island.22 Feb —Elements of the 28th Marines reached the base of Mt.Suribachi.23 Feb —A detachment from Company E, 2d Battalion, 28th

Mount Suribachi rises in the backgroundas the 4th and5th Ma-rine Divisions abreast storm Green, Red, Yellow, and Bluebeaches along the southeast coast of Iwo Jima on 19 February.

Marines, raised the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi. The vol-cano was encircled when elements of Company E contacted the1st Battalion, 28th Marines, near the southern tip of the island.24 Feb — Elements of the 3d Marine Division began landing onBeach Black. Charlie-Dog Ridge, a strongly defended area run-ning along the southeastern edge of the east-west runway on Air-field No. 2, was secured by the 2d and 3d Battalions, 24thMarines. The 2d Separate Engineer Battalion rehabilitated a1,500-foot-long strip on the north-south runway of Airfield No.1 (24 and 25 February).25 Feb—The 3d Marine Division assumed responsibility for clear-ing the central portion of the Motoya.ma Village.26 Feb —Two planes from Marine Observation Squadron 4, thefirst U.S. aircraft to land on the island, flew in from the U.S.escort carrier Wake Island.27 Feb —The 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, in the 3d Marine Divi-sion zone, overran Hill Peter and the crest of 199 Oboe to thenorth of Airfield No. 2; the airfield was captured by the 1st and2d Battalions, 9th Marines. Marine Observation Squadron 5 be-gan operations from Airfield No. 1.28 Feb—The 3d Battalion, 21st Marines, captured Motoyama Vil-lage and the high ground overlooking Airfield No. 3.1 Mar — Sixteen light planes of Marine Observation Squadrons4 and 5 were based ashore. The Commander, Landing Force AirSupport Control Unit (Col Vernon E. Mcgee), assumed respon-sibility for support aircraft and became Commander, Air, IwoJima.2 Mar—Units of the 5th Marine Division overran Hill 362A, theheavily fortified western anchor of the Japanese main cross-islanddefenses.2 Mar—In the 4th Marine Division zone, the 2d Battalion, 24thMarines overran Hill 382.3 Mar—The 3d Marine Division cleared Airfield No. 3, Hills 357and 362B, east of the Motoyama Plateau. No important Japaneseresistance remained between the 2d Battalion, 21st Marines, andthe eastern coast of the island.4 Mar—The first B-29 landed on the island.

The assault was preceded by hours of both naval and air born-bardrnent, but the Japanese defense of the island was still strong.By the 22d, the 28th Marines had reached the base of Suribachi.


6 Mar —After intensive artillery and naval gunfire preparation,elements of the 3d, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions attacked tothe northeast and east in an all-out effort to breach theJapanesefinal defense line.6 Mar—BGen Ernest C. Moore, USA, Commanding General,Fighter Command, landed on Airfield No. 1 with the com-mander of the 15th Fighter Group and planes of the 47th Fighterand 548th Night Fighter Squadrons, USA.7 Mar—Company K of the 3d Battalion, 9th Marines, seizedHill 362C, aJapanese stronghold located in the northeastern sec-tor of the island.7 Mar—MajGenJames E. Chancy, USA, Island Commander, as-sumed responsibility for base development, air defense, and oper-ation of the airfields. BGen Ernest C. Moore, USA, becameCommander, Air, Iwo Jima.8 Mar—Iwo-based planes of the 15th Fighter Group, USA, tookover combat air patrol duties and flew close support missionsuntil 14 March; carrier aircraft departed on 10 March.8-9 Mar—The 4th Marine Division repulsed a large-scaleJapanesecounterattack during which theJapanese sustained heavy losses.8-9 Mar—The forward echelon of Marine Torpedo-BombingSquadron 242 arrived from Tinian to fly antisubmarine patrols.9 Mar—Patrols of the 3d Marine Division reached the northeastcoast.10 Mar—The 3d Marine Division zone of action, up the centerof the island, was cleared with the exception of aJapanese pock-et in the 9th Marines area, and scattered resistance in the cliffsoverlooking the beach. The Amphitheater-Turkey Knob salientin the center of the 4th Marine Division zone was eliminated.11 Mar—The final phase of the campaign opened with the 3dand 4th Marine Divisions driving to the east coast and the 5thMarine Division to the north.12 Mar—The 1st and 3d Battalions, 9th Marines, in the 3d Ma-rine Division zone, attacked west toward "Cushman's Pocket,"a last strongpoint of enemy resistance on the island.14 Mar—The official flag-raising ceremony, at the V Amphibi-ous Corps headquarters, marked the proclamation of U.S. NavyMilitary Government in the Volcano Islands. LtGen Holland M.Smith, Commander, Expeditionary Troops, departed for Guam.

14-16 Mar—The first phase of operations against "Cushman'sPocket" opened with an attack by the 1st and 2d Battalions, 9thMarines (Rein).

16 Mar—The 1st and 2d Battalions, 21st Marines (Rein), overran"Cushman's Pocket" and reached the northern coast of the is-land at Kitano's Point, thus eliminating all Japanese resistancein the 3d Marine Division zone.

16 Mar—Regimental Combat Team 25 cut through to the beachroad on the eastern coast of the island and announced the com-plete destruction of all resistance in the last stronghold of the4th Marine Division zone.

16 Mar—The island was declared secured; the only remainingresistance came from the western half of Kitano Point and thedraw to the southwest.

18-19 Mar—The 4th Marine Division departed for Maui,Hawaiian Islands. The 3d Marine Division took over patrol anddefense responsibilities from the other divisions as they movedout.

20 Mar—The 147th Infantry, USA, arrived from New Caledoniato take over the defense of the island and was attached to the3d Marine Division for operational control.25 Mar—Regimental Combat Team 28 eliminated the last pocketof Japanese resistance, in the western half of Kitano Point.26 Mar—Several Japanese from the north attacked Marine andArmy bivouacs near the western beaches, but the force was des-troyed by troops of the VII Fighter Command, USA, and the5th Pioneer Battalion.

26 Mar—The capture and occupation phase of the campaign wasannounced completed and the Commander, Forward Area, Cen-tral Pacific, assumed responsibility for the defense and develop-ment of the island. MajGen James E. Chancy, USA, took overoperational control of all units ashore, and BGen Ernest C.Moore, USA, was designated Air Defense Commander. MajGenHarry Schmidt closed the V Amphibious Corps command postand departed, leaving the 9th Marines to assist in mop-up ac-tivities.27 Mar—Units of the 5th Marine Division departed for Hawaii.

Okinawa

3-4 Jan—Aircraft of Marine Fighting Squadrons 124 and 213,operating from the carrier USS Essex, struck Formosa and theRyukyus; this was the first instance of Marine fighter squadronsattacking land installations from a carrier.1 Mar— Planes of Task Force 58 photographedJapanese positionsand hit island defenses on Okinawa.23-25 Mar—lksk Force 58, including Marine Fighting Squadrons112, 123, 221, and 451 on board the USS Bennington and USSBunker Hill, flew sorties over Okinawa during the last ofsoftening-up operations.25-31 Mar—lksk Forces 52 and 54 bombarded Okinawa in prepa-ration for the landing.26 Mar—Troops of the 77th Infantry Division, USA, landed onKerama Retto, securing Yakabi, Geruma, and Hokaji Shima andestablishing firm footholds on Aka and Zamami Shima.26-31 Mar—The 8th Japanese Air Division from Sakishima Gun-to executed Kamikaze attacks on Allied ships standing off Ker-ama Retto.26-27 Mar—The Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Battalion (lessCompany B) landed on the four reef islets of Keise Shima, dis-covered no enemy, and reembarked.26-27 Mar—A British Carrier Force, Task Force 57, struck theSakashima Gunto as part of its planned schedule of preliminaryoperations supporting the Okinawa assault.27 Mar—Elements of the Army's 77th Division landed onseparate beaches of Tokashiki Shima, the last remaining majortarget in the Kerama Retto island group, and occupied Amuroand Ruba Shima.27-28 Mar— Company A, Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Bat-talion, made a rubber-boat landing on Aware Shima but foundno Japanese and reembarked.28-29 Mar—Forces of the 77th Division, mopped-up Japaneseresistance on Kerama Retto, securing Aka, Zamami, andTokashiki Shima.29 Mar—The Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Battalion scout-ed Mae and Kuro Shima, midway between Kerama Retto andKeise Shima. L111775E1


6 Mar—After intensive artillery and naval gunfire preparation,elements of the 3d, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions attacked tothe northeast and east in an all-out effort to breach the Japanesefinal defense line.6 Mar—BGen Ernest C. Moore, USA, Commanding General,Fighter Command, landed on Airfield No. 1 with the com-mander of the 15th Fighter Group and planes of the 47th Fighterand 548th Night Fighter Squadrons, USA.7 Mar — Company K of the 3d Battalion, 9th Marines, seizedHill 362C, ajapanese stronghold located in the northeastern sec-tor of the island.7 Mar— MajGenJames E. Chaney, USA, Island Commander, as-sumed responsibility for base development, air defense, and oper-ation of the airfields. BGen Ernest C. Moore, USA, becameCommander, Air, Iwo Jima.8 Mar — Iwo-based planes of the 15th Fighter Group, USA, tookover combat air patrol duties and flew close support missionsuntil 14 March; carrier aircraft departed on 10 March.8-9 Mar—The 4th Marine Division repulsed a large-scale Japanesecounterattack during which the Japanese sustained heavy losses.8-9 Mar —The forward echelon of Marine Torpedo-BombingSquadron 242 arrived from Tinian to fly antisubmarine patrols.9 Mar — Patrols of the 3d Marine Division reached the northeastcoast.10 Mar —The 3d Marine Division zone of action, up the centerof the island, was cleared with the exception of ajapanese pock-et in the 9th Marines area, and scattered resistance in the cliffsoverlooking the beach. The Amphitheater-Turkey Knob salientin the center of the 4th Marine Division zone was eliminated.11 Mar—The final phase of the campaign opened with the 3dand 4th Marine Divisions driving to the east coast and the 5thMarine Division to the north.12 Mar—The 1st and 3d Battalions, 9th Marines, in the 3d Ma-rine Division zone, attacked west toward "Cushman's Pocket,"a last strongpoint of enemy resistance on the island.14 Mar —The official flag-raising ceremony, at the V Amphibi-ous Corps headquarters, marked the proclamation of U.S. NavyMilitary Government in the Volcano Islands. LtGen Holland M.Smith, Commander, Expeditionary Troops, departed for Guam.

14-16 Mar —The first phase of operations against "Cushman'sPocket" opened with an attack by the 1st and 2d Battalions, 9thMarines (Rein).

16 Mar—The 1st and 2d Battalions, 21st Marines (Rein), overran"Cushman's Pocket" and reached the northern coast of the is-land at Kitano's Point, thus eliminating all Japanese resistancein the 3d Marine Division zone.

16 Mar — Regimental Combat Team 25 cut through to the beachroad on the eastern coast of the island and announced the com-plete destruction of all resistance in the last stronghold of the4th Marine Division zone.

16 Mar—The island was declared secured; the only remainingresistance came from the western half of Kitano Point and thedraw to the southwest.

18-19 Mar—The 4th Marine Division departed for Maui,Hawaiian Islands. The 3d Marine Division took over patrol anddefense responsibilities from the other divisions as they movedout.

20 Mar—The 147th Infantry, USA, arrived from New Caledoniato take over the defense of the island and was attached to the3d Marine Division for operational control.25 Mar— Regimental Combat Team 28 eliminated the last pocketof Japanese resistance, in the western half of Kitano Point.26 Mar — Several Japanese from the north attacked Marine andArmy bivouacs near the western beaches, but the force was des-troyed by troops of the VII Fighter Command, USA, and the5th Pioneer Battalion.

26 Mar —The capture and occupation phase of the campaign wasannounced completed and the Commander, Forward Area, Cen-tral Pacific, assumed responsibility for the defense and develop-ment of the island. MajGen James E. Chancy, USA, took overoperational control of all units ashore, and BGen Ernest C.Moore, USA, was designated Air Defense Commander. MajGenHarry Schmidt closed the V Amphibious Corps command postand departed, leaving the 9th Marines to assist in mop-up ac-tivities.27 Mar—Units of the 5th Marine Division departed for Hawaii.

Okinawa

3-4 Jan—Aircraft of Marine Fighting Squadrons 124 and 213,operating from the carrier USS Essex, struck Formosa and theRyukyus; this was the first instance of Marine fighter squadronsattacking land installations from a carrier.1 Mar— Planes of Task Force 58 photographed Japanese positionsand hit island defenses on Okinawa.23-25 Mar—Th.sk Force 58, including Marine Fighting Squadrons112, 123, 221, and 451 on board the USS Bennington and USSBunker HI/I, flew sorties over Okinawa during the last ofsoftening-up operations.25-31 Mar—Thsk Forces 52 and 54 bombarded Okinawa in prepa-ration for the landing.26 Mar—Troops of the 77th Infantry Division, USA, landed onKerama Retto, securing Yakabi, Geruma, and Hokaji Shima andestablishing firm footholds on Aka and Zamami Shima.26-31 Mar—The 8thJapanese Air Division from Sakishima Gun-to executed Kamikaze attacks on Allied ships standing off Ker-ama Retto.26-27 Mar—The Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Battalion (lessCompany B) landed on the four reef islets of Keise Shima, dis-covered no enemy, and reembarked.26-27 Mar—A British Carrier Force, Task Force 57, struck theSakashima Gunto as part of its planned schedule of preliminaryoperations supporting the Okinawa assault.27 Mar—Elements of the Army's 77th Division landed onseparate beaches of Tokashiki Shima, the last remaining majortarget in the Kerama Retto island group, and occupied Amuroand Ruba Shima.27-28 Mar— Company A, Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Bat-talion, made a rubber-boat landing on Aware Shima but foundno Japanese and reembarked.28-29 Mar—Forces of the 77th Division, mopped-up Japaneseresistance on Kerama Retto, securing Aka, Zamami, andTokashiki Shima.29 Mar —The Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Battalion scout-ed Mae and Kuro Shima, midway between Kerama Retto andKeise Shima. Ill 775E1


MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL CENTERBUILDING 58, WASHINGTON NAVY YARD

901 M STREET, SOUTHEASTWASHINGTON, D.C. 20374-5040

OFFICIAL BUSINESS


Russian Naval Infantry Officers VisitAn old Soviet naval ensign was presented to the Marine Corps Museum in December1993. Three officers from the Naval Infantry of the Russian Federation — the RussianMarines — visited the Historical Center during an orientation tour of US. Marine Corpsfacilities. This final stop on the tour made by Cols Sheelov and Bakhtin and LtColTermetski was preceded by visits to Parris Island, Camp Lejeune, and Quantico. Fromleft, Col W/illiamj Davis, Deputy Director Marine Corps History and Museums, ac-cepts the ensign from Col Sheelov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Naval Infantiy.

U

p

MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL CENTERBUILDING 58, WASHINGTON NAVY YARD

901 M STREET, SOUTHEASTWASHINGTON, D.C. 20374-5040

OFFICIAL BUSINESS


Russian Naval Infantry Officers VisitAn old Soviet naval ensign was presented to the Marine Corps Museum in December1993. Three officers from the Naval Infantry of the Russian Federation — the RussianMarines — visited the Historical Center during an orientation tour of US. Marine Corpsfacilities. This final stop on the tour made by Cols Sbeelov and Bakhtin and LtColTermetski was preceded by visits to Pains Island, Camp Lejeune, and Quantico. Fromleft, Col W7illiamj Davis, Deputy Director Marine Corps History and Museums, ac-cepts the ensign from Col Sheelov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Naval Infantry.