Fortitudine Vol 27 No 3 - United States Marine Corps · 2 Fortitudine, Winter 1997-1998 HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISION Marine Corps Historical Center Building 58, Washington Navy Yard

HISTORICAL BULLETIN VOLUME XXVII WINTER 1997-1998 NUMBER 3

FORTITUDINEBULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGRAM

PASS THISISSUE

ON

TOANOTHER M

ARINE

THE MARINE CORPS MUSEUM’S WORLD-CLASS COLLECTION OF MAXIM GUNS . . . COLONEL’S PROMOTION OPENS

ANOTHER CHAPTER IN ‘MARINE FAMILY’S’ STORY . . . LIEUTENANT HARRIS’‘OTHER’CIVIL WAR-ERA SWORD . . .TWO NEW

WWII PAMPHLETS . . . DIVISION SETS TECHNOLOGICAL GOALS . . .ADMIRAL DEWEY’S OPINION OF THE MARINE CORPS

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2 Fortitudine, Winter 1997-1998

HISTORYAND MUSEUMSDIVISION

Marine Corps Historical CenterBuilding 58, Washington Navy Yard

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

Telephone (202) 433-3534

DIRECTOR EMERITUSBGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)

DIRECTORCol Michael F. Monigan, USMC

Secretary to the Director: Ms. Kristen M. Reed

DEPUTY DIRECTORVacant

HISTORICAL BRANCHBranch Head: Vacant. Head, Histories Section/ChiefHistorian: Vacant. History Writing Unit: Dr. JackShulimson; Mr. Charles R. Smith; LtCol Leroy D. Stearns,USMC; Maj James G. Antal, USMC; Mrs. Wanda F.Renfrow. Oral History Unit: Mr. Richard A. Long; Dr.David B. Crist. Reference Section: Mr. Danny J. Crawford;Mr. Robert V. Aquilina; Mrs. Ann A. Ferrante; Miss Lena M.Kaljot; Mrs. Shelia Gramblin. Archives: Mr. Frederick J.Graboske; Vacant, Personal Papers; Mrs. Joyce C. Hudson,Official Papers.

MUSEUMS BRANCHBranch Head/Officer-in-Charge, Air-Ground Museum,Quantico: LtCol Robert J. Sullivan, USMC; Head, MuseumsSection/Chief Curator: Mr. Charles A. Wood. Mr. KennethL. Smith-Christmas, Material History; SSgt Dieter Stenger,USMC, Ordnance; Mr. Mitch Garringer, SSgt Troy H.Lumpkin, USMC, Sgt Jesse C. Elliott, USMC, Sgt Vibol Svy,USMC, Cpl Cedric D. Wheeler, USMC, Cpl Jamus E.McCullough, USMC, LCpl Robert M. Nettles, 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. Trout, Programs Assistant. Operations/Security:1stLt Darren S. Boyd, USMCR; SSgt Anthony J. Pastella,USMC; Sgt Lance T. Guckenberger, USMC; Cpl Donald E.Johnson, USMC; Cpl Jason S. Baker, USMC; LCpl TobiasT. Pasky, USMC; LCpl Larrissa Morgan, USMC.MARINE CORPS MUSEUM UNIT, WASHINGTON, D.C.Exhibits: Mr. James A. Fairfax; Mr. Gordon Heim. MarineCorps Art Collection: Mr. John T. Dyer, Jr.

SUPPORT BRANCHHead/Division Executive Officer: LtCol Leon Craig, Jr.,USMC. Editing and Design Section: Mr. Robert E. Struder;Mr. William S. Hill; Mrs. Catherine A. Kerns. Library: MissEvelyn A. Englander. Administration: 1stLt Joseph E.Donald, USMC; SSgt Myrna A. Thomas, USMC; Sgt JoslynV. Benjamin, USMC; Sgt Marello P. Harris, USMC; Sgt MarcG. Robinson, USMC; Cpl Michael L. Danielson, USMC;LCpl Karlton T. Smith, USMC. Security Unit: Sgt AnthonyU. Greene, USMC.

Senior Editor/Editor, FortitudineMr. Robert E. Struder

FORTITUDINEMotto of the United States Marine Corps in the 1812 era.

Historical Bulletin Volume XXVII WINTER 1997-1998 No. 3

This quarterly bulletin of the Marine Corps historical program is published for Marines,at the rate of one copy for every nine on active duty, to provide education and train-ing in the uses of military and Marine Corps history. Other interested readers may pur-chase single copies or four-issue subscriptions from the Superintendent of Documents,U.S. Government Printing Office. The appropriate order form appears in this issue.

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THE COVER

Memorandum from the Director: Fellow Marines and FriendsCol Michael F. Monigan, USMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Errata for ‘Vietnam 1968’Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Historical Quiz: Marines in the Spanish-American WarLena M. Kaljot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

WWII Memories Stirred by Londonderry VisitLtCol George O. Ludcke, USMC (Ret). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Answers to Historical Quiz: Marines in the Spanish-American WarLena M. Kaljot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Solis, Frank Honored by Historical FoundationCharles R. Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Marine Corps Family Affair at Historical CenterLtCol Leon Craig, Jr.,USMC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Maxim Guns Recall World War I FightingKenneth L. Smith-Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

German Defense Plan Made Belleau Wood a ‘Massive Machine Gun Nest’SSgt Dieter Stenger, USMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

New Pamphlets Tell of Bougainville and BataanCharles R. Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum Opens for Twentieth YearCharles Anthony Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Hollywood and the Navy DepartmentDr. Lawrence H. Suid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

New Books: Making a World War Easier to UnderstandEvelyn A. Englander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Acquisitions: Lieutenant Harris’ Pair of Interesting SwordsKenneth L. Smith-Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

‘Tiger Team’ Sets Division’s Technology GoalsDr. David B. Crist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Marine Corps Chronology: January-April 1968Robert V. Aquilina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Dewey’s Praise of Marine AccomplishmentsFrederick J. Graboske . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

This sketch of the statue of “Iron Mike” at the Parris Island Recruit Depot in SouthCarolina is the work of the late combat artist MSgt John C. DeGrasse, who himselftrained at Parris Island and, indeed, sold pencil sketches of other recruits to them for$1 each to supplement his then-paycheck of $21 a month. Art Curator John T. Dyer,Jr., selected DeGrasse’s sketch for this issue because “Iron Mike” is toting a Maximmachine gun, a reknowned collection of which is a part of the holdings of the MarineCorps Museum and also the subject of an article by Material History Curator KennethL. Smith-Christmas, beginning on page 12 of this issue. Elsewhere in the issue, OralHistorian David Crist, who is leader of a History and Museums Division Tiger Team,reports on the team’s vision of a Marine Corps Historical Center more completely sup-ported by electronic technologies as it enters the new Millennium, on page 21.

Fortitudine, Winter 1997-1998 3

Memorandum from the Director

Col Michael F. Monigan

I am honored that the Commandantof the Marine Corps has entrusted

me with this diverse Division and I ammost impressed with the calibre of thestaff supporting the Marine Corps his-torical program and the continuedgenerous backing of the Marine CorpsHeritage Foundation. My goal is tocontinue the important work and well-charted course of our DirectorEmeritus, BGen Edwin H. Simmons,USMC (Ret), and to invest in modern-ization which holds the promise ofimproving our collection managementposture, as well as enhancing ouroverall ability to service our referenceand research customers. The seniorstaff of the Division has developed acogent five-year plan to convert the

center from a paper-based researchfacility to one of digitized/integrateddatabases automating the access andretrieval of information while protect-ing the original documentation andmaterial history. This is a critical stepin both preserving our perishablerecords and documentation and posi-tioning the Division in order tomigrate to the proposed Marine CorpsHeritage Center at Quantico. Thisnew center is envisioned as a multi-use complex devoted to the preserva-tion, presentation, and propagation ofMarine Corps history, professional mil-itary education opportunities, and thecentralized administration of MarineCorps history and museum activities.Primarily, it will be the state-of-the-art

showcase for our Marine Corps her-itage.

My pressing concern is for appro-priate resourcing. As you know,

we are spread very thin in humanresources. People are the organiza-tion and our most important resource.Although I have requested additionalstaffing, I am not optimistic about ulti-mate approval. Therefore, I am turn-ing to you, in hopes of your interestand assistance. I have asked ColSonny Laine, USMC (Ret), to take onthe responsibilities as VolunteerCoordinator for the Division. In aneffort to improve our organization, Ilook to the varied interests and talentsavailable through our staunch sup-porters residing in the local area toassist us in all aspects of the historicalprogram. I believe we have needs inall areas which could match yourindividual aspirations or areas of inter-est/expertise. Please be good enoughto give Col Laine or me a call and letus discuss your interests and talents. Iencourage you to visit the MarineCorps Historical Center or the Air-Ground Museum at Quantico in orderto see our operation first-hand andformulate your own opinion on whereand how you would like to volunteer.Any time you could devote during theweek would substantially assist us incompleting the consequential work ofthe historical program. Please feelfree to contact me directly at (202)433-3838. I’ll be glad to answer yourquestions personally.

I look forward to meeting you and tohaving your valued assistance.

Together, we can improve our man-agement and stewardship of the his-torical program. I believe you willfind the work both rewarding andenjoyable. Thank you. ❑ 1775❑

Fellow Marines and Friends

Col James Leon, USMC (Ret), is a longtime volunteer worker in the ArchivesSection. Among his many contributions to the Marine Corps’ archives of officialand personal papers is the development of an early computerized system to trackcollections of Marines’ own papers donated to the archives.


History and Museums Divisiongenerally has received praise

for its final volume in the VietnamWar series, U.S. Marines inVietnam: The Defining Year, 1968.Some readers, however, have notederrors. When errors occur in it’spublications, it is the Division’s pol-icy to acknowledge and correctthem. Recently, MSgt Robert D.Caulkins, USMC (Ret), took us totask for mistakes in photo captionsof The Defining Year:

“I have not as yet read verydeeply into the text because I wasdistracted by a photograph on page132 which was selected by some-one and printed with very obviouscrop marks in the center of thephoto . . . . This lead to my review-ing all of the photos in the bookresulting in the following errors infac t . . . .

“Page 181: Lower picture. The[indicated] Marine has four extramagazines, not clips. Clips are used

in [firing] the M1 Rifle.“Page 186: There is no ammuni-

tion box strapped to the Marine’sback. The rectangular shapes on theMarine’s back are armor plates con-tained in the flak jacket worn by theMarine.

“Page 203: The fixture attachedto the machine gunner’s M60 is abipod. A tripod has three legs.However, in this photo, the Marineis using neither; he is holding thegun in his left hand, his left armsupported by the tree trunk, and isfiring the gun with his right hand.

“Page 432: A typographical errorin pages and pages of copy isalmost inevitable, but a typo in acaption consisting of 30 words issloppy. In this case the wordHorseshow should be Horseshoe.

“Page 440: Lower Picture. Theartillery piece shown in the fore-ground is a 155mm howitzer, not a105mm howitzer as the captionasserts.

“Page 537: The weapon shownis not an M109 self-propelled155mm howitzer, it is an M53155mm howitzer which the MarineCorps had in its inventory for morethan 20 years.”

MSgt Caulkins then goes on tosay that on page 558, “the mostegregious error . . . is to call SSgtRobert D. Iverson [pictured in thephoto] a ‘drill sergeant’ ” rather thandrill instructor.

In a letter responding to MSgtCaulkins, the volume’s first

author, Dr. Jack Shulimson, thankedhim for his close reading of the cap-tions and observed that “one doesmake errors, even egregious ones,when working with a manuscript ofover 1,500 typewritten pages andover 300 photographs.” He noted,however, that “one lesson learnedfrom this process is that we mustplace as much scrutiny on captionsas we do on the text.”—EDITOR

Historical Quiz

Marines in the Spanish-American WarBy Lena M. KaljotReference Section

Errata for ‘Vietnam 1968’

1. Twenty-eight Marines lost their lives in this incidentwhich helped trigger the Spanish-American War.

2. Who was the Commandant of the Marine Corps duringthe Spanish-American War?

3. In April 1898, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Battalion,commanded by this Marine officer, sailed from New Yorkon board the USS Panther via Key West, Florida, for Cuba.

4. Who was the Marine officer in charge of the Marinesfrom the USS Baltimore who landed at Manila, PhilippineIslands, and raised the American flag?

5. How many Marines were awarded the Medal of Honorfor heroic actions during the Spanish-American War?

6. Twelve of the Medals of Honor awarded during theSpanish-American War were presented to Marines who par-

ticipated in which action?

7. During the battle for Cuzco Well on 14 June 1898, thisMarine earned the Medal of Honor for his courage inexposing himself to enemy fire in order to signal the gunsof the USS Dolphin to concentrate on Spanish positionsinstead of the line of Marines and Cubans.

8. On 3 March 1899 the Naval Personnel Act raised theCommandant’s rank to what?

9. On 10 August 1898, this future Commandant of theMarine Corps led a detachment of 37 men from the USSCincinnati ashore at Cape San Juan, Puerto Rico, to protecta lighthouse previously seized by United States forces.

10. Early in July 1898, the first group of prisoners arrived atthis east coast U.S. site, established to detain Spanish sol-diers and seamen captured during the conflict.

(Answers on page 7)


WWII Memories Stirred by Londonderry Visit

by LtCol George O. Ludcke, USMC (Ret)

The whole affair was like a pro-longed, vivid, and very interesting

dream for me.I had many fond memories, during

the past 55 years, of the nearly twoyears I spent in Northern Ireland as ayoung company commander in the 1stProvisional Marine Battalion. Our dutywas to guard the various outlyinginstallations of the U.S. NavalOperating Base at the city ofLondonderry during the early years ofWorld War II. All three of the Marineguard companies were ultimately con-solidated at Beech Hill, a few milesfrom Londonderry, in 1943.

The Republic of Ireland, south ofthe Ulster border, was neutral duringWWII, so there were both Germanand Japanese embassies operatingthere and it was thought that theremight be attempted sabotage of theAllied war effort. The Marines werethere to forestall any such activity, butit never materialized.

It was with much surprise that Ireceived a phone call on 24 April

1997 from Dr. Mary Pat Kelly, a NewYorker representing the TouristBureau of Northern Ireland. Her mes-sage concerned the proposed dedica-tion of a memorial to the Marines tobe presented by the Beech Hill U.S.Navy-Marine Friendship Association,and she asked if I could participate inthe ceremony there, with the Secretaryof the Navy, John Dalton.

My name had been suggested toMs. Kelly by LtCol Harry Edwards, alifelong friend of mine whose lastactive duty had been as head of theHistory Section of Marine Head-quarters in Washington, D.C. In retire-ment LtCol Edwards had written anaccount of the little-known Marineactivities in Europe during World WarII. He had headed the AmericanMarine Embassy Guard in London,England, after combat duty in thePacific, and our paths had crossedwhen I left Londonderry to join the 2d

Division in the Pacific Theatre in early1944.

When I told Ms. Kelly that I wouldbe honored to represent the

Marines at the Beech Hill dedication,she indicated that there were manydetails to be pinned down, but thatshe would keep me advised This shedid, and on 16 June she called to askif Mrs. Ludcke and I could be ready tofly to Northern Ireland on 26 June.Our response was an enthusiastic affir-mation, and on that day we took acomfortable Northwest Airline flight toLaGuardia airport where Mary Pat metus. Our flight to Belfast, NorthernIreland on a chartered 757 fromKennedy Airport was much brieferand pleasanter than the trip which theMarines had taken on board a slow,converted cruise ship, the Santa Rosa,through the German submarine-infest-ed waters of the North Atlantic in lateApril 1942!

At the Belfast airport, Patrick McAl-lister, a Beech Hill neighbor, was wait-ing to take us on the 70-mile drive toLondonderry by car. On the way Irealized how much the roads hadimproved since 1942, even though theemerald-green countryside looked asclean and beautiful as it did then.Beech Hill is now a privately-ownedCountry House Hotel, located just twomiles from the heart of the historicwalled city of Londonderry. Built in1729, it was the home of the Skiptonfamily of English merchants until thelate 19th century. The picturesqueGeorgian-style mansion has been care-fully restored and modernized, but itretains its original charm and charac-ter.

Memories came flooding back as Irecalled the time, as a 24-year

old lieutenant, I billeted Company Cof the Provisional Battalion in quonsethuts among the stand of beech treesadjacent to the Beech Hill residence.Among those recollections was the“working convent” nearby where theMarines discovered their laundrycould be done for a very reasonableprice and much better than we coulddo it in the nearby creek. My middleinitial is “O,” and my laundry cameback marked “Lt George O’ Ludcke.”From then on that’s who I was to myIrish friends!

Shortly after getting settled at BeechHill, which is not far from FincairnGlen where our company guarded amajor ammunition storage dump, Ihad a call from Mrs. Frances Nichol-son, then the owner-resident of theestate. “Could you please,” she asked,“turn down the volume” of the ampli-fied reveille bugle calls? (They startedour routine at 053O daily.) We oblig-ed.

Fond memories also came back ofthe Christmas parties which theMarines held at Beech Hill for thechildren from nearby farms and vil-lages. Marines vied for the role of

LtCol Ludcke poses with the memorialat Beech Hill House to U.S. Marineswho served in Northern Ireland dur-ing World War II.


“Father Christmas” (Santa Claus) tohand out gifts to these youngsters forwhom such wartime luxuries werescarce.

Horses all had to be put to somewar effort in the British Isles in 1942and my friend, Lt Donald Kennedy,and I each bought a riding horsewhich we used to inspect the Marinesentinels in the more remote areas. Werented a pasture from Lord BersfordAshe, whose estate bordered BeechHill.

When we came back to Beech Hillin 1997, Mary Pat, whose man-

agerial skills we were beginning toappreciate, introduced us to the warmand gracious present-day proprietorsof the Beech Hill Country Hotel:Seamus Donnelly, Patsy O’Kane, andtheir father, Leo Donnelly. They wereour hospitable hosts throughout ourfour-day stay at their very comfortableand attractive facility. The first night,when the O’Kanes thought that a wed-ding party at Beech Hill might spoilour sleep, they insisted that we stay attheir home in nearby Londonderry.

Neighbor McAllister took us on atour of Derry (as the natives callLondonderry) which included thecity’s historic Guild Hall and the mas-sive Great Wall of Derry which stillmarks its original boundaries. An ideaof the city’s age was conveyed by astop at the church which is located onthe site of the original monasteryestablished by St. Colmcille, patronsaint of the city, in what was then anoak grove in the year 500 AD!

The next day we spent two hours inthe Derry museum, a new and

very interesting addition to the citywhich offers a detailed account ofDerry’s 1,500-year history. Thatafternoon one of our hosts, JoeO’Kane, who is a primary school prin-cipal, and his father-in-law, LeoDonnelly (chairman of the U.S. Navy-Marine Friendship Association), wereour escorts on a tour which included astop at Lisahally, some five miles fromDerry on the Foyle River. In 1942 thiswas a little rural village and the site ofa small wooden pier used for limitedshipping. Today there is no trace of

either the village or the quonset hutsof Company C of the Marines whoguarded the pier. Instead there arelarge factories and warehouses ofmany industrial firms, several from theU.S.A., including DuPont and Seagate.A large steel and concrete pier whichaccommodates transatlantic ships hasreplaced the old pier. This change wasone of the most dramatic of the manyI noted in Northern Ireland.

That afternoon we crossed theFoyle River over the new suspensionbridge which boasts the largest unsup-ported span in Europe. It goes toCounty Donegal in Eire, known as theIrish Free State. This country was for-bidden territory to American service-men during WWII, because of its neu-trality, but today there are no borderrestrictions at all.

Our trip took us up the Donegalpeninsula to the picturesque

town of Moville, very close to theNorth Atlantic, and across the Foylefrom McGilligan Head in CountyDerry. There we had lunch atMcNamara’s, which would comparefavorably with any “stateside” restau-rant.

In the evening, back at Beech Hill,I looked in vain for any remnant ofCamp Holcomb, named for theCommandant of the Marine Corps atthe time. The four companies com-prising the 1st Provisional Battalionwere consolidated at Beech Hill in1943, but today the site is occupied bya riding academy. However, I didattend a service at the old churchnearby and later I happened to meetMary McCourt, a retired school teacherwho still resides at the location whereher father ran a small “pub” not farfrom Beech Hill. Ms. McCourt was anine-year old girl at that time, butrecalls the “Yank Marines” quite vivid-ly.

The Secretary of the Navy, Hon.John H. Dalton, and his wife arrivedthe following day, accompanied by hisstaff and military aides Col JamesBatalini, USMC, and Maj DerekDonovan, USMC. That eveningSecretary Dalton and our group visitedthe home of one of the signers ofAmerica’s Declaration of Independ-

ence and later enjoyed a dinner at anearby country estate, Ardtara. Thedinner was sponsored by the head ofthe Northern Ireland Travel Bureau.

This was a very congenial affair,marked by vocal contributions

from the Marine and Navy personnelpresent as well as the Hon. JohnHume, member of Parliament fromLondonderry County.

Mr. Hume, a personable man, hasearned a respected following amongboth factions of the sensitive“Northern Ireland question” by hismoderate, common-sense approach tothe problem. It is his hope that a rea-sonable accommodation may bereached which will rebound to theultimate benefit of all concerned, andeliminate the violence which hasmarked the behavior of extreme mili-tants on both sides.

In his remarks at the dinner, Mr.Hume recalled that, as a young boy of10 years in 1943, he was taught to playbaseball by the Marines at SpringtownCamp in Derry!

Monday, 30 June was the memorialdedication day and with Mary PatKelly’s remarkably astute orchestra-tion, the ceremony went off without ahitch.

A lady with a beautiful sopranovoice (a native of Derry who had oncesung professionally in Minneapolis)rendered “Danny Boy” (also known as“Londonderry Air”) and then led theaudience in “God Bless America.”

An appropriate memorial, createdby Eamon McLaughlin, president

of the Beech Hill Navy-MarineFriendship Association, was unveiledby Secretary Dalton and myself. Itfaces the entrance to the Beech Hillhouse and commemorates all 450 ofthe U.S. Marines who were stationedthere early in WWII, from 1942 to1944.

In his remarks at dinner SecretaryDalton stated, “It is seldom that onecountry would invite the citizens ofanother to unveil a plaque sited with-in that country to commemorate citi-zens of a foreign country.

“It demonstrates once again thegreat strong ties that exist between


Ireland and the U.S. and long maythey continue.”

After the dedication, a buffet lun-cheon was served by the Beech

Hill Country House and Irish dancersperformed, accompanied by a trio ofIrish instrumentalists.

On the evening of 30 June, theSecretary’s party, our Beech Hill hosts,and Mrs. Ludcke and I, attended abanquet at Hillsborough Castle.

The castle is an imposing structure,the original dating back to 1758, and itplayed many roles in the convolutedpolitical history of the area. Its impres-sive gardens and beautifully appointedinterior and its oil paintings would dojustice to any museum.

Other guests at this functionincluded high-ranking members

of the government of Northern Irelandand executives of both American andBritish firms which have establishedbranches in the six counties of mod-ern Ulster.

Speeches included appropriate

comments by Secretary Dalton, whowas introduced by Adam Ingraham,minister in the Northern Ireland gov-ernment.

Our trip home via Dublin, accom-panied by faithful Mary Pat, started thenext day with a trek from Derry southto the famous Belleek potteries on theborder of County Fermanagh. M.P.Hume generously lent us his chauf-feur, Don McQuillen, to take us on thissegment of the trip which included thetown of Virginia in County Cavan,Eire. This was of particular interest tome as my maternal great-grandfather,Robert Seney, had emigrated as ayoung man from there to the U.S., viaPort Hope, Canada, in 1820.

Mary Pat, who is an enthusiasticIrish-Ophile (new word), took us

on a walking tour of Dublin (anotherstory in itself) and we then took asmooth, fast Irish train west across thebreadth of Ireland to Limerick wherewe boarded a cab to the GreatSouthern Hotel which is immediatelyadjacent to the Shannon airport.

There we boarded a transatlanticflight to Kennedy Airport where MaryPat’s husband, Marty, met us and tookus to LaGuardia where we caught aNorthwest 757 flight to Minneapolis intime to watch the 4th of July fireworksfrom our condo.

It is not easy to put into words ourappreciation for this memorable trip. ItIt was a humbling experience to beasked to represent the many Marineswho served in Northern Ireland solong ago—most of whom served laterin the Pacific and several of whomthen made the final sacrifice for theircountry.

In retrospect we find that we weremuch impressed by the physical

changes that have taken place inIreland these past 55 years: the largerpopulation, the better roads, the estab-lishment of successful businesses. Butthe things that have remainedunchanged are the scenic beauty ofthe Emerald Isle and the warm, hos-pitable, witty nature of those we knowas the Irish. ❑ 1775❑

1. On 15 February 1898, the battleship USS Maine mysteri-ously exploded and sank in the harbor of Havana, Cuba.

2. A week after Congress passed a resolution of interven-tion, then-ColComdt Charles Heywood ordered a Marinebattalion formed to fight in Cuba.

3. LtCol Robert W. Huntington and the battalion sailed toestablish a forward naval base at Guantanamo Bay. On 10June, they landed on the eastern side of the bay, meetingno opposition.

4. On 3 May 1898, 1stLt Dion Williams took a detachmentashore and occupied the arsenal and dockyards of theCavite naval station.

5. 15

6. On 11 May 1898, Marines and seamen from the USS

Marblehead and USS Nashville cut the transoceanic cableoff Cienfuegos, Cuba, in order to isolate the island and hin-der the movement of Spanish warships.

7. SgtMaj John Quick later distinguished himself in opera-tions on Samar in 1901, at Vera Cruz in 1914, and at BelleauWood in France during World War I.

8. Brigadier General

9. Then-1stLt John A. Lejeune later served as the 13thCommandant of the Marine Corps from 1 July 1920 to 4March 1929.

10. Four officers and 114 enlisted Marines, commanded byCol James Forney, comprised the Marine guard at CampLong, Seavey’s Island, a few miles from Portsmouth, NewHampshire.

Answers to the Historical Quiz

Marines in the Spanish-American War(Questions on Page 4)


Solis, Frank Honored by Historical Foundation

by Charles R. SmithHistorian

LtCol Gary D. Solis, USMC (Ret), aformer History and Museums

Division historical writer and now pro-fessor of law at the United StatesMilitary Academy at West Point, wasthis year’s winner of the GeneralWallace M. Greene, Jr., Award.Presented to the author of the out-standing nonfiction book pertinent toMarine Corps history, the award wasgiven to LtCol Solis at the MarineCorps Historical Foundation’s annualawards dinner held at the Army-NavyClub on 31 October for his book, SonThang: An American War Crime, pub-lished by the Naval Institute Press.The book examines the February 1970killing of women and children in theVietnam village of Son Thang and theaftermath of the tragedy.

LtCol Solis served in the MarineCorps for 26 years, including two toursin Vietnam as an assault amphibianofficer, the first in 1964 as a platoonleader and the second in 1966 as com-manding officer of B Company, 3dAmtrac Battalion. He received lawdegrees from the University ofCalifornia and George WashingtonUniversity, then served for 18 years asa judge advocate and a general courts-martial judge before retiring in 1989.He is the author of numerous articlesand a volume in the official series onMarines in Vietnam, Marines andMilitary Law in Vietnam: Trial by Fire.

The Foundation’s most prestigiousaward, the Distinguished Service

Award, was presented to the division’sformer Chief Historian, Benis M.Frank, for his “extensive accomplish-ments in Marine Corps history and hisservice in numerous capacities to theMarine Corps Historical Foundation.”

Mr. Frank’s long association withthe Corps began with his enlistment in1943 at the age of 18. He served inthe Pacific, became a member of the1st Marine Division band, saw actionat Peleliu and Okinawa, and, at war’s

end, had occupation duty in NorthChina. On discharge from the MarineCorps, he continued his college stud-ies but maintained his affiliation withthe Corps by taking a reserve commis-sion which subsequently brought himback to active duty during the KoreanWar.

In 1961, an opportunity arose for himto join the Historical Branch at

Headquarters Marine Corps as a histo-rian and he seized it, beginning whatwould be 36 years of uninterruptedservice. He co-authored the last vol-ume in the official history of Marineoperations in World War II, Victoryand Occupation, in addition to writingseveral monographs, notably U.S.Marines in Lebanon, and two bookson Okinawa and a biography of AdmWilliam Halsey, published commer-cially. The acknowledged dean ofmilitary oral historians, Mr. Frank con-ducted more than 500 interviews withMarines ranging from commandants to

corporals in the field, recording theirinsights and experiences. In 1991, hebecame Chief Historian, and oversawthe highly successful series of WorldWar II 50th anniversary commemora-tive pamphlets as general editor. Mr.Frank retired from government servicein October of last year and was unableto attend the awards ceremony due tothe effects of recent surgery.

His citation read, “From the depthof his knowledge of the historical

craft and the Marine Corps, he has aid-ed a wide spectrum of persons inter-ested in Marine Corps history, rangingfrom well-established historians to in-terns of high-school age. All are in-debted to him. For this life-time of ser-vice to the Marine Corps and MarineCorps history, this award is well-deserved.”

The Colonel Robert D. Heinl, Jr.,Award, given to the author of the bestarticle pertinent to Marine Corps histo-ry, was presented to LtGen Charles G.

Photo by John T. Dyer, Jr.From left, 1997 Foundation awards recipients are LtGen Charles G. Cooper, TomDunn, LtCol Michael Howard, LtCol Gary D. Solis, David H. Hugel, Maj Philip E.Grathwol, Rudolph G. Rosenquist, and Sgt Lance M. Bacon. Benis M. Frank, wholater was presented the Distinguished Service Award, is not pictured.


Cooper, USMC (Ret), for his article,“The Day It Became the Longest War,”published in the May 1996 issue of theNaval Institute Proceedings. The arti-cle recounts a series of events on aday in November 1965 when as aide-de-camp to the Chief of Naval Opera-tions, then-Maj Cooper stood in theOval Office as the Joint Chiefs of Staffbriefed President Johnson on the war.

Gen Cooper served 35 years on ac-tive duty, commanding units in

each of the three active divisions andin five of the nine infantry regiments.He saw combat service in Korea andVietnam, commanded Marine Bar-racks, Washington; Marine Corps Base,Camp Lejeune; Recruit Depot, SanDiego; the 1st Marine Division and 1stMarine Amphibious Force; and FleetMarine Force, Pacific. In addition tobeing a writer and consultant and lec-turer on leadership and political andmilitary affairs, Gen Cooper is leadingthe current effort to preserve the integ-rity of the grounds surrounding theMarine Corps War (Iwo Jima) Mem-orial.

Established by Col G. F. RobertHanke, USMCR, in memory of hisfather, Wing Commander RalphHanke, Royal Air Force, the GeneralRoy S. Geiger Award is given to theauthor of the best article published inthe Marine Corps Gazette or other mil-itary journal in the field of MarineCorps aviation during 1996. This year’srecipient was Maj Philip E. Grathwol,USMC, for his article, “How Long MustWe Wait for Osprey,” on the V-22 andthe need to build it quickly, publishedin the May issue of the Gazette.

Commissioned in 1987, MajGrathwol is a qualified CH-46 pilot

who deployed with the Tarawa inOperation Desert Storm and subse-quently served as a platoon comman-der at the Officer Candidate School. Asa member of HMX-1 he commanded aWhite House helicopter and currentlyserves as an operational test pilot.

The Sergeant Major Dan DalyAward was presented to former SgtLance Bacon. The award, funded byLeatherneck magazine, is given forsuperior writing pertinent to Marine

Corps history by an enlisted author fora Marine Corps post or station period-ical. Sgt Bacon received his secondDaly Award for a series of articles pub-lished in the Camp Lejeune Globe onthe famous sniper, Carlos Hathcock.

Sgt Bacon began his Marine Corpscareer in 1989 as an antitank

assault guided missileman and servedon board the Independence duringOperation Desert Shield. Followinghis reenlistment in 1992 and a changeof MOS to public affairs, he became acombat correspondent. Named MarineCorps Print Journalist of the Year in1995, his prize-winning feature storiesand photos have appeared in numer-ous service publications. Sgt Baconleft active service in September 1997and is now managing editor of theKinston, North Carolina Free Press.

The Colonel John H. Magruder IIIAward for excellence in depictingMarine Corps history in exhibits or dis-plays in a museum or similar settingwas presented to the U.S. MarineRaider Museum in Richmond, Virginia.The 2,800-square-foot museum pre-sents the history of the four World WarII raider battalions through pho-tographs, maps, and artifacts, rangingfrom weapons and equipment to per-sonal memorabilia. The brain-child ofRudolph G. Rosenquist, who served inthe 3d Raider Battalion and later withthe “new” 4th Marines, the museumwas opened in 1986 with the help ofRobert Buerlein, president of theAmerican Historical Foundation.

A Colonel John H. MagruderSpecial Recognition Award for ex-cel-lence in exhibitry was made to LtColMichael Howard, SgtMaj Robert Burns,and the 6th Engineer SupportBattalion, Marine Corps Reserve, Port-land, Oregon. Through the use ofphotographs and biographical infor-mation, the indoor portion of theexhibit honors Oregon’s Marineheroes from 1841 to Operation DesertStorm, while the outdoor exhibit fea-tures a one-of-a-kind TD-18 armoredbulldozer. The special citation com-mended the Portland engineerreservists for their tireless efforts in“telling the Marine Corps story” in aunique way.

Former Marine combat artist TomDunn was this year’s recipient of theColonel John W. Thomason, Jr., Awardfor his contributions to Marine Corpscombat art. Mr. Dunn joined theMarine Corps in 1942 and served as acombat engineer and then combatartist at Guadalcanal, Bougainville,Guam, and Iwo Jima. While some ofhis works were lost at sea followingWorld War II, a surviving number wereselected to illustrate two books, Ma-rines on Iwo Jima and Iwo Jima:Legacy of Valor. Since the war he hasillustrated numerous books, taught,and for more than 10 years was acourtroom artist for ABC television. Aresident of northern New Jersey, hecurrently concentrates on drawing andpainting portraits, waterfowl, and nau-tical subjects.

The Heritage Award was presentedto David H. Hugel for his “outstandingservice to the Foundation from 1988 to1997.” A member since 1986, he hasserved as secretary, counsel, contribut-ing author, photographer, and editorof the Foundation’s newsletter, mem-ber of the Heritage Center Committee,and chairman of the By-Laws RevisionCommittee.

Dave Hugel enlisted in the MarineCorps in 1960 and, after graduat-

ing from Naval Photographic School atPensacola, was stationed at MarineCorps Air Station, Quantico. In 1963he was assigned to photographic unitsat Da Nang where he was involved inphoto activities ranging from aerialreconnaissance to acting as Gen Wal-lace M. Greene’s official photographerduring the newly appointed Com-mandant’s in-country tour.

Upon separation, he worked as aradio and television news reporterwhile attending undergraduate school.Later, following his admission to theBar, he served as an assistant state’sattorney for Baltimore County, Mary-land, and then as Maryland’s firstState’s Attorneys Coordinator. In addi-tion to lecturing extensively on mediarelations, criminal law, and highwaysafety issues, he has written articles onhis Vietnam experience and theMarine Corps Historical Foundation.❑ 1775❑


Marine Corps Family Affair at Historical Centerby LtCol Leon Craig, Jr., USMC

History and Museums Division Executive Officer

Col Anne Rathmell, USMCR, waspromoted to her present rank on

30 January in the Special Exhibits Gal-lery of the Marine Corps HistoricalCenter. Although this promotion is theresult of years of dedicated hard work,it goes deeper than that. In a micro-cosm, it was the story of a MarineCorps family whose members eachheeded the call to arms and took upthe challenge. This is a story aboutthe Rathmell family and its MarineCorps members.

MajGen Earl B. Hailston, the currentDirector for Strategic Planning andPolicy, J-5, USCinCPac, did the honors.Although he was not born into, ormarried into, the Rathmell family, he isa family member whose honored posi-tion was forged more than 29 yearsago.

The first of the family to earn thetitle Marine was John Nicely Rathmellwho, along with his wife, Bernice, satquietly in the audience as the youngerof their two children, and only daugh-ter, reaffirmed the oath of allegiance,then pinned on the rank of colonel. Amember of the “old Corps,” for thefather this was unheard of when hewas on active duty, but nevertheless,that thought only served to heightenhis pride. Mr. Rathnell enlisted in theMarine Corps on 11 January 1942 atthe age of 29. The United States hadbeen officially involved in World WarII for just over one month and he feltduty-bound to serve. Despite the factthat he was already a successful busi-nessman, and held a bachelor of sci-ence degree from Penn State College(later Penn State University), and amaster’s degree from the University ofPittsburgh, he enlisted, completedboot camp, and was subsequentlyassigned to Marine Corps Air Station,Quantico, for duty as a weather fore-caster. He soon made corporal, andsubsequently the Marine Corps discov-ered that he held two college degreesand sent him to Candidate Class, 12thROC. Lt John N. Rathmell graduated inNovember 1943.

As a new second lieutenant,

USMCR, he was ordered to CampLejeune in December 1942 where heunderwent training as a basic combatengineer for the next two months.After graduation from the EngineerSchool on 1 March 1943, he deployedto Melbourne, Australia, and joinedthe 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st MarineDivision, right after the campaign atGuadalcanal. He subsequently foughtin the battles of New Guinea, CapeGloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa.After the war, in August 1945 he wasassigned to Quantico until his dis-charge from active duty on 1 Dec-ember 1945. Capt Rathmell returned tohis home and resumed running thefamily business in Williamsport, Pen-nsylvania. He subsequently resignedhis commission 1 March 1948.

Col Rathmell speaks of her fatherand notes “despite his short tour

in the Marine Corps he is the epitomeof ‘once a Marine . . . .’ ” While he isnot an “organization joiner,” he hasstayed in touch faithfully with thefriends made in the Marine Corps,trading life stories and insults for thelast 50-odd years. He still believes theMarine Corps represented the best ofthe best, and he learned a lot oflessons from his time in the Corps thathave helped him through his life.”

A little over nine months after CaptRathmell was discharged from activeduty, his son, Henry Porter Rathmell,was born. According to Col Rathmell,like his father, Porter was a particular-ly “clean-cut guy who was just an

average student and averagely activein sports.” After high school he attend-ed Colgate University in Hamilton,graduating in May 1968. “Starting in1962 at age 15 he was a counseloreach summer at the Vagabond Ranch,Granby, Colorado, including the sum-mer of 1968, before he departed forOfficer Candidate School. VagabondRanch combined a lot of the featuresof Outward Bound in a working ranchsetting, and Porter was called upon towork, teach, and advise children fromages 8 to 16. That experience stoodhim in good stead in the MarineCorps.”

Just as his father did 26 years prior,Porter joined the Marine Corps at a

time when his country was embroiledin a war. This time, however, publicsentiment for supporting the war wasdrastically different from what it waswhen his father enlisted during WWII.Col Rathmell opined, “Given the emo-tions surrounding the Vietnam War, itis difficult to say that Porter demon-strated the kind of heroism that gaveus the WWII heroes who live in themovies.” But she likes to “think that hedid, because it took a lot of guts tojoin the Marine Corps and seek com-bat . . . it would have been relativelyeasy for him to either opt out of (ordelay) military service; it would havebeen easy to join another branch ofservice which would not have placedhim so immediately in harm’s way.Undoubtedly, Porter thought if some-thing was worth doing it was worth

In the Special Exhibits Gallery of the Marine Corps Museum, MajGen Earl B.Hailston, CinCPac J-5, delivers remarks upon the promotion in January of long-time family friend Col Anne Rathmell, USMCR.


doing right and to the best of his abil-ity, so he joined the Marine Corps.”

Henry Porter Rathmell was commis-sioned a second lieutenant upon grad-uation from Officer Candidate Schoolon 14 November 1968, and reportedimmediately to the Basic School (TBS).It was during his stay at TBS that hedeveloped a friendship with anotherstudent, 2dLt Earl B. Hailston. Thisfriendship would endure and eventu-ally forge strong social bonds betweenboth lieutenants’ families.

Lt Porter Rathmell excelled as a stu-dent at TBS and was named to the

Commanding General’s Honor List(number 8 of 242 in class), and gradu-ated on 16 April 1969. Three dayslater, he was married, and Lt Hailstonwas one of two Marines from theirTBS Class who participated in thewedding party. “Since these guys hadgraduated from TBS, the weekend ofthe party was a raucous good time atthe Rathmell’s house.” That was thefirst time that the Rathmell family metLt Hailston, and thus the beginning ofa lifelong friendship. Immediately afterTBS, Lt Porter Rathmell attended theU.S. Army’s School of Infantry RangerCourse at Fort Benning, Georgia, andLt Hailston was assigned as a rifle pla-toon commander with Company I, 3rdBattalion, 27th Marines, 5th MarineDivision, at Camp Pendleton. Duringthis period, the two Marines main-tained correspondence with eachother, and the Rathmell family to thegreatest extent possible given theirvery busy schedules. In July 1969 LtHailston was transferred to theWestern Pacific (WestPac) for dutywith ground forces, and was assignedto the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion,1st Marine Division, Republic ofVietnam (RVN). The very next month,27 August 1969, Lt Porter Rathmellgraduated as the Distinguished HonorGraduate (ranking first among 230 stu-dents) from the U.S. Army’s RangerCourse. Three weeks later, on 21September, he too departed the U.S.for duty in the RVN, and was assignedto the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion,3rd Marine Division. The operationtempo (optempo) was indeed high inthe RVN at that time, and in less than

one and a half months (28 September-6 November 1969), Lt Porter Rathmellparticipated in six long-range recon-naissance patrols. Like everything hehad done thus far in the Marine Corps,he was professional and was success-ful at his trade. He was only in-coun-try a relatively short time, however,before his entire division began toredeploy to Okinawa. The two lieu-tenants continued to maintain corre-spondence with each other and theRathmell family.

“When the 3rd Marine Divisionwas withdrawn to ()kinawa

in late 1969, Lt Rathmell, now a com-bat Marine, was involved in perfectingthe helicopter rappelling techniquethat is used to this day to insert andextract Marines in certain environ-ments. He departed the RVN on 7November 1967 and returned toOkinawa. He was insistent that he wasnot going to end his tour in WestPacsitting on Okinawa being an instruc-tor, so he sought reassignment to the1st Marine Division which was still inthe RVN. He was successful in thateffort and was reassigned to the 1stReconnaissance Battalion.” This wasundoubtedly an exciting reassignmentas it reunited him with his TBS buddy,Lt Hailston. Undoubtedly, both firstlieutenants were delighted to be ableto once again work together, and thisservice in combat would cement theirfriendship for life. True friendshipsthat are forged in a combat zone areforged forever, regardless of the finaloutcome.

Col Ann Rathmell reflects on her

brother’s final assignment in theCorps. Two months after he returnedto Vietnam, he was killed in actionwhile trying to recover the remains ofa downed pilot. He was killed on 12April 1970, one week prior to his firstwedding anniversary. Leading a teamof Marines which was to be helo-inserted into thick foliage, he was thefirst man of the team to deplane. “Ihave the feeling that he chose to befirst because he wasn’t going to askhis men to do anything he would notdo . . . , and because he believed atrue leader leads from the front.” Forhis actions during this situation, hewas posthumously awarded theBronze Star Medal with the distin-guishing Combat V device.

Lt Hailston wrote a very difficult let-ter to the Rathmell family and ex-

pressed his own sorrow for their lossand his sorrow at the loss of his bud-dy. He further explained that helearned of Lt Rathmell’s death the dayafterwards when he returned to campfrom a patrol. He volunteered toescort Lt Porter Rathmell’s body backhome, but was denied permission.

Since the day of Lt Porter Rathmell’swedding in April 1969, then Lt Hail-ston continued to maintain communi-cations with the Rathmell family. Thatincident in Vietnam less than one yearlater strengthened their family ties. Onseveral occasions, Gen Hailston visitedthe Rathmell’s home with his motherand sister, and later his wife anddaughters. For the Rathmells, GenHailston became a surrogate son.❑ 1775❑

Col Rathmell’s father, retired Marine Capt John N. Rathmell, helps with pinningon her new eagles as Gen Hailston and other family friends look on, in an areaof the Gallery filled with World War II memorabilia.


Maxim Guns Gift Recalls World War I Fightingby Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas

Curator of Material History

When two New York-basedMarines safely delivered a pair

of World War I-period German ModelM1908/15 light machine guns to theAir-Ground Museum at Quantico, on16 October 1997, they helped aug-ment an automatic weapons collectionwhich has enjoyed world-wide recog-nition for the past 40 years. These twoguns had been surrendered severalyears ago to the Suffolk County PoliceDepartment, on Long Island, NewYork, and the Department hadpromised to transfer the guns to themuseum at such time as opportunetransport became available. Throughthe kind services of the Inspector-Instructor of the 2d Battalion, 25thMarines, the guns were transported tothe Museum where they were pho-tographed and cataloged before beingplaced, for the time being, in the stor-age/reference collection. At presentthere are several possibilities forexhibit of these German Maxims; theymay be displayed in one of the tworecruit depot command museums, orthey may be used in a tentativelyplanned exhibit on Belleau Wood.

Being placed in an exhibit onBelleau Wood would certainly beappropriate, as this was the action inwhich Marines first encountered auto-matic machine gun fire to any appre-ciable degree, and the German Maxim

machine guns took a deadly toll inthat hard-fought battle. The sunnywheat fields through which theMarines attacked to reach the woodswere completely covered by interlock-ing fields of fire, and once in thewoods, the Marines found that eachmachine-gun nest was mutually sup-ported by others. Fiercely defendingtheir dug-in positions, German crews

manned the heavy, sled-mountedModel 1908 guns, while two-manteams fired the light Model 1908/15machine guns. One after another,these machine gun nests were finallyconquered by Marine rifle fire,grenades, and bayonets, but only aftera cost of about 5,000 Marine casualtiesin a contest which dragged over fourweeks, from June to July 1918.

Following Belleau Wood, Marinesfaced the slow, but deadly, rattle of

German Maxims in the Vierzy Ravineat Soissons in the next month, at theSt. Mihiel salient in September, atBlanc Mont in October, and finally, inthe Argonne Forest at the Armistice on11 November. Each weapon that theMarines captured was prized as a tro-phy, and today, the Marine CorpsMuseum’s collection boasts at leastfour trophy weapons: one heavy andthree light Maxims. The heavymachine gun, which was featured inthe Museum’s popular special exhibiton World War I (see Fortitudine,Spring 1980), was captured by the 5th

Two German soldiers carry their M1908/15 light machine guns on slings duringthe summer campaign of 1918. Marines faced their first substantial use ofMaxim guns by the Germans during the Battle of Belleau Wood.

This Model 1908/15 Maxim light machine gun is complete to its drum magazine.These weapons ordinarily were fired by two-man crews.


Marine Corps Museum at Quantico.This impressive array included group-ings of every early machine gun type,and featured a whole section ofMaxim guns, most of them with beau-tiful brass water jackets and mount-ings. When that museum was closedand moved to the Marine CorpsHistorical Center in 1977, space limita-tions dictated that only selected high-lights of the collection could be dis-played in the new museum (SeeFortitudine, Winter 1977), and the bal-ance were moved to the Museum’s ref-erence collection in Quantico. Theweapons left behind includedGerman, Austrian, and South Amer-ican export models, and British exam-ples. One of the British guns is identi-cal to the guns used by Cecil Rhodes’“private army” during the 1893Matabele Campaign, in what is nowZimbabwe, during which Maximmachine guns were used for the firsttime in combat.

Included in the new exhibit at theNavy Yard were a prototype Maxim,usually referred to as serial number 1,

Marines at the Bois de Vipre, nearBlanc Mont. It is now on exhibit onthe west side of the second deck ofthe Marine Corps Historical Center.Two of the light Maxims are in themuseum’s reference collection atQuantico; one light Model 1908/15 hasa brass plate on its butt stock whichstates that it was retrieved from thebattlefield of Blanc Mont by BGenCharles L. McCawley in 1918, whilethe brass plate on the other machinegun states only that it was “capturedby Marines in the World War.” In1979, BGen James Roosevelt, USMCR(Ret), presented the third “pedigreed”light 1908/15 to the museum. It hadbeen captured on the last night of thewar by elements of the 5th Marines intheir famous attack across the MeuseRiver, and was then presented to hisfather, later-President Franklin D.Roosevelt, by MajGen John A. Lejeunein 1919, when then-Assistant Secretaryof the Navy Roosevelt was visiting the4th Brigade of Marines in Germany. Atthe suggestion of the registrar at the

Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, NewYork, retired MGySgt Wendell A. “Tex”Parks, the weapon was transferred tothe Marine Corps Museum (seeFortitudine, Spring 1979) where it hasbeen on display in the “Time Tunnel”ever since.

Longtime visitors to the MarineCorps Museum will recall that these

World War I German Maxims are onlya small part of the Museum’s automat-ic weapons collection. This collectiontraces its beginnings to the study col-lection which famed weapons expertCol George Chinn, USMCR, gatheredwhen he wrote his definitive work onthe technological history of automaticweapons. Sponsored by the U.S.Navy’s Bureau of Ordnance in the1950s, this multi-volume work is con-sidered one of the “Bibles” on theworld’s machine guns. At the urging ofthe Museum’s founder, Col John H.Magruder III, the collection of nearly60 machine guns was displayed in alarge room at the entrance of the old

This light Maxim machine gun was captured by Marines of the 4th Brigade,American Expeditionary Force, in France during the last night of World War I,and presented to then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt by thebrigade commander, MajGen John A. Lejeune.

The idealized Marine of the statue“Iron Mike” at Marine Corps RecruitDepot, Parris Island, South Carolina,carries a captured Maxim gun acrosshis shoulders .

German soldiers, some with uniforms skirted by hand-grenades, prepare to moveto the front with their Maxim guns on small, wheeled carts. The ominous “rat-tle” of these guns was heard at most of the famed battles of World War I, fromSoissons to the Argonne Forest.


a M1910 Russian Maxim on itswheeled and armored mount, and thelater M1915 British Vickers derivative.The prototype Maxim was donated tothe Museum in the early 1950s by ValForgett, the founder of the Navy ArmsCorporation, after he had acquired itin a private auction. (Soon after, healso gave the Museum a one-of-a-kind.22-caliber Maxim prototype subma-chine gun.) When the Museum’s“Marines in Miniature” gallery waserected in the early 1980s, it replacedthe automatic weapons display, andthe machine guns were moved to thesecond deck, where yet another newacquisition was added to this nearlypriceless collection. In 1977, the CapeMay, New Jersey, Sheriff’s Departmenthad seized an American-made M1904Colt Maxim machine gun which hadbeen abandoned in a derelict buildingand, following the suggestion of thearmorer at the local U.S. Coast Guardinstallation, they transferred theweapon to the Coast Guard which, inturn, offered it to the Museum. It waseagerly acquired, as it is one of onlyabout 250 which had been made bythe Colt Firearms Company, underlicense. (Two years before, the samearmorer had been instrumental inassisting the Museum to acquire itsunaltered M1895 Colt “potato digger”machine gun, which was still cham-bered for the 6mm Navy cartridge andone of only a handful not convertedafter the turn of the century to fire the.30-caliber Army “Krag” round. It is onexhibit in the “Time Tunnel.”)

Since the acquisition of the M1904the one Maxim which we have

accepted is a complete camouflage-painted M1908 which was donated byBGen Robert M. Gaynor, USAR (Ret).Captured by Pennsylvania NationalGuardsmen of the 28th Division in theArgonne Forest during World War I, itwas later loaned by the Museum to theHeritage Gallery National GuardMuseum in Washington, D.C., where itwas on exhibit for six years, untilbeing returned to the Museum’s refer-ence collection. For the past 40 years,this significant collection has beenused by scores of serious researcherswho spend hours, and sometimes

The prototype Maxim machine gun, above, was on display at the original MarineCorps Museum at Quantico from 1960 to 1976. It is now displayed at the MarineCorps Historical Center at the Washington, D.C. Navy Yard. Below, SgtTomLovell’s painting, “In Belleau Wood,” provides the backdrop for a M1908 Maximheavy machine gun which was captured by the 5th Marines during World WarI at Blanc Mont.


Following the remarkable success of the German surpriseattack of 27 May 1918 on the Chemin des Dames that effec-

tively threatened the fall of Paris and caused great panic with-in the French capital, French Forces abandoned their positionsand left the American Expeditionary Force to hold a thin andoverextended line. The German success in the Paris sector wasnot, however, anticipated by the German High Command, withthe bulk of their strength lying in the north opposite the Britishwhere they planned to renew the attack with reserve forces.Unable to exploit their unexpected break-through towardsParis, the Germans called for a general halt once they reachedthe line held by the Marines.

Under orders of the French corps commander, Allied troopsbegan a general advance on 6 June to secure better positions.In conjunction with French Forces, the 5th and 6th MarineRegiments moved into position for the attack. On the far leftof the Marine Brigade, the first advance began with elementsof the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, under the command of MajJulius S. Turrill. With this action representing the first Marineattack in France, Turrill made gains in the north by advancing1,000 yards along an 800-yard front, supported by divisionalartillery and a company of the Marine 6th Machine GunBattalion, under the command of Maj Edward B. Cole. Thenext attack would be launched against the German positions inBelleau Wood.

The first Marine attack proved to go well against theGermans, thus leaving them in a salient at Lucy-le-Bocage.Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the Allied commander, ordered thesalient reduced as Marines made plans to attack against BelleauWood and Bouresches, thereby straightening the front linealong the northeast edge of Belleau Wood.

Belleau Wood was approximately one mile in length andconsisted of thick, heavily wooded terrain, cut by a deep

German Defense Plan Made Belleau Wood ‘A Massive Machine Gun Nest’by SSgt Dieter Stenger, USMC, Ordnance Unit, Air-Ground Museum, Quantico

ravine at the southern end, and spotted with large, sporadicboulders. These terrain features made excellent machine gunand trench mortar positions that provided excellent protectionfor entrenched infantry. The German positions at BelleauWood were held by the 461st Infantry Regiment, 237thDivision, at a strength of 1,169 men and auxiliary troops.

Two battalions held the defensive lines, and one was placedin reserve, within the wood, and additional support was pro-vided by protective artillery barrages. The Germans’ main lineof resistance curved to the southeast, with three lines oftrenches, turning Belleau Wood into a massive machine gunnest. The first trench line faced the villages of Lucy-le-Bocageand Bouresches from the southern edge. It was a naturalfortress high on a plateau, scored with brush-filled ravines.Among the huge mossy boulders, 15 heavy machine guns wereemplaced so as to provide themselves with interlocking fieldsof fire. If one were captured, the others could immediatelyexpose it to flanking fire. The second line of trenches ran fromeast to west through the center of the wood. Protected by aline of barbed wire, trench mortars, and sharpshooters, thisportion of the defensive line had trees that stood so closetogether that visibility was reduced to 15 feet or less. The thirdand final trench line, the strongest of them all, ran across thenorthern edge of the wood. In addition to the barbed wire andtrench mortars, the avenues of approach were registered andcovered by artillery batteries located behind the village ofTorcy. The sum of machine guns emplaced in and along theedge of Belleau Wood, against which the Marines wouldattack, totaled nearly 200. Although the German troops werewell-armed and seasoned veterans, their stamina was poor dueto food rationing and sickness.

The Marine attack advanced in “line of sections,” a standardFrench formation that was, by now, well rehearsed by theMarines. This formation provided that each company formeda two-platoon front, with two platoons supporting. Each pla-toon was divided into four sections, with two sections forwardand spaced about 40 yards apart from the two remaining in therear proper. As the attack began, Maj Turrill ordered his mento “move out” after a short artillery barrage and preparatorymachine gun fire. Capt George Hamilton, leading a companyof Marines through a wheat field that sloped gently upwardtoward a patch of trees remarked:

We hadn’t gone fifty yards when they cut loose at usfrom the woods ahead—more machine guns than I hadever heard before. I have a vague recollection of urgingthe whole line on—faster, perhaps, than they shouldhave gone, . . . shooting wildly at several retreatingBoche (Germans). Farther on we came to an open field,a wheat field full of red poppies, and here we caughthell. Again it was a case of rushing across the open andgetting to the woods.

Another inspiring episode was that of GySgt Dan Daly wholed a platoon against the machine guns emplaced in thewoods. Leading his men through the hail of bullets, he cried,“Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever!?”

days, examining the details of ourweapons. Perhaps the most well-known researcher in recent years isDolf Goldsmith, who spent days onend, assembling data for his exhaus-

tive publications on early machineguns. Several of our guns and accou-terments are featured in his work onthe Maxim gun, The Devil’s Paint-brush, and he also went through our

British guns searching for informationprior to the publication of The GrandOld Lady of No Man’s Land, hisacclaimed study on the Vickersmachine gun.❑ 1775❑

U.S. Marines capture a Maxim machine gun nest in thisdetail of a painting by Frank Schoonover of the fightingin Belleau Wood.


Two more pamphlets have beenadded to the official 50th anniver-

sary commemorative series on Marinesin World War II. Top of the Ladder:Marine Operations in the NorthernSolomons, which tells the story of the3d Marine Division seizure of the vitalCape Torokina beachhead, onBougainville, was written by CaptJohn C. Chapin, USMCR (Ret), authorof three other accounts in the series.

Beginning with the assault on 1November 1943, the Marines had atough two-month battle against welldug-in, determined Japanese. Equallya problem was an oppressively hot,humid climate, endless insects, andMarine foxholes where the men wereup to their hips in water. By the end ofDecember, the division had fought itsway through battles with names likeCoconut Grove, Numa-Numa, PivaForks, and Hellzapoppin Ridge.

The campaign cost the Marinesmore than 1,800 casualties, but it

produced two airstrips which wouldthen launch planes to pound the keyJapanese base of Rabaul. From thepainful start in 1942, at Guadalcanal atthe bottom of the Solomon Islandschain, the Marines had now success-fully reached the top of the ladder.

Written by J. Michael Miller, former-ly of the History and MuseumsDivision Personal Papers Collectionand now senior archivist at the MarineCorps University at Quantico, FromShanghai to Corregidor: Marines inthe Defense of the Philippines, tells thetortuous story of not only the 4thMarine Regiment, which departedShanghai for the Philippines inNovember 1941, but also of the 1stSeparate Marine Battalion at Cavitewhich was later redesignated the regi-ment’s 3d Battalion.

Readers of the series will recall that

New Pamphlets Tell of Bougainville and Bataanby Charles R. Smith

Historian

Marine Corps Air-GroundMuseum Opens for

Twentieth Year

The United States Marine CorpsAir-Ground Museum, Quantico,Virginia, reopened for its twenti-eth season on Wednesday, 1April. The Museum, housed inthree vintage aircraft hangars onBrown Field, MCCDC, highlightsthe Marine Corps integratedapproach to combat operationsemphasizing the combined useof air and ground tactics andequipment. Featured within thethree hangars are a series ofexhibits of aircraft, artillery,tanks, and other specializedequipment arranged in a self-guided chronological tour. Ad-mission is free; hours are 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. Tuesday throughSaturday and noon to 5 p.m. onSunday. The Air-Ground Mus-eum is closed on Mondays.

sidebars on specific subjects seldomexceeded one page. Although thispamphlet contains only three sidebars,all written by Richard A. Long, head ofthe Division’s Oral History Unit, theydeal extensively with Marine activitieson the ill-fated Bataan Peninsula Forthe first time the story of the MarineGuard Detachment with U.S. ArmyForces in the Far East and MarineRadar Detachment, Army Air Corps AirWarning Service are told.

While American Army andPhilippine survivors of the BataanDeath March have related their expe-riences, the record of the Marineslargely has been silent. Now the expe-rience of the four officers and nearly70 enlisted Marines is told. Althoughmany of the Marine survivors havepassed on, some as prisoners of war,Long was able to find 10 living enlist-ed Marines who related the events ofthe infamous march. ❑ 1775❑

From Top of the Ladder, as seen froma beached landing craft, these Marinesare under fire while wading in the lastfew yards to the beach

National Archives Photo 80-G-54384


Hollywood and the Navy Departmentby Dr. Lawrence H. Suid

Film Historian

Although the Marine Corps andNavy co-exist within a single

department, they have usually gonetheir separate ways in assisting film-makers. Each service ultimatelyobtained its own message films. TheNavy found great benefit from cooper-ating on the making of DestinationTokyo, Bridges At Toko Ri, and TopGun. The Marines’ appearances inmovies began during World War I withThe Unbeliever, and continued in suchclassics as What Price Glory, Sands ofIwo Jima, and Battle Cry.

On occasion, both services haveappeared on screen together, usuallycomplementing each other in combat.Disagreements over rendering devel-oped only if one service perceived itwould suffer at the hands of the otherin a proposed production.

For the most part, the 1920s and1930s saw few disputes because thepeacetime films usually ignoredimportant issues, and within the NavyDepartment, the Navy then enjoyedthe superior position. Of course, bothservices agreed on the need to createonly positive images in movies receiv-ing military assistance.

In 1931, a script titled “SummervilleNumber Four” received initial

approval from the Navy. However, thecaptain of the USS Colorado, on whichthe filmmakers planned to shoot somescenes, voiced his objection to theCNO, saying the completed filmwould “bring no credit to the Navyand might give the public an entirelywrong impression of discipline onboard ship.”

The captain focused his concern onthe portrayal of a Marine bugler’sefforts to smuggle a girl aboard in aseabag with two-thirds of the storyportraying “the adventures of the bag.The climax of the picture occurs whenthe girl sits on a switch which pre-sumably controls all activities on theship. When she does this the anchorsare let go, all boats are lowered, theturrets are fired, the whistle blows andthe band marches around the quarter-

deck playing ‘Stars and StripesForever.”

Ultimately, the Navy Department’sMotion Picture Board agreed thatapproval should be rescinded, thanksin part to the Marine member’s com-ment that “the picture is an undesir-able burlesque involving persons inthe uniform of this Corps.”

In contrast, Marine and Navy fliersjoined together during the productionof the 1935 Devil Dogs of the Air. Thefilm, featuring a 10-minute sequenceof a combined air-sea assault on abeach near San Diego, remains theonly movie to show Marine fliers tak-ing off from an aircraft carrier.However, the film did not mention theon-going debate over the missionswhich each air branch on board a car-rier should perform.

During World War II, Hollywoodportrayed at least one joint

Marine-Navy operation, showing asubmarine in Gung Ho carryingMarines to Makin Island. Perhaps bet-ter than any other submarine film, itconveyed the claustrophobia on boardan underseas craft thanks to the reac-tions of the Marines preparing for theraid in the confined quarters.

During the post-war recreations offighting in the Pacific Theater, film-makers regularly portrayed theMarines and Navy combining toassault Japanese-held islands, which-ever service was being featured on thescreen. Despite the desire for technicalaccuracy, however, both services usu-ally permitted filmmakers dramaticlicense in their productions, if the sto-ries contained positive images. Forexample, the Navy story In Harm’sWay includes a sequence in whichparamarines carry out an air dropagainst an enemy-held island, some-thing which never happened.

In contrast, neither service wouldassist on Seven Days in May since itportrayed an attempted military coupagainst the government. To be sure,the Marines may well have wanted tobecome involved since a Marine

colonel foils the plot which the com-mander of the Navy’s Sixth Fleet hadabetted.

During the Vietnam War, Holly-wood seldom portrayed the mili-

tary in positive terms and the Marinessuffered some of the worst indignitiesin the cinematic recreations of theconflict. In contrast, the Navy was lesstarred by the war and continued toappear on the screen in Ice StationZebra, Midway, and Final Count-down. However, the war changed for-ever the free and easy relationshipbetween Hollywood and the militaryand even in films which receivedassistance, portrayals were not alwaysflattering.

The Marines accepted this realityand wanted to cooperate on The GreatSantini despite the character flaws ofthe Patton-like Marine aviator. How-ever, for the only time since the ser-vice became an independent branchwithin the Navy Department, the Navytried to prevent the Marines fromcooperating on a movie, claiming thestory brought disrepute on both ser-vices. Ultimately, the Navy backeddown and the Marines assisted thefilmmakers with men and equipment,even allowing the director to disguiseMarine jets as Navy fighters Of course,the Marine pilots beat the Navy fliersin the aerial training exercise.

Again, with An Officer and aGentleman, the Navy refused to coop-erate because of the four-letter words,graphic sex, and the suicide of a Navyaviation cadet after he flunks out ofthe program. However, the Marinesloved the portrayal of its D.I. and pro-vided a technical advisor to LouGossett to help create his role. Theservice also allowed off-duty Marinesto play aviation cadets.

The Navy finally exacted revenge inA Few Good Men, on which theMarines adamantly refused to assistbecause one of its officers orders thehazing of an enlisted man and thenlies about it when the Marine dies.

(Continued on page 20)


New Books

Making A World War Easier to Comprehendby Evelyn A. Englander

Historical Center Librarian

The library of the Marine CorpsHistorical Center receives many

recently published books of profes-sional interest to Marines. Most ofthese books are available throughlocal bookstores and libraries.

American Heritage New History ofWorld War II, revised and updated byStephen E. Ambrose. New York:Viking Press, 1997. 628 pp. The intro-duction explains that the “aim here isto cover, in words and pictures, theessential history of this greatest ofhuman tragedies, and to recreate afeeling of what it meant in terms ofpeople who were swept up by it.”This updates the American HeritagePicture History of World War II, firstpublished in 1966. This revision incor-porates the last 30 years of WWIIscholarship, along with new analysisof postwar global alliances and theCold War. $50.00

Biographical Dictionary of WorldWar II. Mark H. Boatner III. Novato,California: Presidio Press, 1996. 733pp. This dictionary provides detailedaccounts of more than 1,000 notableindividuals from the war years. It in-cludes cross-references and sugges-tions for further reading. Other worksby the author include MilitaryCustoms and Traditions and the CivilWar Dictionary. Includes bibliogra-phy. $50.00

The Reluctant Sheriff: The UnitedStates after the Cold War. Richard N.Haass. New York: Council on ForeignRelations Press, 1997. 148 pp. Theauthor, director of Foreign PolicyStudies at Brookings and Senior Fel-low on the Council on ForeignRelations details this country’s searchin the post-Cold War world for balancebetween engagement and isolation.For example, he sees Desert Storm asan example of the U.S. as global sher-iff with its coalition or “posse” of co-operating states working together to

accomplish a specific task. $24.95

Reader’s Companion to MilitaryHistory. Robert Cowlely and GeoffreyPaker, eds. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,1996. 573 pp. This reference bookincludes more than 600 articles bymore than 150 contributors (e.g., theentry on “Marines” is by Dr. AllanMillett; “Military Medicine” is by Dr.Robert Joy, M.D.; “Clausewitz” is byMichael Handel; and “Civil War” is byWilliamson Murray.) Global in per-spective, it spans the timeframe fromthe origins of warfare to the Gulf War.Entries include suggestions for furtherreading. $45.00

Doing Battle: The Making of aSkeptic. Paul Fussell. Boston: Little,Brown, and Co., 1996. 310 pp. By theauthor of The Great War and ModernMemory and Wartime: Understandingand Behavior in the Second WorldWar. In this memoir the author writeshow his combat experience in WorldWar II changed his outlook on every-thing coming before and after. This isa thought-provoking account of theeffect of war on an individual. $24.95

The Buffalo Soldiers. William H.Leckie. Norman, Oklahoma: Univer-sity of Oklahoma Press, 1967. 290 pp.The black soldiers who wanted toremain in the Army after the Civil Warwere organized into the Ninth andTenth Cavalry Regiments. For the next20 years they served on the GreatPlains controlling hostile Indian tribes.This is a history of their service. Themen of these regiments were dubbed“the buffalo soldiers” by their Indianopponents as a tribute to their skilland courage. Includes bibliographyand black-and-white photos. $14.95

The Two Koreas: A ContemporaryHistory. Don Oberdorfer. Reading:Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley. 472pp. A narrative history covering bothNorth and South Korea over the past

25 years. By the author of Tet and TheTurn: From Cold War to a New Era.Now retired from the WashingtonPost, he is journalist in residence atJohns Hopkins School of AdvancedInternational Studies. With the strug-gle between the two Koreas repeated-ly claiming headlines and with closeto two million troops including 37,000from the U.S. on duty in North andSouth Korea and along the DMZ, thistext places this all into historical con-text and explains why the situationwith the two Koreas exists as it doestoday. $30.00

Facing Fearful Odds: The Siege ofWake Island. Gregory J. W. Urwin.Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,1997. 725 pp. Dr. Urwin has written acomprehensive history of the Dec-ember 1941 siege of Wake Island. Hedescribes how for 16 days 449 U.S.Marines with a handful of sailors andsoldiers and a few hundred civilianconstruction workers withstoodrepeated attacks from numericallysuperior Japanese forces. He basedhis work on interviews with more than70 Japanese and American survivors.Includes black-and-white photographsand bibliography. $59.95

Foxholes and Color Lines: Desegre-gating the U.S. Armed Forces. SherrieMershon and Steven Schlossman.Johns Hopkins University Press.March, 1998. $34.95

New and forthcoming titles ofMarine Corps interest (not yetreceived in the library): From BatteryPress in Nashville, Tennessee, a newreprint in one volume of EdwardMcClellan’s History of the U.S. MarineCorps in World War I and WhereMarines Fought in France. This vol-ume is available from Battery Press,P.O. Box 198885, Nashville, Tenn-essee 37219, phone: 615-298-1401.Price: $39.95 plus shipping and han-dling. ❑ 1775❑


Acquisitions

Lieutenant Harris’ Pair of Interesting Swordsby Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas

Curator of Material History

This past autumn, the Marine CorpsMuseum was given yet another

sword which had been carried duringthe Civil War by 1stLt John CampbellHarris, USMC, the nephew of theCommandant, Col John Harris. Thissword is the standard Model 1850 U.S.Army infantry officer’s sword whichwas prescribed for Marine officersupon the adoption of the 1859Uniform Regulations. The Army swordeffectively replaced the Model 1826Mameluke-style sword for the next 15or so years, until the re-adoption ofthe Mameluke in 1875, and nearly allMarine officers carried this type ofsword during the Civil War. 1stLtHarris wore this sword from his com-missioning in 1861 until he inheritedhis uncle’s sword upon the death ofthe Commandant in 1864. Althoughthere is one extant photograph of 1stLtHarris wearing his uncle’s M1826Mameluke sword, and physical evi-dence points to his alteration of hisuncle’s sword belt for his own use(see Fortitudine, Summer 1993) 1stLtHarris may well have carried bothswords until his resignation from theMarine Corps in 1869. When heresigned to take a role in the businessoperated by his wife’s family, he hadacquired quite an enviable record asan officer of Marines.

John Campbell Harris, a descendantof both Scots and English families,

was born near Philadelphia in 1840.

Shortly after being admitted to the bar,he volunteered for service in theMarine Corps in 1861, was commis-sioned, and took part in the garrison-ing of Fort Washington on thePotomac. He was a witness to the firstbattle of Bull Run (or Manassas) priorto being placed in command of theMarine guard on the USS Pensacola.He later sailed down the Potomac onthe Pensacola with President AbrahamLincoln and some of his cabinet, butreturned after being fired upon by theConfederate batteries in the vicinity ofmodern-day Quantico. The Pensacolathen sailed for Hampton Roads, whereit waited for the expected arrival of theConfederate iron-clad CSS Virginia,but left the area in February 1862 for

Key West, Florida. Arriving in KeyWest, the ship was refitted before sail-ing to join Adm David G. Farragut’sfleet, Adm David Porter’s mortar flotil-la, and MajGen Benjamin “Beast”

Photo by LtCol Charles V. Mugno, USMCThe newly donated foot officer’s sword is an excellent example of its kind, basedupon a French design surviving today in a slightly altered form as the Marinenoncommissioned officer’s sword.

The Model 1850 infantry officers’ sword, shown here with its scabbard, was car-ried by 1stLt Harris during the Civil War. Harris commanded the Marine guardon board the Pensacola in the attack on New Orleans.

Photo by LtCol Charles V. Mugno, USMC

1stLt John Campbell Harris, USMC,posed in his undress uniform for aCivil War-period portrait photograph.The city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,takes its name from his father’s family


Butler’s army for the attack on NewOrleans.

The Pensacola fought at both FortJackson and Fort Philip, and Harris

was brevetted for “gallant and merito-rious service” after being woundedduring the attack on the Chalmettebatteries. He landed with his detach-ment of Marines in New Orleans threetimes before Gen Butler’s troopsarrived to secure the city. After thesurrender of New Orleans, thePensacola remained in the area for ayear, but young Harris volunteered forservice at the siege of Port Hudson,Louisiana. In April 1863, 1stLt Harriswas ordered to the Charleston area,and was made adjutant of a newlyraised battalion of 500 Marines whichhad recently arrived from New York.He led a storming party of this battal-ion against Fort Wagner (which hadwithstood the desperate assault of the54th Massachusetts so movingly por-trayed in the recent film, Glory!) andthe Union forces this time took boththis fort and Fort Gregg. Following thisaction, he volunteered to serve in thenight attack on Fort Sumter.

However, service in the tropics hadtaken its toll on him, and he was sent

north to recuperate. His postwarassignments included extended cruis-es on both the USS Ticonderoga andFranklin, calling at ports in Europeand Africa, and often traveling into theinteriors of the countries at which theships docked. When he left the Corpsin 1869, he had amassed a record ofhaving more “sea service” than any ofthe officers who had entered at thesame time that he had or after him.

The sword is an excellent exampleof the U.S. Army foot officer’s

sword which was adopted by theArmy in 1850, and subsequently bythe Marine Corps in 1859. It is basedon a French design, and survivestoday in a slightly altered form as thesword still carried by Marine Corpsnoncommissioned officers. This exam-ple was sold by the best-known sup-plier of military goods during the mid-19th century, William Horstmann andSons, of Philadelphia.

Thanks to the untiring efforts ofone of 1stLt Harris’ great-grandsons,Benjamin Pepper, of Alexandria,Virginia, James Jenkins of Rindge,New Hampshire (another great-grand-son), the owner of the sword, wasurged to donate it to the Marine Corps.

Mr. Pepper had also been instrumentalin the donation of the “Harris”Mameluke sword which the museumacquired earlier. This new sword hasbeen selected for display in the soon-to-be renovated “Civil War” exhibit inthe Museum’s “Time Tunnel.”❑ 1775❑

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Marines in Hollywood(Continued from page 17)

And the Navy prosecutor, Tom Cruise,slays the Marine dragon after forcinghim to admit on the stand his com-plicity in the incident.

The end of the Cold War hascaused problems to both services.Who will serve as their new enemy?Terrorists, the IRA, Russian Nationa-lists, drug dealers, or even Sadam allseem pale threats compared to the oldSoviet Union. The Navy beating theMarines in A Few Good Men is certain-ly more interesting and more dramaticthan either service fighting small-timetrouble makers. Nevertheless, inter-departmental feuds on the screen donot help the image of either service.So, movie goers are probably doomedto more movies like G.I. Jane, TrueLies, Down Periscope, and CrimsonTide. ❑ 1775❑


Over the past year, History andMuseums Division (HD) has

studied ways to incorporate advancesin computer technology to enhanceour ability to serve both the MarineCorps’ and the public’s access to ourholdings. In January 1997, the Directorof Marine Corps History andMuseums, Col Michael F. Monigan,directed the formation of a technologyteam (Tiger Team) to examine devel-oping a three-to-five-year incrementalplan to expand the Division’s use ofcomputer technology, concentratingon internal interoperability and inte-gration of diverse collections, whichwould allow a linking of all HD assetsto better serve the needs of our MarineCorps and civilian publics. The resultof this tasking has been the develop-ment of a blueprint designed to cata-pult HD into the forefront of govern-ment historical agencies in the use ofcurrent technological advances.

As a number of work sections werealready thinking along these lines,

the first chore for the Tiger Team wasto consolidate our efforts into a uni-fied, comprehensive approach thatwould minimize duplication whileserving each section’s requirements.The team is comprised of representa-tives from all sections within theDivision. The initial meetings cen-tered on identifying both the currentstate of computerization within HD,and identifying the needs of each sec-tion regarding technology objectives.In some areas, HD has done quite wellin keeping abreast of technologychanges. The Editing and DesignSection uses state-of-the-art scannersand desktop publishing software andthe Library places its holdings into adatabase. Several years ago theMuseums Branch purchased both adigital camera and CD ROMread/write hardware, advanced tech-nology even for today. But overall, the

team quickly ascertained that HDlagged behind our counterparts in theother Services’ historical programs incomputerization, particularly regard-ing an Internet homepage and use ofcomputer databases. However, thisprovided the Tiger Team the benefit oflevying off the other agencies’ “lessonslearned” and afforded HD the oppor-tunity to examine the strengths andweaknesses of its software choicesand programs at large.

The Tiger Team proposed a planwhich, interestingly, closely paral-

lels the Library of Congress’ approachto upgrading technology, albeit on amuch smaller scale, in that it address-es the problem along three concurrenttracks: 1) digitization of importantmaterial, 2) development of compre-hensive, linked databases which allowfor key word searches, and 3) expand-ed use of the Internet to reach thepublic. HD plans to implement allthree aspects, although not necessarilyin this order. All are intertwined. Firstand foremost is the acquisition of soft-ware for a division-wide database.This would allow for easier retrievaland sorting of HD’s holdings andwould eventually allow researchers toconduct key-word searches via theInternet of portions of HD holdings,such as the archives or oral histories.Digitization of primary source materialis critical, not only for preservation ofdegrading documents, but ultimatelyalso to allow researchers to view someof our material without ever coming tothe Center. Lastly, a History andMuseums Division homepage will pro-vide a new medium in which both ourdatabases and digitized documentscan be viewed, in addition to allowingthe Reference Section to answer manyfrequently asked questions concerningthe history of the Marine Corps.

At its heart, HD plans to focus onenhancing the Division’s ability to

export its holdings or informationabout them, in electronic form, toresearchers via Division Intranet andthe Internet. This entails a series oflinked databases, residing on separateservers, backed up and exported via aread-write CD-ROM capability. Eachsection would be responsible forupdating and maintaining its own spe-cific database (with appropriate sup-port), all of which would be linked bya common retrieval system that wouldallow for a single search of all orselected databases. Each databasewould serve as a finding aid for bothinternal accountability of each sec-tion’s holdings as well as provide aneasily searchable mechanism forresearchers. A researcher could accessthe Division’s holdings from either akiosk located in the multi-purposeroom or via the Internet.

While still a work in progress, thevision of HD for the next centu-

ry is to develop the infrastructureneeded to bring the mountain toMuhammad. No longer will a re-searcher have to come to the Wash-ington Navy Yard or Quantico toaccess our holdings. A Marine onboard ship in the Arabian Gulf couldaccess a wealth of historical materialon Desert Storm as easily as a veteranfiling a VA claim in Alabama couldview his unit’s Vietnam CommandChronology. Further, these changeswill allow HD to comply with anincreasing number of Federal regula-tions designed to cut costs and pro-mote designation of information inelectronic form, such as The Paper-work Reduction Act and the 1996Electronic FOIA Act. While the elec-tronic highway remains studded withsurmountable obstacles, the initiativestaken over the last year have begunthe changes needed to carry Historyand Museums Division into the newmillennium. ❑ 1775❑

‘Tiger Team’ Sets Division’s Technology Goals

by Dr. David B. CristOral History Unit


Marine Corps Chronology

January - April 1968by Robert V. Aquilina

Assistant Head, Reference Section

The Fall 1997 issue of Fortitudine noted the upcomingobservances during 1998 of several significant historical

anniversaries, and the Chronology section of our quarterlybulletin reported on the 100th anniversary of the Spanish-American War. Our second installment of memorableanniversaries will examine four months during 1968 in theRepublic of Vietnam that would forever change the courseof America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Readersinterested in this period of Marine Corps history shouldconsult the recent History and Museums Division publica-tion U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Defining Year, 1968,which provides a definitive examination of Marine Corpsactivities and operations in Vietnam.

l Jan - Marine Corps strength totaled 298,498, of which81,249 Marines were serving in the Republic of Vietnam.

3 Jan - The 5th Marines concluded operation Auburn, southof Da Nang. The operation resulted in 37 reported enemycasualties, with 24 Marines killed and 62 wounded.

20 Jan - The second battle for Khe Sanh began whenMarines from the 3d Battalion, 26th Marines, attacked aNorth Vietnamese battalion between Hills 881 North andSouth. More than 100 of the enemy were killed.

21 Jan - North Vietnamese forces began a bombardment ofthe Marine Corps base at Khe Sanh and outposts in the sur-rounding hills. This rocket, mortar, and artillery barragewould continue for the next 77 days.

22 Jan - The 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, reinforced the gar-rison at Khe Sanh.

23 Jan - Special Landing Force Bravo, consisting of BLT 3/1and HMM-165, began operation Badger Catch near the CuaViet River. Three days later, the operation was renamedOperation Saline. The Marines in Badger Catch continuedto work in conjunction with Operation Napoleon, a similareffort by the 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion to keep theCua Viet River supply line open.

27 Jan - The seven-day Communist ceasefire for the Tet hol-iday began, and was followed two days later by the alliedceasefire, with the exception of I Corps.

In the fighting to clear enemy forces from the old imperialcity of Hue, LCpl C. D. Bradford, a radioman withCompany G, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, takes a wary lookaround as his unit’s advance continues.

On 9 February, Marines of Company A, 1st Battalion, 1stMarines, fire from the window of a house in Hue as NorthVietnamese and Viet Cong forces are routed from their posi-tions south of the Perfume River.


29-31 Jan - North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forceslaunched attacks against some 105 cities and townsthroughout the Republic of Vietnam.

1-9 Feb - Elements of the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, and 1stBattalion, 1st Marines, cleared enemy forces from Huesouth of the Perfume River. In a house-to-house battle, theywere able to retake the province headquarters, jail, andhospital from enemy forces. By 9 February, the last orga-nized resistance in the city south of the river ended, withmore than 1,000 enemy dead.

5 Feb - A North Vietnamese battalion attempted an assaulton the western slope of Hill 861A near Khe Sanh, but wasdriven back by a counterattack by Company E, 2dBattalion, 26th Marines. The enemy lost l09 killed; theMarines lost 7 killed in action.

7 Feb - The 66th North Vietnamese Regiment, 304thDivision, captured the U.S. Special Forces camp at Lang Vei,six miles southwest of Khe Sanh. Marine helicopters res-cued 14 of the 20 “Green Berets” and more than 70 SouthVietnamese at the camp.

12 Feb - The 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, entered the Citadelin Hue to help secure the old imperial capital from enemyforces. The resulting fighting caused heavy Marine Corpscasualties.

17 Feb - The 27th Marines arrived in Vietnam, and immedi-ately began operations in the “rocket belt” area south of DaNang.

23 Feb - The Khe Sanh Combat Base received more than1,300 rounds of rocket and artillery fire. During the entiremonth of February, the enemy fired more than 4,000rounds at Khe Sanh.

25 Feb - The city of Hue was declared secure after a bitter25-day battle. A combined force of Marines, Army, andSouth Vietnamese forces had accounted for an estimated2,500-5,000 Communists killed along with the capture oflarge amounts of supplies.

1-7 Mar - Sharp fighting broke out in several areas along theDemilitarized Zone. At Khe Sanh, the enemy began diggingtrenches near the 26th Marines’ perimeter. Fighting brokeout northeast of Con Thien and near the Cua Viet on theSouth China Sea.

31 Mar - Operation Scotland, the codename for Marineoperations at Khe Sanh, ended in Quang Tri Province, with1,561 enemy dead. Marine casualties included 204 killedand 1,622 wounded in action. The operation included thedefense of the besieged garrison of Khe Sanh.

31 Mar - President Johnson announced a partial halt in thebombing of North Vietnam, and also that he would send anadditional 13,500 troops to South Vietnam. In a surprisemove, the President declared that he would not run for re-election due to the war in Vietnam and public unrest athome.

1 Apr - The 1st Air Cavalry Division, USA, together withunits from the 1st Marines and the ARVN, began OperationPegasus from the Marine base of Ca Lu to relieve theMarine garrison at Khe Sanh.

9 Apr - U.S. troops retook the Special Forces Camp at LangVei, southwest of Khe Sanh.

15 Apr - Operation Pegasus ended with the relief andresupply of Khe Sanh. The operation resulted in 1,044reported enemy casualties with 51 Marines killed and 459wounded. The 1st Air Cavalry Division suffered 41 person-nel killed and 208 wounded.

On 12 February, Marine tanks rumble into the Citadel, atthe heart of Hue, to assist men of the 1st Battalion, 5thMarines, in bitter street-to-street fighting to regain control ofthe ancient capital.

Men of Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, depart a Huechurch after successfully ridding it of North Vietnamese sol-diers. Hue was declared secured on 25 February, with anestimated 2,500-5,000 enemy killed and the capture of largequantities of supplies.


MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL CENTERBUILDING 58, WASHINGTON NAVY YARD

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

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

One of the current projects in ourPersonal Papers Unit is the

arrangement and description of the40 cubic feet of files of the papers ofCol Edwin McClellan, the first histori-an of the Marine Corps. The volun-teer working with the collectionbrought to my attention a documenthe considered relevant for the 100thanniversary of the Spanish-AmericanWar. Admiral of the Navy GeorgeDewey sent a letter, dated 14 January1909, to the Subcommittee on NavalAcademy and Marine Corps, Com-mittee on Naval Affairs, House ofRepresentatives. Paragraph 3 des-cribes Dewey’s opinions of theMarines in action in the Spanish-American War and how they couldhave assisted him in the Philippines.

“It is the policy of the departmentto employ the Marines as an integralpart of the navy, and our war plansare worked out accordingly; butwhen embarked they will be onships especially fitted to carry expe-ditionary forces and advanced basematerial. I regard it as a matter ofvery great importance for the NavyDepartment to have under its orders,ready for immediate use at any time,an expeditionary force of sufficientsize to assist the fleet in capturingand holding an advanced base. TheMarine Corps supplies this force. If

there had been 5,000 Marines undermy command at Manila Bay, the citywould have surrendered to me onMay 1, 1898, and could have beenproperly garrisoned. The Filipinoswould have received us with openarms and there would have been noinsurrection. The capture and occu-pation of Guantanamo during theSpanish-American war, giving thefleet a base, without which the diffi-culty of blockading and capturingSantiago would have been immea-surably increased; the Peking reliefexpedition, and the recent occupa-tion of Cuba, which was accom-plished by the Navy and MarineCorps in the most expeditious man-ner, the first detachment arrivingabout two days after the Presidentgave the order, are excellent exam-ples of the need of such a corps tocooperate with the fleet and to beunder the orders of its commander inchief.”

What is interesting is that ColMcClellan copied only that part ofthe Dewey letter that was favorableto the Marines. Actually Adm Deweydeftly and without ruffling MarineCorps feathers was supporting aPresidential Executive Order thatwould have removed Marines fromthe crews of Navy warships. Theparagraphs that are omitted are num-

bered 4 and 5 and read as follows:“4. Since the marines will not

have to be split up into small detach-ments for the various ships of thefleet, an organization better suited totheir most important function can bemaintained, while their mobility canbe kept at a high degree of perfec-tion by suitable drills in conjunctionwith the fleet. On the other hand, itwill not ordinarily be necessary towithdraw the crews from any guns ofthe fighting ships for landing parties,and the morale of the blue jacket willbe improved by not having a sepa-rate corps on board ship for policeand sentry duty. As a consequence, Ifirmly believe that the efficiency ofboth the navy and Marine Corps willbe materially increased by restrictingthe marines to the . . . necessaryduties enumerated in ExecutiveOrder No. 969.

“5. Only about 20 per cent of theMarine Corps were serving on boardcruising ships when this executiveorder went into effect. The remain-ing 80 per cent were serving onshore and on station ships. The menwithdrawn from the ships are need-ed to form an expeditionary force foreach fleet and to supply the menneeded to properly garrison ournaval bases at Guantanamo and PearlHarbor.”

Dewey’s Praise of Marine Accomplishmentsby Frederick J. GraboskeHead, Archives Section