bulletin of the marine corps historical proge vol 23 no 3_1.pdfmarine corps historical center...

FORTITtJD IBULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGEHISTORICAL BULLETIN VOLUME XXIII WINTER 1993-1994 NUMBER 3'

WORLD WAR I MARINES FOUGHT IN NATION'S LARGEST BATFLE 10 DATE. MAPS USED BY MARINES INFRANCE IN 1918, WORLD WAR II PHOJU ALBUM DONATED TO COLLECTION. PERSONAL PAPERS GIVE ClUES

'TO LIFE OF 'FOLLOW-ME' NEVILLE. jiTH MARINES' VIETNAM SOUVENIR. FUGHT LINES: BELL UH-i 'HuEY'

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

PCN 10401220100

Marine Corps Historical CenterBuilding 58, Washington Navy Yard

901 M Street, SoutheastWashington, DC. 20374-5040

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

DIRECTOR

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

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Col William J. Davis, USMC

HISTORICAL BRANCH

Head: LtCol Thomas A. Richards, USMC. Histories Section:Mr. Benis M. Frank, Chief Historian; Dr. Jack Shulimson;Mr. Charles R. Smith; Capt David A. Dawson, USMC; Capt

John T. Quinn II, USMC. Oral History Unit: Mr. RichardA. Long. Reference Section: Mr. Danny J. Crawford; Mr.Robert V. Aquilina; Mrs. Ann A. Ferrante; Miss Lena M. Kal-

jot; Mrs. Shelia Gramblin. Archives: Mr. Frederick JGraboske; Miss Amy J. Cantin, Personal Papers; Mrs. JoyceC. Hudson, Cpl Joshua R. Ford. USMC, Official Papers.

MUSEUMS BRANCH

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

Charles A. Wood, Chief Curator; Mr. Kenneth L. Smith.Christmas. Material History; Mr. John G. Griffiths, Ord-nance; Mr. Joseph E. Payton. SSgt Mitch Garringer, USMC,Restoration; Mr. Michael E. Starn, Aeronautics; Mr. RonaldJ. Perkins, Mr. Ronnie D. Alexander, Exhibits; Mrs. NancyF. King, Uniforms; Mrs. Jennifer L. Castro, Registrar, Mrs.Kathryn R Trout, Programs Asscttant. Security: SSgt HurelJ.Ward. USMC; Sgt Daryl L. Clark. USMC; Sgt Vincent L.Wright, USMC; Sgt GuillermoJ. Serra. USMC; Cpl KevinS. Anderson, USMC; CplJose Rodriguez, USMC; CplJeffreyJ. Weins, USMC; LCpI Sean A. Brooks, USMC; LCpI StevenE. Winsky, USMC.

MARINE CORPS MUSEUM UNIT, WASHINGTON, D.C.

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

SUPPORT BRANCH

Head/Division Executive Officer LtCol Dave Beasley, Jr.,USMC. Editing and Design Section: Mr. Robert E. Struder;Mr. William S. Hill; Mrs. Catherine A. Kerns. Library: MissEvelyn A. Englander. Administration: lstLt John T Simp-son, USMC; SSgt John Hudson, USMC; Sgt Exkchart Rat-tanachai, USMC; Cpl Amanda F. Bernard, USMC; LCpIMichaelJ. Miksovsky, USMC. Security Unit: SSgt RicardoE. Harding, USMC.

Mr. Robert E. StruderSenior Editor/Editor; Fortitudine

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

Historical Bulletin Volume XXIII Winter 1993-1994 No. 3

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Memorandum from the Director: Marines in the Meuse-Argonne, Part I,Reaching the Meuse

BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret) 3

Readers Always Write: Respect, Yes, But No Need to Glorify a Former Enemy 10

Unusual Collections Arrive by Way of Unusual RoutesFrederick]. Graboske 12

Historical Quiz: Blacks in the Marine CorpsLena M. Ka/jot 12

Acquisitions: Johnson Rifle Was a Favorite of Marine ParachutistsKenneth L. Smith-Christmas 13

Tarawa 50th Anniversary Marked at MuseumCo/ A/fred]. Ponnwitz, USMC 14

Answers to the Historical Quiz: Blacks in the Marine Corps 14

Foundation Cites Greenwood's Life AccomplishmentsChar/es R. Smith 15

Mentioned in Passing: Iwo Jima Marine, First Woman Judge Advocate MournedBenis M. Frank 16

Portrait Bust Honors 'First Commandant' NicholasCol William j Davis, USMC 17

Papers Give Closer Look at 'Fighting Commandant'Amy]. Cantin 18

Volunteer Restores 12th Marines' 'Vietnam' CannonlstLt]u/ia N, Garvin, USMC 19

Flight Lines: Bell UH-1 'Huey'Michael F. Starn 20

World War II Chronology, 1941-1945: September-December 1944Robert V Aquilina 21

Making the Command Chronology: One Good Photo May Be WorthMany Pages of Text

Capt DavidA. Dawson, USMC 24

THE COVER

The recruiting poster art, "Premiers au Feu Means in French, First to Fight, itt English, U.S.Marines," is a product of master American graphic artist C. B. (Charles Buckles) Falls, whosework spans 65 years from the end of the 19th century through the first half of the 20th.The 38" x 28" poster is printed in four colors on white: the face in yellow, the helmet ingrey, the background in dark green, and the shadowing in black. The lettering is the whiteof the paper. Falls was born in Flrt Wayne, Indiana, in 1874. During World War I, in themidst of a successful career, he personally "adopted" the U.S. Marine Corps, producing whatmany consider his most striking wartime poster art for the Marines. He believed that "a postershould be to the eye what a shouted command is to the ear." Many of these eyecatchingposters, including the one shown, are in the collection of the Marine Corps Museum, asis one entitled simply "Books Wanted," featuring a young Marine happily carrying stackedrecreational reading matter. It became the most circulated poster of the war.

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

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

2 Fortitudine, Winter 1993-1994

HISTORYAND MUSEUMSDIVISION

Memorandum from the Director

Marines in the Meuse-ArgonnePart I: Reaching the Meuse

BGen Simmons

A FTER THE HARD fighting at BlancMont during the first week of Oc-

tober 1918, the Marine brigade of the 2dInfantry Division went into camp at Cha-ions. Here there was a bit of rest whilereplacements from the 1st Marine Train-ing Regiment at Quantico were fed intothe depleted ranks. Not all the 2d Divi-sion had been brought together becausethe 2d Field Artillery Brigade and other

combat and service support units were stillserving with the 36th Division under theFrench in the Blanc Mont sector. Furtherseparation of units was threatened.

On 19 October, the French FourthArmy, of which the 2d Division was still apart, ordered that a brigade be detachedand sent forward to relieve the French 73dDivision at Leffincourt. MajGen John A.Lejeune, the division commander and fu-ture Commandant, designated the Marinebrigade. Under its commander, BGenWendell C. Neville, Lejeune's longtimecomrade and another future Comman-dant, the brigade marched north on 21October, its advanced units reachingLeffincourt, while the brigade staff workedout the details of the relief. Meanwhile,Lejeune was protesting the piece-mealingof his division to G.H.Q. The orders divert-ing the brigade were canceled and on thefollowing day, 22 October, the brigadeturned around and marched back to itscamp at Chalons.

Prompted by this march and counter-

march, Lejeune visited the American FirstArmy headquarters at Souilly on 23 Oc-tober to beg for the return from the 36thDivision of his artillery brigade, engineerregiment, and supply trains, and for suffi-cient Army replacements to bring his di-vision up to full strength. Meeting withBGen Hugh Drum, USA, the chief ofstaff, he learned that the 2d Division wasbeing reassigned to the First Army, spe-cifically to join the V Corps to be the pointof the wedge for a great attack that was tobreak through the center of the GermanArmy.

T HE MEUSE-ARGONNE offensive, withover a million Americans, was quite

the largest battle in which the UnitedStates had ever taken part. The missiongiven the American First Army by thegeneralissimo of the Allied Armies, Fer-dinand Foch (not quite yet Marshal Foch)was to drive the Germans back of theSedan-Mezieres line before severe winterweather set in. Gen Henri Petain, com-

Part II, "Crossing the Meuse," will bein the next Fortitudine. The two-part "Marines in the Meuse-Argonne"is derived from the chap-ter on the Meuse-Argonne of themanuscript for "Through theW/heat: The US. Marines in the FirstWorld War,"a 75th anniversary com-memoration of World War I beingwritten by BGen Simmons. Correc-tions, comments, and amplificationsare solicited

The wild andtangledArgonne forest was so formidable a defen-sive position that Napoleon, a hundred years earlzer had ledhis army around it. In 1918, as shown here, the Germans had

prepared elaborate dug-outs that often ran for hundreds offeetunderground and enabled their soldiers, by using the furtherexit, to come out at the rear of US. First Army formations.

manding the French forces, pessimistical-ly did not expect the Americans to getbeyond Montfaucon. He expected Luden-dorff to throw in all available reserves toblock the American advance.

Pershing had taken personal commandof the First Army. The concentration offorces followed plans worked out by ColGeorge C. Marshall, Pershing's AssistantG-3. The III Corps was on the right of thezone of action, the V Corps in the center,and the I Corps on the left. The I Corps'neighbor to its left was the French FourthArmy, to which the U.S. 2d Division hadbeen assigned for the opening phases ofthe offensive.

In Phase I, 26 September to 3 October,the III Corps on the right had drivenahead beyond Montfaucon and the VCorps had made small gains in the center,but the I Corps, on the left, had boggeddown in the Argonne Forest. Phase II, 4to 31 October, was characterized by fron-tal attacks that yielded gains. Clemenceau,the President of France, impatiently sug-gested to Foch that he move to have Persh-ing relieved. A more understanding Fochdeclined to pursue the matter. Pershing,however, in mid-October, reorganized hisarmy to ease his span of control. The head-quarters of an American Second Army,under MajGen Robert L. Bullard, USA,was formed to take command of theAmerican forces east of the Meuse. Maj-Gen Hunter Liggett, USA, was given com-mand of the First Army. New corpscommanders were named. Pershing movedhimself up to army group commander andby the end of October, was ready for thethird phase of his offensive.

On the eastern half of Pershing's frontof more than 80 miles, now the zone ofaction of the Second Army, the Kriem-hilde Stellung—a portion of what the Al-lies called the "Hindenburg Line"— hadbeen breached. On the western half, thezone of the First Army, the Germans werestill firmly in place.

N ORTH OF Sivry-sur-Meuse the MeuseRiver made a sharp bend to the

west. The river line was defended by theFreya Stellung, which lay along the Bar-ricourt Heights, coming down from thenorthwest to the Meuse. But before teach-ing the Freya Stellung, the remaining por-tion of the Kriemhilde Stellung had to bereduced. This would open the way for afurther crossing of the Meuse.

Presumably Drum made all of thisknown to Lejeune. Drum then passedLejeune on to Hunter Liggett. Liggett, anold friend, was cordial and complimentaiy,and assured Lejeune that he would ap-proach the French for the return of the ar-tillery, engineers, and supply trains.Lejeune also obtained the diversion of2,500 Army replacements intended for the3d Division.

Next day, on 24 October, the 2d Divi-sion headquarters displaced to Les Islettes.Lejeune was billeted in a large, old-fashioned house. The division was joineda few days later by its missing artillery, en-gineers, and supply trains. On 25 and 26October the 3d Infantry and 4th MarineBrigades made night marches by muddyside roads to an assembly area in a woodsnear Exermont. Lejeune moved his head-quarters to Charpentry the following day.

HARPENTRY, THE new capital cityof the Second Division, was a sight

to behold," wrote Lejeune. "It was situat-ed in a flat valley with high, steep hills allaround it, and was in a sea of mud. It wasa ruined town, having been a target forGerman artillery since the day it was wrest-ed from German hands by the Americans,and only two or three buildings were in

condition to be used. Division headquart-ers occupied a two-story building. It wasnearly a complete wreck, and promised tofall down as soon as hit again by one ofthe numerous shells that were beinghurled at the town by the enemy."

T HAT MORNING, 27 October, Lejeunedrove to V Corps headquarters at

Cheppy to report to MajGen Charles P.Summerall, USA, who had taken com-mand of the corps just about two weeksearlier, having relieved the elderly MajGenGeorge H. Cameron, USA.

Summerall was the son of a long lineof Florida preachers and he might havebeen one himself if it had not been forthe impoverishment of his family by theCivil War. This made it expedient for him(Lejeune, Annapolis '88, was a like case)to go to West Point, where he graduatedin 1892, 20th in a class of 62. He went intoartillery and was a junior officer in Reilly'sBattery, which supported the Marines inthe relief of Peking in the Boxer Rebellion.His churchly background gave him thehabit of delivering little homilies on ev-ery possible occasion.

He had made his reputation as an ar-tillery brigade commander at Cantigny.Allied artillery doctrine, hammered out in

4 Fortitzidine, Winter 1993-1994

In a much-published view, Marine BGen Smedley D. Butler, center, is the host at5th Marine Brigade headquarters in Pontanezen, France, on 18 June 1919, to artileristMajGen Charles P. Summerall, USA, left, and MayGen John A. Lejeune, USMC.

trench warfare, was that the number ofguns should be proportional to the linealfrontage to be attacked or held. In 1917,experienced British and French artilleristslistened in amusement to the newly ar-rived American gunner who preached thatguns should not be allotted to linear front,but to the number of infantry in action.In the spring of 1918, Summerall, com-manding the 1st Artillery Brigade, 1st Di-vision, at Toul and Cantigny, had thechance to test his new techniques aimedat putting gunfire where the infantrywanted it. He was credited with perfect-ing the "creeping" or "rolling" barrage andfacilitating call fires with better wire com-munications. After Cantigny he moved upto command of the 1st Division. Hefought it well at Soissons, where his gunsvirtually destroyed the Prinz Eite/FriedrichDivision of Prussian Guards. His artilleryvirtuosity was again demonstrated at St.Mihiel. Command of V Corps was hisreward.

SUMMERALL WAS also an ambitious,driving man. He told Lejeune, quite

pointedly, that he had found it necessaryto relieve several front-line commandersfrom duty. He then went into the detailsof the corps' role in the big attack due tobegin at dawn on 1 November. The VCorps front extended from the Bois deBantheville to St. Georges. On the right,the 89th Division had broken through theKriemhilde Ste/lung. On the left, the 42dDivision, the celebrated Rainbow Divi-sion, was still in front of the Krzemhilde.Momentarily both the 1st and 2d Divi-sions were in reserve. The 2d and 89th Di-visions would now move into the assault.The 2d Division would relieve the 42d,smash through the Kriemhilde, and goahead, with the 89th Division on its rightand the 80th Division of the I Corps onits left, against the Freya Ste/lung on Bar-ricourt Heights. On D-day, the 2d Divi-sion was expected to advance ninekilometers, taking the fortified towns ofLandres-et-St. Georges, St. Georges, Lan-dreville, Chennery, and Bayonville; alsothe Bois des Hazois, Bois l'Epasse, and, fi-nally, the Heights of Barricourt.

At a second conference, artillerymanSummerall promised Lejeune an enor-mous concentration of artillery. The 2dDivision's own artillery would be rein-forced by the fires of the artillery brigadesof the 1st and 42d Divisions as well as all

available corps and army artillery, a totalof more than 300 guns. Summerall thenasked for assurances that the first day's ob-jectives would be taken. Lejeune told himthat he had every confidence that his di-vision could take the Barricourt Heights,if at least one of his flanks was protectedby an adjacent division. MajGen WilliamM. Wright, USA, commanding the 89thDivision, which would be on the right ofthe 2d Division, said his troops were tiredbut would stay abreast.

SUBSEQIJENT 10 MEETING with Sum-merall, Lejeune called a conference of

his brigade and regimental commanders.Detailed planning down to the platoonlevel proceeded. The division would goforward in column of brigades on a frontof slightly more than two kilometers. The4th Brigade would lead off on the first day,with the 3d Brigade to pass through andcontinue the attack on order. For thejump-off, the 23d Infantry would be at-tached to the Marine brigade and wouldgo in on the right against the Bois l'Epasse.Once the wood was taken, the 23d would

revert to the 3d Brigade and the 4thBrigade would take over the whole divi-sion front.

The three artillery brigades — the mostexperienced American field artillery inFrance —would fire a preparation of twohours, then a standing barrage of 10minutes, and then a roll forward at therate of 100 yards every four minutes onfavorable ground, every eight minutes onrough ground.

Close-in fires would be provided, asusual, by machine-gun barrages. All themachine guns in the 2d Division, exceptfor two companies, were gathered for thepreparatory fires, some 255 machine guns.The Marine machine gunners were as goodas any in the American Army, but they en-vied the machine gunners of the 89th Di-vision their water-cooled Vickers machineguns, which could deliver five times thevolume of fire of the French Hotchkisseswith which the Marines were stillequipped.

The promised replacements had comein and the division was close to fullstrength. Special troops attached for the

Fortitudine, Winter 1993-1994 5

American and Allied Attacks on the Western FrontSeptember 26—November 11, 1918

-— Arrows indicate directions of main attacks —XXXX—Boundary between ArmiesGround gained by American units Sept. 12-16, 1918

I:.: iliGround gained by American units Sept. 26-Nov. 11, 1918

American Battle Monuments Commission, American Armies and Battlefields in Europe (Washington, D.C., 1938)

attack included a company from the 1stGas Regiment, a company of 15 lighttanks, a squadron and a half of aircraft,and a balloon company, all American ex-cept for a few French aircraft.

Summerall, accompanied by Lejeune,visited each of the 12 infantry battalionsof the two brigades and gave repeatedrousing exhortations to take the Heightsof Barricourt which would force the Ger-mans to retreat behind the Meuse. InLejeune's words, '. . . four hours of tramp-ing through the mud and makingspeeches in the open air Before driv-ing away, Summerall said once again toLejeune that he had been compelled torelieve a number of officers for failure tocarry out orders and that he would con-tinue to do so. Lejeune quietly assuredhim that the officers of the 2d Divisionwould carry out their orders.

The 2d Division began its movementinto the lines on the night of 30/31 Oc-tober, relieving the support and reservebattalions of the 42d Division. The front-line battalions of the 42d Division stayed

in place and would continue to hold theoutpost line until 3 a.m. on 1 November.Command of the sector passed to Lejeuneat noon on 31 October and he opened hisdivision headquarters at Exermont at 4p.m.

By this time all but a few die-hards inthe German Army knew that the war waslost. Bulgaria, Turkey, and Austria-Hungary were now out of it and Germa-ny stood alone. But the High Command,perhaps already planning the next war, wasdetermined that the German withdrawalwould cost the Allies heavily. Preliminaryplans were to drop back to the Anrwerp-Meuse Line which would mean a retreaton the American front to the east bankof the Meuse.

Q PPOSITE THE AMERICAN First Armywas the German Fifth Army, com-

manded by General von der Marwitz, anold adversary of the Marines. On the Ger-man right was the Provisional Corps or Ar-gonne Group under General von Klcist.On the left was the XXI Corps, also known

as the Meuse West Group, under Generalvon Oven.

Immediately opposite the 42d Divisionwas the German 41st Division, the left-most division of the Argonne Group. Onits right was the 15th Bavarian Divisionwhich the Marines had met at Blanc Mont.To its left was the 88th Division of theMeuse West Group.

As it happened, the German S2dDivi-sion was relieving the 41st Division at thesame time the U.S. 2d Division was reliev-ing the 42d. By the morning of 1 Novem-ber, all three regiments of the 52d werein position, but the 41st Division lingeredin the area. Average strength of the Ger-man regiments was 800 men, convention-ally organized into three battalions, eachwith three rifle companies and a machinegun company.

The Germans were quite aware that abig American attack was coming. AsGeneral von Gallwitz, commanding theparent Army Group, wrote later:

We continuously detected addi-tional new divisional insignia. As forthe west bank of the Meuse, we dis-covered there more than six divi-sions, as originally reported. Thatfamous American crack unit, the 2dDivision, withdrew from oppositeArmy Unit C and was now reportedto be near Montfaucon.

T HE GERMAN LINE in front of the 2dDivision was held by a single battal-

ion stretched out across a hill south ofLandres-et-St. Georges, its position or-ganized, in German fashion, in consider-able depth, with strong points rather thana continuous line. Elements from both the41st and 52d Divisions were in St. Georges

Of Exermont, Lejeune wrote to his wifethat night, "It is a filthy hole. I have myroom and our offices in an old peasant'shouse, and my room adjoins the stablewhich is under the same roof; my nearestneighbors are two mules in the stable."

Lejeune slept briefly but was up before2 am, to assure himself that his troopswere in their jump-off positions and thatthe artillery and machine guns were inreadiness for the bombardment. The ar-tillery preparation began at 3:30 a.m.Lejeune walked out on a high ridge fromwhere he could watch the shellfire. He wasconfident that his doughboys and Marines

6 Fortitudine, Wintet 1993-1994

Allied troops, here French cavalry on the right, pass each other in the glowing sun-shine of a country autumn, the visual peace of the scene marred by the footsoldiers'gas masks, which speak of the unseen horrors of the 1918 fighting in eastern France.

itself.

had learned to "lean on" the rolling bar-rage even if it meant taking a few casual-ties from short rounds.

The 1st of November was cold andcloudy, with heavy fog in the morning.The artillery preparation was so thorough"that scarcely a square foot of ground inthe enemy's front line area was left un-turned by bursting shells." In addition tothe artillery, ". . . the gas company threwinto the enemy positions its quota of des-truction."

T EN MINUTES BEFORE H-hour a stand-ing barrage came down like a curtain

200 yards in front of the German line. TheAmerican machine guns began their over-head fire. As scheduled, at 5:30 am., thethree regiments crossed the jump-off linesimultaneously.

On the right flank, the 23d Infantry,with two battalions in the assault,proceeded methodically with the takingof Landres-et-St. Georges and the clean-ing out of the Bois de Hazois and Boisl'Epasse and then pulled back to join the9th Infantry in support of the 4th Brigadewhich was echeloning to the right to takeover the whole division front.

The remainder of the attack was to bemade in column of brigades with the 3dBrigade following the 4th Brigade. The ar-tillery barrage was to roll forward and thenstand just beyond each successive objec-tive. This would give time to the second-in-column battalions to move through thelead battalions and continue the attack inleap-frog fashion.

Upon learning that the 23d Infantryhad taken its objectives on schedule,Lejeune went forward to establish an ad-vance headquarters at Landres-et-St. Ge-orges. En route he stopped at Somerance,the P.C. ("post of command") of the 6thMarines, and met with Col Harry ("LightHorse Harry") Lee, the heavy-set regimen-tal commander, and LtCol Thomas Ho!-comb, the regiment's second-in-conmiandand another future Commandant. Break-fast was being served at the regimentalhead4uarters. Lejeune broke out his messkit and somewhat self-consciously joinedthe chow line for a breakfast of bacon,beans, biscuit, and coffee before drivingon to Landres-et-St. Georges.

In the 4th Brigade attack, the 5th Ma-rines, the senior regiment, was on theright, and the 6th Marines on the left. The

battalions of both regiments were incolumn. The brigade's first objective wasan east-west line about 400 meters shortof Landreville.

Both the 5th Marines, under Col LoganFeland, and the 6th Marines, under ColLee, were in column of battalions with athousand yards distance between battal-ions. Maj George W. Hamilton's 1st Bat-talion led in the 5th Marines zone,followed by Capt Charles E. Dunbeck's 2dBattalion and Capt Henry L. Larsen's 3dBattalion.

In the 6th Marines zone, Maj FrederickA. Barker's 1st Battalion was in the assaultfollowed by Maj George K. Shuler's 3dBattalion, and Maj Ernest C. Williams' 2dBattalion. After the initial barrage, eachbattalion had a machine gun company at-tached to it for the advance, either theregimental machine gun company or acompany from the 6th Machine Gun Bat-talion, now commanded by Maj MatthewH. Kingman.

The attack went like clockwork. TheMarines had learned to stay close behindthe creeping artillery barrage. The twosmall villages that stood in their way were


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virtually demolished by the artillery fire.Heavy belts of barbed wire causedmomentary pauses. German artillery wasthe most potent element of the defense.Col Georg "Break-through Miller" Bruch-muller had arrived on 26 October to bethe chief of artillery for the Fifth Army.The German gunners stood their grounduntil their guns were overrun.

H AMILTON'S BATTALION soon out-flanked Landres and the ridge south

of the village and, without difficulty,reached its objective a few hundred yardssouth of Landreville. Barker's battalionmet heavy machine gun fire coming outof a small wood south of St. Georges.

Capt Macon C. ("Dick") Overton, "oneof the most gallant young officers of theMarine Corps," led his 76th Companyagainst the machine guns. The seeminglyindestructible young Georgian had com-manded the company since Belleau Wood.He was guiding a tank in its attack againsta machine gun nest when a Maxim bulletkilled him. Those guns knocked out, Bar-ker reached his objective, a small streamline running east from the village ofImécourt, without further difficulty.

Maj Barker had come to France in thefirst convoy in June 1917 as a captain andcommander of the 47th Company, 5thRegiment. In September, with a tem-porary promotion to major, he had goneto Paris as an assistant provost marshal. Inlate July 1918 he returned to the brigadein time to command the 1st Battalion, 6th

Regiment, at St. Mihiel and Blanc Mont.The 18th Company, 5th Marines, un-

der Capt LeRoy P. Hunt, had the task ofmaintaining contact with the 89th Divi-sion on the right. Hunt had done extreme-ly well with his company at Blanc Mont.In the Second World War he would com-mand the 5th Marines at Guadalcanal andgo on to retire as a lieutenant general.

A provisional battalion, on the left, un-der Maj George C. Stowell, consisting ofthe 95th Company, 6th Marines; Compa-ny G, 3 19th Infantry, 80th Division; andtwo machine-gun platoons, was given themore difficult mission of connecting theI and V Corps.

SlOWELL HAD COME to France in thefall of 1917 as a captain and com-

mander of the 76th Company for the firstweek of Belleau Wood. Fr some reason,now forgotten, he was plucked out of thatcommand and sent back to the 2dReplacement Battalion. He came back tothe 6th Marines in early September andcommanded the 75th Company at St. Mi-hid and Blanc Mont. Now, with a tem-porary promotion to major, he was incommand of what was called the "LiaisonBattalion between 3rd and 5th Corps."

The 80th Division had made littleprogress, leaving Stowell's provisional bat-talion to protect the open left flank.Stowell and his pick-up command chargedinto the ruined village of Imécourt andcaptured its garrison of 150 Germans, thenslid over into the 80th Division's zone of

action, keeping abreast of the 2d Division'sadvance.

At about 8 am., Dunbeck's 2d Battal-ion, 5th Marines, and Shuler's 3d Battal-ion, 6th Marines, moved through the frontlines and took up the assault. Dunbeck'sbattalion went into the village of Lan-dreville where the Germans made the mis-take of firing machine guns at them fromwindows. This nuisance taken care of withgrenades and rifle fire, the Marines accept-ed the surrender of about 100 arms-raisedGermans.

M ORE SERIOUS WAS a German secondline, a portion of the Freya Stellung,

which ran generally east and west throughBayonville. Key to the position was tree-covered Hill 299 concealing a number ofmachine guns and some artillery. Dun-beck's battalion took the hill and reachedits objective, about 500 yards north ofBayonville, by noon.

Capt Dunbeck insisted that his namewas "Charley," not Charles, and that hehad been named for a favorite horse onhis father's stock farm in Lucasville, Ohio.Dunbeck, who had enlisted in 1903, hadcome to France with the 5th Regiment inthat first convoy in June 1917 as a newlymade marine gunner. Promoted to cap-tain, he was wounded in both legs atBelleau Wood, but came back in July tocommand the 43d Company at Soissons,St. Mihiel, and Blanc Mont, where he wasagain wounded.

Shuler's 3d Battalion, 6th Marines, met


In the Meuse-Argonne region, Allied tanks demonstrate theirfire before heading into the lines. The photograph well recordsthe landscape of the region, characterized by long, level vistas

punctuated by occasional wooded hills or rocky outcroppings,and agricultural villages and hamlets — the Landres-et-St. Ge-orges, Chennery, and Bayonville of the Marine Brigade.

little resistance until it reached the villagesof Chennery and Bayonville. These weretaken with the aid of tanks. Again, about100 Germans, along with assortedmachine guns and artillery pieces, sur-rendered.

Maj George Shuler was another of those5th Regiment "originals" who had comeover in June 1917. As a captain, he hadbeen adjutant, which equated to opera-tions officer at that time, of the 5th Ma-rines at Belleau Wood and Soissons.Promoted to major, he was transferred tothe 6th Regiment and commanded a bat-talion at St. Mihiel and Blanc Mont.

A BOUT NOON, the third echelon —Larsen's 3d Battalion, 5th Marines,

and Williams' 2d Battalion, 6thMarines — passed through the lines andbegan the final phase of the day's attack.By then all organized resistance had beenoverrun and the only remaining fight wasfrom small, isolated pockets of Germans.Larsen's battalion reached its objective, aline about one kilometer southwest of Bar-ricourt shortly after 2 p.m.

"Heavy Hank" Larsen, a second-generation Norwegian, had entered theMarine Corps as a second lieutenant in1913 and had been still another of thosewho had come across in the first convoy.He had been second-in-command of the3d Battalion, 5th Regiment, at BelleauWood, Soissons, and St. Mihiel, movingup to command, although still a captain,at Blanc Mont.

"Major" was the table of organizationgrade for battalion commanders in theFirst World War, although by November1918 many of the battalions were being ledby captains.

W ILLLAMS REACHED HIS objective, thesouthern edge of the Bois de la

Folie, about an hour later. His Marinesfound "Bob" Williams a hard-drinking,tough, and mean leader. In November1916, with 12 Marines, he had stormed the

fortaleza at San Francisco de Macoris,defended by from 40 to 100 (dependingupon who was counting) Dominican re-bels. This had gotten him the Medal ofHonor. He had come to France in Junewith the 3d Replacement Battalion, andafter a sojourn for indoctrination at theArmy's I Corps School, he had arrived atthe brigade early in August to be joinedbriefly to the 75th Company. Command

of the 2d Battalion, 6th Regiment, camea few days later and he had led it at St.Mihiel and Blanc Mont. One of his com-pany commanders, Capt Clifton B. Cates,said of him, "He had all the courage inthe world but I wouldn't say he was thebrainiest or friendliest man in the world."

By now the division had captured sever-al batteries of artillery and had 1,700prisoners and many cannon in the bag.The German prisoners were put to workcarrying the wounded back to the dress-ing stations, four prisoners to a stretcher.The burial parties, attended by chaplains,followed behind the advancing troops.

Soon after the attack began, Generalvon der Marwitz had begun moving for-ward his reserves. His 31st Division was al-ready well forward. The 115th and 23 6thDivisions, further to the rear, were orderedto move up. Von der Marwitz hoped tohold the Freya Ste/lung between Cham-pigneulle and Bayonville long enough tomake an orderly withdrawal to the Meuse.This proved impossible. After the 2d Di-vision had broken through the Freya po-sition and was in the Bois de Ia Folie, Vonder Marwitz ordered a new line, Buzancyto Bois de Ia Folie, formed to tie in withthe Freya Ste/lung to the east. By night-fall on the 1st, the 15th Bavarian was northof Sivry-les-Buzancy, its left flank bend-ing back and connecting with the S2dDi-vision on the ridge between Buzancy andthe Bois de Ia Folie.

T HE 89TH DIVISION, one of the Ameri-can Expeditionary Forces' best, came

up abreast of the 2d on the right, but theleft flank remained open. A fewindependent-minded soldiers from the80th Division caught up with Stowell'smixed battalion and were added to thedefense for the night. To Stowell's rear, thebend in the line near Sivry further exposedthe left flank of the 2d Division. Lejeunehad Neville send the rear-most battalionsof the 6th Marines across the divisionboundary into the I Corps zone to clearout the woods between Sivry and the Fon-taine des Parades. Some hours after darkcontact was made with a battalion of the80th Division.

The front-line battalions sent outpatrols and the brigade braced itself foran expected counterattack. The left flankwas still most vulnerable. On the Germanside, the remnants of several divisions, or-ganized provisionally into regiments, had

been ordered to hit southeast of Buzancy.The best they could manage was to forman outpost line north of Buzancy and infront of the Marine brigade.

At 8 p.m. Lejeune received Summerall'sorders for the next day's advance. The di-vision was to push forward to the Fosse-Nouart line at daylight. At 9 p.m. amodification to the Corps order arrived:in addition to advancing to the Fosse-Nouart line, the division was to take thetown of Buzancy which lay in the 80th Di-vision's sector. This would cause the divi-sion to attack in two directions: to thenorth to the Fbsse-Nouart line and to thewest against Buzaricy. Lejeune protested toSummerall that as of 10 p.m. his left flankwas still in the air. He argued that if hewas to attack to the west, then the 89thshould extend to the left to take over aportion of his front. Summerall acceded,the 89th Division's reserve began themarch, and the 4th Brigade faced 90degrees to the left.

Summerall, seemingly oblivious to thedifficulties he was causing by changing thedirection of attack, grew impatient. For-tunately for Lejeune, a protest came fromI Corps that an attack across its frontwould surely cause a mix-up. About 4 am.the attack was called off, and, for the 2dDivision, the "battle for Buzancy" hadended. By then it was too late to reformthe 4th Brigade to attack to the north soLejeune ordered the 3d Brigade to relievethe 4th Brigade and continue the attack.The 23d Infantry passed through the 4thBrigade in the southern part of the Boisde Ia Folie. The 9th Infantry remained inthe vicinity of Bayonville.

Q N THE MORNING OF 2 November,the 80th Division came up on the

left flank in strength and Stowell was ableto take his battalion back into the 2d Di-vision's zone of action. During the day, theMarine brigade rested, except for Wil-liams' battalion. Williams pushed forwardpatrols into Bois de Ia Folie until they werestopped by the German outpost line.

Only fragments of the 52d Division re-mained in the Bois de Ia Folie. On thenight of 2 / 3 November these were relievedby the skeleton 115th Division. On theliSth's left the 88th Division was still inthe lines, but reduced by now to a hodge-podge of mixed units, known by thenames of their commanders, including theremnants of the 41st Division, shriveled


down to a composite regiment. Itsstrength on 31 October had been 2,300 ri-fles. What it was now, no one knew. Onthe right of the 115th, the 31st Division,which the Marines had met briefly atThiacourt, was beginning the relief of the

15th Bavarian. To the rear, in its assemblyarea, the 52d Division could muster onlyan infantry strength of 35 officers and 242men. By the morning of 3 November theGerman line ran north of Buzancy and theBois de Ia Folie, to between Nouart andBarricourt, and then on to Villers. TheGermans had already put their withdrawalto the east bank of the Meuse into mo-tion. Von der Marwitz pulled the head-quarters of Fifth Army back to Virton. Theheadquarters of the Argonne Group, un-der Von Kleist, found new quarters atCarignan.

LEJEUNE ORDERED the 3d InfantryBrigade to move up in line of regi-

ments to the Fosse-Nouart line. The 23dInfantry, already in the Bois de Ia Folie,took the road to Fosse in a night march.The 9th Infantry moved north fromBayonville toward Nouart. German rearguards were brushed aside. The Fosse-Nouart line was taken by 6 a.m. on 3November. The 3d Brigade, followed bythe 4th Brigade, continued to advance,and by noon had reached the southernedge of the Bois de Belval. That afternoonof 3 November, Lejeune moved his head-quarters forward to Bayonville andChennery.

At the highest levels of command, it wasquite clear to the Germans that they mustwithdraw to their final position, theAntwerp-Meuse line. That portion of theFifth Army still west of the river was placedunder the Third Army, which was on theleft of the Crown Prince's Army Group. At1 p.m. on 3 November Von der Marwitzreceived orders for the Fifth Army to holdits present lines for two days. He ordered

a counterattack by the Argonne Groupagainst the 2d Division. Before it could belaunched, he received orders at 8 p.m. thatevening to fall back behind the Meuse.

On 4 November the 3d Brigade pushedon forward. In two days it had advancedseven miles. The woods, the villages, andthe crossroads acted as checkpoints bywhich the advance could be measured.That night Lejeune, who had moved hisheadquarters forward to Fosse, ordered the4th Brigade to go in on the right of the3d Brigade and connect with the 89th Di-vision. The 5th Marines, led by the 2d Bat-talion, went into the front lines. The 6thMarines remained in reserve south of theBois de Belval where Neville also main-tained his brigade P.C.

The 23 6th Division was now in front ofthe 2d Division, covering the Germanwithdrawal across the Meuse. Pushingback the 236th was primarily the job ofthe 3d Brigade. On the right the 5th Ma-rines helped the 89th Division clear theGermans out of the Jaulny Forest and wenton to reach the Meuse at Pouilly on 5November.

The traffic jams and congestion in therear were unbelievable. It was difficult get-ting ammunition and rations forward andequally difficult getting the woundedback.

During the night of 5/6 November the236th Division withdrew across the river.Next day the 9th and 23d Infantry movedup to the left of the 4th Brigade and thenear bank of the Meuse belonged to the2d Division. All bridges across the Meusewere found to be destroyed. Eli 775E1

(To be continued)

Readers Always W7rite

Respect, Yes, But No Need to Glorify a Former EnemyReference the recently distributed Time

of the Aces commemorative monographby Peter Mersky, I think Mersky did a mar-velous job of pulling it together, and I ampleased that he thought my commentswere helpful. However, I feel constrainedto mention one side of an issue or two inmy suggestions that didn't seem to standout in his otherwise excellent coverage.

First of all, I think a commemorativepiece on our Marine aces of W'XTII should

emphasize just that. In my opinion thereis no need to include four whole pages onJapanese fighter pilots. I believe empha-sis would be better placed on the pictureof inexperienced, "fresh out of flightschool" American pilots, rising to defeata soundly combat-experienced Japaneseair force, both ashore and afloat. To let to-day's Marines know precisely what was ac-complished, that emphasis should clearlyinclude certain facts. A prime example is

found in kill ratios in aerial combat. Theyranged from about 2.5 to 1 at the begin-ning of the Solomons campaign to over 10to 1 at the end of the war, both in favorof our forces.

Secondly, I believe a much strongercomparative piece on the system of killcredits should have been included. Oursystem of verification called for immedi-ate post-action debriefing on "who sawwhat," when memories were the freshest


The Department of Veterans Affairsis distributing a special World WarI 75th anniversary commemorativemedal to all living veterans of thatwar. This medal was designed by theU.S. Army Institute of Heraldry andis sponsored by the Chicago-basedMcCormick Tribune Foundation.World War I veterans or theirrepresentatives can obtain an appli-cation from the nearest VA Region-al Office or from the U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs, P.O.Box 27720, Washington, D.C.20038-7720. Veterans also can calltoll free, 1-800-827-1000, for an ap-plication. It is estimated that of theapproximately 75,000 Marines whoserved during World War I, between400-500 Marines are still alive andeligible for the medal.

There are also a limited numberof the original World War I VictoryMedals available for issue or replace-ment. Marine veterans, or theireligible next of kin, can request is-suance of this service medal by writ-ing to the following address:National Personal Records CenterNavy Reference Branch9700 Page BoulevardSt. Louis, Missouri 63132

and clearest, after each mission. Japanesepilot claims, as pointed out by the author,were taken at face value with no verzjIca-tion required. In addition, our pilots wereeven using gun camera film to help verifytheir claims in 1944 and 1945. I don'tthink there is a single reason to be back-ward about making any of these points indefinition of the magnitude of the com-bat accomplishments of 50 years ago.

Lastly, there is the reliance in some cir-cles on what is termed "post-war records"of the Japanese "made available" and usedto "correct" U. S. records. Considering thepounding that by-passed enemy basesreceived, plus the levelling accorded the"home islands" of Japan during '44 and'45, whatever enemy records were still legi-ble would have to be suspect at best. Itseems to me that we have no obligationto tread lightly on these matters. We hada great respect for the Japanese in most oftheir conduct as an enemy air power, anda keen understanding of the performanceof their flying machines and the abilitiesof their pilots. But we don't need to glorifyand magnify either, especially in a mono-graph about our pilots and our machines.

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

In the recent past I received my copy ofthe WWII series [entry]: Up the Slot: Ma-rines in the Central Solomons by MajCharles D. Melson, USMC (Ret). On page4 is listed the Marine Troop List, citing theunits as located *New Georgia only,**Vella Lavella only, and ***New Geor-gia and Vella Lavella. It is interesting that50 years after the Solomon Islands actionstook place there are still errors in theretelling.

First and foremost, the troop list onpage 4 omits VMF-212, commanded byMaj S. B. O'Neill (Maj H. M. Elwood, ExecOfficer). VMF-212 was one of the first Cor-sair squadrons to occupy Vella Lavella af-ter its capture. It conducted flight opsfrom Vella Lavella during mid-Septemberthrough D-Day at Bougainville on 1

November. VMF-212 was then relieved byVMF-214 (Boyington) and proceeded toEfate where Elwood relieved O'Neill asC.O. of VMF-212. VMF-212 returned toVella Lavella in January 1944 to relieveVMF-214 just days after Boyington wasshot down.

During this second tour, VMF-212 wasmoved forward to operate from Bougain-

ville where it was fully occupied in reduc-ing the enemy's VF inventory at Rabaul.Before completing this tour VMF-212 flewcover over the capture of Green Island.

VMF-212 was sent forward to fly fromGreen Island for its third and last combattour. By this time Japanese defense ofRabaul had just about collapsed. Elwoodwas returned to Hawaii to prepare for theMarianas Operations and VMF-212 movedon to the Philippines, after its third tour.

As one of the first fighter squadrons atGuadalcanal, VMF-212 did a bang-up job.It was one of the first to be returned home,so was one of the first to return to theSolomons for a second combat tour. Thismay explain why VMF-212 could well slipthrough the cracks, although hardly in thecircles of Marine historians. I know you cansort this out.

LtGen Hugh M. Elwood, USMC (Ret)Atlantic Beach, Florida

EDITOR'S NOTE: Author May Charles D.Melson responds: "Gen Elwood's letterrightfully hzhlzghts the efforts of a work-horse squadron that was lost in the detailof the Central Solomons narrative, Thestory was one I felt should be told in theprolected recounting of the Bougainvillecampaign, and VMF-212 also is noted inthe commemorative series pamp hlet Timeof the Aces as producing nine of the fight-er aces of the period, including Gen El-wood The story of Marine aviation in theSolomon Islands has been told in more de-tail in works such as Robert Sherrod's His-tory of Marine Corps Aviation in WorldWar II. Sherrod notes that VMF-212 ar-rived back in the South Pacific in August1943, based at Espiritu; in November itmoved to the Russells,' and in Decemberto Torokina. In January 1944 the Jlightechelon was at Vella Lavella and the restof the squadron at Piva. VMF-212 partici-patedin both the Vella Lavella and Bou-gain ville campaigns."

On 24 October 1993, I accepted theGeneral Wallace M. Green, Jr., Prize forthe most notable book in Marine Corpshistory for the current year for my biogra-phy of the late Gen Gerald C. Thomas.I owe this book's success to many people,most of whom are mentioned in thebook's [foreword]. Many A Strife wouldnot have been written, however, withoutthe exceptional contributions of BGenEdwin H. Simmons, Gen Merrill B. Twin-ing, the family of the late Gen Thomas,

the late Col "Tiny" Fraser, and my wife,Martha E. Farley-Millett. I also want to as-sure all Marines everywhere that royaltiesfrom the book go to the Marine CorpsHistorical Foundation to support furtherresearch on Marine Corps history since Iwrote the book with a grant from theElizabeth S. Hooper Foundation ofPhiladelphia.

I feel very strongly that I need to makethese acknowledgments clear .

Col Allan R. Millett, USMCR (Ret)Columbus, Ohio

This isn't meant as a complaint, but theinformation about Norman V. "Vern"McLean, author of the very good "HikingHiram" Bearss article [Fortitudine, Sum-mer 1993] seems slightly off target in onepoint only: ". . . was recalled to active dutywith the 6th Marines in Korea Itprobably should say: ". . . was recalled toactive duty with the 6th Marines duringthe Korean War (The 6th Marineswere not in Korea during the Korean War.)

MSgt John P. L. Morrison, USA (Ret)Sacramento, California

EDITOR'S NOTE.' MSgt Morrison andnumerous other sharp-eyed readers (in-cluding author McLean) found this editor'serror. The correction MSgt Morrison sug-gests is exact.

Just a note to tell you how much I en-joyed the Tarawa [Marines in WorldWar II Commemorative Pamphlet] mono-graph. I think it's the clearest and mostreadable piece I've ever read on that terri-ble battle.

Dave Shoup's S-4, Maj Ben Weather-wax, is mentioned in the account. Ben wasa very close friend of our family. He wasa reserve officer prior to WWII anddesigned the base theater at San DiegoMCRD as well as the post chapel. OnChristmas Eve this year, my son Tim tookme down to MCRD where I was 43 yearsago. Ben's theater still dominates thegrinder. The post chapel is gone.

Ben maintained a close friendship withDave Shoup after the war. He owned a ra-dio station in my home town and was asuccessful architect. He was a man of manytalents. He painted, wrote beautifully, andcould vocalize any dialect. He died in fireat his beach home in the late 50's.

Chuck HoonanMoraga, California


Unusual Collections Arrive By Way of Unusual Routes

T WO COLLECTIONS which are interest-ing, both for their content and for

the ways in which they came into our cus-tody, have been acquired by the PersonalPapers Section. We received 23 World WarI maps from Thomas G. Horton of Cin-cinnati, Ohio. Mr. Horton, the son offormer Marine Charles C. Horton, pur-chased some military memorabilia in a fleamarket. When he got the materials homeand examined them, he found the maps.He told his father, who called me andasked if we were interested in MarineCorps maps from World War I. Mr. Hor-ton's call illustrates how we obtain mostof our collections — former Marines whothoughtfully and generously offer usthings.

The Horton maps originally were theproperty of Capt David Bellamy, adjutantof the 3d Battalion, 6th Marines. One isa French map of the Verdun area, pub-lished in 1913. The lower left side ismarked in blue pencil showing some of3/6's movements during October 1918.Next to the town of Somme-Py is the note'Attack 2 Oct." What the map cannotshow is the utter desolation of that war-ravaged area. The next day's action, the at-tack on Blanc Mont, is on the next mapsheet. In that attack two Marines earnedthe Medal of Honor.

by Frederick j GraboskeHead; Archives Section

War II. It was common for such individu-als to make prints for their personal use.The album somehow came into the pos-session of former Marine photographerRoger Garrison, of Rochester, New York.Mr. Garrison gave the album to his friend,yet another Marine Corps photographer,Arthur Nelson, of Fredericksburg, Vir-ginia, with a request that he find it a goodhome. Mr. Nelson gave it to his daugh-ter, Shirley Dean, to pass along to a mem-ber of her church, Dr. Von Hardesty. Dr.Hardesty is a curator of aviation history atthe Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.I know him through my wife, who is a col-league there. Dr. Hardesty called me andoffered the album to the Marine Corps,and we gladly accepted. In ascertainingthe provenance of the collection I talked

with Mr. Nelson, who also has agreed toorganize his own photographs for dona-tion to us.

The Griffin collection consists of 167photographs, primarily of the battle forOkinawa, but with a few of Peleliu anda few of the Japanese surrender in Tient-sin in October 1945. The Okinawa pho-tos mostly document the combat, butthere are more than a dozen ethnograph-ic shots of the local people. The one usedhere shows a little-studied aspect of theoperation: rebuilding after the battle.Here are three women rethatching a hut.We have other photos of the Okinawanswinnowing grain and posing for the pho-tographer in the local costume. The bat-tle scenes include shots of medicalevacuation by air. Eli 775E1

T HE HISIORY OF a Marine's photo al-bum, also brought into the Center,

is a bit more tortuous. PFC L. L. Griffinwas a Marine photographer during World

Historical QuizBlacks in the Marine Corps

by Lena M. KaijotReference Historian


W"ith the battle over, photographer PFC Grtffln was able to concentrate on subjectsother than Marines: three women rethatching a hut in the Okinawan countryside.

Answer the following questions: 6. Who was the first black Marine to be awarded the Medal ofHonor?

1. What was the recruit depot for all black Marines during the 7. Who was the Marine Corps' first black aviator, as well as the1940s? first black Marine to attain flag rank?2. When was the first all-black Marine unit activated? 8. Name the single major Marine installation named in honor

3. What was the first black Marine combat unit? of a black serviceman.9. Name the two black former Marines who held world

4. Who was the first black Marine officer? heavyweight boxing titles.5. How many black Marines have been awarded the Medal of 10. Who was the first black astronaut?Honor? (Answers on page 14)