TIMES. WILLAMINA. OREGON
I
For 169 Years U. S. Marines Have Been Fighting.
Their Country's Battles on Land and on the Sea
K athleen N o rris Says;
H hat Can lie l)o Now?
B ell S y n d ic a t e .» W N U F e a tu r e « .
Anniversary Finds
Corps in Forefront
Of War Against Japs
The United States m arine
corps celebrates its 169th anni
versary this November 10th,
without pause and with no fan
fare. For the relatively sm all
m arine corps this has been a
year of herculean tasks, never
before equalled in the long and
heroic history of the corps. Over
thousands of miles of Pacific
ocean. Leathernecks have leap
frogged to within bom ber-range
of Jap an itself. Behind them lay
the heaviest m arine casualties
In history — but s m a ll w h en
weighed beside one of the g reat
est m ilitary sagas ever written
within a period of twelve months.
Since November 10th, last, m a
rines have advanced the front
on Japan by at least three thou
sand miles, all the most difficult
kind of amphibious operations
against an enemy who did not
know how to surrender except
in death on the point of a m a
rine bayonet.
Since the year 1775 when Capt.
Robert Mullin recruited the first
marines in the Tun Tavern at Phila
delphia, Leathernecks have ex
pected as their share, the hardest
type of fighting. The first two bat
talions of m arines were promised
nothing more than six dollars a
month, a liberal daily ration of
rum, and plenty of action. For the
last 169 years Leathernecks have
seen action in virtually every
corner of the world.
In the War of Independence the
new-born marines served creditably
on land and sea. Their first recorded
action was a raid on New Provi
dence in the Bahamas. A detach
ment fought with Washington in the
Battle of Princeton and in the sec
ond Battle of Trenton. Marines were
also present for the historic cross
ing of the Delaware and were part
of the force that surprised the Hes
sian garrison on Christmas Eve,
1776. Among their earlier admirers
was John Paul Jones who saw them
in action and openly spoke his ad
miration.
Reorganized in 1798.
With the coming of peace, the
marines were disbanded, not to be
formed again until 1798. It was seven
years later that they set out on their
first overseas venture—an opera
tion that was later to be recorded
in the Marine Corps hymn. This
action ("shores of Tripoli” ) was
made notable by Lieutenant O’Ban
non who led seven marines and a
handful of natives in one of the most
daring raids in military history.
* Always busy, the year 1812 found
marines in action again. They fought
in many engagements, from Lake
E rie with Commodore Perry to New
Orleans with Andrew Jackson. It
was remarked even in those days
that such a small force—numbering
scarcely more than a thousand —
could fight so effectively on so many
fronts.
I The marines were still a very
small force when they went into
action in 1845 in the War with Mexi
co. But despite their numbers they
took a major role in the attack on
the Fortress of Chapultepec, and,
Joining with a small force under
Lieut. Ulysses S. Grant, marched to
the gates of Mexico City,
I For the next 50 years the marines
were relatively idle. They played an
occasional part in restoring order in
Central America, but they didn’t get
into action on a serious scale again
until the Spanish-American war. In
this contest they struck the first
Wow3 for American arm s; they won
the first victories; they electrified
the nation with their skill and dar
ing. Rarely has such a small group
of fighting men received so many
decorations for valor.
At Front in World War I.
World War I also demonstrated
the high percentage of individual
marine heroism. One thousand, six
hundred and sixty-eight marines re
ceived awards despite the fact the
marine corps was still a relatively
small organization. The first Ameri
can to win the Congressional Medal
of Honor was a marine—Gunnery
Sgt. Charles F. Hoffman who
silenced five enemy machine guns
in Belleau Wood. Typical of marine
spirit was this report: "5:30 a. m.—
Four officers and 78 prisoners ar
rived at brigade headquarters
brought in by Marine Private
Leonard to whom they surrendered
in the Bois de Belleau.”
Marines entered World War II on
the firing line. "Send us more Japs”
wired the beleaguered marines on
•x
A weary machine gunner carries his gun on his shoulder and his rifle
in his hand, as he trudges along a soggy trail on New Britain island.
.Another Marine slogs along behind him. with a can of lubricating oil
in each hand, while a jeep bounces past. M arine units made their first
landing on New Britain on Christmas, 1943. It took many bitter weeks
to clean out the Japs.
Wake Island. On Bataan they fought
with equal courage. At Midway they
helped stem a m ajor enemy in-
vasion. Then on August 7, 1942 they
were again chosen by their country
to spearhead an offensive. Guadal
canal was the first offensive blow
struck by the Allies against Japan.
First Division marines fought
ashore carrying with them the
hopes and prayers of the entire civil
ized world.
Leathernecks, recently returned
from overseas, often debate the rela
tive fierceness of the battles in which
they have engaged the enemy. All
admit that Guadalcanal rates with
the toughest. For weeks the marines
fought on short rations and with the
enemy fleet and air force in al
most constant attendance. When the
marines finally moved out for a rest,
they had secured the first toehold on
the Japanese perim eter of defense.
Bougainville, Makin, New Georgia
followed. Then came Tarawa. Here
the marine corps fought its costliest
battle. Moving in on the shattered
island the morning of November 20,
1943, marines found the preliminary
shelling had failed to dislodge the
Japanese. The first 24 hours saw the
marines clinging to a beachhead 100
yards long and 10 yards deep. Sur
mounting almost certain catas
trophe, the marines rallied the
second day to drive inland. By the
third day they had completely se
cured the island.
Leap to Marshalls.
Moving northward, the marines
next invaded the Marshall Islands,
meeting with less resistance be
cause they had learned at Tarawa
to land on flanking islands before
assaulting the enemy’s main posi
tions.
Marines in this period also were
fighting on New Britain Island, Cape
Gloucester standing as their chief
campaign. But they soon with
drew from this theater.
Weeks passed before the marines
struck again. This time they leaped
forward 1,700 miles — from the
Marshalls to the Marianas. This, the
world realized, was a blow to the
Japanese stomach, for Saipan would
bring U. S. bombers within range of
Japan proper.
The ensuing battle was waged on
land, sea and air. The Japa
nese fleet, drawn out to meet this
threat, was turned back by long-
range carrier - based bombers.
Ashore the Second and Fourth
marines, aided by an army division,
ran into even harder fighting than
they had met at Tarawa. Saipan, a
large island with mountains, posed
an entirely new kind of tactical prob
lem to marines. But, versatile as
ever, they soon had secured their
beachhead and were moving across
the island. The enemy fought to a
suicidal end at Saipan. Even the na
tive population joined in the battle
and, when they saw their cause was
lost, leaped into the sea.
Tinian and Guam followed soon
after. In re-taking Guam the
Leathernecks evened the score for
the marine garrison which was
overwhelmed on that island at the
outbreak of war.
This series of successes—Saipan,
Tinian, Guam—caused an upset in
the Japanese government and led to
a bad fright for Tokio. The Japs
were not given much pause to swal
low the implications of these vic
tories. The marines struck next at
Peleliu in the Palau group. The
Japs quickly saw that this was a
blow aimed at the Philippines.
1 Thus the Japanese tide of con
quest ebbed. The past year has
| taught the Jap to dread the marine.
In one important operation the fact
that marines were involved was
withheld as information of value to
the enemy. The enemy who learned
his lesson from the Leathernecks on
Guadalcanal now may agree with
Allied observers that the United
States marine is "the most superb
fighting man in the world.”
7 Tie m ott im portant thuift it to accept Carleton a return cheer fully ; include him in
your plant at naturally at you w ould 1/ he came home uninjured.
B y K A T H L E E N NORRIS
First Hours Ashore
On Peleliu Cost
Marines Heavily
HAPPY YEARS AHEAD
TEAR-STAINED letter on
my desk comes from a Los
A paratrooper it coming home
Angeles wife, Jean is 22;
to hit young anil pretty wife.
she has been m arried less than
Thit should he a moil joyout
a year. Of th at year Carleton
event, hut the wife, Jean, looks
has spent seven months in Eng forward to the meeting with
land; he was among the men
dread. The hrave young man lost
By T /S g t. Benjamin Goldberg
hit right arm in France, and Jean
PELELIU, PALAU ISLANDS (De who made the first parachute in
layed)—The island was covered with vasion.
doesn't see how he can ever get
a pall of black smoke as the Ma
nnes landed.
Each wave of Leathernecks was
met with intense enemy fire. Mor
tar shells knocked out amphibian
tractors. From the rocks flanking
the beach came machine gun fire.
From the groves came rifle fire.
The Jap was everywhere. In
caves, in pillboxes, in foxholes, un
der brush, concealed in palm trees,
wrapped in fronds. And he took a
heavy toll.
One marine reeled to the beach,
arm s dripping blood. As he was
about to drop into a foxhole, he was
slain by a Jap sniper.
A corporal led his machine-gun
squad into action. In 20 paces, he
lost six men.
An officer lay in a shallow foxhole
speaking over the radio telephone.
A m ortar shell plopped nearby. The
officer was killed instantly. A cor
poral beside him was chipped by
shrapnel.
In the first four hours, the Leath
ernecks advanced only 150 yards.
One unit found a cave with three
openings. Twenty feet away was a
marine, lying on his side. He had
been wounded at the front line and
was returning, alone, for treatm ent
when a Jap shot at him from inside
the cave. A sergeant raced to aid
him while the other men of the
unit covered him with rifle fire. The
sergeant crept to the mouth of the
cave, emptied his clip. A second
later he was dead from a bullet be
tween his eyes. A lieutenant inched
forward. He too, was shot dead.
Flame-Throwers Flush Japs.
One Jap was flushed out of the
cave by flame-throwers. He was
shot. A second one charged out.
He, too, was killed. Grenades
were thrown into the hideaway and
chased out a third enemy soldier.
He was killed. There was one who
refused to budge. Twenty pounds of
explosive in one cave mouth and the
flame-thrower in the other two ac
counted for him.
At dusk, the Japs counter-at
tacked. One of their tanks and
some infantry broke through, almost
—but not quite—to the beach itself.
Two of our amphibs came up to
meet the assault. They were
knocked out. A third came up and
put the Jap tank out of action. Two
Japs leaped out and were filled with
bullets before they reached the
ground. The Japs lost 50 men and
withdrew.
All night the marines stayed in
their foxholes, while m ortar shells
fell about them. From the rear
came sniper fire. These snipers
criss-crossed our positions with rifle
and light machine-gun fire.
A
Jean has just received word that
he is on his way home, will be with
her in a few weeks. A month ngo
his right arm was amputated above
the elbow. She sent me his letter,
it was a tired, sick boy’s despairing
letter. He says he never thought this
would happen to him. He wishes he
had never asked her to m arry
him. No more tennis or dancing for
them, and a swell chance he has
to get on with his architectural
J career. He’ll look like an awful heel
when he gets home; they shaved his
head where it was cut and his arm
is still bandaged. But she needn’t
worry; he isn’t expecting that any
girl as pretty and popular as Jean
is going to stick to a man who’s
never going to get anywhere.
"What are we going to do?” Jean
asks me. “I've cried myself sick,
and the worry is about killing my
mother. I’ve been with her since
Carleton went away, and we’ve
barely enough to live on as it is.
Mama says we could take boarders,
but we haven’t a spare inch. My
father is dead; my brother away
with the army, he has a wife and
; two children to care for.
"I planned such a happy life after
the war; now it’s all ruined. I work
with the telephone company, but I
had promised to give that up the
minute Carleton came back. He had
been promised a job with our
finest firm here, only he had one
more year of study to finish and we
were going to take a little place on
the college campus, and I take up
some literary and language courses
with him. I have saved $700; that is
all we have in the world. Mama has
an income of $55 a month. What can
we possibly do with these prospects,
and a man who is not only injured
but embittered by this terrible
w ar?”
Well, Jean, you can do a thousand
things, and some of them I know
you will do, to rebuild a sane and
happy life. The very first has to do
with welcoming Carleton home.
Don’t overdo either the pity or the
careful avoidance of pity; be as na
tural as you can, showing him how
glad you are that he is alive, and
you are together again.
You say your quarters are small,
but if you and your mother seriously
think of opening a little private hotel,
you will find plenty of larger places
to rent, and plenty of eager cus
tomers in these servantless days.
Many Things To Do.
But there are many other avenues
open. Keep your job, or get a better
job, and talk to Carleton, when he
comes back, as if the war had only
normally interrupted his architec
tural studies. Of course he can be
hack Io hit previous way of life.
He too, feel» that he it ruined,
and write» »adly that he doesn’t
expect her to slay with him now.
M itt Norris tell» Jean that her
hushand can learn to u»e hit left
hand almotl ai well as hit right;
that he can resume hit career,
and that there are many happy
year» ahead if they all just huckle
down and adjuit themtelvei to
the new situation.
an aachitect! He can be anything,
even though he has lost an arm. A
tennis champion of today—no, not
mere player, but title-holder, has
only one arm. A famous actor, now
drawing a big salary in Broadway,
was injured in 1918 and has made a
name for himself, although he has
lost a leg. One of the most beloved
of the movie stars has one leg. And
experts tell us that the loss of a leg
is infinitely more serious, where a
career is concerned than the loss of
an arm . The professions are filled
with one-armed men; one of the
west's biggest engineers began at
26 with one arm , and has never felt
it a handicap.
The most important thing is to ac
cept Carleton's return cheerfully; in
clude him in your plans as naturally
as you would if he came home un
injured and get him back into
classes as rapidly as possible. He
can earn some money from the
start, correcting papers, helping
the instructors, and, if I know these
instructors, he will be given prefer
ence over other applicants.
As a m atter of absolute fact the
loss of an arm is not the dreadful
thing it seems at first. I learned this
when I broke my right arm last
January, and carried it in a sling
for eight weeks. In that time, slowly,
of course, and clumsily, I learned to
typewrite, sign my name, drive the
car, cook, even play croquet.
This is not to make any compari
son between that temporary incon
venience and the permanent loss of
a member. But it is to assure you
that if you take Carleton’s condition
as naturally as you can, interest
him in other things, give him
plenty of love and companionship,
plan with him, spur him into ambi
tion again, you will be amazed to
discover how quickly the major fact
of the amputation becomes a thing
quietly taken for granted. And when
people stop pitying him he’ll stop
pitying himself.
Be glad the loss isn’t of the soul
or the mind. For all other losses
there are compensations.
X
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