MAGAZINE OF THE MARINES 4 1 0 2 LY U J Leathernwwwe.mca-marcines.org/lekatherneck

Happy Birthday, America

Iraq 2004: Firefghts in the “City of Mosques”

Riding With the Mounted Color Guard

Settling Scores: The Battle to Take Back Guam

A Publication of the Marine Corps Association & Foundation

Cov1.indd 1 6/12/14 12:04 PM Welcome to Leatherneck Magazine’s

Digital Edition July 2014

We hope you are continuing to enjoy the digital edition of Leatherneck with its added content and custom links to related information. Our commitment to expanding our digital offerings continues to refect progress. Also, access to added content is available via our website at www.mca- marines.org/leatherneck and you will fnd reading your Leatherneck much easier on smartphones and tablets. Our focus of effort has been on improving our offerings on the Internet, so we want to hear from you. How are we doing? Let us know at: [email protected]. Thank you for your continuing support.

Semper Fidelis,

Col Mary H. Reinwald, USMC (Ret) Editor

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Cov2.indd 1 6/9/14 10:31 AM JULY 2014, VOL. XCVII, No. 7 Contents LEATHERNECK—MAGAZINE OF THE MARINES FEATURES

10 The In-Between: Touring the Korean DMZ 30 100 Years Ago: Marines at Vera Cruz By Roxanne Baker By J. Michael Miller Professional military education remains a priority for The conclusion of the three-part article tells of the Marine and 3d Landing Force Support Party leathernecks, who took Navy expeditionary force landing in Vera Cruz, stabilizing advantage of a training deployment to learn more about the the country and protecting U.S. citizens and interests. Korean War and the DMZ. 36 The Taking of Omiya Jima By R. R. Keene 12 In Every Clime and Place Edited by R. R. Keene Marines landed with a vengeance 21 July 1944, recapturing Marine operating forces train around the world while Guam and returning democracy to the island. continuing the war on terrorism in Afghanistan. 42 A Four-Legged Legacy: The Marine Corps 18 10 Years Ago: Operations Vigilant Resolve and Mounted Color Guard By Sara W. Bock Al Fajr—The Liberation of Fallujah The Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard continues a legacy By Robert J. Sullivan and Ann Todd Baum of Marines on horseback. After being pulled back in April 2004, the Marines cleared Fallujah, reopening the city on 23 Dec. 2004. 50 Molly Marine: From Assisting Recruiting in WW II to Recognizing Outstanding Leadership Today 24 Gunfght at Ocotal: The Birth of Integrated By CWO-4 Randy Gaddo, USMC (Ret) Air-Ground Combat By Maj Allan C. Bevilacqua, USMC (Ret) An enterprising Marine recruiter’s idea for a Molly Marine In a “danger close” mission, with bombs on target, Marine air statue continues to impact female Marines today. came to the rescue in this 1927 Nicaragua battle. DEPARTMENTS COVER: Sgt Robert Bush, Marine Forces Pacic, celebrates America’s 2 Sound Off and Reunions 56 Books Reviewed birthday. Photo by Sgt William L. Holdaway, Combat Camera, U.S. Marine 22 Leatherneck Laffs 58 Leatherneck Line Corps Forces Pacic, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii. Copies of the cover may be 46 We—the Marines 60 In Memoriam obtained by sending $2 (for mailing costs) to Leatherneck Magazine, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134-0775. 49 Crazy Caption 70 Reader Assistance 54 In the Highest Tradition 72 Gyrene Gyngles

Leatherneck—On the Web Delivering more scoop on the Internet. Look for this indication that additional content found online in our digital edition is available to subscribers and MCA&F members.

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Contentsp1.indd 1 6/9/14 12:18 PM LETTERS TO THE EDITOR AND REUNIONS Sound Off Edited by R. R. Keene Have a question or feel like sounding off? Address your letter to: Sound Off Editor, Leatherneck Magazine, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, or send an e-mail to: [email protected]. Due to the heavy volume, we cannot answer every letter received. Do not send original photographs, as we cannot guarantee their return. All letters must be signed, and e-mails must contain complete names and postal mailing addresses. Anonymous letters will not be published.—Sound Off Ed.

Letter of the Month wine. When we returned from the photo Pavuvu after Cape Gloucester. I was (Leatherneck will provide a one-year studio, the wedding guests burst into “The as signed to Headquarters and Service courtesy subscription to the non-MCA&F Marines’ Hymn.” After all the excitement Company, 1st Tank Battalion. member whose letter is selected as the of the wedding, I realized, “What if he The article about Pavuvu was so truly “Sound Off Letter of the Month.” Leather­ might not make it?” reported. It was an island of coconut trees, neck will continue to pay $25 for a “Sound There was one tiny loss: When Gordon rats, land crabs and mud! Coconut trees Off Letter of the Month” submitted by a returned to Pavuvu, he found his friends were everywhere. You were lucky if one member.) had opened and ate his Christmas parcels. did not come down crashing on your head. Thank you, Major Allan Bevilacqua, It was a very happy marriage, but he Whenever we went to [Catholic] Mass, we USMC (Ret), for the superb March article died in 2003. This December would have all prayed that we would get through the about Pavuvu. My husband, Gordon Heim, been 70 years. Thank you again. Mass without being struck by a coconut. got leave to go to Melbourne, Australia, June E. Heim About the rats: We had a contest to see to be married—one way to escape the Silver Spring, Md. which tent members could kill the most place. He had agreed to do another invasion rats. And there were so many land crabs, (Okinawa) in exchange for the privilege. “Enchanted” Pavuvu? you could hear them scratching away in Everyone came to our wedding. My On the cover of the March issue I your tent during the night. mother made a wedding cake and a dress spotted a headline about Pavuvu. I told Actually, I called Pavuvu my “enchanted” for the bridesmaid. I borrowed a bridal myself, I defnitely have to read about island. I never recall being sick before dress from a cousin, and the only available that island. [we left for Peleliu and when we returned wedding concession served only lunch and I joined the First Marine Division on to Pavuvu]. Every morning, we lined up for our atabrine pill. I never had ringworm or jungle rot. We had a great place for swimming called the Steel Pier, and we swam in our birthday suits. After Peleliu, they made great improvements to the is­ land, especially the new mess hall where I spent many a night drinking a good cup of coffee and writing letters home. A highlight of my stay on Pavuvu was when Bob Hope and his group came and entertained us. I’ll always remember the good movies we were able to see. I will never forget watching “Going My Way” in the pouring rain. In conclusion, I learned to drive a jeep on Pavuvu. I never learned to drive in the States. If someone ever said to me, “Hey, old­timer, where did you learn to drive?” I would reply, “On Pavuvu. Look it up!” I have lots of fun telling my family and friends about my “enchanted” island. Former Cpl Charles S. Wargo Trumbull, Conn. O G R A One Marine’s Opinion . W S

E On “Force Integration” L R A

H I read the article on “Force Integration” F C

Y O in the May issue and wanted to offer my S E T

R opinions. For the record, I am a retired U O C infantry offcer (1986­2006) and have On “Enchanted” Pavuvu are Charles S. Wargo and fellow Marines, Nov. 19, 1944. That’s Wargo in the ample experience in both the infantry as frst row, the third from the left. well as non­infantry environments. From

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SoundOff.indd 2 6/9/14 1:15 PM SoundOff.indd 3 6/9/14 10:15 AM Leatherneck my time in The Basic School, in which taking our best team in the NFL, replacing MAGAZINE OF THE MARINES my company had a platoon of female off­ half the starting roster with women, and cers, to the end of my career, I never saw sending that team against the worst team President/CEO, Marine Corps Association & Foundation anything that would convince me that in the NFL. The result would be a bunch MajGen Edward G. Usher III, USMC (Ret) putting women into the infantry would of broken female football players and a Editor be a good or even logical idea on so many crushing defeat for that team. It is one Col Mary H. Reinwald, USMC (Ret) levels. thing to lose a football game, but wars tend Deputy Editor First and foremost, this is not some to have far more serious consequences, Nancy Lee White Hoffman Hollywood movie: There are very real and wars are not a question of “if” but Associate Editor physical differences between men and “when”—if we did not believe we were MGySgt Renaldo R. Keene, USMC (Ret) women. You could probably go out and going to have a future war, we would not Copy Editor handpick some females for this experi­ bother having a military in the frst place. Nancy S. Lichtman ment, but this will not produce a valid Third, the misuse of our military, as a Contributing Editor conclusion, because the Marine Corps vehicle for social change/experimentation, CWO-4 Randy Gaddo, USMC (Ret) does not “handpick” male Marines for sends a very bad signal to our potential Staff Writers the infantry. A male recruit’s Physical enemies. Their perception, one in which I Clare A. Guerrero Fitness Test score will have no bearing agree, is that we are not taking our mission Sara W. Bock on his military occupational specialty of training and preparing for war seriously. Editorial/Production Coordinator assignment, and this is because an “aver­ Between the ongoing massive cuts to our Patricia Everett age” male Marine, with proper training, force and the Pentagon’s stated mission Art Director can handle the infantry. I would argue priority of “inclusiveness,” why would Jason Monroe that the same is not true of his female they take us seriously? We are treating our Advertising Director counterparts. military as if it is a high school glee club G. Scott Dinkel (718) 715-1361 Before we spend billions of dollars with uniforms and weapons instead of the putting together this experimental unit, world’s best fghting force: The military EDITORIAL OFFICES why don’t we just get rid of the female is not for everyone, period. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134 Physical Fitness Test and have everyone, There is really only one litmus test that Phone: (703) 640-6161, Ext. 115 Toll-Free: (800) 336-0291 male and female, take the male PFT with applies to the question of women in the Fax: (703) 640-0823 the same performance standards for both infantry: Would the addition of females E-mail: [email protected] men and women. If the average female to the infantry enhance the capabilities Web page: www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck score ever matched that of the average of what is already the world’s best infantry TELEPHONE EXTENSIONS male score, then, maybe you could take force? Nobody has, thus far, made a Editorial Offces: 115 • Business Offce: 121 the experiment to the next level. The PFT convincing argument that this would be Circulation/Member Services is also a good start because it is objective: the case, not to mention that if adding Phone: toll-free (866) 622-1775 There is no way, short of throwing scores women to an all­male organization would E-mail: [email protected] into the trash can, to fudge the numbers. somehow make it more capable, by in fer­ The force integration experiment, on the ence you are suggesting that the women LEATHERNECK AND MCA&F MEMBERSHIP PRICES 1 year $35; 2 years $64; 3 years $89 other hand, will be entirely subjective. If are somehow better than the men. If this the results of some performance standard is the case, why not just kick the men out Leatherneck also is available in digital format at www.mca-marines .org/leatherneck. are off­the­chart bad, they will be swept of the infantry and go with an all­female All overseas and foreign addresses add $16 postage for each year’s under the rug. The rest will be fudged, force? This could ultimately be a winning membership except APO and FPO military addresses. Periodicals because this experiment is a farce to begin strategy for us: Our enemies will probably postage paid at Quantico, Va., USPS #308-080, and additional with: The decision to integrate women laugh themselves to death, and we will mailing offces. already has been made. The experiment win without ever fring a shot. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please send your new address six weeks is simply a gimmick designed to convince I urge leaders at all levels to stand up before the date of issue with which it is to take effect, if possible. In- gullible people that the Marine Corps can and voice your honestly held professional clude old address with new, enclosing your address label if conve- nient. Mail to: Leatherneck Magazine, Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134. put women into the infantry without any beliefs on this matter. The alternative is to POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: degradation to our combat abilities. stay silent and ultimately watch our Corps Leatherneck Magazine, Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134. Second, the only way a “gender neutral destroyed when it ultimately faces a foe military,” which is what the administration more serious about war fghting than is wants, is going to win in combat is to the current case with us. either fght against an adversary that is Maj William C. Maples, USMC (Ret) decades behind us technologically, or Bogata, Texas Leatherneck (ISSN 0023-981X) is published monthly by the Ma- one that is also “gender neutral,” and the rine Corps Association & Foundation, Bldg. #715, MCB, Quantico, VA 22134. Copy right 2014 by MCA&F. latter is most unlikely to happen. Our most The Little Red Pocket Books All rights reserved. Stories, features, pictures and other material from Leath­ formidable potential foes, Russia, China, Of Knowledge erneck may be reproduced if they are not restricted by law or military reg- North Korea and Iran, would not think I was wondering if you could tell me ulations, provided proper credit is given and specifc prior permission has of using their military as a vehicle for when the red Marine notebook was used. I been granted for each item to be reproduced. Opinions of authors whose articles appear in Leatherneck do not necessarily social change. If they honestly thought joined in 1969 and we had them. A friend express the attitude of the Navy Department or Headquarters, U.S. Marine that putting women into ground combat joined a few years earlier, and he doesn’t Corps. “Marines” and the Eagle, Globe and Anchor are trademarks of the U.S. Marine Corps, used with permission. When mailed, manuscripts, art or photo- units would give them an edge over us, remember it. I hope you can help. graphs should be accompanied by self-addressed envelopes and return I have no doubt they already would have Ray Walton postage. Query frst on all submissions, except poetry. The publisher as- done so. Bethel Park, Pa. sumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, poetry, draw- ings or photographs. Our gender­neutral force will be facing Publication of advertisements does not constitute endorsement by MCA&F well­equipped, highly trained, and highly • I believe you may be referring to the ex cept for such products or services clearly offered under MCA&F’s name. motivated men, which would be about like 3¼-inch-by-5½­inch red binder of The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising order at his absolute discretion. www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

SoundOff.indd 4 6/9/14 1:15 PM knowledge titled “The Marine Notebook,” Wounded With Sam at Dai Do published by the Recruit Training Reg­ I am a Vietnam veteran (1967-68) iment, MCRD San Diego. (I suspect Parris “grunt” with 2d Battalion, Fourth Marine Island also had them.) It told you every­ Regiment. I am writing this because my thing from Basic Organization Week to best friend, Sam Atkins from Little Rock, Organization of the Guard, and you kept Ark., was wounded in Dai Do. This is how notes such as who was in your chain of it went down. command and when you hoped to grad­ As an infantryman, you know when uate. Drill instructors required you to they say, “We’re moving,” we pack up study it when you were waiting in forma­ and we don’t know what lies ahead of tion and at any time when you were not us. We got to the village of Dai Do and otherwise being formally instructed. You were getting small-arms fre. Once we kept it in the left breast pocket of your got inside the village, I somehow got utility jacket. hooked up with a two-man team from I don’t know when they stopped using 60 mm mortars in an L-shaped foxhole. it, but I have a third edition from 1962 We took a direct hit, and it blew one of that belonged to a private named Keene. the Marines out of the hole. We still were You also may remember the 79­page “In­ getting incoming. I got out of the hole and dividual Combat Notebook” from Infantry lay my body over the wounded Marine Training Regiment, published by Acme and yelled to his friend to help me get Printing Co., San Diego. It also was red him back in the hole. and the same size as “The Marine Note­ FILE PHOTO The Marine I was trying to help asked book.” This one was a handy wonder to me if he was going to die. I told him he have in the feld, as it covered a lot of the was not. He told me to tell his mom that he lessons in the “Guidebook for Marines” LEATHERNECK loved her. At that time a Marine tank was and vital combat knowledge such as the Helpful reminders for Marines from more than 50 coming and I asked them to help me. We principles of attack and principles of years ago. got him on top of the tank where he died. defense, fve paragraph combat orders, I don’t even remember his name. I didn’t observed fre procedure, oral reports have been an item individually purchased. have time to mourn. We Marines just kept (SALUTE) and all those basic skills a I don’t remember when they stopped using moving and didn’t leave anybody behind. combat Marine needed to know. them, but perhaps our readers can help.— As the day went on, there were a lot of The “Individual Combat Notebook” may Sound Off Ed. casualties on both sides. I got wounded

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SoundOff.indd 5 6/9/14 1:15 PM for the second time in Vietnam. I got a off my left hand and said I was going next. I knew before reading it that any article bandage from the corpsman and kept I had surgery on my hand as soon as I by Colonel Dick Camp, USMC (Ret) moving. That night when we dug in, I arrived on the ship. A couple of hours would be superb, and “Riding the Rails: don’t think anybody got any sleep. later, I was on the deck when I saw Sam U.S. Marine Mail Guards, 1921-26” was, The next day started the same way. I being taken off a helicopter, onto a stretcher of course, superb. There has been little could hear the bullets whistle right next and straight into surgery. A few days later, written about those events, and Col Camp to my helmet. We were on a search-and- he was shipped to Japan. seems to have neatly covered what has not destroy mission. My best friend, Sam, I am hoping Sam is a Leatherneck been published before. and I got separated as we were moving subscriber and maybe we can connect Then, I read the frst of a three-part forward. Later, someone told me that Sam one more time. If not, I am sure we will article by J. Michael Miller, “100 Years got wounded and was in a foxhole alone. I meet again, manning the gates of heaven. Ago: Marines at Vera Cruz,” covering the went back to help him. He was in a corner Former Cpl Carlos J. Rojo events of the Marine and Navy landings of the hole with his M16, and he looked Elk Grove, Calif. at Mexico in April 1914. I can tell you very frightened. His leg was wounded, I am anxiously awaiting the next two and he could not go any farther. He told • I hope Sam reads Leatherneck or parts. That is another period that has been me not to leave, and I said, “Charlie [Viet perhaps a reader who knows him will pass written about lightly in modern times. I Cong] will have to kill me before I leave the word. I checked and could not fnd him certainly hope I’ll see the multi-volume you.” I stood with him until I was able on our list of members and subscribers. history of World War I when he fnishes it. to get help. Thanks for your story and thanks for your George B. Clark All the wounded and dead ended up service.—Sound Off Ed. Pike, N.H. along the Cau Viet River waiting to be evacuated. Helicopters were taking the Leatherneck Brings Out the Best I enjoyed “Riding the Rails.” Having injured aboard USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2). In History grown up in a railroad family dating back Waiting to be evacuated, I hooked up I was pleasantly surprised to fnd two to the time of the article, it was especially with Sam again. A corpsman told me that splendid articles about an earlier period of interesting. I was going next. I told him to take Sam Marine Corps history in my latest [May] I can’t help but believe if we had poli- frst. He proceeded to take the bandage issue of Leatherneck. ticians today with the backbone to endorse

BEHIND THE LINES

Marine Corps Association & Foundation Announces Change in the Chief Operating Offcer Position Marine veteran John T. “Tom” Esslinger, Marine Corps tinuity of effort as another current board member, retired Col Association & Foundation chief operating offcer (COO) Dan O’Brien, has assumed the duties as the COO. Dan comes since 2008, departed the MCA&F at the end of to MCA&F from his position as the vice president June and was replaced by Colonel Daniel P. “Dan” of Marine Corps and Defense Accounts, Battelle O’Brien, USMC (Ret). Memorial Institute, Washington, D.C. Tom oversaw signifcant advancements as COO Prior to retiring from active duty in November as well as during the two years he was a board 2004, he held a wide variety of command and staff member. His acumen and expertise were critical positions, including Commanding Offcer, Marine during the formation of the Marine Corps Associa- Barracks Washington; Chief of Staff, Marine Corps tion Foundation and in developing affnity partner- Combat Development Command, Marine Corps ship programs for the MCA&F. Base Quantico, Va.; and Military Assistant to the Following his graduation from Yale University, RON LUNN Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Tom was commissioned in December 1966 and, John T. “Tom” Esslinger Security Affairs, Offce of the Secretary of De- upon graduation from The Basic School as an in- fense, Pentagon. He also had command tours in fantry offcer, he was ordered to the Republic of infantry units in the First, Second and Third Marine Vietnam. In Vietnam, Tom, with 3d Battalion, 26th divisions. Marine Regiment, was in combat in Northern I Corps Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in management and on Hill 881 South during the Battle of Khe from the University of Massachusetts and a master’s Sanh in 1968. Tom left Vietnam in October 1968, degree in international relations from the U.S. Naval having been awarded two Bronze Star medals with War College program with Salve Regina College. combat “V” and a Purple Heart. His next as signment Tom, on behalf of our MCA&F membership, was at Marine Barracks Washington, D.C. spon sors, affnity partners and certainly our staff, In August 1970, he left active duty to enroll in RON LUNN thank you, and we wish you “fair winds and fol- Col Dan O’Brien Georgetown University Law Center, graduating lowing seas.” with distinction in 1973 and beginning a law career USMC (Ret) Dan, welcome aboard. We look forward to work- that carried him from an associate to a managing ing more closely with you. partner in a District of Columbia law frm that he helped establish. He joined the MCA board in 2006, moving to the —MajGen Edward G. Usher III, USMC (Ret) COO position in 2008. President and CEO Tom Esslinger’s long service to Corps and country has Marine Corps Association & Foundation been marked by superb commitment, and he will be missed. But, MCA&F will continue to move forward with a con-

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SoundOff.indd 6 6/11/14 12:38 PM a “training manual” like that issued to the can Motors vehicle that needed to be Marine guards of the time, we would see made, and he gave me the year and model. The Ring ThaT a great reduction in crime. It seemed that the keys had been lost to Ralph McClure the company car. I immediately answered Few eveR eaRn USMC, 1960-66 in the affrmative. The sergeant, in true Greeley, Colo. Marine Corps tradition, wasn’t about to take anything for granted. He made me They Used to Stop by the understand that he didn’t have any keys Globe & Laurel After Work from which to duplicate. Could we make I am the widow of a Marine and proud a set from scratch? I again answered in grandmother of an active-duty Marine. the affrmative. His reply was: “Are you In the April issue of Leatherneck, I really certain that you make keys to this vehicle?” enjoyed “Shanghai Pooley, Cigars and A stroke of smart-ass genius immediate- the Globe & Laurel” about Major Rick ly hit me, which was a rare exception on Spooner’s latest book. a Monday morning. I said, “Look, Ser- When my late husband, Major George geant, I would no more lie to you than a Offcially Licensed by US Marine Corps D. Barnett, was stationed at Quantico Marine recruiter would lie to a prospective When I set out to design a ring worthy [Va.] in the mid-1970s, the Globe & Laurel inductee.” was located near the back gate of the base There was a long pause on the line of a U.S. Marine, I knew it had to be in Quantico town. I was employed at The and then he said, “Oh, my God! I’m in beyond comparison. It had to be Marine Shop, which was then owned by trouble!” instantly recognizable, affordable to retired Major Harry Elms. My husband We not only made his keys, but I also all ranks and of the highest quality. Mike Carroll and I often met at the Globe & Laurel after made a friend. Here’s to every leatherneck It is just that. Nuff said... work. Certainly, we were all much younger presently serving or who has previously • Made in the U.S.A • Heavy Weight & Detail then, but I am not surprised to learn that served our beloved country. May God • 100% Guaranteed • 100% Outstanding Maj Spooner still is going strong. bless each and every one of you! My Marine grandson, Sergeant Devin J. Paul McFadden Sterling Silver, 10K, 14K & 18K Gold Barnett, developed his love for the Marine Amarillo, Texas www. .com Corps while listening to my late husband, EagleRings Carroll Collection of U.S. Eagle Rings his grandfather, tell of his experiences This Is a Dedicated Reader 888-512-1333 during his years in the Corps. At this The poetry page [“Gyrene Gyngles”] Call for Free Brochure moment in time, that love still exists, and is always a “frst-to-read” when each my grandson plans to make the Corps a Leatherneck arrives, followed closely by career. “Sound Off.” I was especially touched by Having said that, I am writing you to “The Veteran” poem in the May issue. Therefore, it is almost impossible to as­ fnd out how I can obtain an autographed Phyl Chisholm sign an exact correlation between the copy of Maj Spooner’s book as a July Tijeras, N.M. service number and the actual number of birthday gift to my grandson. enlisted Marines who served in the Corps Jolene H. Barnett Service Numbers, Not Seniority Numbers and when. But, the numbers did roughly Niceville, Fla. I was reading the March issue and an correspond with the number of Marines article, “New Memorial Documents Ma- entering the Corps. Thus, in 1939 when • Maj Spooner said, “Of course, I re­ rines’ Sacrifces,” by David Perlmutt. It Hank Grathwohl was issued his number, member George Barnett. He was one hell mentioned Hank Grathwohl, who grew it ft with the block of numbers issued from of a guy!” He remembers you too. up in Hiawatha, Kan. He was 18 when he 1936 to 1941, which were 200,000 to I am happy to let you know how to get became No. 270,212 (service number) 350,000. You were part of the block of a signed copy, and for our other readers Marine in 1939. When I entered boot camp numbers issued Marines in early World who want a copy, you can order the book at MCRD San Diego, I got service number War II: 350,001 to 670,899. through the MCA&F’s The MARINE Shop 492,231. Keep in mind that those numbers also call center by telephoning, toll­free: (888) I thought it represented the number of were divided into smaller blocks and sent 237­7683. The folks there will ensure you Marines at the time as I always had heard to various recruiting stations and other get your signed copy, to include any per­ from old salts that the number corre- sites authorized to issue service numbers sonal sentiments you want added. Maj sponded with the number of Marines in such as the recruit depots. Therefore, you Spooner will be more than happy to sign the “Old Corps” before World War II. Just could be issued a service number in, say your book.—Sound Off Ed. wondering? Iowa, and the number would indicate if Bill Barber you came in before or after another person Locksmith’s Story Deserves to be Told Sonoma, Calif. from that recruiting station in Iowa. How­ My long and jaded career as a locksmith ever, that number may be larger or small­ gave me a great wealth of experience. One • Not really. The Corps and the Navy er than the person who enlisted in a of the most memorable “war” stories from started assigning fle case numbers, which recruiting station in Texas or MCRD San 30 years ago involved the local Marine later became service numbers, in 1905. Diego on the same date. recruiter. On the frst phone call I received For enlisted Marines, over the years there So, when a fellow leatherneck asks your one Monday morning was a very profes- were some blocks of numbers that were service number and then calls you “Boot!,” sional, but obviously worried, male voice. never assigned: 1 to 20,000 and 50,000 to and your number is close, compare actual He informed me that he was a sergeant 60,000, and a block of numbers, 700,000 enlistment dates. You may fnd that you with the Marine Corps recruiting offce. to 799,999, were set aside for female are not the “Boot.” The inquiry regarded keys to an Ameri- Marines. Also, for your bar brag fact, the last block

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SoundOff.indd 7 6/9/14 1:16 PM the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 “Fagot.” a drill sergeant recruit standing at the I retired from the Corps in 1972 and proposed position of parade rest or maybe have missed it every day since. at ease, as his head is turned to face the MGySgt Richard M. Fleck, USMC (Ret) drill sergeant instructor. However, regard- 1946-72 less of the position, his hands are not in the Jacksonville, Fla. proper position for either command. Part of the caption states that the The F4U-4 or F4U-4B? “students are held to higher standards.” As a USMC “grunt” veteran of the As a former drill sergeant and now as a Korean War, and among those who JROTC instructor, I question how this greatly beneftted from the work of that photo made it to publication. You may wonderful aircraft (the Corsair) and its want to publish a correction to this photo, terrifc pilots, I very much enjoyed “The but only if my observation is correct. Korean War Corsair Pilot Who Beat a COL Arthur L. Scott, USA MiG: Captain Jesse Folmar, USMC,” by Senior Army Instructor Jason Breidenbach, in the May issue. East Burke High School JROTC Department I note that Mr. Breidenbach’s story states Connelly Springs, N.C. that in 1952 the Marine Corps primarily was using the F4U-4B, carrying four 20 • The article you reference is “Back mm cannons rather than six .50-caliber to Basics—Drill Instructor Schools at machine guns of the earlier versions of the Parris Island and San Diego Deliver aircraft. His beautiful illustration on the Iconic DIs.” Publishing the photograph magazine’s cover depicts Capt Folmar’s was no mistake. To address your question Corsair as being one of the earlier models. as to how it made it into the publication: I am sure Mr. Breidenbach is thorough The editor selected it. The photograph in his research, and that his painting is shows the drill instructor student being accurate, but I wondered why Capt Folmar, corrected by an instructor. That is to be fying in September of 1952, would be expected of instructors and students in sitting in the earlier version of the Corsair. a schoolhouse. I expect you correct and William P. Crozier teach daily in your very important position N. Weymouth, Mass. working with America’s future. However, you are correct about hands. • Jason Breidenbach says Capt Folmar The Marine Corps Drill and Ceremonies was fying the F4U-4 as depicted on the Manual, MCO P5060.20, says, in essence, of numbers issued to Marines included cover. While the article did note that “the the left hand should be below the belt line, 2,000,001 to 2,800,000. The U.S. Armed Marine Corps primarily was using the with the right hand inside the left, thumb Forces ditched service numbers for Social F4U-4B,” it should have confrmed the lightly grasping the thumb of the left. Our Security numbers beginning Jan. 1, 1972. model Folmar was fying when he downed thanks to former drill instructor Sergeant —Sound Off Ed. the MiG.—Sound Off Ed. Major Kevin Bennett, USMC (Ret), who confrmed this for us. “Panthers Over North Korea” Commerce and Trade With the Enemy As a soldier, you know the correct And Other Aircraft Believe it or not, the MiG that Capt positioning of the hands. Well done. You I am writing regarding the May article Folmar shot down was powered by a also should know that Marines don’t have “Marine Panthers Over North Korea” by British Rolls-Royce Nene engine built drill sergeants; we have drill instructors.— Warren E. Thompson. under license in the Soviet Union. How Sound Off Ed. I arrived in Korea in September 1952 could the British have been so stupid? and was one of the first “jet mechs,” Fred Shimer Losses on Ennubirr Island: military occupational specialty 6412, to be Nottingham, Pa. There Were Some assigned to Marine Photo Reconnaissance The January article about the Marines Squadron 1. When I arrived, the squadron • I don’t know, but the Brits weren’t the at Kwajalein Atoll states that the seizure had a conglomeration of aircraft (that were only ones who got caught up in inter- of all fve islands (D-day objectives) came fown mostly by Naval Aviation Pilots) national commerce that came back to at the cost of one wounded Marine. That including the F7F-3P Tigercat, F4U-5P haunt them later. Keep in mind our history. is incorrect. Corsair, F2H-2P Banshee and F9F-5P In the 1920s, the United States and Great I can speak for only my outft: Com- Panther. These were unarmed. The only Britain tried to limit the size of Japan’s pany F, 2d Battalion, 25th Marine Reg- armament was the pilot’s .38-caliber navy, but made no attempt to cut off Japan’s iment. We landed on Ennubirr Island, service revolver. supply of oil. We just kept selling it. And code-named Allen. The pilots, ground crew and photo we also sold scrap metal to Japan. We did Seven Co F men were killed and three lab performed a much-needed task for get a lot of the scrap metal back on Dec. 7, wounded, including two men killed and the fghter squadrons and the Air Force. 1941.—Sound Off Ed. two wounded from my squad. These four Flights north of the Yalu were to be had been with the rest of my squad at escorted by either USMC fighters or The Proper Position of Hands Christmas dinner with my mother in Los USAF F-86 Sabre jets. It was not unusual At Parade Rest Angeles, just fve short weeks before D-day. to have our aircraft return looking slightly I just wanted to bring your attention to Greg Sutcliffe mauled, usually by ground fire, but a photo on page 33 of your April issue. This La Quinta, Calif. occasionally, punishment was inficted by photo can be found in the inset and shows [continued on page 62]

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SoundOff.indd 9 6/9/14 10:15 AM A South Korean soldier stands watch on the DMZ, which runs along the 38th parallel, dividing the Korean peninsula roughly in half. Marines of 3d Landing Force Support Party, 3d Supply Bn visited the DMZ while deployed to South Korea for training. N Y B L P P U D S F 3 Y O S E T R U O C The I n -B e t w e en : Touring the Korean DMZ

By Roxanne Baker visited as part of a unit professional mil­ Security Area led the tour along the itary education (PME) program over the DMZ monuments. The Marines visited here’s an eerie silence in the De­ course of a few days from March 24 to the buildings where negotiations between militarized Zone between North April 5. The Marine Corps Association North and South Korea took place, the Tand South Korea. The tension runs & Foundation contributed $10,000 Korean War and history museum, the thick, and the weight of the region’s toward the trip to provide transportation. Third Tunnel of Aggression, Observation fractured history hangs heavy. “The PME trip to Seoul and the DMZ Post Dora and the Bridge of No Return. “It was kind of an uneasy feeling brought full circle our purpose for con­ “I learned a great deal about the causes staring into North Korea,” said Staff ducting exercises in Korea in a way that of the Korean War, the suffering and pain Sergeant Modesto Garcia. “What really our future leaders understand,” said Major that the war inficted upon the citizens stood out was the silence while walking R. D. “Mike” Michael, the LFSP offcer of Korea, and the many scuffes that around, knowing that at any moment, in charge and executive offcer of 3d Supply have occurred since the signing of the something could occur, even having to Bn. “By seeing the ground, the tunnels armistice,” said First Lieutenant Caleb sign a death waiver.” and learning about the Korean confict, Wu. “The most inspiring fact is that the Garcia was one of 225 Marines and the Marines and sailors gained an ap­ Korean War was the frst time the United sailors with 3d Landing Force Support preciation for the requirement to partner Nations assembled to defend a member Party (LFSP), 3d Supply Battalion, with the Republic of Korea, the purpose nation against aggression.” Third Marine Logistics Group to tour behind maintaining a strong deterrence Lance Corporal Alec Ojard said the the Korean DMZ. The unit is stationed posture, exercising our ability to mass tour was a very “humbling” experience in Okinawa and was deployed to South combat power ashore and, if necessary, because the many sites focused on the Korea in support of Exercise Freedom react to North Korean aggression.” struggling and sacrifce of the South Banner 2014. The Marines arrived in Seoul and were Koreans. He said it was a stark reminder The Marines broke up into smaller transported by bus throughout the tour. A of why U.S. military presence is needed groups, per United Nations rules, and U.S. Army sergeant serving at the Joint in such hostile areas.

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AdvancingLeadershippp10-11.indd 10 6/9/14 12:16 PM N N Y B Y B L L P P P P U U D S D S F 3 F 3 Y O Y O S S E E T T R R U U O O C C A total of 225 Marines and sailors with 3d LFSP toured the Korean DMZ from March 24 to April 5. Stationed in Okinawa, Japan, the unit was deployed to South Korea in support of Exercise Freedom Banner 2014.

“I, personally, gained a great deal of respect for the men that safeguard one of the most industrialized nations in the world from one of the most unstable governments in history,” Ojard said. “It also focused the big picture, as to why we, as Marines, are stationed where we are and what the primary mission is in the Pacifc.” For 1stLt Wu, the tour reshaped the signifcance of the daily tasks and how they ft in with the big picture of the Ma­ rines’ mission and why service members N

are needed to safeguard the DMZ. He Y B L P P

said it’s apparent that Marines need to U D S

act at a moment’s notice as the nation’s F 3 Y O

911 force­in­readiness. S E T R U

“Going to the DMZ helped me appre­ O ciate more deeply that the world remains C The MCA&F provided funding for the professional military education trip to the Korean DMZ for the a dangerous and unstable place, where people sometimes live in close proximity 3d LFSP leathernecks. to dangerous foes. As Marines, we have a duty to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Our presence in South Korea continues to deter adversaries who threat­ en peace.”

Editor’s note: The DMZ trip was funded through the Marine Corps Association Foundation’s Commanders’ Forum Pro­ gram to encourage professional military education. If you would like to learn more about the foundation’s programs for Marines, or if you’d like to support the programs with a tax­deductible do­ R E

nation, visit www.mcafdn.org. L L A H Author’s bio: Roxanne Baker is a . C R I

writer and media coordinator for MCA&F. R D E

A Marine wife, she is an experienced L C P C multimedia journalist with hundreds of L published works. U.S. Marines with III Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Okinawa, Japan, receive a brief from a Republic of Korea soldier on the history of the North Korean infltration tunnels during a DMZ tour. The frst of numerous tunnels, which were dug as a means to sneak North Korean troops into the ROK, was discovered in November of 1974.

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AdvancingLeadershippp10-11.indd 11 6/9/14 12:17 PM Edited by In Every Clime and Place R. R. Keene

2d Tank Bn 8th ESB 2/8

SOI-West 1/7

n FOB NOLAY, AFGHANISTAN Advisor Team (SFAAT) 2-215 arrived at level advisor team in Regional Command Last Marines Exit Sangin Camp Leatherneck following a seven- Southwest, which includes Helmand and The last Marines at Forward Operating month deployment in a convoy out of Nimroz provinces. (The British continue Base (FOB) Nolay exited the Sangin Sangin Valley, May 5. On the same day, to advise the 3rd Brigade in central Valley, leaving the 2nd Brigade, 215th the last leathernecks of 1st Battalion, Helmand.) Corps, Afghan National Army (ANA) in Seventh Marine Regiment departed FOB Marines preparing to redeploy expressed full control of the FOB and the surrounding Sabit Qadam, also in Sangin. their feelings on leaving the FOB com- area. The SFAAT 2-215 Marines and corps- pletely in the hands of 2nd Brigade. Marines from Security Force Assistance men were part of the last U.S. brigade- “The 2nd Brigade has had the torch for some time,” said Captain Joseph Dewson, an advisor with SFAAT 2-215. “We have been able to spend time with them and vested a personal interest in their success.” Colonel Christopher Douglas, the team leader for SFAAT 2-215, kept a “no in- terference” stance with his advisory unit. One of his goals was to rapidly allow the brigade to stand on its own with as little advisory help as possible to ensure its capability to defend the Sangin Valley from hostile attacks. By adopting that stance, the 2nd Bri- gade has developed sustainable “Afghan solutions to Afghan problems” and, in turn, has become more confdent in its problem-solving ability and ability to carry on the mission without coalition assistance. Many of the advisors believe G N the Afghan solutions work better than OU Y A

U some of the coalition force solutions used SH in the past. Although the “no interference” JO L P C stance was kept, the advisors gave feed- Cpl Jeffery Mount, SFAAT 2-215, prepares to depart FOB Nolay. SFAAT 2-215 is completing a seven- back to the leaders of 2nd Brigade at every month deployment as the last advisors in support of the 2nd Brigade, 215th Corps, ANA. opportunity to reinforce their actions as

12 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

IECPpp12-17.indd 12 6/9/14 12:23 PM well as to provide a positive learning travel on Route 1, which runs all the way heroics over the years and as one of the environment. through Afghanistan from Pakistan to best platoon commanders and fghters in “I feel honored to have been part of Iran. The two routes are a crossroads for the 215th Corps. the legacy left by previous Marines and both trade and drug traffcking. Much “As soon as the brigade’s executive coalition forces,” said Douglas. “I expect of the Taliban’s funding comes from the offcer told me they’d decided to change to see them continue to focus on stability profts of the poppy harvests. Black tar the name, I got excited,” Tremblay said. and actively opposing insurgent violence, heroin is extracted from the poppy plants, “It’s proof that we’ve done everything we to dominate and win every fght.” and the drugs are shipped all over the can to set the conditions for transition, For some of the advisors, this was not world. the effectiveness on how the Afghans their frst time at FOB Nolay. Gunnery The Taliban control much of the heroin themselves have accepted the transition Sergeant John W. Greene, who was shot trade and are dependent on the industry. and are willing to take ownership of it, in his shoulder while returning enemy When the weather cools off, the insurgency make it their own and take it to the next fre during November 2013, conducted turns toward facilitating the poppy plant­ step and the rest of the way. monthly visits to the base from February ing. When planting begins, fghting al­ “The Afghans of the 2nd Brigade have 2011 to February 2012 as the Division most ceases. chosen to name these positions after their utilities chief for Second Marine Division. In 2006, when they frst entered the heroes and warfghters who had a repu­ He expressed his feelings on fnally leav­ Sangin Valley after the resurgence of tation above and beyond their individual ing after his second deployment in the the Taliban, the coalition forces had the sacrifce on any particular day,” he con­ area. lead role in all combat operations. During tinued. “Guys who we would hold up on “After being at FOB Nolay on my last the course of the campaign, the lead has high as an example of honor, courage and deployment where it was all Marines, to steadily been turned over to Afghan forces commitment.” now where the Afghans run the FOB, as the coalition took on an advisory role. Forward Operating Base Robinson also it feels good that the ANA are doing so Success in the region has not come received a name change. It now is known well,” said Greene. “The 2nd Brigade easily. Many from coalition forces and as FOB Rahatullah, named after Major has been running strong, planning hard the Afghan National Security Forces have Rahatullah, who was killed in an operation and executing missions on their own for paid the ultimate price to bring stability to disrupt enemy forces in support of the a while now. They’re doing a super job to the war­torn area. April 5th presidential elections. denying the insurgents free movement One of the most profound examples that Cpl Joshua Young of control.” illustrate the 2nd Brigade’s eagerness to Combat Correspondent, MEB–Afghanistan Corporal Robert Santiago, the squad continue the fght and completely make it leader of FOB Nolay’s security force, the unit’s own is the changing of the base n THE U.S./MEXICAN BORDER nicknamed “The Guardians of Nolay,” name. Forward Operating Base Nolay now Marines Tackle Road Construction worked to ensure the base was secure at is known as Forward Operating Base It’s a construction mission far removed all times. Although his role on the base Hamidullah. from the deserts of Iraq and the mountains did not allow him to directly advise the It was named after Lieutenant Hamidul­ of Afghanistan. They’ve done those too, Afghans, he and his Marines always lah, who was a platoon commander in of course, but spring brought a welcome were present to provide security for the the 2nd Brigade’s reconnaissance tolai change of pace for the 40 Marines and advisors. (company). He was known for multiple corpsmen with the 8th Engineer Support “It feels good to see a positive result from all our efforts here,” said Santiago. Members of 8th ESB, 2d MLG are trained and certifed by a Caterpillar heavy equipment instructor during “I’m expecting to see more of the same a two-month project with JTF-North in El Centro, Calif., in March and April. The project gave Marines the great work they’ve been completing the opportunity to apply their construction skills in a noncombat environment. (USMC courtesy photo) entire time we’ve been working with them.” Major Paul D. Tremblay was the com­ mander of Company B, 1st Bn, 6th Ma­ rines on FOB Nolay in 2011. He was involved in the major clearing operation that secured the upper Sangin Valley and the Kajaki District. This deployment’s end marks Tremblay’s second full deploy­ ment to FOB Nolay. “I couldn’t be more humbled to have the opportunity to be lucky enough to fnd myself in this position to close the doors and shut off the lights on such a prestigious base in Helmand province,” said Tremblay, the deputy team leader, SFAAT 2­215. “We’ve defnitely set a foundation that Afghanistan can take the rest of the way forward.” The Sangin Valley is a hotbed for ne­ farious and illegal activities. It is strategic in its proximity to major corridors such as Route 1 and Route 611. Drug runners and insurgents often

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IECPpp12-17.indd 13 6/9/14 12:23 PM “We’re working off a set of blueprints from a frm that contracted the design for the road,” said Gunnery Sergeant David Poole, one of the lead Marines for the project. “We’re executing off their plan, making small adjustments here and there with the different conditions out here that we have to adapt around.” The Marines usually worked 10-hour stretches in the arid environment, where temperatures were near 90 degrees. They spent hours carefully grading and com- pacting the road to the rigorous standards used by commercial construction agencies. According to Poole, one of the biggest challenges was maintaining moisture levels along the roadway during the com- pacting and grading process in the dry climate. “We’re making good progress every day,” he added. “We do a lot of road and construction work deployed, but we don’t get too many opportunities like this. … It takes our heavy equipment operators [working] with our surveyors, who tell them how high or low we need to go in certain spots to meet certain compaction levels for the road to make sure it doesn’t wash away.” The work was taxing and precise. It also was the frst chance many of the Ma- rines had to work with civilian contracting agen cies to complete such a large project. “It defnitely is controlled, slow, steady and exact [work], more along the lines of commercial projects,” said Corporal Wil Whidden, a heavy equipment operator, who completed similar projects while deployed to Afghanistan. “I’m actually gaining a lot more of the overall picture, learning more along the lines of a project

USMC COURTESY PHOTO COURTESY USMC manager or site foreman. It’s along the Engineers of 8th ESB constructed this cement culvert during a two-month project with JTF-North in El same lines of what we do forward deployed Centro, Calif., in March and April, near the Mexican border. The project gave Marines the opportunity to im- in theater. … I’ve been directing … Ma- prove the U.S. Border Patrol’s access to the area by opening the route to more than just all-terrain vehicles. rines on backflling and excavating the culvert sites and compacting to make sure Battalion, Second Marine Logistics Group have built over the last three weeks since we have enough hydration and compaction in El Centro, Calif. This was an important around 1976. That was the last time ve- on the road itself.” project much closer to home. hicular traffc went across these roads.” At the end of March, the team already The detachment arrived in March to In collaboration with Joint Task Force was ahead of schedule and expected to kick off a 54-day road construction project North, based out of Ft. Bliss, Texas, the wrap up its mission more than a week near the U.S.-Mexico border. Approxi- Marines volunteered their labor and skills ahead of schedule. mately 1,800 feet of road and fve pre- to expand the tactical mobility of the “Everything we’re doing out here def- cision-engineered culverts lay ahead of area’s Border Patrol and open up the route initely falls within the scope of [our spe- them as the Marines settled into the to more than just all-terrain vehicles. cialties],” said Comiskey. “Putting in venture. JTF-North, a joint service command culverts, building roads and moving dirt, “In typical Marine Corps fashion, they made up of active-duty and Reserve per- that’s what we do. This defnitely falls said: ‘Here’s what we want as the end sonnel from across the Department of right in with what the Marines do on a state. You fgure out how to get there,’ ” Defense, supports federal law enforcement daily basis. It’s just to a larger extent.” said First Lieutenant Joseph Comiskey, the agencies in counterdrug operations. Another beneft of the operation was the mission commander for the detachment. For the Marines and sailors on the chance to familiarize the Marines with “We’re building [the road] for the Bor- ground, the work was not only a unique commercial construction equipment, said der Patrol so they can better protect the opportunity to use their skills, but also a Comiskey. area,” said Comiskey. “The roads have chance to gain frsthand experience of Sgt Paul Peterson been beaten down. … They haven’t been procedures and standards used by their Combat Correspondent, 2d MLG able to drive past this section the Marines civilian counterparts.

14 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

IECPpp12-17.indd 14 6/11/14 12:05 PM n FT. PICKETT, VA. Reminding the Marines that they can Regiment, Second Marine Division and Reawakening the Rifeman be taken out of their comfort zone at any U.S. Army AH­64 Apaches from Com­ “Every Marine a rifeman” is a Ma­ point is key to the Marine Corps mission. pany A, 1st Bn, 501st Aviation Regiment, rine Corps mantra instilled in recruits “In all reality, ‘every Marine is a rife­ 1st Armored Div worked together to com­ beginning on the frst day of training. It’s man.’ We can all get sent off at any moment plete a close­air support exercise at Dona what all Marines stand for, no matter their to do any job we are needed to do,” said Ana training facility, Ft. Bliss, Texas, military occupational specialty. Lance Corporal Devan M. Compton, a April 24­26. Non­infantry Marines such as food spe­ supply specialist with the battalion. “So Squad leaders, platoon commanders, cialists, mechanics, supply specialists, it is nice because being with supply, we fre support team leaders and joint fre drivers, armorers and more stepped out­ don’t always get to practice this.” observers (JFO) from “Echo,” “Fox,” side their everyday jobs and reconnected Reawakening the mindset and skills is and “Golf” companies of 2/8 directed with their rifeman roots by conducting one of Oliver’s goals with this training. simulated fire support from Apache foot patrols, setting up defenses and stand­ “I always want my Marines to remem­ helicopters overhead on various targets ing 24­hour watch periods when the 2d ber why they became a Marine and to throughout Dona Ana. Tank Battalion, Second Marine Division always hold it close to their heart. The This was the frst time many of the Ma­ deployed for training to the Combat Sup­ embodiment we left boot camp with all rines have worked with Army aircraft for port Service Area (CSSA) in Ft. Pickett, Va. comes back here because it brings back this purpose, according to Sergeant Steven “We have one entrance and one exit our roots … going on patrols, sweating, Funkhouser, a joint terminal air controller point to our CSSA. We also have 360­degree lack of food and sleep, but you still have (JTAC) with 1/10, 2dMarDiv. security dug in fghting holes as well as to accomplish the mission,” he said. Marines conducted fre missions day a ready foot­mobile force, which is an “In this occupation we are all about one and night using different methods at all­hands command that we give. Every­ shot, one kill. Out in public, we can be that targets scattered throughout the area. one knows their position just in case we poster child in our dress blue uniform look­ Depending on the target, Marine observers are overrun by the enemy,” said Staff ing nice, but as a Marine, our ultimate job chose which type of ammunition to fre Sergeant George Oliver, the Headquarters is to hit and kill the target,” added Oliver. notionally, whether Hellfre missiles, 2.75­ and Service Company gunnery sergeant. LCpl Joey Mendez inch rockets, or the 30 mm machine gun. “Besides the basic defense, we also con­ Combat Correspondent, 2dMarDiv Each company spent a total of two days duct foot patrols, whether it is security on close air support—one day in the class­ patrols or reconnaissance patrols.” n FT. BLISS, TEXAS room training and one day at the observa­ The Marines conducted foot patrols in America’s Battalion Takes Texas, tion position applying the new knowledge any weather and at distances anywhere Destroys “Enemy” From Air to different scenarios. After they com­ from three to six miles before returning When troops are in a grueling frefght, pleted their training, the squad leaders to the CSSA. the sound of an approaching attack heli­ trained the other Marines in their squad “The skills that are being refned during copter can give hope to Marines engaging on close air support. the foot patrols are the skills taught at basic the enemy. Attack helicopters provide Usually, this type of training is only re­ training and Marine Combat Training— troops with an advantage in the form of ceived by JFOs and JTAC during Tacti cal such as always searching your sectors, a better view of the battlefeld and superior Air Control Party training exercises at covering the Marines to your left and frepower unmatched by enemy ground Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. right, looking for disturbed vegetation, forces. But an upcoming NIE will provide oppor­ enemy danger areas, low and high bridges In preparation for an upcoming Net­ tunities for squad leaders to work with and possible improvised explosive device work Integration Exercise (NIE), leather­ Apache helicopters to engage ground emplacement,” said Oliver. necks with 2d Battalion, Eighth Marine targets. Below left: Cpl Keita T. Bass, center, a motor transportation mechanic with 2d Tank Bn, checks his map while training as a squad leader at Ft. Pickett. Below right: LCpl Devan M. Compton, a supply specialist with 2d Tank Bn, chops wood that will be used to conceal his fghting hole during refresher rifeman training at Ft. Pickett. (Photo by LCpl Joey Mendez) LCPL JOEY MENDEZ

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IECPpp12-17.indd 15 6/11/14 12:07 PM AH­64 Apache helicopters with Co A, 1­501st Aviation Regt, 1st Armored Div maneuver overhead during a close air support training exercise with 2/8 at Ft. Bliss, April 24­26. Marine squad leaders, platoon commanders, re support team leaders and joint re observers were able to train with the helicopters for two days in preparation for an upcoming exercise. CPL AUSTIN LONG

“It’s the exact same protocols here as The tactical site exploitation training it would be in a combat situation, besides was part of the course’s 15­day curricu­ the simulated ordnance,” said Funkhouser. lum. The course certifes the students as “The Marines prepare their target infor­ combat hunters and trainers to instruct the ma tion, check their accuracy, and then Marines and sailors under their charge, get on the radio and direct the helicopter at their units. on target. We do this type of training at “[The course is] extremely valuable,” Le jeune, but there we only work with said Corporal Scott Boyles, student. “This [UH­1] Hueys, [AH­1 Super] Cobras, F/A­ would help my Marines sharpen their 18s [Hornet fghter attack jets], [AV­8B] skills. Once you learn a little, you want Harriers and some Navy jets. Joint train­ to keep going.” ing is a good experience to have. Not a Beyond tactical site exploitation, the lot of Marines get opportunities like this.” course teaches Marines and sailors physi­ Working with the Apaches is a little cal and environmental surveillance skills dif ferent than working with Marine Corps such as tracking, enhanced observation helicopters, said Funkhouser. The Apache and basic profling. helicopters usually work on their own to Through tracking, students can poten­ provide support to Army units maneuver­ tially identify features such as weight,

ing on the battlefeld. For training pur­ CPL AUSTIN LONG direction and sense of urgency of their poses, the Marines are controlling their Cpl Jonathan Hoag, a squad leader with Fox/2/8, targets. Students also can determine po­ movement and directing their fre. calls for close air support from helicopters dur­ tentially dangerous situations by using “We’ve done this type of training be­ ing CAS training at Ft. Bliss. basic profiling skills to better gauge fore, but with Cobras,” said Corporal Clint individuals. Mead, a squad leader with Fox Co. “This for evidence left by simulated terrorists. “Combat Hunter isn’t just about combat. is our frst time working with the Apaches. They took photographs and collected data It’s about enhanced situational awareness I never really thought I’d be in a position and suspicious items that may indicate a wherever you are,” said Dick. “The course like this. It’s a great experience.” terrorist attack. They also cleared impro­ uses different schools of thought to en­ Cpl Austin Long vised explosive devices. hance their education. We teach them to Combat Correspondent, 2dMarDiv In addition, students learned how to identify things like workplace violence properly gather information without before it happens, pre­event indicators of a n TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, OAHU contaminating it, which could mean the sexual assault. We teach them behavioral Skills Beyond the Battle Basics difference between an innocent or guilty techniques to identify drug and alcohol Marine Corps Base Hawaii leathernecks verdict in court. abusers to better police their Marines.” participated in a tactical site exploitation Captain John Dick, offcer in charge, In addition to basic combat hunting exercise at Marine Corps Training Area Combat Hunter Course, said tactical site skills, students also hone their military Bellows during the Combat Hunter Train­ exploitation knowledge is important, not leadership skills. er Course, April 23. only in a combat zone, but in any crime “We create a more mature noncom­ The course is conducted by the School of scene. missioned officer, giving them more Infantry­West, based out of Marine Corps “Just because we [are drawing down in experience,” Dick said. “We teach them Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., but supports Afghanistan] does not mean we won’t enhanced situational awareness and being Detachment Hawaii and is located aboard have to gather evidence anymore,” Dick proactive vice reactive.” MCB Hawaii and helps Marines learn and said. “The better we are at collecting in­ Cpl Sarah Dietz increase their investigative skills. formation, the more we can help the PAO, MCB Hawaii During military operations on urban government of whatever nation we fnd terrain (MOUT) training, students searched ourselves in.”

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IECPpp12-17.indd 16 6/9/14 12:23 PM USMC Women’s Embrace Ring

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IECPpp12-17.indd 17 6/9/14 10:16 AM 10 YEARS AGO

Operations Vigilant Resolve and Al Fajr— The Liberation of Fallujah

By Robert J. Sullivan and Ann Todd Baum cated so that successful local elections on 3 April. Regimental Combat Team could be held in 2005. (RCT) 1 from the First Marine Division ith more than 250,000 residents, The I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) ordered two battalion-level task forces Fallujah—known as the “city of deployed to Anbar in March 2004 as part to block all roads around the city and to W mosques”—is the second-largest of Multi-National Force West to carry out conduct raids. Marine combat engineers city in Iraq’s largely unpopulated Anbar stability and reconstruction operations, and U.S. Navy Seabees constructed a berm province. taking over from the U.S. Army’s 82nd to seal off the city’s southern approaches. In 2004, the area was a stronghold of Airborne Division. On 6 April, two battalions, later joined the insurgency—a hotbed of malcontents, On 31 March 2004, insurgents am bushed by a third, assaulted the city to seize hos- smugglers, criminals, unemployed civil four American contractors, brutally killed tile sectors. Ground forces headed into a servants, former soldiers, radical foreign them and hung their bodies from a bridge war ren of roughly 50,000 buildings, each fghters and organizations affliated with in Fallujah. Emotions ran hot, and the one a veritable bunker of thick brick pe- al-Qaida. Fallujah served as a sanctuary coalition command ordered I MEF to take rimeter walls, against an estimated 2,000 for the insurgents: a secure forward op- immediate and decisive offensive action insurgents. Insurgents were organized, erating base from which they could launch to deny insurgents continued sanctuary heavily armed, agile and adaptive. Close attacks and then return to rest, rearm, reft in Fallujah and to arrest the perpetrators air support from the Third Marine Aircraft and plan. One senior Marine considered of the killings. Wing (MAW) and the U.S. Air Force pro- Fallujah a “cancer” that had to be eradi- Operation Vigilant Resolve commenced vided essential airpower. Marine tanks, A U.S. Marine Corps M1A1 main battle tank from 2d Tank Bn, attached to 3d Bn, 5th Marines, 1stMarDiv, res into a building during a reght with insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, during Operation Al Fajr. USMC

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Fallujahpp18-21.indd 18 6/9/14 12:20 PM U.S. Marines with 1st Bn, 8th Marines re main at the ready on a street corner during a se curi ty and stabilization operation in Fallujah. (USMC photo) amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs) and artillery were on the attack. Marine recon­ naissance units swept north and east of the city. An Iraqi commando battalion advised by U.S. Special Forces also fought alongside RCT­1. Within a few days, accusations of “ex­ cessive force” were reported by the media. Political pressure led the U.S. government to halt the offensive on 9 April with a cease­fre in place until the operation con­ cluded at month’s end. The I MEF lost 27 Marines killed and 90 wounded. Sporadic insurgent attacks increased in opposition to the Iraqi interim govern­ ment and against the Marines, as did in­ ternecine fghting among tribal militias and extremist factions. The situation in Fallujah deteriorated through the summer and into the fall of 2004. The hastily formed Fallujah Brigade, a force of locals orga­ tage of superior night­fghting capabilities tary services and Special Operations Com­ nized to conduct security operations, was and utilized unmanned aerial vehicles mand participated. Combat forces not ineffective. Insurgents tightened their grip for targeting and reconnaissance. The involved in the assault on the city, includ­ again over the city’s population through 1stMarDiv secured its initial objectives ing a battalion from the British Black intimidation, brutality and murder. Many in fve days. Insurgents dissolved into Watch Regiment, supported the division residents fed. small groups to fght, but they could not elsewhere in Anbar province. The victors The 1stMarDiv resumed planning for a match the attackers’ leadership, training used complementary warfghting capa­ second multiphased combat operation in and morale. Search and attack operations bilities, one chain of command, ad vances Fallujah named Operation Al Fajr (Dawn). continued into December to remove pock­ in technology and a unifying vision to The First Force Service Support Group and ets of resistance and booby traps and to free the city from the insurgents. I MEF Engineer Group constructed camps fnd weapons caches. On 23 Dec., the city reopened. U.S. and created a forward supply point—an Other units critical to the success of Al Navy Seabees and civil affairs groups “Iron Mountain” with 15 days’ worth of Fajr included combat engineers, explosive worked day and night to prepare the city ammunition (both U.S. and Soviet), spare ordnance disposal teams, tanks, military for the residents’ return, restoring es­ parts, fuel, water and rations. Division police, AAVs, air/naval gunfre liaison sential services and critical infrastructure. units shaped the battlefeld with raids, company teams, Navy SEALs and ling­ Humanitarian distribution sites were searches, indirect fres and close air sup­ uists. Attack aviation from all U.S. mili­ established to provide supplies, and enemy port, and information operations. On the evening of 7 Nov. 2004, I MEF commenced attacks on insurgent com­ mand and control and defensive positions. The 3d MAW and joint aircraft, including U.S. Air Force AC­130 gunships, carried out devastating air attacks. On the ground, Marine and U.S. Army artillery and mor­ tars hit planned targets. Task Force Light Armored Reconnaissance, consisting of Marines, U.S. Army soldiers and an Iraqi commando battalion, isolated the city from the west, while the U.S. Army’s Black Jack Brigade (2d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division) closed the city in the east and south. On 8 Nov., both RCT­1 and ­7, including Iraqi units, attacked from the north through the city and achieved tactical surprise. Each RCT had armor­heavy units from the U.S. Army, Task Force (TF) 2­7 and TF 2­2 that proved invaluable in the urban

fght. U.S. ARMY The fghting was intense, close and per­ Soldiers from 2-7 Cavalry, 2d BCT, 1st Cavalry Div carry a wounded soldier from Apache Troop to a chopper sonal. Units used the night to take advan­ from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 during medevac operations in Fallujah, 12 Nov. 2004.

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Fallujahpp18-21.indd 19 6/11/14 12:08 PM USMC

Above: Leathernecks, assigned to 3d Platoon, Co I, 3d Bn, 5th Marines, 1stMarDiv and armed with 5.56 mm M249 squad automatic weapons, M-4 carbines and an AT-4, rest inside a building while waiting for tank support in Fallujah during Opera- tion Al Fajr. Right: An armored bulldozer uses its front-load- ing blade to knock over buildings and power lines in Queens, a small city south of Fallujah, during Operation Phantom Fury. bodies were located and removed for proper disposition. Friendly forces manned checkpoints to search for returning in­ surgents or criminals. Contractors hired residents to clean and rebuild the city. Iraqi power companies restored power. With the arrival of Election Day, 30 Jan. 2005, Fallujah’s residents voted in droves for the candidates of their choice. The cost for Fallujah’s freedom was heavy: 82 Americans were killed in action, 76 USMC of whom were Marines, and more than 800 were wounded in action. Estimated USMC (Ret), Commanding General, will include graphics of the progress to insurgent casualties were 2,000 killed 1stMarDiv, during Operation Al Fajr the new galleries and recent donations. and 1,200 captured. The I MEF was for his insights on the operation and as­ A Fallujah reunion is being planned for awarded the Navy Unit Commendation sistance with this article. September 2014 at the NMMC. for its actions from 2 Aug. 2004 through The staff of the National Museum of Authors’ bios: Robert J. Sullivan, a 1 Feb. 2005. the Marine Corps (NMMC) is producing retired Marine lieutenant colonel artillery temporary exhibits on signifcant topics to offcer, is a curator at the National Mu­ Authors’ note: The authors appreciate be included in the Final Phase galleries seum of the Marine Corps, and Ann Todd the numerous conversations with Lieu­ to inform the visitors of the content in Baum is an intern there. tenant General Richard F. Natonski, the future galleries. Additionally, the staff

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Fallujahpp18-21.indd 21 6/9/14 10:17 AM HUMOR Leatherneck Laffs

“When he says he’s going to nail our hides to the barn door, “Dig a fox hole? But why can’t the fox dig his own hole?” that’s just a fgure of speech—right?”

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Laffspp22-23.indd 22 6/9/14 12:24 PM “This will be your first overnight training. Keep alert. I understand the enemy loves bear meat.”

Laundry Day

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Laffspp22-23.indd 23 6/9/14 12:25 PM Gunfght at Ocotal The Birth of Integrated Air-Ground Combat

Central American country of Nicaragua was a faming cauldron of political and ideological turmoil as two rival factions, conservative and liberal, each sought to achieve dominance over the other. At their most basic fundamentals, con- servatives could be viewed as staunch supporters of the Roman Catholic Church and a traditional Hispanic culture, while liberals might be regarded as anti-clerical secularists with a strong strain of Euro- Socialism. The two ideologies did not mix well. Throw in a healthy dash of ferce national pride with equally ferce local loyalties, add a perceived villain, the Unit- ed States, and the whole concoction easily could have erupted in gunfre. After several decades of sizzling and sputtering, Nicaragua did exactly that in 1926 when the lid blew off the simmering caldron. After agreeing to an American- monitored election, which they felt would sweep them into offce, the liberals decided not to wait. Bankrolled and armed by the Soviet Union-controlled Communist International (Comintern) and funneled through Mexico, liberal forces attacked government troops throughout Nicaragua. It was a full-fedged revolution. President Diego Chamorro resigned and left the country, and Nicaragua’s congress chose Conservative Adolfo Diaz to serve as interim chief executive until the elections of 1928. If the liberals were angry before, this infuriated them. The fghting between factions grew ever more intense. Nicaragua was on the verge of disintegrating. With more Soviet-Mexican aid pouring into the This painting documenting Marine aviation and ground troops working together in Nicaragua, by Donald L. country through neighboring Honduras, Dickson, became the March 1931 cover of Leatherneck magazine. Dickson, later retiring as a colonel, the liberals became stronger by the day. served 19 years as Leatherneck editor. Finally, in November, President Diaz re- quested American intervention. President Calvin Coolidge was appre- By Maj Allan C. Bevilacqua, USMC (Ret) equipped for such a role, the complement- hen sive about introducing American troops ing capabilities of air and ground combat into Nicaragua’s bubbling kettle of civil “They laid those bombs right in there.” units functioning as one have proven their unrest and revolution. Marines had been —Sgt Padraig “Paddy” Flaherty, USMC value from Peleliu to the Chosin Reservoir sent to Nicaragua before, the last of them to Khe Sanh to Al Anbar and Helmand. withdrawn little more than a year earlier. Ocotal, Nicaragua, 16 July 1927 No other nation in the world can put Beyond the formation of the Marine- Unique among the armed services of such a force, a true combined-arms force, trained and -led Guardia Nacional de the world, the Marine Corps alone stands on the battlefeld. It is no accident that the Nicaragua, the beginning of a disciplined able to feld totally integrated ground and Marine Corps is capable of employing this national army, little had been accom- aerial combat forces, the Marine air- two-edged sword. It began more than 80 plished. Still, under the terms of an exist- ground task force (MAGTF), under the years ago at an otherwise unremarkable ing treaty, President Coolidge had to honor direction of a single overall commander. village in Nicaragua. President Diaz’s request. Specifically organized, trained and In the early years of the 20th century, the Beyond that consideration, the waning

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Ocotalpp24-29.indd 24 6/9/14 12:28 PM weeks of 1926 saw an increasing incidence pilot would stay zeroed in on the target Profciency rates were impressively in­ of liberal attacks on foreigners in gen eral until at just the right altitude, he would creasing, which was a good thing, because and Americans in particular. In Managua, re lease the bomb, pull back the stick and orders arrived to deploy to Nicaragua. With British and Italian diplomatic represen­ let the bomb continue straight down. Why its aircraft disassembled and deck loaded tatives informed the American Minister not try it? aboard USS Galveston, VO­1M set out that citizens of their countries were in For one thing, in the cash­strapped Ma­ for Corinto. Upon arrival, the DH­4Bs were increasingly grave danger from roving rine Corps of the 1920s there hoisted aboard flatcars, bands of gunmen. Bound by treaty, Pres­ weren’t enough bombs to lashed down and taken to ident Coolidge was bound as well by his spare for trying new ideas. the airfeld at Managua. duty as America’s chief executive to pro­ There was no short age of Several days later, with all tect the lives of American citizens living sandbags, however. Filled aircraft reassembled and overseas, and there were many such in with enough gravel to sim­ serviced, the squadron Nicaragua. The Marines would be return­ ulate the weight of a bomb was fying daily patrols ing to Nicaragua in their defned mission and with four cumshawed over areas of known and of performing “such other duties as the from the mess hall to create suspected rebel activity. President may from time to time direct.” a visible burst, something All in all, it was a case of With the dawn of 1927, the wheels be­ approximating a bomb pretty good timing. gan turning as Marines and sailors from might be rigged. If the idea Only days prior to VO­1M USS Galveston went ashore at the west worked, there might be a becoming operational, coast port of Corinto to provide security real bomb or two for a live­ BGen Feland received or­

for the railroad line leading to Nicaragua’s fre exercise. USMC ders from Rear Admiral capital of Managua. By 1 Feb. Lieutenant It wasn’t long before the Maj Ross E. Rowell Julian L. Latimer, overall Colonel James J. Meade’s 2d Battalion, aircrews of VO­1M were commander of American Fifth Marine Regiment was ashore and, as using every bit of available forces in Nicaragua, to requested by President Diaz, had assumed time to put Rowell’s idea to What if the pilot take the offensive. High on responsibility for protecting the city. work. It was only a short put the nose down the list of priorities for Those early arrivals were followed by hop from the squadron’s pacif cation was the prov­ the bulk of the East Coast Expeditionary base at Naval Air Station and aimed airplane, ince of Nueva Segovia in Force from Quantico, Va. North Island, San Diego, bomb and all, the moun tainous region of By the end of February, more than 2,000 to an improvised bombing Nicaragua’s Northern Marines of 2d Marine Brigade were serv­ range in California’s Mo­ at the target? High lands. Jutting like a ing in Nicaragua under the command of jave Desert. First using the wedge into neighboring Brigadier General Logan Feland, a highly sandbag make­believe bombs and then Hon duras, Nueva Segovia, long the lair experienced offcer whose combat record with actual defused and disarmed bombs of bandits and smug glers and still largely was matched by very few. that could be used over and over, the law less, was a prime infl tra tion route for Among the units available to BGen theory more and more proved to be Mexican­supplied arms and am mu nition Feland was the frst aviation unit to deploy practicable. carried clandestinely into Nicaragua to Nicaragua, Major Ross E. Rowell’s Ma­ rine Observation Squadron One (VO­1M). Maj Rowell’s squadron few the British­ designed DeHavilland DH­4B that had been a Marine Corps workhorse since its days with the Northern Bombing Group in France a decade earlier. Long in the tooth and soon to be replaced by the more up­to­date Vought O2U Corsair, the DH­4B was the only aircraft available, and the Marines of 1927, like the Marines of to­ day, were highly inventive at getting the best out of what there was. One of the most inventive of all was Ross E. Rowell. As Maj Rowell saw it, the standard practice of dropping bombs from level fight was a hit­or­miss affair that resulted in more misses than hits. After all, what could the pilot of an open­cockpit biplane sailing along straight and level see of the ground below? Merely managing to drop a bomb in the middle of a city would be a major accomplishment. Hit or miss? It was more a case of by guess or by gosh. What about trying it differently? Instead of essentially dropping bombs blind with nothing resembling a bomb sight, what if From left: Chief Marine Gunner Michael “The Polish Warhorse” Wodarczyk, Capt H. D. Campbell, Capt the pilot put the nose down and aimed R. A. Presley and Maj Ross E. Rowell were among those early Marine aviators who honed their ground- airplane, bomb and all, at the target? The support skills against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. (Library of Congress photo)

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Ocotalpp24-29.indd 25 6/9/14 12:29 PM The two-seat DeHavilland DH-4B, with its cloth- covered frame, could get in close, allowing the Marines to refne dive-bombing techniques that proved invaluable in later wars. alert Marine spotted a lone man attempting to pass furtively between his own position and the next post. At the Marine’s chal- lenge, the man turned, drew a pistol and fred three shots, all of which missed. The Marine snapped the butt of his M1903 Springfeld rife to his shoulder and fred once. Marine Corps folklore holds that the Marine who fred that single shot was the legendary marksman and storyteller Michael J. “Mickey” Finn. Finn never said anything one way or another, but LIBRARY CONGRESS OF careful observers noted that he always through Hon duras. It was also the realm reconnaissance patrol, but Capt Hatfeld gave a sly half grin when the subject came of Augusto Nicolas Calderon Sandino, was an experienced offcer who believed up. Listeners were free to make of that sometimes called “Cesar.” in leaving nothing to chance, not in an whatever they wanted. With his 10-gallon hat and his low- area where government troops had not Whoever may have fred it, that one slung six-shooter on his hip, the slight ventured for several years. There was round sent the intruder fat on his back. It Sandino looked more like a gunslinger a solidly built city hall in Ocotal, one set off muzzle fashes from nearly every from the Old West, a member of the Wild that long ago had been a frontier fort. point of the compass as more than 600 Bunch Gang who rode with Butch Cassidy Establishing his command post there, Sandinistas opened fre with rifes and and the Sundance Kid. Convinced that Capt Hatfeld set his force of 38 Marines machine guns. Augusto Sandino had his socialism was the future, Sandino was and 48 Guardias in positions to command men there in force, and the odds were all a dedicated liberal who as a young man every avenue of approach. The local citi- in his favor. With the element of surprise had worked in the Mexican oil felds and zens were not hostile, but their distant lost, Sandino shifted to a tactic of sheer been one of Pancho Villa’s pistoleros. and guarded behavior told Hatfeld that numbers, throwing three successive at- Highly charismatic, he drew followers to large numbers of hostiles were not far off. tacks against Hatfeld’s small force. him in wholesale lots, starting Marine discipline, training with a handful and in no time, and superior marksmanship commanding hundreds of Ocotal beat back every charge. Hat- zealots, called Sandinistas. feld’s deployment of mutually By late June, Augusto support ing positions with over- Sandino and more than 600 of lapping felds of fre brought his dedicated troops had down attackers in windrows, established themselves in while Marines and Guardias Nueva Segovia, the provincial were well-protected and re- capital of Ocotal. As a practical latively untouched. The San­ consideration, Ocotal sat dinistas drew back to think square ly astride a major infl- things over, content for the time tration route and was known to being with long-range sniping be a hotbed of liberal con vic- that had little effect. tions. It was no coincidence that To pass the time between Captain Gilbert P. Hatfeld, at tacks, Gilbert Hatfeld and USMC and his small mixed Augusto Sandino traded good- force of Marines and Guardia natured barbs. At one point, Nacional troops also were when Sandino taunted that he headed there. The essence of would crush Hatfeld’s small Gilbert Hatfeld’s orders was command “like a cockroach,” to check out Ocotal. Hatfeld, who could appreciate a

Getting to Ocotal from COURTESY OF MAJ ALLAN C. BEVILACQUA, USMCfellow (RET) fghting man, responded, Managua was a bit more than “If wishes were soldiers, you an afternoon’s stroll in the park. It was a Throughout the evening of 15 July, would be a feld marshal, instead of just week of hard hiking, as the line of march small groups of seemingly harmless men a mule thief.” Legend has it that both men wound into higher and higher country, in twos and threes wandered casually into laughed. Then they went back to trading among mountains reaching as tall as 3,000 the town, just men returning from a day’s shots. feet. It was much cooler in the high work in the felds. Or were they? Correctly Just as the sky was beginning to country along Nicaragua’s northern bor- determining them to be infiltrators, grow lighter, after a particularly intense der, how ever, and Ocotal, once reached, Hatfeld put his entire force on 100 percent round of incoming fre which failed to seemed quiet enough. alert as darkness fell. achieve much in the line of results, a lone The mission may have been basically a About 0115 on Saturday, 16 July, an Sandinista carrying a white fag emerged

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Ocotalpp24-29.indd 26 6/9/14 12:29 PM cautiously from cover. Capt Hatfield, as Sandino’s well-supplied men poured at Belleau Wood in 1918. Both pilots watchfully willing to respect a fag of in a perfect hailstorm. Striding about, quickly saw Capt Hatfeld’s signal panels truce, ordered a cease-fre. The bearer ob livious to the rain of incoming fre, indicating that the post was under attack. of the white fag was allowed to come Hatfeld made his way calmly from po- Each in turn initiated treetop-level fring forward, carefully covered by Marines sition to position, making an adjustment runs at the Sandinistas ranged around ready to fre. here, a correction there. By some miracle Hatfeld’s position. Taken before Capt Hatfeld, the emis- or other, untouched by everything thrown Wanting to know more about the situa- sary delivered a handwritten note from his way, Hatfeld was doing just that when tion, Boyden, known as a cool customer, Augusto Sandino. It was a demand that a pair of DH-4Bs from VO-1M on routine found a level piece of ground and set down Hatfeld’s force surrender. The note said patrol passed overhead at about 1000. while Wodarczyk continued to rake the that Hatfeld’s situation was hopeless. Flying lead was First Lieutenant Hayne Sandinistas with machine-gun fre. Find- More and more Sandinistas were arriv- ing a local farmer, Boyden used his ele- ing each hour, swelling Sandino’s ranks “Surrender? mentary Spanish to learn that “many” to more than 800 men, while Hatfeld’s Sandinistas were attacking the Norte Ameri­ Marines and Guardias could hope for no Marines don’t know how to canos and Guardias in the town. Back in reinforcements. They had fought honor- surrender, and water or the air again, Boyden rejoined Wodarczyk ably, but Sandino knew they were running in low-level attacks. When both had ex- out of water. (They weren’t, but Hatfeld no water, we will stick it out pended all on-board ammunition, they lit saw no reason to let Sandino know that.) If till captured or killed.” out for Managua to alert Ross Rowell. they surrendered, the message concluded, What aircraft Maj Rowell had on hand they would be allowed to keep their arms —Capt Gilbert Hatfeld beyond those already on patrol in other and equipment and leave peacefully. areas or down for maintenance were Using his orderly’s back as a desk, D. Boyden, a tall, rangy Virginian who exactly fve DH-4Bs. They would have to Gilbert Hatfield penned a response. was fast becoming the Marine Corps’ do. Aviation ordnance personnel quickly “Surrender? Marines don’t know how to leading authority on aerial photography. ftted each DeHavilland with four 25-pound surrender, and water or no water, we will Flying on Boyden’s wing, Chief Marine bombs in underwing racks and packed stick it out till captured or killed. We will Gunner Michael Wodarczyk, already .30-caliber belted ammunition into every commence fring as soon as the bearer known throughout the Marine Corps as space that would hold it. Fully armed and of the truce fag has turned the nearest “The Polish Warhorse,” was a recipient of fueled and in the air, the fight followed corner.” France’s Medaille Militaire and Croix de Rowell to Ocotal, dodging thunderstorms Firing resumed, swelling to a crescendo Guerre (1914-18) as a gunnery sergeant and turbulence along the way. A second squadron, VO-7M with its Vought O2U Corsairs, arrived in 1927. One of the pilots, 1stLt Christian F. Schilt, later earned the Medal of Honor for landing his aircraft in the face of Sandinista fre to resupply and provide medical evacuation for the wounded. FILE PHOTO LEATHERNECK

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Ocotalpp24-29.indd 27 6/9/14 12:29 PM Newly promoted Capt Hayne D. “CooKoo” Boyden, right, stands next to GEN Jose Maria Moncada, president of Nicaragua in 1929. The president frequently used U.S. Marine aircraft and pilots to get around the country. (Ret) died at U.S. Naval Hospital, San Diego, in 1947, shortly after transferring to the Retired List. His burial was in Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery. Hayne D. Boyden, who survived so many crashes that he became known throughout the Marine Corps aviation community as “the man who couldn’t be killed,” eventually few more aerial photography missions than anyone be­ fore or since. He continued to serve throughout WW II, fnishing the war as Chief of Staff, Second Marine Aircraft Wing. BGen Hayne D. Boyden, USMC (Ret) died in 1978 and was interred in McKendree Methodist Church Cemetery, FILE PHOTO COURTESY OF MAJ JOHN M. ELLIOTT, USMC (RET) King William County, Va. Michael Wodarczyk, The Polish War­ horse, one of the very few Marines to be LEATHERNECK LEATHERNECK decorated for bravery in both ground and Arriving over Ocotal around 1430, the a minor affair long ago in which one Ma­ aerial combat, transferred to the Retired fight went directly into the attack. Dive rine was killed and fve others wounded. List following WW II. Colonel Michael bombing made its battlefeld debut. Ross At the time, little notice was taken, the Wodarczyk, USMC (Ret) died in 1957 Rowell described it later: “I led off the sort of engagement John W. Thomason and was laid to rest in San Diego’s Fort attack and dived out of column from 1,500 may have had in mind when he wrote of Rosecrans National Cemetery, many feet and pulled out at 600. Later, we ended “skirmishes, far off, such as the Marines thousands of miles from his birthplace up by diving in from 1,000 and pulling have nearly every year.” Nevertheless, that in Poland. out at 300. Since the enemy had not been relatively minor frefght was the be gin­ Gilbert P. Hatfeld transferred to the subjected to any form of bombing attack, ning of something much bigger and longer Retired List in 1939 and immediately was they had no fear of us. They exposed lasting, the birth of integrated air­ground recalled to active duty, serving throughout themselves in such a manner that we were combat, the trademark of today’s Marine WW II. Col Gilbert P. Hatfeld, USMC able to infict damage which was out of Corps. (Ret) died in 1961 and rests today in Ar­ proportion to what they would have suf­ ling ton National Cemetery. fered had they taken cover.” Afterword Augusto Sandino, a complex blend of Following Maj Rowell’s lead, each For his part in the gunfght at Ocotal, ardent Nicaraguan patriot and frebrand DH­4B in turn dived in to deliver a single Gilbert Hatfeld was awarded the Navy socialist revolutionary, was ambushed and bomb, then climbed back to altitude for Cross for his leadership and courage under killed by Guardia Nacional elements loyal another run. The Sandinistas, who had fire. Ross Rowell and Hayne Boyden to Anastasio “Tacho” Somoza in 1933. never before been attacked from the air, Airline travelers to Nicaragua today arrive frst wavered and then began to break as Under the cover of strafng at Managua’s Augusto Cesar Sandino one by one the DH­4Bs swooped low Internacional Aeropuerto. overhead, raining explosives on them. runs by Rowell’s pilots, With only one exception, there are no The long hours of practice in the Mojave they inficted a deci mating survivors of the gunfght at Ocotal. That Desert paid off as the DH­4Bs planted distinction belongs to Marine Attack bombs squarely among the massed enflade fre on the Squadron (VMA) 231, which traces its Sandinistas. The effects were instan­ Sandinistas. A coordinated lineage directly back to Ross Rowell’s VO­ taneous and decisive with Sandinistas 1M. Currently based at Marine Corps Air breaking and feeing. After the third pass, air-ground attack, the frst in Station Cherry Point, N.C., the squadron’s it was a rout except for a small force that the history of warfare, aircraft still display the Ace of Spades found shelter of a sort in a shallow road insignia carried by the DeHavilland DH­ that was fronted by a stone wall. Quickly had taken place. 4Bs that few at Ocotal. sizing up the situation, Capt Hatfeld led a handful of Marines to a fanking po­ would be among the earliest aviators to be Author’s bio: Maj Bevilacqua, a sition. Under the cover of strafng runs presented the Distinguished Flying Cross. Leatherneck contributing editor, is a by Rowell’s pilots, they inficted a deci­ Marine Corps aviation pioneer and former enlisted Marine who served in the mating enflade fre on the Sandinistas. early innovator of air­ground tactics Ross Korean and Vietnam wars. Later in his A coordinated air­ground attack, the frst Rowell later served as Director of Aviation, career, he was an instructor at Amphibious in the history of warfare, had taken place. Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps and in Warfare School and Command and Staff That was it. The Sandinistas had had command billets during World War II. College, Quantico, Va. enough. The gunfght at Ocotal was over, Lieutenant General Ross E. Rowell, USMC

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Ocotalpp24-29.indd 28 6/9/14 12:29 PM Marine Corps Association & Foundation Awards

CONGRATULATIONS! 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS

MARINES OF THE YEAR

CORPORAL SERGEANT SERGEANT SERGEANT KYLE R. BLACK JOSHUA L. MOORE JUSTIN D. DAHME JASON T. GREENE 1st Marine Division 2d Marine Division 3d Marine Division 4th Marine Division Marine of the Year Marine of the Year Marine of the Year Marine of the Year GROUND LEADERSHIP AWARD RECIPIENTS

CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 3 CAPTAIN CAPTAIN MASTER SERGEANT A. ASHINHURST STEPHEN W. LAROSE TERESA Q. WHITE JEFF R. BOGLE THOMAS A. SAUNDERS Leftwich Trophy for Hulbert Award Chambers Award Zembiec Award MARSOC NCO/Critical Outstanding Leadership for Outstanding Leadership for Outstanding Leadership for Outstanding Leadership Skills Operator of the Year by a Marine Gunner by a Company Grade in the USMC Forces Special Offi cer in the Marine Operations Command Reserve Component

Ocotalpp24-29.indd 29 6/9/14 10:30 AM 100 YEARS AGO

Marines at Vera Cruz Part III, The Conclusion

By J. Michael Miller auspicious. Lejeune later wrote in his commanders and informed them that memoir, “In my eagerness to get ashore, each company would be placed in a line President Woodrow Wilson saw the I jumped prematurely and fell overboard and would be assigned a city block. The need to protect American interests and between the launch and the seawall. … I company would sweep each city block promote democracy in Mexico 100 years went down like a plummet.” Lejeune and “comb it from the water straight ago, so the U.S. Navy and Marines were quickly was assisted back into the boat through to the inland edge of town,” sent into Vera Cruz. This concludes our by his staff and later found the soaking recalled Captain Frederic M. “Dopey” three-part article on Vera Cruz which gave him some protection from the Wise, leading 6th Company. The Marines became a proving ground for Marine blazing heat, as “the evaporation from would search for weapons and take into leaders in World War I. [his] wet clothes kept [him] cool and custody any Mexican citizen who opposed comfortable.” the advance. t 1120, 22 April 1914, Colonel John At 1300, Lejeune ordered First Marine Once a company cleared its block, AA. Lejeune, the Advance Base Regiment to relieve Lieutenant Colonel the Marines would hold until the entire Brigade commander, disembarked Wendell C. “Buck” Neville’s 2d Marines, regiment fnished sweeping that street, USS Prairie and came ashore to take holding its positions on Calle Lerdo. LtCol ensuring the snipers would not infltrate command of the Marines in Vera Cruz. Charles D. “Squeege” Long, commanding behind them. The best marksmen in each His initial attempt to land proved in­ 1st Marines, assembled his company unit were chosen to occupy the roof of the

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VeraCruzpp30-35.indd 30 6/9/14 1:18 PM Left: GEN Gustavo Maass, the commander of the Mexican troops in and around Vera Cruz, lived in this home in Vera Cruz. Below: Mexican citizens line up for bread on 25 May 1914 during the U.S. occupation of Vera Cruz. BAIN NEWS COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

four­story Hotel Independencia on the both sides of [him]. ... [I]t was a miracle public square. The Marines found pools [he] wasn’t hit.” Looking back, Wise saw of blood and bloodstained clothing, a group of American sailors on a rooftop indicating the fate of the previous Mexican who continued to fre at him, mistaking occupants of the rooftop. A second post the Marine for a lone sniper. He crawled was established on a three­story cigar to a nearby trapdoor opening and went factory where Private George W. Kase below, dispatching an orderly to order the noticed shots coming from a nearby bluejackets to cease fring. shuttered elongated window. He fred fve LtCol Long’s Marines initially cleared rounds into the window, but a search of the city blocks with little trouble, having the building later found no evidence of one Marine wounded during the sweep.

HARRIS & EWING COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS the sniper. Kase was pleased to know that Shots, friendly and unfriendly, still rang the shooter missed his own targets with out during the building searches, but the tallest building in the block, preventing every shot. Marines fred only a small number of shots Mexican snipers from gaining any vantage Capt Hiram I. “Hiking Hiram” Bearss in reply. Few targets made themselves points to attack the Marines below. Each and his 2d Battalion began a sweep to available. With each block methodically building in the block then was searched the west, clearing the city blocks on both cleared, the city became more secure. for weapons and suspected Mexican sides of Calle Vicario. The advance proved More threatening was the approach to the soldiers. Fire discipline continued to methodical with the only major danger Mexican military hospital. As the Marine be of prime importance. Long’s line approached the building, rife rules of engagement specifed that As the Marine line approached the building, fre erupted from the windows and no Marine was to fre his weapon towers of the hospital, targeting the unless a specifc target positively rife fre erupted from the windows and towers entire Marine advance for several was identifed. of the hospital, targeting the entire blocks. Without further delay, 1st Ma­ First Lieutenant L. W. T. Waller rines began its sweep just as 2d Marine advance for several blocks. Jr. and his 4th Co opened fre on Marines had before. The Marines the building as they advanced up soon found that the buildings of Vera coming from shots fred by the American the street, as did the neighboring 5th Co Cruz “were built solid. Walls fush with sailors located in the cathedral tower. under Capt Giles Bishop. Once the Ma­ the streets. Patios inside. Flat Roofs.” The Capt Wise’s 6th Co worked the row of rines were close to the structure, the com­ heavy wooden doors of the frst house they city blocks west of the Hotel Diligencias. mand “Cease fring” rang out, and Capt encountered were locked and prevented Wise climbed to the roof of a house two Bishop charged a nearby door while 1stLt the initial attempts at entry. “Marines with blocks west of the hotel to observe the Waller and Pvt Walter Mair charged into sledgehammers were ready,” Capt Wise blocks ahead, when shots rang out and the hospital from the opposite side. The wrote later. “We smashed the doors and bullets tore through the air around the Marines found the building clear, as the went in.” captain. He dove to the roof and lay fat Mexican snipers dressed in civilian cloth­ The Marines occupied the roof of the as “the plaster on that parapet few on ing wisely fed out a back door.

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VeraCruzpp30-35.indd 31 6/11/14 12:11 PM Capt Robert C. Underwood’s 1st Co and Florida from the area west of the city “shooting at everything they saw moving.” observed the shots fred and returned to occupy Calle Benito Juarez. Lejeune Marine patrols that encountered those fre in support of Bishop and Waller’s joined Reid’s and Maj Albertus Catlin’s sailors reported that enforcing order in attack. Pvts George Smith and Michael forces of battleship Marines to form a new Vera Cruz overnight “had been a very Dimola fred several rounds at the hospital provisional regiment, 3d Marines. Reid’s dangerous job, as the sailors shot frst and building, with one of Dimola’s bullets men effortlessly switched their command looked afterwards.” accidentally striking the fring pin of to become the 1st Bn, 3d Marines, while At 0100, 23 April, Pvt Randolph D. the cocked Colt pistol of Pvt Henry P. Catlin’s became 2d Bn, 3d Marines. Reid Summerlin, a member of the Marine de- Nagermowski. Dimola’s round ricocheted quartered his men along the avenue and tachment from USS Vermont, stood guard into Nagermowski’s hip, at the same time posted guards on every local street corner at the corner of Independencia and Juarez. causing the discharge of the pistol, putting to impose order within the city. Catlin’s Summerlin was approached by a roving another round into his leg. The Navy patrol in the darkness. Trag- unlucky private earned the doubtful Trag ically, the American sailors mistook ically, the American sailors mistook fame of being wounded twice by Summerlin for the enemy and fred the same friendly round. Summerlin for the enemy and fred a shot, a shot, striking the Marine private With resistance broken, Lejeune striking the Marine private in the chest. in the chest. The bullet pierced his realigned his forces to occupy Vera lung, and the young Marine from Cruz and restore order. At 1530, Lejeune men guarded the area bordered by the Georgia died of his wound. Summerlin ordered Neville’s force back to their Avenue Independencia, Avenue Guerro, was the last Marine killed in the fghting original jumping-off position on Calle Montesinos and Benito Juarez. for the city. Montesinos, where they found rest on the With three Marine regiments control- Mexican casualties for both days were now familiar platforms of the railroad ling the bulk of the city, Lejeune was able estimated at 195 wounded and 126 killed. warehouses. Their old position was secure to report that the situation in the Marine American losses totaled 19 dead and 63 enough to allow the men to rest, but block- sector of Vera Cruz was stable. A curfew wounded. Four of the dead were Marine ing positions were posted at the round- was established until dawn, and piles of privates, with 11 other Marines wounded. house, in the sand hills west of town and captured weapons and prisoners flled the Two more Marines would die during the one mile out on the railroad and Vargara public square. That same night, patrols of coming occupation, one from an acci- road, providing warning should the forces bluejackets wandered through the streets dental frearm discharge and the other of the Mexican army approach. of the city, proving a danger to both from disease. Lejeune then called in Major George friend and foe. “Our sailors continued to More Marines landed on 23 April as C. Reid’s leathernecks from USS Utah roam the town,” Capt Wise later related, the detachments from USS Louisiana and Sailors from USS Connecticut prepare to receive refugees on 13 May 1914 during the U.S. occupation of Vera Cruz. BAIN NEWS COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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VeraCruzpp30-35.indd 32 6/11/14 12:12 PM Vermont joined the house clearing and rooftop duty. The remaining companies of Neville’s 2d Marines also arrived aboard USS Mississippi. With the city secure, Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher, commanding the naval force afoat and ashore, ordered the Navy and Marine units to form a protective barrier in the sand hills to the west to prevent any potential incursion by Provisional President Victoriano Huerta’s forces. At the same time, the admiral requested that a U.S. Army brigade be directed to replace his sailors. The effciency of each ship in the Atlantic Fleet demanded a swift return of the sailors ashore. However, the Marine Advance Base Brigade and several of the Marine battleship detachments remained on station to continue to provide security to the port, at the request of Col Lejeune. The orders to deploy to Vera Cruz reached Brigadier General Frederick Funston, USA, commanding the 5th Bri­ gade, on the morning of 23 April, directing his brigade be loaded aboard the ships promptly with the general himself to ac­ company the force. However, BG Fun ston’s command was severely understrength, with some companies containing less than 35 men. The Army transports were not outftted to hold all of the troops and trans­ portation despite having been on station for a year. On 27 April, Marine Capt Frederick H. Delano, Sergeant Major John H. Quick and Ensign McDonnell, USN raised the American fag over Vera Cruz in a modest ceremony on the open ground leading to the Terminal Hotel. A Navy band played “The Star­Spangled Banner,” after which USS Minnesota fred a 21­gun salute. During the night after the ceremony,

four Army transports arrived with BG BAIN NEWS COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Funston’s 5th Brigade. These American refugees wait aboard a ship during the U.S. occupation of Vera Cruz. A controversy soon arose over com­ mand of the Marine brigade that would relieved RADM Fletcher’s bluejackets, gade ashore had diffculty matching the remain ashore. The Navy claimed control punctuated by an Army offcer leading Army commanders, however, due to the based on the simple presence of the Ma­ cheers for the Navy, which were recipro­ outdated rank structure of the Marine rine brigade while the Army justifed its cated in good measure. The assembled Corps. Although the Commandant was claim by stating that land conficts be­ bands played “Auld Lang Syne.” That a major general, the Marine Corps of 1914 longed to Army authority. The issue re­ same day, the recently formed 3d Marines had no established grade for a brigadier mained deadlocked until President Wilson arrived from Philadelphia, adding 33 general. Even with such a large number of determined that the Army would com­ offcers and 861 enlisted Marines to the Marines formed into a brigade, the senior mand the American forces at Vera Cruz. brigade. Marine could be only a colonel, the same BG Funston received a cable from Pres­ Vera Cruz and the Mexican intervention grade as his regimental commanders and ident Wilson, ordering him to relieve the represented the largest assemblage of not equal to his Army counterparts. Navy of “their duties ashore incident to Marines in American history. Approxi­ In an attempt to put the Vera Cruz the occupation and Vera Cruz and its mately 5,000 Marines served in Mexico, Marines on an even footing, the senior environs, etc.” With no further discussion, with the three regiments in Vera Cruz, Marine colonel was dispatched to Vera the Marines who remained on shore came the 4th Marines formed to serve on the Cruz to help with the awkward rank under his command. Pacifc Coast of Mexico, and the Marine structure. Col Waller took command of The Army 5th Brigade was unloaded detachments sent back on their battleships the Marine brigade on 4 May 1914. Col completely and on land on 30 April. With with the arrival of the Army. With a total James E. Mahoney moved to 1st Marines; an “impressive ceremony,” BG Funston strength of just under 10,000 men, half Col Lejeune assumed command of 2d took command. In another ceremony, at of the Marine Corps deployed to Mexico. Marines, while Col Franklin Moses led 1400 the following day, BG Funston’s men The commanders of the Marine bri­ 3d Marines.

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VeraCruzpp30-35.indd 33 6/9/14 1:18 PM The total strength of the forces available Fortunately, the situation in the city sentences for serious crimes. to BG Funston numbered 366 offcers and remained stable, with the civil government The Secretary of War sent orders on 1 6,857 men, with 28 cannon in support. The established by RADM Fletcher success­ May 1914, ending the city government 5th Brigade totaled 22 offcers and 3,829 fully controlling the city. However, established by the Navy and instituting a men, while the Marine brigade counted Mexican troops still lurked on the road pure military government. BG Funston 126 offcers and 3,015 Marines within the to Mexico City. General Gustavo Maass became the military governor on 2 May three regiments on hand. Twelve of the 28 commanded the several hundred soldiers and announced the changes for Vera Cruz. cannon belonged to the Marine artillery nearby, while a larger force was reported The offce of provost marshal maintained battalion as well. at Cordoba. GEN Eubio Navarette, with control of the city, with a legal department, With some of the Army com panies at almost 3,000 soldiers, was reported on a department of public works, de partment less than 35 men and no new recruits the Interoceanic Railroad. No real threat of fnance and department of public safety, arriving to replace the soldiers or police force, while the offce of whose enlistments were expiring, The Secretary of War sent orders on the treasurer maintained the city’s the 5th Brigade dropped by 500 fnancial systems. Another offce men during the next six months. At 1 May 1914, ending the city government was set up for the substantial cus­ the same rate, the Ma rine brigade established by the Navy and instituting a toms service of Vera Cruz and a lost more than 200 men, with no postal service established for Uni ted estimated reenlistments from the pure military government. States and domestic mail. three regiments. At the same time, the situation BG Funston assumed the defense lines appeared before the Americans, just small with the Mexican army remained un­ established by RADM Fletcher’s sailors patrols sent to observe BG Funston’s men defned. No defnite truce existed between and Marines, starting at Vargara in the and complete the destruction of more the opposing forces, but an agreement to north, moving through the sand hills to than two miles of railroad to thwart any avoid direct combat was in place, unless the west and then to the beach one mile American advance to the Mexican capital. BG Funston was attacked. The Secretary south of the city. The line protected the The fortress of San Juan de Uloa re­ of War forbade the Americans from any pumping station, the Legarto and Inter­ mained an issue. The U.S. soldiers oc cupy­ aggressive movements “even under at­ oceanic Railroad to the north and the ing the castle discovered 103 prisoners tack,” without his expressed permission. Alvarado and Isthmus railways to the west held under medieval conditions in the On 2 May, the Mexican soldiers tested and south. The most vulnerable and yet dungeons of the fort. All but 10 were the American defense at the waterworks most important portion of the defense was political prisoners or men from the state at El Tejar. They came forward under a the El Tajar waterworks, about nine miles of Tabasco who had refused to serve in fag of truce, demanding the surrender of south of the city. A fragile pipeline ran the Mexican army. BG Funston offered the Americans immediately. When the from the station to the city, frequently to return the men to GEN Maass, but re­ Americans refused, the Mexicans fred above ground where the exposed pipe ceived no answer. BG Funston then freed several useless shots in protest and then could be easily damaged. all the men except those who were serving disappeared. No more excitement oc­

The funeral cortege passes City Hall in New York City during the procession to the National Memorial Service honoring sailors and Marines killed in Vera Cruz, 11 May 1914. BAIN NEWS COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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VeraCruzpp30-35.indd 34 6/9/14 1:19 PM curred until Army PVT Samuel Parks rode into Mexican lines by mistake. Word soon reached BG Funston that the private had been executed and his body burned by the Mexican soldiers of the Sappers and Miners Bn, commanded by MAJ A. P. Simancas. On 26 May, the German steamer Bavaria unloaded one million rounds of small- arms ammunition, meant for the Huerta government, at the port of Puerta Plata. The infamous Ypiranga left Vera Cruz for the same port and delivered her cargo of weapons and ammunition the same day. When the vessels came to Vera Cruz be- fore their return to Germany, BG Funston’s military government fned them 200,000 pesos for failing to land their cargos as assigned by the port offcials. President Wilson eventually lifted the fnes in an effort to avoid yet another crisis with the German government. The Americans began to clean the city,

which was teeming with refuse and far BAIN NEWS COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS from sanitary by Western standards. The President Woodrow Wilson, second from right inside the carriage, along with the mayor of New York onset of sickness seemed inevitable in the City and his secretary participate in the funeral procession to the National Memorial Service for those coming months. Dysentery and malaria sailors and Marines killed in Vera Cruz. were the frst diseases that struck the soldiers and Marines. They took extreme tedious duty for both soldiers and Marines, experiences there were, in fact, dwarfed, measures to ameliorate sanitation issues. continued for another seven months. even in our own minds,” remembered To combat the millions of mosquitoes and However, control of Mexico’s largest port Lejeune, “by the stupendous events fies in Vera Cruz, they gave screens to denied the Huerta government income which were taking place in Europe.” The the street vendors and cleared the many from the Customs House. No government possibility of entering a world confict pools of water in the city. An epidemic could survive long without the fnancial seemed inevitable, and a swift return to of smallpox also was found among the support of Vera Cruz. Determined to avoid the United States would allow the Marines citizens, resulting in a house-to-house war and prevent any further bloodshed, to prepare for such an eventuality. vaccination effort. President Wilson attempted diplomacy. After a simple promise that an account- The principal problems facing BG On 21 May, representatives from Argen- able authority would assume control of the Funston’s soldiers and Marines were the tina, Brazil and Chile met at the Niagara city, President Wilson announced on 15 temptations of Vera Cruz. The inexpensive Conference in an attempt to end the Sept. that U.S. forces would be removed supplies of alcohol, prostitutes, gambling standoff, but failed after a month of from Vera Cruz. On 23 Nov. 1914, the last and other such activities proved too en- negotiations. American forces boarded their ships and ticing to the Americans. Those issues The major stumbling block to a settle- ended the confrontation between Mexico fell squarely on Army CAPT Frank E. ment between the two nations was re- and the United States. The soldiers and Bamford, who led the department of moved on 15 July when GEN Huerta Marines quietly marched down the empty public safety. His police force consisted stepped down as provisional president. streets to the docks without any fanfare. of four companies of Marines who Constitutionalist victories on the battle- No ceremony marked the departure; no patrolled the streets of the city. Bamford feld forced his removal from Mexico City band played nor was any cheering allowed. also established a Mexican police force and a hasty escape to the German cruiser The Americans silently went aboard their to accompany the Marines. Dresden where he was granted political waiting transports and were soon over the The Marines dealt with the “soldiers asylum. horizon, with their occupation of Vera and sailors to be constantly found in the At the same time, the world was plunged Cruz only a memory. streets of Vera Cruz,” while the Mexican into war following the assassination of police enforced the law with the civilian Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Author’s bio: J. Michael Miller is populace. The crews of the visiting foreign on 28 June, and the resulting battles Special Projects Historian, World War ships on liberty provided an even greater that occurred across the globe. On 28 I at Marine Corps History Division and favor to the city, with British, French, July, Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, is engaged in writing a multi-volume German, Dutch and Spanish sailors mix- followed by the German attack on Bel- centennial history of the Marine Corps ing with the established American and gium and the resulting declarations of in WW I. The events of Vera Cruz are Mexican merrymakers. BG Funston spe- war by England, France and Russia. the starting point for that definitive cifcally mentioned the Marines in his The world turned its attention from Vera work. He has served more than 30 years report to the War Department, noting, Cruz, and President Wilson had a far working in the Marine Corps historical “The service of the Marine Companies more dangerous diplomatic situation to program, including serving as director on Provost Duty have been particularly navigate. of the Marine Corps Archives. satisfactory.” The war news had the same effect on The occupation, which proved to be the Marines stationed at Vera Cruz. “Our

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VeraCruzpp30-35.indd 35 6/9/14 1:19 PM WORLD WAR II 70 YEARS AGO USMC They found it 31 July 1944 in the ruins of the Plaza de Espana, terribly tattered and torn; nonetheless, these leathernecks of the 3dMarDiv strung the remnants of the Stars and Stripes across the entrance to the ruined Catholic cathedral at Agana. The Taking of Omiya Jima

By R. R. Keene com missioned offcers. Their weaponry and outgunned, Todd’s forces threw back included nothing heavier than four the surprised enemy twice. It was obvious uam had been a U.S. Navy com­ .30­caliber water­cooled machine guns. to Todd that he couldn’t keep this up for munications center since 1899, On the morning of 8 Dec. 1941, Japa­ long. There would be no reinforcements. G and in the late 1930s, military nese airplanes from Saipan flew 135 While fghting continued in the plaza, planners had pointed out to Congress a miles south and bombed Guam, the mine­ 5,500 Japanese soldiers landed unopposed need to fortify the island. Congress re­ sweeper USS Penguin (AM­33), an old on Guam’s southern extremity and on the fused, and from then on, everyone in the tanker and two patrol craft. They followed east coast. Pacifc understood that in the event of up with two days of bombing and strafng The Marines fought brief skirmishes. In hostilities, Guam would be sacrifced. of the Marine Barracks at Sumay. all, 19 of Guam’s military garrison were The U.S. military forces there prior to The Japanese returned 10 Dec. with killed and 42 wounded—including four World War II consisted of 37 Navy and more than 400 infantry­equipped sailors Marines killed and 12 wounded. Guam’s Marine offcers, fve Navy nurses, six under the protection of a heavy cruiser and naval governor, U.S. Navy Captain George warrant offcers, and 256 members of splashed ashore across Dungcas Beach J. McMillin, realized the situation was Insular Police armed with obsolete rifes. above the capital of Agana, today called futile and ordered a cease­fre. The Ameri­ The island’s Marine garrison, com manded Hagåtña, and made for the town. They can colors were dropped. It would be 2½ by Lieutenant Colonel William K. Mc­ stormed the plaza where they ran into the years before the Marines would return. Nulty, was made up of 153 leathernecks rife and machine­gun fre of native troops On 10 Dec. 1941, Guam became the frst and the 80­man Insular Guard, consisting commanded by Marine First Lieutenant U.S. territory to fall to Japan. of native Chamorros, led by Marine non­ Charles S. Todd. Although outnumbered As stepping stones across the Pacifc for

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Guampp36-41.indd 36 6/9/14 12:21 PM luxury clippers of Pan American World Airways and fueling stations for ships on their voyages to Asia, the islands of Midway, Wake and Guam were early targets of the Japanese. Guam, at 228 square miles, is the largest and southernmost of 15 tropical islands of the Marianas archipelago and is today a U.S. Island Territory. It is a place of sheer cliffs, immense and dense tropical forests, rugged outcroppings and hills that rise up to 1,334 feet at Mount Lamlan of the Chachao-Alutom-Tenjo massif overlooking the mangrove swamps on the shores of Apra Harbor. It is a formidably rugged land, but it has beautiful beaches and a beneficent climate that seldom varies from the average temperature of 87 degrees. The Chamorros, large, handsome people, are believed to have come to Guam from Southeast Asia 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. The Spaniards arrived in 1541 and re- mained until the Americans took posses- sion during the 1898 Spanish-American Above: Landing craft get ready to cross the reef and push ashore and across the beaches of Guam, 21 War. It was an amicable relationship which July 1944. Japanese boat guns scored hits on a number of landing vehicles carrying Marines. Mines, became even closer after World War I when the Versailles Treaty gave Japan machine-gun and mortar re knocked out 24 LVTs. (Photo by TSgt James A. Mundell) mandate over all the Marianas except Below: Once ashore, the Marines faced hidden pillboxes and interlocking elds of re. The Marines Guam. countered with
amethrowers to incinerate those Japanese who refused to surrender. (USMC photo) It should be noted that the late, former U.S. Representative from Guam, retired Marine Brigadier General Vincente T. Blaz, wrote in 1952 when he was a second lieutenant that the word “Chamorro” is considered obsolete at the present. “Guamanian is considered the offcial designate of the peoples of Guam and is preferred by the natives of the island.” Thus, it was an insult to the Guamanians when their new landlords, the Japanese, renamed Guam “Omiya Jima,” or “Great Shrine City,” and Agana became “Akashi” or “Red or Bright Stone.” Relations with the Japanese went downhill, but life for the easygoing 20,000 Guamanians still was tolerable. The Americans, however, wanted Guam back to be used again as a stepping stone across the Pacifc, mainly by four-engine B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers of the 20th Air Force that could fy their payloads for 1,200 nautical miles to Honshu and return for another 10,000-pound load of bombs. And the Marines, aside from want- ing to strike a blow against Japan and end to be designated as a naval aviator and D.C., to become the frst Marine aviator the war, needed to settle a score for the few combat missions in World War I to command a large ground combat unit: Japanese capture of the barracks at Sumay. France. In the Corps, every Marine is an the Southern Troops and Landing Force, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Com- infantryman, and MajGen Geiger and and I MAC (which had been redesignated mander in Chief, U.S. Pacifc Fleet and other aviators were educated in ground III Amphibious Corps). A proven leader, Pacifc Ocean Areas, oversaw the strategy, strategy and tactics. MajGen Geiger was one of two Marines and Major General Roy S. Geiger would In 1943, the commander of I Marine to be awarded the Navy Cross in each command the Southern troops and landing Amphibious Corps, MajGen Charles D. World War. force of the III Marine Amphibious Corps Barnett, died unexpectedly. MajGen His commanders in the attack on Guam in the recapture of Guam. Geiger, then Director of Aviation, received were WW I combat veterans: MajGen MajGen Geiger was the ffth Marine his marching orders and left Washington, Allen H. Turnage had commanded the

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Guampp36-41.indd 37 6/9/14 12:21 PM 5th Machine Gun Battalion in France and By all accounts, the attack was prefaced tions. Members of the 3dMarDiv crossing now commanded the Third Marine with an impressive naval barrage. Tons the beach did take some humor and heart Division; Army MG Andrew D. Bruce, of sand, dirt, coral and vegetation mixed in seeing a large “Welcome Marines” sign whose experience in WW I was with the with shrapnel erupted in geysers that flled left by Navy Underwater Demolition Marines’ 5th Machine Gun Bn, com­ and shattered the air across the beaches Teams. The UDT sailors had blown up manded the 77th Infantry Division; and between two “Devil’s Horns,” Adelup 940 separate Japanese­planted beach the future 20th Commandant of the Ma­ Point and Asan Point, and the beaches obstacles. The bombardment had been rine Corps, then­Brigadier General of Agat along the island’s east coast. effective. Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., who had been One Japanese soldier wrote in his diary: According to Japanese accounts, all wounded twice at Belleau Wood, fought “No matter where one goes, the shells coast defense guns in the open, half of in the St. Mihiel and Meuse­Argonne follow.” Indeed, the Navy took 13 days to those in caves, and about half of all defen­ offensives, where he was wounded a third “prep” and soften suspected and hardened sive installations inshore of landing time, now commanded the 1st Provisional defensive positions. beaches, had been destroyed. Additionally, Marine Brigade. The numbers are impressive. An armada Japanese army COL Hideyuki Takeda The Guam landing force for Operation of warships from Task Force 58 fred noted: “There were scattered outbreaks Forager totaled 54,000 Marines, soldiers 6,258 shells from 16­ and 14­inch guns of serious loss of spirit.” and sailors. of battleships and cruisers; 3,862 rounds Still, there were more than enough Japa­ Private First Class Cyril J. O’Brien, a of 8­inch; 2,430 6­inch and 16,214 rounds nese of the Kwantung army, with plenty diminutive but tenacious Marine combat of 5­inch combined battery fire from of spirit and tenacity, to give the Marines correspondent of Irish descent, later would rockets, with air support from torpedo and soldiers mean resistance. The Japa­ recall eating the traditional pre­landing bombers and B­25s of the Air Force to nese garrison, with the 29th Division, the steak and eggs served Marines at “zero­ deliver the most “devastating preliminary major army unit commanded by LTG dark thirty” 21 July 1944 before going bombardment in the history of the war,” Takeshi Takashina, and naval and defense over the side of his landing ship, tank wrote Marine historian Colonel Robert forces totaled approximately 19,000 well­ (LST). He carefully made his way under Debs Heinl Jr. in his “Soldiers of the Sea: organized defenders. Like the Marine his 40­pound pack, M1 rife, cartridge The United States Marine Corps, 1775­ defenders in 1941, however, the Japanese belts and bandoleers of ammunition down 1962.” defenders were squeezed, thanks to Ameri­ the cargo nets to bobbing landing craft, Veterans of earlier Pacifc landings were can submarines, by a lack of resupply and eventually getting on line and churning, not impressed. They knew the Japanese had to improvise with what they had. There uncomfortably exposed, to the beaches. were masters of creating defensive posi­ would be no resupply or reinforcements. A Marine M4 medium tank traverses the fre-swept “no man’s land” blasting a Japanese position. The tanks provided frepower and cover from sniper fre for Marine infantrymen. (USMC photo)

Guampp36-41.indd 38 6/9/14 12:21 PM Undaunted and determined, MG Kiyoshi Shigematsu, who commanded 5,100 men of the 6th Expeditionary Force, ordered his command to “seek certain victory at the beginning of the battle … to utterly destroy the landing enemy at the water’s edge.” Three infantry regiments of the 3dMarDiv came in along 2,500 yards of beach be­ tween the Devil’s Horns. The leathernecks crossed the beaches taking sporadic mor­ tar fre, which became heavy shelling as they advanced more than a mile inland. The landing at Agat beaches was another story. Two Japanese boat guns proved devastating opposition, and 24 tracked landing vehicles (LVTs) were hit or blown up by mines. Two Marine regiments were under machine­gun and mortar fre at the beach. By nightfall, the Marines had gained the beaches and then some, but at a cost of 350 casualties. Then came the inevitable banzai counterattack. The Japanese 38th Infantry Regiment, with tanks, spent itself in three assaults against the Marines. They came with bay­ onets fxed, grenades sparked by hitting their helmets, bravado reinforced by al­ co hol, and willingness to die for the em­ peror. They ran headlong into a fusillade of fre that cut them down without mercy. At dawn, the 38th Infantry was no more. PFC Luther Skaggs Jr., a squad leader with a mortar section with 3d Bn, 3d Ma­ rines (3/3), took command of his section when his leader was hit. He moved the section to a position that would provide

effective mortar fre and coverage for U.S. ARMY Marines assaulting a cliff. His section came under a series of counterattacks. A By 24 July, the fghting had shifted to fed Marine: “I’d like to describe this grenade landed in his foxhole and went Guam’s Orote Peninsula. Situated be­ foxhole to you. It is typical of hundreds off, shattering the lower part of his leg. tween the two landing sites, it drew at­ on this island. Skaggs applied his own tourniquet and tention when the Japanese attempted to “This foxhole is about two feet deep. returned fre with fre and tossed grenades escape the peninsula via landing barges Now, I would like to be able to speak louder for eight hours. He then crawled unassisted that were spotted and sunk by artillery and with more clarity, but unfortunately, to the rear. and naval gunfre. the slightest noise, the slightest rustle, He was still on crutches when President Late that night, it rained and the Japa­ will draw fre not only from the Japanese, Harry S. Truman presented him the Medal nese came storming out of the swamps who are someplace, perhaps, in the dense of Honor on 15 June 1945. at the Fourth and 22d Marine regiments. foliage around us or up on the ridge, but About the same time, PFC Leonard F. Artillery from the Army’s 77th Infantry from our own Marines who are huddled Mason, a Browning Automatic Rifeman Division decimated but did not stop them. nearby in foxholes like this one. with 2/3, came under fre from two enemy Vulgar and bloody mano­a­mano brawls “I don’t know how they [the Japanese] machine guns not more than 15 yards to the death ensued using rife butts, bay­ do it. We can lie here absolutely breathless away. Alone, he climbed out of a gully onets and entrenching tools. When it was listening to the slightest sounds and not and made a one­man assault against the over, BGen Shepherd wrote: “At daylight see anything—in fact, not hear anything— enemy position. He came under a volley over 400 enemy dead lay in front of our and then we wake up and fnd that they’re of accurate rife fre that tore through his lines. I personally counted them (as best all around us. And it’s a very tough and arm and shoulder, continued to move I could) myself. Within the lines there tedious job to root them out, [inaudible] forward and was hit again with a burst of were many instances where I observed them and exterminate them. We lost quite machine­gun fre. He nonetheless per­ Japanese and Marines laying side by side, a few people in our unit. A very popular severed, kill ing fve Japanese and wound­ which was mute evidence of the violence captain was killed.” ing another. Mason died of his wounds the of the last assault.” Marine combat correspondent PFC next day and posthumously was awarded What was it like? Employees of the O’Brien fled this report from the feld: “An the Medal of Honor. In 1946, the destroyer Library of Congress had supplied several infantry squad led by Second Lieutenant USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) was units with metal disc recording machines. James A. Gallo … approached within ten named in his honor. One recording was made by an unidenti­ yards of the tip. The crest bloomed with

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Guampp36-41.indd 39 6/9/14 12:22 PM machine gun fre. In the face of it, the were killed as they left the ravine. The then repel counterattacks. Through it all, Marine company tried its frst assault. sergeant and three others reached the top. Cushman—in an effort to gain frsthand The company was thrown back before it “The Japs again rolled grenades down knowledge of the situation—stood up advanced forty yards. the incline. One exploded under the chest front defying enemy attempts to kill him. “For ffty hours the company remained of a Marine nearby, blowing off his head. He personally led a platoon that repelled on the naked slope, trying again and again Another grenade bounced off the helmet a larger Japanese force. It earned him the to storm the Jap entrenchments hardly one of the sergeant. It was a dud. Navy Cross. He became the 25th CMC in hundred yards away. Battered almost to “The Marines charged into the Jap 1972 and was followed as CMC by one annihilation, the tenacious Marines fnally entrenchment. The sergeant killed a Jap of his company commanders on Guam. saw another company take the ridge from machine gunner with the butt of his car­ On the slopes of the Fonte Plateau, rife­ the rear. ... bine. The assistant gunner exploded a men were down to two eight­round clips “Under the cover of dusk the com pany grenade against his body. The blast threw per man and six rounds per mortar tube. commander led a second attack. As the the Marines out of the hole. … A lieutenant It was as close as anyone wants to come Marines rose, machine gun fre swept who had come to join them was shot to giving his all, but it was then that the into them. between the eyes by a sniper. The sergeant tide of battle turned almost imperceptibly “The commander and three Marines killed the sniper with his carbine.” when a tank platoon arrived with tanks reached the crest. The last ffty feet were According to historian Heinl, in the piled with ammunition. A jug­eared captain almost vertical. The attackers grasped predawn of 26 July, the Japanese sent a who spoke with a Mississippi drawl and roots and dug their feet into the soft earth battalion swarming on the 21st Marines. who would later become the 26th Com­ to keep from falling down the incline. They shouted: “ ‘Wake up and die, mandant of the Marine Corps, Louis H. “The commander went over the ridge. Marine! (to which one rifeman shouted Wilson Jr., took command. He never came back. The three remaining back, ‘Come on in, you bastards, and we’ll Wilson brought his rife company from Marines were ripped by cross fre. … see who dies!’).” 2/9 through rugged open terrain and “Lieutenant Gallo led an assault … but LtCol Robert E. “Bob” Cushman Jr. through 300 yards of withering rife and he was thrown back. Sergeant Charles V. was the 29­year­old commander of 2/9. He machine­gun fre. He consolidated the Bomar … with nine Marines attempted was ordered to seize and hold an enemy forces already embattled on the hill and to take the right ground of the slope. Five strong point. It was a series of attack and set up night defensive positions. The Japa­ A wounded Marine receives a swig of water while awaiting treatment and evacuation from Guam. It was another costly Pacifc campaign. There were 7,800 American casualties of whom 6,964 were Marines; 1,350 would be listed as KIA. (USMC photo)

Guampp36-41.indd 40 6/9/14 12:34 PM nese responded with heavy fre through­ out the darkness, wounding Wilson three times. Nonetheless, Wilson continually reorganized and repositioned his men before getting any medical attention. The Japanese assaulted, and Wilson repeatedly exposed himself dashing 50 yards through scathing chest­high fre to carry a wounded Marine to safety. It was another 10 hours of hand­to­hand combat to doggedly hold his line and throw back fanatical Japanese counterassaults. The captain then cobbled together a 17­Marine patrol to advance against a key slope—defying intense mortar, machine­ gun and rife fre that toppled 13 Marines. Wilson, and the few Marines left, drove relentlessly forward and seized the high ground. In the process, they annihilated 350 Japanese soldiers. His determined and decisive action earned Capt Wilson the Medal of Honor. On July 29th, two years and 230 days after the Rising Sun fag of Japan went up over Guam, members of the 22d Ma­ rines presented arms as the Stars and Stripes was run up the fagstaff at Marine Barracks Sumay. But, there was still an island to be se­ cured. Akashi was liberated by 3/3 and again became Agana, and Omiya Jima was soon to be again known as Guam. The failure of mass counterattacks at Fonte tightened the Marine stranglehold. Such tactics cost the Japanese an estimated 3,200 men. LTG Takashina had lost nearly all his offcers including MG Shigematsu, who was killed in a hail of tank machine­ gun fre trying to lead his depleted and

desperate men off the Fonte Plateau. USMC The 3dMarDiv and the 77th Infantry MajGen Roy S. Geiger, center, background, and his III Amphibious Corps staff salute as Old Glory is raised Div then pushed north to sweep out pockets over a Marine camp on Guam. The fghting and mopping up on the island went on sporadically for years. of determined resistance. On 3 Aug., PFC Frank P. Witek was with 1/9, working its his next of kin received his posthumous The Japanese losses were fearsome. By way carefully through Finegayen, when Medal of Honor. 15 Aug., Marines counted 10,971 dead his rife platoon took heavy fre from a The Japanese melted into the hills, Japanese; 8,500 more were killed and well­concealed enemy stronghold. Every­ jungle and caves. Reports say that there captured on Guam between 1944 and body ducked, except Witek, who standing, was sporadic fghting until 8 Dec. 1945, V­J Day in August 1945. and at point­blank range, let loose a burst when three Marines were ambushed and The fighting on Guam did not end from his 20­round BAR magazine. He killed. Stories still persist of “Screaming in a massive attack on a last Japanese killed eight Japanese soldiers. Willie” thought to be a Japanese leftover, stronghold or with white fags of formal As his fellow Marines fell back to who frightened Marines standing guard surrender. It ground down to a stream and consolidate their lines, Witek guarded a until the late 1940s. Rumor has it he would then trickle of hatred and blind obedience wounded leatherneck by returning fre approach closely at night, than shatter the to a lost cause. Two Japanese soldiers until stretcher bearers arrived. He held darkness with screaming and howling on Guam yielded in May 1960. On 24 his ground, providing covering fre for before disappearing. Jan. 1972, Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi was the bearers. He was the last back into his That aside, the casualties on Guam were discovered by hunters. He had lived alone own lines. high as usual in the Pacifc. American in a cave for almost 28 years. He had no Under fre again, his platoon was pinned casualties are listed as 1,350 killed in idea the war was over and had no intention down by machine guns. PFC Witek went action and 6,450 wounded—all totaled of surrendering. forward throwing grenades and fring as 7,800, of whom 6,964 were Marines. he forced his way to within fve to 10 yards of the Japanese, close enough to knock out the gun emplacement and kill Leatherneck—On the Web more Japanese. He didn’t get them all; a To see more photographs from the Battle of Guam, go to www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/guam Japanese rifeman shot Witek down, and

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Guampp36-41.indd 41 6/9/14 12:22 PM The Marines of the Mounted Color Guard represent the Corps during the 125th Rose Parade, Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 1. Pictured from the left are Sgt Moises Machuca, GySgt Daniel Garcia, Sgt Edgar A. Torrealba and Sgt Bryanna Kessler. (Photo courtesy of the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard) A Four-Legged Legacy The Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard

By Sara W. Bock given to the mounted U.S. legation de­ is buried at Stepp Stables at Marine Corps tachment in Peking, China, a guard unit Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. iding four abreast atop their palo­ established in 1900. While their purpose The days of relying on horses for con­ R mino mustangs, the Marines of the was to conduct patrols on horseback, they veyance may be long gone, but the legacy Mounted Color Guard proudly bear also participated in week ly parades during is continued by the modern­day “Horse the colors of their country and Corps. their 33­year presence in Peking. Marines” at Barstow—a legacy that stems Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Horses in the Corps haven’t solely been from pride in the Corps, a love for tra­ Calif., is home to the only remaining used for ceremonial purposes; with their dition, and an unquenchable esprit. Mounted Color Guard in the Marine strength and high endurance, they have The Mounted Color Guard at MCLB Corps. This small and unique entity has assisted Marines in battle as well. Sergeant Barstow was not the frst of its kind. The the honor of representing the Corps in Reckless, perhaps the most beloved horse frst offcial Marine Corps Mounted Color parades, rodeos and other events nation­ in Marine Corps history, accomplished a Guard was established aboard Camp wide. With determination and enthusiasm, remarkable feat during the Korean War Pendleton in 1955. these Marines on horseback carry on a as she supported ammunition carriers— Colonel A. C. “Ace” Bowen was brought time­honored tradition that originated resupplying and transporting heavy rounds back from retirement to institute a new more than a century ago. across long distances. After the war, she water­use policy for Camp Pendleton. He The “Horse Marines” was the nickname was retired with full military honors and not only accomplished this, but also

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MountedColorGuardpp42-45.indd 42 6/9/14 12:27 PM Throughout the 1960s, the Camp Pendleton Mounted Color Guard appeared in a wide variety of shows, parades and rodeos. From left: Sgt George R. Tufts on Smarty, GySgt Fred Rhyder on Tinker Tom, SSgt Wayne Powell on Little Jack, and Sgt J. O. Perkins on Doug. instituted the Camp Pendleton rodeo and the Mounted Color Guard. Col Bowen was a horse lover who wanted to revive the equestrian traditions of Camp Pendle­ ton, which dated back to the base’s estab­ lishment in 1942. In those early days, as World War II progressed, mounted Ma­ rines were charged with patrolling the beaches, out of concern that the Japanese might attack the base by way of the Pa­ cific. After the Allied victory, those mounted patrols were discontinued. Col Bowen’s color guard brought mounted Marines back to Camp Pendleton, with the primary goal of representing the Corps in a unique way. The tradition of Marines on horseback was reinvented with the establishment of the Mounted Color Guard; Col Bowen was so infuential in the revival of the base’s Western heri­ tage that the Camp Pendleton rodeo grounds were dedicated to his name in June 1982. COURTESY OF AUTUMN DAY TUFTS The members of the Camp Pendleton Mounted Color Guard, all of whom were events. Adorned with scarlet and gold and functions across Southern California noncommissioned offcers (NCOs), “were saddle blankets and silver­painted hooves, and beyond. They participated in the color always greeted with exuberance and great the horses—Tinker Tom, Mufft, Dale guard for no additional pay and sacrifced joy when they came riding down the and El Noche—were just as lauded by their liberty time to represent the Corps. street, or [when] the horses kicked up dust the audience as the Marines astride them. During the weekdays, Marines and their during the many rodeos and festivals to For the members of the Camp Pendleton dependents rode the horses for leisure, which they were asked,” said Autumn Day Mounted Color Guard, involvement was which made it a little more diffcult for Tufts, whose husband, Marine veteran strictly volunteer­based. Each member the members of the Mounted Color Guard George Tufts, served as a member of the was given one afternoon each week from to prepare for weekend events. Mounted Color Guard from 1965 to 1969. his regular duties to ride and rehearse, but A competitive application process was By 1968, they had been seen by about otherwise his evenings, weekends and involved: NCOs vying for a position were 7 million people at more than 600 public holidays were spent riding in ceremonies required to be experienced horsemen with SGT HUGH JEFFREY Above: Leathernecks of the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard use electric shavers to groom their horses at MCB Camp Pendleton in the early 1970s. In those days, participation in the Mounted Color Guard was strictly voluntary—all preparations and activities were carried out during each Marine’s free time. Right: Sgt Darren Cole cleans the hooves of Sunny at MCLB Barstow. The Marines of the Mounted Color Guard put in hours of work each day to ensure their horses are properly groomed and parade-ready. (Photo by LCpl Norman Eckles) www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck JULY 2014 LEATHERNECK 43

MountedColorGuardpp42-45.indd 43 6/9/14 12:27 PM The Camp Pendleton Mounted Color Guard of the 1970s rides proudly in a Southern California parade. The equestrians and equines always were welcomed with applause and enthusiasm from the public. (Photo by Sgt Hugh Jeffrey)

recommendations from their commanding Camp Pendleton disbanded in the 1990s, offcer. Although there was a good deal another such unit is still operational. The of pomp and circumstance involved in MCLB Barstow Mounted Color Guard their appearances, they were required to was founded in 1967 by Lieutenant Colonel put forth a great deal of work and prep­ Robert A. Lindsley and designated by aration—polishing saddles, cleaning and Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps as an painting hooves were just a few of the offcial Mounted Color Guard in 1968. tasks involved prior to each event. Each After returning to Barstow from Viet­ member was required to provide and main­ nam in 1966, LtCol Lindsley envisioned tain his own dress blue uniform. a mounted color guard that would bring The Camp Pendleton Mounted Color back the history of the Horse Marines. Guard “had a sterling reputation, six He gathered a group of Marines who horses, a huge horse trailer, and were volunteered their time, effort and even bonded to their horses and to each other,” money to get the color guard up and said Tufts. They traveled throughout the running. With virtually zero funds or southwestern United States and made an support, they built the stables by hand and effort to appear at every event to which purchased hay from the city of Barstow at they were invited. a discounted price. Their frst horses were The senior Marine in the color guard a gift from Preston Hafen, a sheriff from would present the Stars and Stripes while Utah. They even acquired a 5­ton truck the next in rank would bear the Marine and cattle car and secretly altered it into a Corps standard. The flanking guards six­horse carrier, keeping it hidden from carried NCO swords. the base commanding offcer by storing In 1962, Gunnery Sergeant Lawrence it off base in the city of Barstow. S. Petri, then­noncommissioned offcer in Despite the initial chal lenges he and his Sgt Bryanna Kessler of the Marine Corps Mounted charge of the Camp Pendleton Mounted Marines faced, LtCol Lindsley’s efforts Color Guard lopes her mount as the color guard Color Guard, told Leatherneck, “If the proved successful; nearly 50 years later, time should come when the uniformed the history is still alive at the stables where rehearses on the grounds of the Houston Live­ Marine rides in the last parade and dis­ it began. stock Show and Rodeo in March. Kessler, a horse mounts for the fnal time, I hope I’m not A few things have changed throughout lover who specically requested an assignment around, because part of my Marine Corps the years. The members of today’s Mounted to the Mounted Color Guard, recently completed and I will go with him.” Color Guard are sent to MCLB Barstow her two­year tour at MCLB Barstow. (Photo cour­ Although the Mounted Color Guard at on orders specifcally to be stablemen. tesy of the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard)

44 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

MountedColorGuardpp42-45.indd 44 6/9/14 12:27 PM Most are infantrymen by trade, and gen­ erally speaking, their equestrian exper­ ience upon reporting to Barstow is little to none. GySgt Daniel A. Garcia, staff NCOIC of the Barstow Mounted Color Guard, is an 0369, infantry unit leader, who had no idea the Mounted Color Guard existed before he received his orders. Presently, there are only three Marines who are full­time members—GySgt Garcia, Sgt Edgar A. Torrealba and Sgt Moises Machuca—all infantrymen. The fourth rider for parade ceremonies and other events is typically one of a few Marines stationed at Barstow who train with the Mounted Color Guard as needed. Unlike the color guard Marines of earlier days, GySgt Garcia, Sgt Torrealba and Sgt Machuca handle the horses as their primary job. For now, these infantrymen have traded their rifes for reins. Rather than guiding a platoon, they now guide horses through drills and ceremonial rehearsals. While it may be a signifcant change for them, it is evident that they thoroughly enjoy their new roles. Whether the mission is working with a platoon in combat or training a horse for a ceremony, the Marines of the Mounted Color Guard give 100 percent and, in return, receive a great deal of personal satisfaction and pride in the Corps. Sgt Edgar A. Torrealba of the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard walks Cho to his stall. Today’s Mounted “I can’t put it into words, the feeling; Color Guard uses the original stables at MCLB Barstow, built by hand in 1967 by color guard founder it’s electric, honestly it is,” said GySgt LtCol Robert A. Lindsley and his Marines. (Photo by LCpl Norman Eckles) Garcia. “It’s a great honor and a privilege to get out and intermingle with the local Between ceremonial rehearsals, obstacle the equines serve as ambassadors of the populace, who say, ‘We never knew that courses and other drills—and then the Corps across the nation, alongside the Marines ride horses.’ Everywhere we go unsaddling, feeding, grooming and de­ Marines who gentle them, train them and we get great responses—they want to see briefng—the days are long, but they are care for them. more of us. fulflling and go by quickly. Despite recent threats due to sequestra­ “It feels great to be a face of the Marine While the horses may be alike in breed— tion and budget cuts, the Barstow Mounted Corps,” he added. wild mustangs of palomino color—they Color Guard is still riding proudly—and They certainly are a prominent face of are vastly different in personality. When will be for years to come if its members the Corps, riding in the Rose Parade each GySgt Garcia arrived at MCLB Barstow, have anything to do with it. year in Pasadena, Calif.; the New Orleans he says the mentality was “one rider, one “We hopefully will solidify the tradi­ Mardi Gras Parade; as well as numerous horse, and that’s it.” He quickly realized tion,” said GySgt Garcia. “Everyone other parades, rodeos, livestock shows, that the same horses were getting burned who comes here—they want to pass the stampedes and festivals. Additionally, out over and over again, so he decided to tradition on, they don’t want it to die. We they make a large number of appearances swap out horses and insisted that each want to see the Mounted Color Guard go­ at public schools when they are “on the rider get to know each horse—its manner­ ing on for years and years. This is a part road,” sharing a unique side of the Marine isms, quirks, strengths and weaknesses. of history that is honestly slowing down.” Corps with countless young people. The results of this new system have been As the nature of war changes, and as An extremely demanding schedule of nothing but positive. technology evolves to assuage those appearances means that when the Marines “It’s a bond; you can see it when you changes, Marines seem to always fnd a of the Mounted Color Guard are at home walk into their stalls in the barn and they way to preserve tradition while adapting in Barstow, they are working long hours come up to you and sniff you, nibble at to the demands of the modern­day battle­ and pushing themselves and their horses you and rub up on you,” Garcia said. “You feld. The legacy of the Horse Marines, to be performance­ready. According to can tell if they [the horses] need a day off, kept alive today by merely three infan­ GySgt Garcia, a typical day begins around and we just say, ‘We’ll come back to you trymen, is a sure testament to that. 0500 with group physical training. They tomorrow.’ ” return to the stables around 0700 to feed The intelligent palominos, with their Author’s bio: Sara Bock, a former the horses and muck their stalls. They beautiful golden coats, are “honestly just Leatherneck staff writer, is married to a inspect the horses before the training day like one of us,” said Garcia. “They have Marine aviator who is executing change begins at 0900—a training day which good days and they have bad days.” of station orders to MCB Quantico, so we includes time both in the classroom and Adopted from the Bureau of Land Manage­ are welcoming Sara back to our staff. astride their mounts. ment’s Adopt­a­Horse and burro program,

www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck JULY 2014 LEATHERNECK 45

MountedColorGuardpp42-45.indd 45 6/9/14 12:27 PM BASES, STATIONS & VETERANS We—the Marines Edited by Sara W. Bock

Leathernecks Learn to Conquer combat operations in a jungle environ­ compile a list of the items by memory at Harsh Jungle Environment ment,” said Major Tim Kao, the com­ the completion of the course. n The morning is cool and calm as Ma­ mander of Camp Gonsalves. “The purpose of a Kim’s game is to rines step to the edge of a cliff, their ropes The jungle is vastly different from the keep the team [members’] minds strong clenched in their hands. The silence is desert terrain that many Marines have as they continue on through the stressful broken as a Marine bellows, “On rappel!” been training in for the past decade, ac­ course,” said Corporal Anthoni King III, The clock starts for the frst team as cording to Kao. The jungle does not allow engineer chief at JWTC. “We are testing they begin the initial event of a lengthy for signifcant mechanized or motorized their ability to retain information,” he endurance course—a hasty rappel down movements—forcing Marines to hone said, explaining that the skill is vital to a cliff face. their dismounted warfghting abilities. mission success and theater security. Leathernecks with Combat Assault The endurance course spans several As the only jungle warfare training Battalion, Third Marine Division, III Ma­ miles and requires participants to traverse facility in the Department of Defense, rine Expeditionary Force completed the an array of obstacles—a physical and Marines from across the world attend endurance course at the Jungle Warfare mental challenge for all. courses there. Training Center (JWTC), Camp Gon­ Early in the endurance course, and “We knew when we were going on salves, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley immediately after crawling through a the unit deployment program that we D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan, on April 17. tunnel partially submerged in water, Ma­ were going to have the chance to go to The endurance course is the culminating rines execute what is known as a “Kim’s JWTC,” said Captain Matthew Hohl, event of the basic jungle survival course. game.” The memory exercise challenges Commanding Offcer, Company E, 3d “The mission for the Jungle Warfare a group of participants to silently observe Assault Amphibian Bn, currently assigned Training Center is to train Marines for a set of items for two minutes and then to Combat Assault Bn, 3dMarDiv, III S E M I N D. H E H P E T L S P C Using a feld-expedient stretcher, Marines with Combat Assault Bn, 3dMarDiv, III MEF transport a mock casualty more than a mile through intense jungle terrain at the JWTC during endurance course training.

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WTMpp46-49.indd 46 6/9/14 1:22 PM MEF, under the unit deployment program. “I wanted to give some of the Marines a chance to come here and experience the only jungle warfare training center the U.S. military has to offer.” Typical training environments for Ma­ rines are beaches and deserts, according to Hohl. Intensive jungle familiarization is something the unit cannot participate in at its home base, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. The course concluded with a tactical combat casualty care assessment. The team had to stabilize a mock casualty, make a feld­expedient stretcher and trans­ port the casualty, traversing steep slopes and harsh terrain. “The casualty carry at the end was easily the worst part,” said Lance Corporal George Redhead, a rifeman with 3d Light Armored Reconnaissance Bn, currently assigned to the Combat Assault Bn. “The course was hard, and the water we went through at the end was so muddy you

couldn’t see anything if you even dared FARMER ORRIN CPL to open your eyes. This was some of the Sgt Daniel Ramos, left, and Sgt Shaun Garvey stand proudly beside their frst-place plaque after beating best training I’ve experienced.” 16 other U.S. Armed Forces sniper teams to win the 43rd Winston P. Wilson Sniper Championship at Ft. Cpl Stephen D. Himes Chaffee, Ark., in April. PAO, MCIPAC “Even as technology advances in war­ Cherry Point, N.C., began constructing Sniper Instructors Say National Win fighting, there is still that need for a a hall of history within their squadron. Validates Importance of Corps’ Training man on the ground,” said Garvey. “This The hall of history at MWCS­28, a n In April, a team of two West Coast competition helps us evaluate what we squadron charged with connecting the Marines earned frst place overall during are teaching to the students about what warfghter to the combat power of Marine the 43rd Winston P. Wilson Sniper Cham­ technological advances are currently out aviation through Marine air command pionship, hosted by the National Guard there and what other services are doing.” and control systems agencies and task­ Marksmanship Training Center out of The sniper championship was the frst organized aviation combat elements, com­ Camp Joseph T. Robinson in North Little time Garvey and Ramos shot together as a Rock and held at Ft. Chaffee, Ark. team—and they still managed to outscore Sergeant Daniel Ramos and Sgt Shaun the other teams, including the winners of Garvey, instructors with the Sniper Basic last year’s competition. Course, Advanced Infantry Battalion, Ramos, who was the high shooter in School of Infantry­West, Marine Corps his recent Urban Sniper Course, was Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., excelled recommended for the competition by his during the shooting and tactics compe­ command. He said the competition relied tition, which tested the skills, techniques heavily upon the fundamentals. and procedures of 17 two­man sniper “As snipers, we’re really proud Ma­ teams from all branches of the U.S. Armed rines,” said Ramos. “We’re proud of what Forces. we do, and we like to think Marines are “Consistency from day to day and event the best snipers out there. We are going to event was the key element in winning to these competitions and proving our the competition with an overall score of training and curriculum really do work.” 1040, which was 30 points more than the Sgt Valerie C. Eppler second­place team,” said Ramos. PAO, MCB Camp Pendleton, Calif. The teams competed over a period of fve days, using a variety of weapons— Hall of History Reawakens Squadron the bolt­action M40, the semiautomatic n Marine Corps history is made up of M110 and the M9 Beretta—in 16 different defning moments by those leathernecks events. who have accomplished goals and mis­ Relying solely on their skills as instruc­ sions, as well as those who have made tors, Ramos and Garvey did not receive mistakes and learned from them. Knowing LCPL UNIQUE B. ROBERTS any additional training in preparation for our history equips today’s Marines with LCpl Luke J. Highley installs a display board in the the competition. Ramos, who had no prior a template for success. MWCS-28 Hall of History at MCAS Cherry Point, experience in shooting competitions, said Earlier this year, leathernecks of Ma­ N.C., May 1. Marines joining MWCS-28 are re- that the competition validated what they rine Wing Communications Squadron quired to tour the hall, which show cases the squad- train for and do every day. (MWCS) 28, Marine Corps Air Station ron’s history since its establish ment in 1967.

www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck JULY 2014 LEATHERNECK 47

WTMpp46-49.indd 47 6/9/14 1:22 PM ground radio repairer with MWCS-28. “We all are a part of the same unit— brothers and sisters—and it’s a great way to bring us closer together.” LCpl Unique B. Roberts PAO, MCAS Cherry Point, N.C.

Veteran Teaches Deploying Marines Value of Language, Cultural Skills n Marine veteran Florence Dawson, a native of France, joined the Marine Corps in 2004 after waiting six Z T R

years to receive a green E W Y card. For her, the motto E IN F IF

“Once a Marine, al- T ways a Ma rine” rings Florence Dawson true as she continues to work as the Africa Desk research analyst at the Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning (CAOCL), Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. Upon her university graduation in France in 1999, Dawson arrived in the United States as an au pair. Later, she began working as a travel agent at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. At the age of 30, she joined the Marine Corps and, although she was older than most recruits, she excelled. “Nobody talked me into it; I joined the Marine Corps because I wanted to give back to my new adoptive country and wanted a challenge,” she said. “When you’re an immigrant, you want to belong somewhere. I was married to a Marine, and the Marine Corps seemed like the

N best way to give back after 9/11 and be O S R E

F part of something.” F E

N J Before joining the CAOCL team, Dawson U A W

T worked as a legal chief for the Wing Staff N L A

P Judge Advocate for the Third Marine C Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Air Station HONOR FLIGHT—Leathernecks from Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., volunteered their time Miramar, Calif., and separated from active as guardians for 15 World War II and Korean War veterans who ew from Austin, Texas, to duty as a sergeant in 2010. After taking Washington, D.C., on an Honor Flight tour April 25. Cpl Sara Gore, center, assists retired time off to complete a master’s degree, Army Air Corps Sgts Wade H. Armstrong and Ken Posey at the Marine Corps War Memorial, she worked as the Family Readiness Off- Arlington, Va. The Honor Flight Network works to transport America’s veterans to the nation’s cer for the School of Infantry-West, Ma- capital and surrounding area to see the memorials that honor their service. rine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. In her role as the Africa Desk research analyst, Dawson educates Marines and other military personnel about African prises multiple exhibits displaying the Marine Corps history, but also the history culture and teaches operational French in squadron’s history, dating back to its of the squadron,” he added. preparation for deployments and training establishment in September 1967. It is The hall of history provides the MWCS-28 with African armed forces. designed to foster pride and help Marines Marines with a sense of pride and owner- “Learning about a country’s culture is remember the history and past successes ship—not only of their own history, but important for Marines and other serv ices of the squadron. the history of the Marine Corps as a that deploy, because to create good work- According to Lieutenant Colonel Jaime whole. The squadron’s Marines are proud ing partnerships and build long-lasting Macias, the commanding officer of to share their squadron’s history with each relationships with a foreign country, know- MWCS-28, “The hall of history is for the new leatherneck who joins. ing their culture or military structure is Marines—past and present. Marines pride “The work that we have done is not just essential,” said Dawson. themselves in their history, their legacy. for today, but it is to help mold the Marines “In the Marine Corps, we learn to be “It is important to me to educate our of tomorrow that come to the squadron,” leaders early on as noncommissioned Marines not only about our illustrious said Lance Corporal Luke J. Highley, a offcers, but it is not necessarily the case

48 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

WTMpp46-49.indd 48 6/9/14 1:22 PM in Africa. A corporal in the Marines is Quick Shots Around the Corps or download the free mobile app to any given more responsibilities and is trained mobile device using Google Play or to demonstrate initiative, but someone of Concepts and Programs Now Online: iTunes. The mobile app can be found using the same rank in another country may not Marine Corps Launches Website, App the keyword USMCCP. have the same type of responsibility,” she To Replace Yearly Almanac added. n Sergeant Justin M. Boling, Offce of Combat Engineers Complete Table III Dawson works with commands when Marine Corps Communication, Head­ n Corporal Timothy Childers, combat they request training to familiarize their quarters, U.S. Marine Corps, reports that correspondent, First Marine Logistics units with the area of Africa to which they the Marine Corps has launched a website Group, reports that in April, Marines with will deploy—regarding the region, culture and mobile application that outline its Company B, 7th Engineer Support Bat­ and language of the designated area. operational and structural future. talion, 1st MLG, completed Intermediate Dawson has been part of CAOCL since The Marine Corps Concepts and Pro­ Combat Rife Marksmanship, or Table III, September 2013 and said that her back­ grams site and mobile app will replace the of the Marine Corps Combat Rife Pro­ ground and experience as a Marine are yearly almanac. Unlike the almanac, these gram at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendle­ benefcial in understanding the goals of new outlets will automatically update— ton, Calif. those she teaches. allowing the Corps to provide the most Forty­six Marines fred close to 8,500 “As a prior Marine, I understand the current information. rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition—re­ Marine’s perspective, and as an immigrant, Both outlets serve as a “one­stop shop” freshing the real­world combat skills I can relate to what it means to learn a for a variety of Marine Corps facts, fgures they learned during Marine Combat culture and language,” said Dawson. and plans. Training. These skills include using pivot “Furthermore, the key is to not only be Knowledge is divided into fve cate­ techniques, engaging a moving target, able to provide cultural training, but be gories: concepts, organization, programs, shooting a target at an unknown distance, able to understand what a Marine pre­ almanac and resources. These include the and shooting at night using target pointer paring to go on a deployment needs and Corps’ vision for Expeditionary Force 21; aiming lights. Some of the Marines had wants to know. I just wish we could be the structure of Marine Corps commands; not conducted the Table III course of fre part of those deployments and exercises equipment, vehicles and training; as well since they graduated from the School of in some capacity and maximize our efforts as budget allocation and other pertinent Infantry. for the Marine Corps.” fscal information. Tiffney Wertz To access the new site, visit www PAO, MCB Quantico, Va. .marinecorpsconceptsandprograms.com

Crazy Caption Contest

Winner This Month’s Photo CPL JOHN ROBBART III CPL SAMUEL A. NASSO “If we can get this to the Mobil gas station, the gas is 11 cents cheaper.”

Submitted by Bill Robinson (Caption) ______Preston, Conn. ______Dream up your own Crazy Caption. Leatherneck will pay $25 or give a one-year MCA Name ______membership for the craziest one received. It’s easy. Think up a caption for the photo at the right and either mail or e-mail it to us. Send your submission to Leatherneck Address ______Magazine, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, or e-mail it, referencing the number at City/State ______ZIP ______the bottom right, to [email protected]. The winning entry will be published in two months. 7-14

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WTMpp46-49.indd 49 6/9/14 1:22 PM MOLLY MARINE: From Assisting Recruiting in WW II To Recognizing Outstanding Leadership Today FILE PHOTO BY JOSEPH R. CHENELLY THE WMA “WOMEN OF THE CORPS COLLECTION” CORPS THE OF “WOMEN WMA THE LEATHERNECK Above left: The Molly Marine statue located at Elk Place and Canal Street in New Orleans was last restored through the efforts of the Marine Support Group of New Orleans as well as other organizations in 1999. It was frst dedicated on Nov. 10, 1943. Above right: BGen Edward Hunter Hurst, USMC (Ret), who opened the frst Woman Offcer Training School for Women Marines at Mount Holyoke College in 1943; Col Barbara Bishop, former Director of Women Marines; and GySgt Helen Hannah Campbell, USMCR, president of WMA, attend the rededication ceremony for Molly in 1988.

By CWO-4 Randy Gaddo, USMC (Ret) spent time as a mapmaker in the army of was cast in concrete and granite chips due Pancho Villa during the Mexican Rev­ to wartime material restrictions. In the n the midst of U.S. involvement in olution before immigrating to the United mid­1960s the New Orleans Marine Corps I World War II, an enterprising recruiter States. League, other Marines and friends of the needed a better way to meet increasing “Alferez was well­known as a sculptor, Corps adopted Molly and raised funds to requirements for female Marines—a and he wanted very much to be a Marine,” bronze her. relatively new concept in 1943 since the said Nancy Wilt, historian of the Women “Molly isn’t representative of just Women’s Reserve had just been activated. Marines Association, adding that histor­ one Marine; she represents the spirit Marine Technical Sergeant (a grade ical anecdotes indicate Gresham may have of all women Marines,” explained Ma­ in the Corps until 1958, equivalent to leveraged that desire to his advantage. rine vet eran, Betty Moseley Brown, gunnery sergeant) Charles Gresham, Alferez never did get to be a Marine, but national president of the Women Marines on recruiting duty in New Orleans, en­ he contributed to the war effort with Molly Association. visioned a statue of a woman in uniform. Marine. There is symbolism in the statue’s de­ In the mysterious way that good staff Thus, in the cauldron of war 71 years sign, according to the WMA website. noncommissioned offcers often do, he ago, the sculpture now known as Molly Molly is a young woman in Marine Corps obtained the donated services of French Marine was formed. The original monu­ dress uniform with her head held high, Quarter artist and sculptor Enrique ment, dedicated in the “Big Easy” on the gazing into the distance. She holds a book Alferez. The Mexican­born Alferez had 168th Marine Corps Birthday in 1943, and a pair of binoculars.

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MollyMarinepp50-53.indd 50 6/11/14 12:13 PM Molly’s distant gaze signifes steadfast resolve to face and triumph over all ob­ stacles that come her way. The book she holds records the history of women in the Corps, and the binoculars keep her view on the future and what lies ahead of her, although there is speculation among WMA members that the binoculars also signifed her role as a plane spotter. Wilt said that while a New Orleans model named Judy Mosgrove often is credited as being the model for the statue, there were additional models, all female Marines, who were brought in as time permitted. “Of course, the women Marines were very busy recruiting because they were tasked with recruiting about 18,000 women recruits in a year, so they couldn’t always be there and Mosgrove was the body model when they were absent,” said Wilt, who explained that different models were needed for different features such as hands,

arms or legs. Mosgrove, who reportedly COURTESY OF COL JIM STROCK, USMC (RET) donated her time, was there when the Five of these women on the 1943 staff of the Marine Corps Recruiting Offce, New Orleans, to include others couldn’t be. Marilyn “Mitzi” Strock (second from left), were models for the original Molly Marine statue. “The statue in New Orleans was the frst statue in the U.S. of a woman in Marine Award was to be “presented to Today, according to the WMA website, military uniform, so naturally it brings Women Marines upon graduation from the the award is bestowed on one recruit from us a great deal of pride to know that the Woman Offcer Basic Courses, Woman each graduating platoon who is chosen statue was that of a woman Marine,” said Marine NCO Leadership Courses and the by her platoon members as the one who Linda Priest, a Marine veteran who is Woman Marine Recruit Platoons.” exemplifes “the Esprit de Corps and ideal president of Beaufort, S.C.’s WMA Phyllis The reason the name “Molly” was of excellence which is the hallmark of all Alexander Chapter. chosen is shrouded in historical mist, but Marines.” Since 2005, representatives from the according to Wilt: “Of the hundred or so “The members of the platoon pick one Beaufort chapter have presented the Molly explanations I’ve heard, the most plaus ible of their peers who they feel deserves the Marine Award to selected female recruits seems to be that Molly was a common Molly Marine Award, and the recipient graduating from 4th Recruit Training name during that time period, and it is usually a recruit who was good at every­ Battalion (RTB) at Marine Corps Recruit sounds good with Marine,” alliteration thing during recruit training and provided Depot Parris Island, S.C., the only place sealing the name for posterity. support to all the other recruits too,” female recruits are trained to be Marines. explained Priest, who once was a company In years prior to that, the award was pre­ commander with 4th RTB. sented by female Marines on the staff at Moseley Brown, who is also the associ­ MCRD Parris Island. ate director of the VA Center for Women “In 2005, there wasn’t an active local Veterans in Washington, D.C., expounded WMA chapter here in Beaufort,” recalled on what it takes to win a Molly Marine. Priest. “I went to the national convention “Molly Marine isn’t just about the top that year, and the national president asked recruit based on scores such as PFT if I would agree to present the awards,” she [physical ftness test] or rife range,” she added, noting that the national president said. “It is someone who reaches out with at the time was retired Lieutenant General leadership and teamwork and brings the Carol Mutter, the frst woman in the U.S. platoon together. It’s not really something Armed Forces to be selected for the three­ that someone can start out to say they’re star, lieutenant general, grade. going to achieve, because most often it “She and I had gone through school comes out during boot camp.” from kindergarten through high school Wilt emphasized that while the Molly and college together, so I said I would do Marine Award is important and has long it,” said Priest, who was commissioned in been a worthwhile WMA initiative, it 1967 and served eight years in the Corps, should not overshadow the historical im­ achieving the grade of captain. portance of its namesake, the Molly Ma­ According to the April 1969 issue of rine statue in New Orleans. Leatherneck magazine, the frst Molly “Molly was meant to recruit women

Marine Award was presented to Staff Ser­ COLLECTION” CORPS THE OF “WOMEN WMA THE at a time when they had to fnd a division­ geant Leta Marie Mickelsen on graduating Al Fortish Marble and Granite Company employ­ sized number of women and train them from the NCO Leadership Class of 1969. ees lift the restored Molly Marine statue into to be ready in a year,” she said about the That same article noted that the Molly place in 1988. monumental task. She recalled that one

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MollyMarinepp50-53.indd 51 6/9/14 12:26 PM recruiter reportedly had a staggering receiving the Molly Marine Award in boot quota of 125 accessions in one month. camp. The Texas native started as an “Tech Sergeant Gresham walked into enlisted Marine and was selected for the his captain’s offce and said: ‘We need Enlisted Commissioning Program in 1977. to do something that will make women She told the assembled audience that Marines in New Orleans special.’ Molly the statuette had a place in every offce was created to do that, and it worked.” she occupied during her career. The Beaufort WMA chapter has the “She stands as a constant reminder distinction of awarding each certifcate of my roots and the legacy that’s been and WMA challenge coin because of the entrusted to me,” MajGen Salinas was chapter’s proximity to Parris Island and quoted in a September 2013 Leatherneck the 4th RTB. “We are honored to present article as saying. “Molly connects our past the award,” Priest said, “but I’d invite any with our present and gives us hope for WMA members or other Marines who the future.” are interested to come and help present The title “Molly Marine,” like the title the awards.” “Marine,” is one that a Marine carries The chapter president noted that the for life. original Molly Marine Award was a “Once a Marine gains that title, it may 1-foot-high ceramic statuette of Molly not be something that they think about Marine. The statuettes also were presented every day, but you would be surprised at to honor graduates of each Woman Marine COURTESY OF LTCOL RHONDA LEBRESCU-AMTOWER, USMC (RET) how many stand up when we have forums NCO Leadership Course and Basic Offcer LtCol Rhonda LeBrescu-Amtower, USMC (Ret), the or events and ask how many Molly Ma rines Course, but those were discontinued in immediate past president of WMA, was awarded we have there,” Moseley Brown declared. 1972 and 1978, respectively. the Molly Marine Award in 1975 when she grad- Receiving the physical representation of “Over the years, that became too cost uated from recruit training. After her statuette the title, regardless whether it is a statuette prohibitive, but we’d love to be able to give was broken, a Purple Heart was added to the re- or a certifcate and coin, becomes as im- out statues like we used to,” said Priest. paired statuette. por tant, over the years, as the title itself. She also takes photos of winners with her Retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel camera, prints the photos and delivers Corps Research Center at Marine Corps Rhonda LeBrescu-Amtower was a Molly them with a personal note to the winners Base Quantico, Va. Marine awardee out of boot camp in 1975 as a memento of the honor, along with a Not too far from Quantico’s main gate, when statuettes still were being presented. framed photo of the statue. a fourth statue was just dedicated last July She proudly displayed hers wherever she The awards are presented at the base at the National Museum of the Marine was stationed. Then, a roommate acci- of a full-sized Molly Marine replica at Corps, in Triangle, where it stands among dently knocked it off her shelf, breaking Parris Island—one of three replicas other Marine Corps legends in Semper it into several pieces. copying the original that still is located Fidelis Memorial Park. “I kept the ‘wounded Molly’ in a shoe- at the intersection of Canal Street and Elk At that dedication, retired Marine Corps box for 25 years,” she lamented in a 2007 Place in New Orleans. Major General Angela Salinas spoke historical book about women Marines. Parris Island’s statue is highly visible at about her receipt of the Molly Marine At her Marine Corps retirement party, the intersection of Boulevard De France statuette in 1974. Setting many frsts dur- her husband, whom she described as a and Santo Domingo Street, adjacent to ing her 39-year career, she was the highest- “wizard Mr. Fix-it,” surprised her with the Iron Mike statue. A third statue stands ranking woman in the Corps at her a repaired Molly that had an additional at the General Alfred M. Gray Marine retirement, but still harkened back to feature. Sculptor Enrique Alferez works during the initial stages of forming the Molly Marine sculpture, circa 1943. THE WMA “WOMEN OF THE CORPS COLLECTION” CORPS THE OF “WOMEN WMA THE THE WMA “WOMEN OF THE CORPS COLLECTION” CORPS THE OF “WOMEN WMA THE

52 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

MollyMarinepp50-53.indd 52 6/9/14 12:26 PM “When it was presented to me … my Molly, now all in one piece, also had a Purple Heart medal attached,” she re­ In March 2014, Marine veteran and WMA called. “Not only do I have the distinction representative Linda Priest presented of owning one of the few Molly statues, the Molly Marine Award to new Marines, but I have the only Molly who has a Purple PFC Tori C. Best, left, and PFC Michele L. Heart.” Rios, in front of MCRD Parris Island’s Each Molly Marine awardee now writes Molly Marine statue. an essay describing how she feels about receiving the recognition by her peers, who choose her during the third phase of boot camp. Private Michele L. Rios, Platoon 4008, was presented the award in March 2014. In her essay, she noted that a Molly Marine tries to do what is right, even when no one is watching, and infuences others to do the same. “That, in turn, can be seen as leading by example. In order to be an effective leader, you have to earn the respect of those around you by setting the example and living by a good moral code,” she wrote. Private First Class Tori C. Best was in “November” Co’s Platoon 4009 at the same time as Rios. Chosen as her platoon’s award winner, she wrote that a Molly Marine is not much different than every other Marine, in that they all embody the ideals of honor, courage and commitment. “What truly sets the Molly Marine apart is not how she acts when the spotlight is turned on, but her actions when no one is watching,” she wrote, unknowingly echoing the sentiments expressed by Rios. “Even when all backs are turned she continues to do the right thing,” she scribed, exemplifying what some defne as the essence of integrity. Like any valid Marine Corps historical icon, Molly does have an associated legend. Wilt disclosed that she can confrm CWO-4 RANDY GADDO, USMC (RET) the legend with her own experience and got a nice bouquet of fowers and when I Triangle, but three days later I got a new the attributions of other female Marines. arrived at the statue, there were two WW set of orders to Quantico, and I was going The legend has it that if a female Marine II women Marines there sprucing up the to be the frst woman instructor at The visits the statue with fowers for Molly and site. They informed me that, legend had Basic School.” makes a wish for a future assignment or it, if I told Molly where I wanted to be Wilt said she has confrmed the legend duty station, Molly will grant it. stationed next, before I left the fowers, with many other female Marines who had Wilt was a second lieutenant in 1972, she would make it happen.” similar experiences. Asked if the legend stationed at Naval Air Station Millington, Figuring it couldn’t hurt, Wilt cast a was only attached to the statue in the Big Tenn., in charge of the Naval Food Service. broad net and wished for any nice set Easy, she couldn’t confrm that. “The With a degree in restaurant management, of orders. “Three weeks later my orders statue in New Orleans was the only one she was in her element. Her parents lived come through and I’m going to be the only in existence at that time,” she said. “I don’t in New Orleans; their anniversary was woman Marine on Gitmo [Guantanamo know how you’d interpret it now.” coming up, and she was visiting them to Bay, Cuba] with a primary job of running Perhaps that is a legend destined for help prepare. Coincidentally, her dad had the Navy and Marine food service and a current female Marines to record in a been a military policeman in the French secondary task of touring on the perimeter future chapter of the book Molly holds. Quarter during WW II and had regaled guard,” she said. her with stories of the guards using “the On a subsequent visit to her parents, she Author’s bio: The author, CWO-4 statue of that military woman” as a rally decided to give it a second try; that time Randy Gaddo, USMC (Ret), was a combat point in case of emergency. “He didn’t she took roses. “The same ladies were correspondent as an enlisted Marine and even know she was a Marine,” Wilt said. there and they told me to try again, maybe later a public affairs offcer. He retired “I had heard about the Molly Marine Molly was busy the frst time,” she joked. from active duty in 1996 and now is a statue and I wanted to see her,” said Wilt, “This time I said I’d really like to stay contributing editor for Leatherneck. who hadn’t yet heard about the legend. on the East Coast, but not Parris Island. “So I put on my uniform to be respectful, I fgured I’d get orders to the Bermuda

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MollyMarinepp50-53.indd 53 6/9/14 12:26 PM VALOR & HEROISM In the Highest Tradition

Edited by R. R. Keene and Tina Pearce

Gunny Awarded Navy Cross For Leading 3-Nation Force Under Fire During a frefght, the thoughts that run through a Marine’s mind can be overwhelming. The strain put on a Marine leading others in battle can be even more intense, but being able to direct the fre and maneuver of Marines and foreign military personnel while under enemy fre is a challenge and a stress that is diffcult to match. Throughout multiple engagements span­ ning a fve­hour period during the clearing of an Afghan village on May 28, 2012, Gun nery Sergeant Richard A. Jibson, who was serving as an infantry advisor to a Georgian Liaison Team while forward deployed to Afghanistan with Regimental Combat Team 6, responded to that leader­ ship stress in a singularly outstanding way. During those engagements, he left covered positions and crossed open terrain several times under small­arms and ma­ chine­gun fre to provide suppressive fre and support, inspiring his men. For his actions, “Gunny” Jibson, now

a Battle Staff Training Program team A I member, Marine Corps Tactics and Op­ AR AM T

erations Group, was awarded the Navy AN S S E Cross during a ceremony at the Lance L R HA

Corporal Torrey L. Gray Field, Marine C L P Corps Air­Ground Combat Center Twenty­ C nine Palms, Calif., April 22, 2014. Jibson GySgt Richard A. Jibson led Marines and allied forces in a fve-hour battle May 28, 2012, in Afghanistan. was leading a coalition force, which con­ His leadership, tenacity and courage put the enemy on its heels and earned Gunny Jibson the Navy Cross, sisted of Afghan, Georgian and U.S. mili­ presented April 22 at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms. tary personnel. At frst contact with the enemy, Jibson took charge of the coalition shoes that those before me have flled.” we had to do and all sides knew we were force as the senior man present. He then Jibson is a veteran of four combat de­ there for each other, we were getting out led the force through heavy, sustained ployments since 2003. of there.” fre, which came from close enemy forti­ “Every unit I was with always had those The Marines with Jibson gave him con­ fed positions. Communication between leaders for me to look up to,” he said. fdence that they would get the job done troops who speak three different lan­ “Every thing they taught me, along with through their performance and experience. guages became a challenge. the good leadership and example, gave “Having the assets that were available, “I’m not a superhero; I was just doing me the tools that I have today. I could’ve never asked for a more pro­ my job, and I wouldn’t be here today if “Being a liaison to foreign troops, and fessional group of men. We had never it weren’t for the outstanding group of the stresses that come with that, began to trained as a group before, but everyone men I was with,” Jibson said. “Knowing become more evident and the language there knew what they had to do, we came the Marines throughout history who have barrier became more of a challenge as I together, and I would serve with those men been awarded the Navy Cross, it is an had to relay important information through any day with full confdence.” extreme honor to be receiving it. I just interpreters, which took time,” Jibson Cpl Charles Santamaria hope that I’m able to walk and ft in the said. “But as long as we all knew what PAO, MCAGCC Twentynine Palms, Calif.

54 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

IHTpp54-55.indd 54 6/9/14 12:24 PM 48 Years Later He’s Back at Boot Camp It took 48 years, but And Being Presented a Silver Star the Vietnam veterans After 48 years, former Sergeant of C/1/7 did not forget James A. Reeves was surprised Sgt James A. Reeves or when his buddies from boot camp his act of valor under arranged for him to be formally presented with the Silver Star fre and ensured he during the morning colors ceremony April was recognized. LtGen 25, 2014, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Kenneth J. Glueck Jr. Parris Island, S.C. presented the Silver Following the Vietnam War, where his Star during a reunion actions earned him the prestigious award, at MCRD Parris Island, Reeves was unavailable for a ceremony, April 25. so the award was presented to his parents. Reeves earned this award March 28, 1966, while serving with Company C, 1st Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment, First Marine Division. He was cited for “conspicuous gallantry CPL MARYANN HILL and intrepidity” in action when his platoon violently to the ground. After quickly re- Jr., Deputy Commandant, Combat De- came under heavy automatic weapons covering, he continued to trek toward his velopment and Integration, and Com- fre and he left his position of safety to command group to provide information manding General, Marine Corps Combat maneuver across the fre-swept terrain to on the casualties. He then navigated back Development Command, Quantico, Va., aid wounded Marines. to the wounded Marines and helped move presented the award. While returning to inform his platoon them to a helicopter landing zone so they Cpl MaryAnn Hill commander of the situation, his helmet could be evacuated. PAO, MCRD Parris Island, S.C. was struck by a round, knocking him Lieutenant General Kenneth J. Glueck

Personal Combat Awards The awards records in the Marine Corps’ Award Processing System (APS) and Improved Awards Processing System were used to populate this list, which refects personal combat awards from the start of the global war on terrorism presented to Marines and sailors serving with U.S. Marine Corps forces only. This list may not refect certain personal combat awards processed outside of either system and/or approved by another branch of service. Any questions on the content should be submitted in writing to the Personal Awards Section at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Manpower Management Division, MMMA-2, 2008 Elliott Rd., Quantico, VA 22134. The following awards were announced in April:

Silver Star GySgt Keith R. Dawson, 2d MSOB, Navy and Marine Corps MSgt Donovan E. Petty, MARSOC Achievement Medal 2d Marine Special Operations SSgt Clayton S. Dykes, 1st MSOB, With Combat “V” Battalion (MSOB), U.S. Marine MARSOC LCpl John R. Bohlinger, Corps Forces Special Operations Sgt Brian J. Elm, 2d MSOB, MARSOC 1st Bn, Fifth Marine Regiment, Command (MARSOC) SSgt Zachary M. Foster, 2d MSOB, First Marine Division MARSOC SSgt Jeffrey S. Boyer, 2d MSOB, SSgt Zachary W. Fulk, 2d MSOB, MARSOC Bronze Star With Combat “V” MARSOC Capt Patrick W. Cosgrove, Capt Jeffrey R. Bogle, SSgt James E. Glendening, 1st MSOB, 2d MSOB, MARSOC 1st MSOB, MARSOC MARSOC GySgt Rusty W. Fuhs, 2d MSOB, HM2 Christopher D. Brezina, SSgt Nathan S. Gordon, 2d MSOB, MARSOC 2d MSOB, MARSOC MARSOC Sgt James A. Goodson, 2d MSOB, HMCS Patrick J. Gallaher, SSgt Grey R. Jewett III, 2d MSOB, MARSOC 1st MSOB, MARSOC MARSOC Sgt Steven C. Lee, 2d MSOB, MARSOC Sgt Allen M. Goode, 2d MSOB, GySgt Kraig J. Kalby, 2d MSOB, SSgt Brice J. Schlueter, 2d MSOB, MARSOC MARSOC MARSOC SSgt Bronson K. Morrison, 2d MSOB, SSgt Nathan M. Stuhr, 1st MSOB, MARSOC MARSOC Navy and Marine Corps Sgt John J. Squicciarini, 2d MSOB, 1stLt Robert K. Wallace, 3/4, Commendation Medal MARSOC 1stMarDiv With Combat “V” GySgt Keith C. Waldrop, 1st MSOB, SSgt Brody M. Zeigler, 2d MSOB, SSgt Demetrius Campbell, MARSOC MARSOC 2d MSOB, MARSOC

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IHTpp54-55.indd 55 6/9/14 12:24 PM RECOMMENDED READING Books Reviewed Unless otherwise noted, these books may be ordered from The MARINE Shop. Subscribers may use members’ prices. Include $5.99 for shipping. Virginia res idents add 6 percent sales tax; North Carolina residents add 6.75 percent. Prices may change. Make check or money order payable to: MCA, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, call toll-free: (888) 237-7683, or shop online at www.marineshop.net.

good friend as well as my father­in­law. He has passed away, and it is hard not to miss him a great deal today. Every year on the anniversary of the Iwo Jima land­ ings, I used to call him. What I used to tell him applies equally as well to every man who fought on Iwo Jima. So let me share those thoughts with you today. “First, as the son of an Air Force bomber pilot who, if the war had been extended, might have needed the use of the airfelds built on Iwo Jima, thank you. “Second, as a Marine who benefted I HEARD MY COUNTRY CALLING: A MEMOIR. By at the Naval Academy, not holding back from the example you showed and the James Webb. Published by Simon & Schuster. 400 his opinions as to what really makes a respect that you brought to my uniform, pages. Stock #1476741123. $24.30 MCA Members. good offcer, despite the routine drills and thank you. $27 Regular Price. memorization requirements that occupy “And third, as an American who loves In this, his most recent of 10 books, much of a midshipman’s life. With class­ his country and has a special regard for “military brat,” midshipman, Marine and mates such as Admiral Dennis C. Blair those who have the courage and the will­ U.S. Senator James Henry Webb Jr. indi­ (former Pacific commander), ADM ingness to risk their lives in order to pro­ cates that he has written for a living all Michael Mullen (former Chairman of the tect it—thank you. To all of you, thank you.” of his life, and so “writing is as much a Joint Chiefs of Staff), Major General One of the most interesting portions of part of [him] as working out.” Charles Bolden (retired Marine, former the book deals with Webb’s thoughts on The author of “Fields of Fire,” perhaps astronaut and head of NASA), and the the Western Pacifc. In the 1970s, after ex­ one of the best novels to chronicle the war 33rd Commandant of the Marine Corps, amining a map of East Asia that hung on in Vietnam, gives us an in­depth look at General Michael Hagee, Webb indeed saw his wall, Webb began studying the small his early years in his latest book. “A love his fair share of excitement, winning a island of Guam, and it occupied his thoughts story,” as he calls it—“a love of family, varsity letter for boxing, at one point fght­ for some time. Soon after being medically a love of country, and a love of service.” ing a match against Oliver North (North retired from the Marine Corps and spend­ Jim Webb takes great pride in his Scots­ won by a decision). ing some time in the Saipan, Tinian and Irish roots and details with that pride how After attending The Basic School at Guam area, he wrote an article for the U.S. his ancestors have fought in every war in Quantico, Va., Webb was assigned to a Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine our nation’s history. His father was a rife platoon in Company D, 1st Battalion, titled, “Turmoil in Paradise: Micronesia career Air Force offcer who enlisted the Fifth Marine Regiment in Vietnam, where at the Crossroads.” The article ex amined day after Pearl Harbor and served during he earned the Navy Cross. One of the most the strategic importance of Micronesia World War II, fying bombers and cargo highly decorated combat Marines of that and, particularly, the Mariana Islands and planes in the Berlin Airlift, and later be­ war, he remains a respected expert on the recommended that the United States came an expert in the nation’s most ad­ history and conduct of the war. reorient its basing system in Pacifc Asia. vanced missile and rocket weaponry. Combining his family, Marine Corps It should be noted that, more than 40 Webb’s mother grew up in the poverty­ and Air Force roots, Senator Webb of Vir­ years later, the Obama administration is stricken cotton felds of eastern Alabama. ginia would recall at an Iwo Jima reunion now “repositioning” much attention to that Much of the frst half of the book deals in February 2000, his former father­in­ region of the world, and the Marine Corps with Webb’s childhood, with constant law, John Krukar, who had left the steel continues plans to increase its presence in moves to California, Texas and even mills of Pennsylvania for the Marine Corps Guam, as well as build up basing options England. Throughout the book, the one prior to WW II. Webb’s words at that event in Australia and other areas in that region. family member to whom Webb constantly seem to pinpoint his expressions of patriot­ As an infantry Marine, law student, mil­ refers is his rock­solid grandmother who ism and pride that flled this book from itary planner, novelist, counsel in the U.S. held the family together during his father’s beginning to end: Congress, journalist in war­torn Beirut frequent deployments. “John Krukar was a wild, irascible trade­ and, last but certainly not least, a U.S. sen­ Webb writes bluntly of his four years union Democrat who happened to be a ator, James Henry Webb Jr. is more than

56 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

Bookspp56-57.indd 56 6/9/14 12:33 PM qualifed to craft such a verbal portrait of men are torn apart … and yet sharing crafts the Vietnam War story that he had American pride and patriotism. their exhilaration when they succeed in planned, researched and dreamed of for This is a must-read book that will stir overcoming huge odds. Meanwhile, U.S. more than three decades as he unfolds the the reader’s heart and make him or her and NVA artillery pound the opposing terror, bravery and stoic endurance of the more aware of true leaders who have forces night and day as huge swaths are Khe Sanh defenders. He chronicles the come before us, some of whom may never torn through the NVA attackers by U.S. intensity and determination of the North appear again. airpower raining death and destruction Vietnamese soldiers just as vividly as Maj Fred C. Lash, USMC (Ret) among their ranks. the battle rises and falls, day in and day Jones briefly outlines the prelude to the out, from January to July without clear Author’s bio: Maj Lash served in the inevitable clash with insight that makes victories or defeats. infantry, reconnaissance and public af­ you believe that he witnessed it unfold. Jones opens his “epilogue” with Khe fairs during a 24­year career in the But Jones was only 9 years old in 1968. Sanh veteran Dennis Mannion being Marine Corps. From 2006 to 2008, while It was his love of military history—espe- shown a Stars and Stripes headline an- in the Offce of the Assistant Secretary of cially the battles of the American Civil nouncing that Khe Sanh Combat Base De fense for Public Affairs, he assisted with War—that started him down the path that was being closed. the development of Strategic Communi­ ultimately saw him drawn to Southeast Ironically, Khe Sanh—the strategically cation initiatives, coordinating related Asia over three decades as he transformed located base that GEN Westmoreland projects with the Offce of the Joint Chiefs himself into a combat correspondent cov- could not do without and that President of Staff, Combatant Commands and the ering wars in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Lyndon B. Johnson ordered to defend “at Military Services. He presently is a public Cambodia and the insurgencies in Burma, all costs”—was abandoned in July 1968. affairs offcer in the State Department’s Indonesia, India and the Philippines. Mannion’s response sums up the feel- Bureau of Diplomatic Security. “Ultimately, I wanted to write some- ings of many of us who served in Vietnam: thing about the Vietnam War that would “It was almost too hard to believe,” he LAST STAND AT KHE SANH: The U.S. Marines’ Finest rise above the rancorous politics that had said. “My immediate thought was: we Hour in Vietnam. By Gregg Jones. Published by poisoned America during the war and in never gave back Tarawa or Iwo Jima, so Da Capo Press. 351 pages. Stock #0306821397. the decades that followed,” Jones said. why this?” Mannion said that it made it $24.30 MCA Members. $26.99 Regular Price. “I decided to tell the story of the epic feel like all he had endured and sacrifced The 77-day Battle of Khe Sanh that confrontation in early 1968—the human wasn’t worth it. “I wasn’t angry so much began in January 1968—the longest and story of the young Americans who were as stunned—like I had been punched in deadliest of the Vietnam War—was a thrust into this pivotal moment in the the jaw.” David and Goliath contest with 4,000 Vietnam War.” The result of Jones’ efforts is a classic Marines and their allies facing 20,000 Jones’ story opens on a Wednesday— that echoes the passion of Erich Maria hardened North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Jan. 17, 1968—as a squad from Company I, Remarque’s World War I novel, “All soldiers, which played out in a very remote 3d Battalion, 26th Marines splashes across Quiet on the Western Front”; Leon Uris’ area near the small village of Khe Sanh. a shallow stream headed back from patrol “Battle Cry,” a World War II classic; and The district headquarters of Huong Hoa to their base atop Hill 881 South. Suddenly, the intensity of the 1992 book about the was an area settled by Bru Montagnards the 19-year-old squad leader, Corporal Vietnam War—“We Were Soldiers Once amid a few coffee plantations located about Ken Warner, hears splashing downstream … and Young” by Lieutenant General seven miles from the Laotian frontier on from them. They are being followed! What Harold G. Moore, U.S. Army (Ret) and a dilapidated east-west road south of the he did not know at that moment was that war journalist Joseph L. Galloway. Demilitarized Zone. 20,000 NVA soldiers were fltering into Maj Robert T. Jordan, USMC (Ret) It is this period that the author, Gregg the area. Warner could feel eyes tracking Jones, focuses upon in “Last Stand at Khe him and his fellow Marines as they moved Author’s bio: Maj Robert T. Jordan Sanh” as he weaves his narrative between through the water and tall elephant grass. served as a Marine Corps combat corres­ strategy and tactics with explosive, inti- Warner radioed his company command- pondent and media escort in Vietnam mate details of eyeball-to-eyeball, toe-to- er, Captain William Dabney, and relayed from July 1968 to August 1969, for which toe, engagements between NVA soldiers his situation report. Dabney told Warner GySgt Jordan was awarded the Bronze and the U.S. Marines and soldiers as they to start up the hill. “I’m going to send guys Star with “V” for valor, two Air Medals, heroically beat back enemy attackers seek- down the hill,” Dabney said in a low voice. the Combat Action Ribbon and Combat ing to destroy them. The two groups of Marines connected, Aircrew Wings with three strike/fight But Americans began dying at Khe Sanh wondering why the attack they expected awards. A former Leatherneck associate in early 1964 when U.S. Army General had never come. editor and frequent contributor, he won Wil liam C. Westmoreland, who com- The enemy let them pass. They had the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s manded U.S. military operations during bigger plans that would soon unfold in 2014 Colonel Robert Debs Heinl Jr. Award the Vietnam War, decided that this was frightening ways. for excellence in writing on Marine Corps where he needed to launch an interdiction Jones details the “hill fghts” on Hills history. of the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail to 881 North and 881 South in gut-wrenching stop the fow of supplies from North Viet- detail as the NVA deploy to encircle the nam to their armies and the Viet Cong in Khe Sanh Combat Base and the small the south. band of Special Forces and Vietnamese Looking for Leatherneck Articles? Jones spins his tale so deftly and ef- troops four miles south. Read every issue from now, back to fectively that he draws you intimately The author draws upon personal inter- those published in 1921. Search the into the battle—so much so that you be- views, oral histories, archival materials, Leatherneck come emotionally engaged … feeling the government publications, books, personal archives at www.mca- loss of comrades … feeling their pain … diaries and narratives, newspapers, per- marines.org/leatherneck/archives and witnessing the horrible ways that iodicals, blogs and posts, and flms as he

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Bookspp56-57.indd 57 6/9/14 12:17 PM EVENTS & FAMILY NEWS Leatherneck Line Edited by Sara W. Bock

arated themselves through efforts to better the community and give others the tools to do the same,” she said. “These spouses truly distinguished themselves as great leaders in the military and will continue to accomplish great feats.” The 2014 Military Spouse of the Year thanked her mother, daughter and the Okinawa community as well as her hus­ band, who is stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan. She said she was honored to rep­ resent military spouses all over the world and to help them bring their ideas and dreams to reality. Through five deployments and five permanent changes of station with her husband, Cole has learned to embrace the many uncertainties faced by military spouses. “It’s all about creating success on your own terms,” she said. ERS G

O Cole said the most rewarding part of R Y L L being a military spouse is the opportunity O M to see and experience different places and The 2014 Military Spouse of the Year, Lakesha Cole, stands with her husband, GySgt Deonte Cole, and discover different opportunities. their 8-year-old daughter, Kailey. Cole was honored during a May 9 ceremony at Ft. Myer, Va., for her Although frequent moves have af fected efforts to support the military community. her professional life, Cole has remained focused and driven. She earned a bache­ Marine Wife: Military Lifestyle this cloth,” he said of the Marine Corps lor’s degree in journalism and currently A Rewarding Experience uniform, “but for today, we’re all part of is pursuing a second degree in retail mar­ Lakesha Cole, wife of Gunnery Ser­ the joint community.” ket ing. She also started her own business, geant Deonte Cole, was selected as the Present at the event were members and which sells items that are handmade by 2014 Military Spouse of the Year at Joint spouses of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as local military spouses at MCB Camp Base Myer­Henderson Hall, Ft. Myer, Va., well as each military service’s nominee Foster, Okinawa, Japan. May 9. The award, sponsored by Armed for the award. Compiled from reports by SFC Tyrone C. Marshall Jr., USA, Forces Insurance and Military Spouse “[Each of] the six spouses here today American Forces Press Service; magazine, honors spouses who make that we will be honoring, representing and Cpl Lisette Leyva, Offce of Marine Corps signifcant contributions to the military each of the services, has gone above and Communication, HQMC community. beyond what every great military spouse After being named Marine Corps Spouse does,” said Deanie Dempsey, wife of the Educators Receive an Inside Look of the Year in February, Cole was in the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, At How Marines Are Made running for Military Spouse of the Year, Army General Martin E. Dempsey. High school educators from the greater along with fve other spouses from the “They’re even greater if you can believe Maryland area recently got a frsthand Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and it.” She also said they represent all military view of how Marines are made. The an­ National Guard. spouses, and while only six were being nual event, called the “Educators’ Work­ General James F. Amos, Commandant awarded that day, there are many more shop,” was held at Marine Corps Recruit of the Marine Corps, presented Cole with who deserve the award. Depot Parris Island, S.C., in April. a certifcate of commendation during the Mary Winnefeld, wife of Navy Admiral The event, which is funded by the Ma­ ceremony and expressed his gratitude to James A. Winnefeld Jr., Vice Chairman rine Corps, exists to send teachers and her on behalf of all Marines. of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, explained the faculty from high schools across the coun­ “We couldn’t be more proud of you. criteria for the fnalists. “Our military try to either of the recruit depots—Parris You’re representing all of us in here— community is perhaps one of the closest­ Island or San Diego—with the intent to all of the spouses and the services,” said knit families stretched out all over the offer educators a practical knowledge Gen Amos. “Your husband may wear world. Each of our branch fnalists sep­ of the Corps and to inform them of the

58 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

LCATLinepp58-59.indd 58 6/9/14 12:25 PM Inside a squadbay, Sgt Jessie Ontiveros, a drill in structor at MCRD Parris Island, S.C., simulates morning “Reveille” for teachers attending Recruit­ ing Station Baltimore’s Educators’ Workshop in May. During the four­day event, educators received an inside look at recruit training. (Photo by Sgt Bryan Nygaard)

many personal development, career and educational opportunities available to today’s Marines. On the frst morning of the workshop, 40 educators experienced an authentic simulation of what recruits go through upon arriving at MCRD Parris Island. The educators were transported from their hotel on a bus, just like incoming recruits. As the bus fnally came to a stop in front of the processing center, a burly Marine drill instructor, wearing the iconic campaign hat, boarded the vehicle. “Sit up straight and listen to me!” the DI bellowed. “Now all of you scream, ‘Aye, aye, sir!’ ” For the next 20 minutes, the educators experienced what every young recruit endures upon arrival at Parris Island— chaos. Drill instructors shouted commands at them. If the educators did not follow experience, such as fring an M16A4 serv- been there seven days and one about ready the commands fast enough and respond ice rife on the rife range and rappelling to go to the Crucible. I was just impressed with the appropriate answer of “Aye, aye, from a 47-foot tower. They were given with their manners. Even the one who had sir” at a volume high enough, the drill tours of the barracks, or “squadbays,” that been there seven days, just how respectful instructors made the receiving process recruits live in and were even able to eat a he was.” even more drawn-out and stressful. It meal with recruits from Maryland, some Just like recruits on Parris Island, the was the educators’ introduction to Parris of whom were from their schools. educators always were accompanied by Island. “I was very impressed,” said Christina a drill instructor, Staff Sergeant Cheryle Throughout the next three days, the Keeler, a guidance counselor at Sussex Milton, who acted as a tour guide—except educators participated in and observed Central High School in Georgetown, Del. this tour guide did not smile or make cas- many of the same activities that recruits “There was one [recruit] who had only ual conversation. Although she was there to guide the educators through the different activities, she gave them a relatively watered-down representation of how drill instructors train recruits. Milton had the teachers march in formation and penalized them whenever they did not move fast enough or respond with the appropriate volume. In addition to the different activities the educators participated in, they also spent a lot of time in the classroom, where they received information about the educational benefts and other opportunities for ad- vancement in the Marine Corps. Steve Cahoon, a technology education teacher at Severna Park High School in Severna Park, Md., said he now plans on sharing with his students how joining the

CPL JACKELINE M. PEREZ RIVERA Marine Corps is a viable option, especially FAIRY TALE MURAL—Military spouse and artist Gwyn Korpi stands beside the mural she de­ if they are looking to attend college but do signed and painted for the children’s section of the Harriotte B. Smith Library at Marine Corps not have the money to pay for it. Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. The mural features scenes and characters from children’s literature. Sgt Bryan Nygaard It was created to fll an otherwise empty wall with captivating imagery to inspire children to PAO, 4th Marine Corps District explore reading.

www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck JULY 2014 LEATHERNECK 59

LCATLinepp58-59.indd 59 6/11/14 12:25 PM FINAL SALUTE In Memoriam

Edited by R. R. Keene

“In Memoriam” is run on a space-available basis. Those wishing to submit items should include full name, age, location at time of death (city and state), last grade held, units served in, dates of service and, if possible, a local or na tional obituary. Allow at least four months for the notice to appear.

Conti, who passed away two weeks prior on Operation Enduring Freedom: Marine Casualties, April 1-30, 2014 Jan. 30. MajGen Conti was born in Philadelphia. There are no casualties to report for this month. He was a member of the outstanding Cornell football teams of 1938-40 and played in the East-West game on Jan. 1, 1941. Walter Walsh Later that same day, Walsh went up against He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve as a gangster Russell “Rusty” Gibson who was seaman second class and was appointed a Colonel Walter R. Walsh, USMCR (Ret), cornered in a North Pine Grove Chicago apart- Naval Aviation Cadet six months later. Follow- legendary G-Man, combat veteran of Okinawa ment. Gibson donned a “bulletproof” vest and ing flight training, he was commissioned and during World War II, Olympic competitor, ducked out the back only to run into a patiently des ignated a naval aviator in 1942. He joined Olympic coach and top Marine Corps shooter waiting Walsh. Gibson fred his Browning Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 243, Golita, and shooting coach, died April 29 at his home in Auto matic Rife, and Walsh fred his .351 Win- Calif., in 1943 and deployed with that squadron Arlington, Va. He was just fve days shy of 107. chester. “He shot high. I didn’t,” recalled Walsh. to Ewa, Oahu, Hawaii. He was featured in Leatherneck’s January Walsh went on to be key in the successful During combat operations, he was at tached 2013 story: “Walter Walsh, G-Man.” arrest or termination of a great many well- to Marine Fighting Squadron 211 and Head- Right out of Rutgers law school, he joined known criminals. Involved in numerous shoot- quarters Squadron, 4th MAW, Base Defense the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1934 outs as an agent, and growing in reputation Wing, serving on Palmyra until 1943. He was when it was the Department of Justice’s Di- as a world-class marksman, he was commis- then detached to VMSB-236 at Espiritu Santo, vision of Investigation under J. Edgar Hoover. sioned in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1938. New Hebrides, Guadalcanal, Munda, Bougain- Born in West Hoboken, N.J., Walsh was a A Marine Reserve second lieutenant, he ville and Green Island in the Solomon Islands. natural left-handed shooter who, as a kid, went on active duty in 1942 training scout- He participated as a dive bomber pilot in four trained his eye using a BB gun to shoot snipers. His jump to the Marine Corps enraged campaigns. clothes pins off his aunt’s laundry line. At age Hoover who instituted a policy against FBI Upon his return to the United States in 1944, 12, when his dad gave him a .22-caliber agents serving in any Armed Forces Reserve he trained at the Photo Center, New Cumber- Mossberg rife, he used it to shoot rats in the organizations. Walsh requested combat duty land, Pa., and joined Marine Photographic city dump. He got his chance at competitive in 1944 and participated in the invasion of Squadron (VMD) 354 at Cherry Point and shooting in the Civilian Military Training Okinawa in 1945. At one point, with his unit Greenville, N.C., until 1945. He returned to Corps, fring the 1903 Springfeld rife. Walsh pinned down, he killed an enemy sniper at 90 the Central Pacifc when VMD-354 was as- joined the New Jersey National Guard in 1928, yards with one pistol shot. signed to Marine Aircraft Group 24 on Guam. shooting on its rife team. After the war, he briefy returned to the FBI, He became commanding offcer of the photo Walsh was a logical selection when the FBI but increasingly turned to competitive shoot- detachment in support of air operations with frst authorized its agents to carry frearms. ing. According to The New York Times, he was the 2d MAW on Okinawa and few photo mis- He used his sharpshooting skills during the “on the United States Olympic shooting team sions over Japan. For his World War II service, 1930s, killing 11 gangsters. Walsh gained a at the 1948 Summer Games in London [and] he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and de gree of prominence when searching for placed 12th in the world in the men’s 50-meter the Air Medal. George “Baby Face” Nelson who had killed free pistol competition.” In 1949, he resigned his regular Marine two agents in a shootout outside Barrington, Walsh returned to the Corps, and in 1962, he Corps commission to accept a position on the Ill. Walsh found Nelson’s body wrapped in a was posted as commander of Weapons Train- football team staff at Cornell University and, blanket in a ditch in Skokie, Ill. ing Battalion, Marine Corps Base Quantico, at the same time, accepted a commission as a Two months later, he arrested Arthur “Doc” Va., where he led the Corps’ shooting program captain in the Marine Reserve. He then joined Barker, son of Kate “Ma” Barker, who was until his 1969 retirement. Col Walsh continued VMF-441, Marine Air Reserve Training Com- wanted for bank robberies, three murders, to shoot and to develop competitive shooters mand, Naval Air Station, Niagara Falls, N.Y. two kidnappings and a jailbreak. Walsh ran until he was in his early 90s. He was recalled to active duty in 1951 and him down in Chicago’s north side in January served as XO and CO of VMD-2, 2d MAW, 1935. After Barker slipped on ice and fell, Louis J. Conti Fleet Marine Force, Marine Corps Air Station Walsh stuck his .45 in Barker’s ear, telling Cherry Point. In 1952, he deployed to Korea Barker, “Don’t move, Doc, or I’ll kill you.” Major General Louis J. Conti was a dec- as operations officer and XO of VMD-1, He then asked: “Where’s your heater, Doc?” orated World War II pilot, who few 102 com- completing 102 combat missions. He was Barker replied he had “left it upstairs” in his bat missions over Korea and became the awarded fve Air Medals. apartment, and as an afterthought told Walsh, assistant wing commander, Fourth Marine After the Korean War, he returned to Cor- “Ain’t that a hell of a place for it?” Walsh let Aircraft Wing and Assistant Director, Marine n ell University and rejoined VMF-441 as CO. Doc know it was his lucky day. Had Barker Corps Reserve. He died Feb. 14, 2014, at age In 1956, he went to work for General Ameri- had his pistol, Walsh calmly let him know he 94. He was preceded in death by his wife of can Transportation Corporation. As a Marine would have killed him. 69 years, Dorothy M. “Dottie” [Kellogg] reservist, he participated in the formation of

60 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

Obitspp60-61.indd 60 6/9/14 12:28 PM the frst Marine Air Reserve group at Glen­ Institute and the Naval Postgraduate School Committee, Literacy Volunteers, Belfast City view, Ill., in 1958, and served as CO through and went on to teach high school. He was Charter Commission, Waldo County Law En­ 1960. He commissioned Volunteer Training a member of the MCA&F and a longtime forcement Agency, Marine Corps League and Unit 6 (Aviation) and served as CO. He sub­ Leatherneck reader. was Ward 1 city councilman, as well as a sub­ sequently commanded Headquarters, Marine Capt Joseph S. De Los Santos, 67, of stitute teacher for the Belfast school district. Air Reserve Training, Glenview, from 1962 Clovis, Calif. He enlisted in 1964 and served He and his grandson, Cole MacLaren, are until 1964 when he commissioned VTU­9 in Vietnam. His awards include the Bronze old friends of this editor. (Avi ation). He was promoted to brigadier Star and Combat Action Ribbon. Jay L. Mercer, 84, in Princeton, Ill. He was gen eral in 1970 and served as assistant wing De Los Santos reenlisted and became a a Korean War veteran and taught at United commander, 4th MAW. He was advanced to computer programmer, teacher and offcer in Township High School in East Moline and major general in 1973 and, in 1974, became charge of various computer services. In 1974, coached football, basketball and baseball until Assistant Director, Marine Corps Reserve. he earned a bachelor’s degree from California he retired. He also ran the East Moline summer MajGen Conti was the president of the Ma­ State University, Fullerton in computer science municipal baseball program and founded the rine Corps Reserve Policy Board in 1974 and with an emphasis in quantitative methods. In 76ers, a semi­pro baseball team. 1975. He also served as a member of the Re­ 1986, he went on to earn a master’s degree Mary Helen (Brosius) Nihart, 93, in Lake serve Forces Policy Board from 1974 to 1977. in computer resource management with an Ridge, Va. She was the widow of retired Marine He was appointed as the civilian chair man of emphasis in project management from Webster Col Franklin Brooke Nihart. A graduate of the Reserve Forces Policy Board in December University in St. Louis. He retired from the Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, of 1977. He remained in that capacity until he Corps in 1987. Va., she majored in history and minored in retired as chairman emeritus in 1985. He moved to Clovis and became president English and French. As a graduate student, In his civilian endeavors he was president of American Media and Supply Inc. and chair­ she studied history at Duke University and of GATX Terminals Corporation, senior vice man of the computer science department of Occidental College, Los Angeles. president and a director of GATX Corp., Chi­ National College. He was a computer software During World War II, she served with the cago; director of Canadian General Tran sit consultant for many national and international Military Intelligence Division at the War De­ Company, Ltd., Montreal; director of Emer son entities, including Blue Shield, Walmart, partment where she decoded Japanese mes­ Electric Co., St. Louis; director of Esco Elec­ Coca­Cola, Sprint and Bank of America. In sages for the Army Signal Corps. She taught tronics Co., St. Louis; director of Roadmaster 2001, he became the chief consultant for an high school history until getting married and Industries, Atlanta; and chairman and CEO online business and helped deliver Internet accompanying her husband to myriad Marine of Marine Transport Lines, Inc., New York. service to rural Fresno County communities. Corps assignments, including Southeast Asia’s He was the chief organizer of an annual Rangoon, Burma, where he served as Naval MSgt Everett G. “Ed” Conradt, 78, in Marine Corps Ball in Sanger, Calif., and was Attaché at the U.S. Embassy. San Diego. He was born in Kansas City, Kan., appointed to the Big Fresno Fair board of After Col Nihart’s retirement, the couple and because his parents were deaf, he learned directors in 2005. He was one of the organizers traveled through Europe in his position as sign language before he could walk. From a and board members of the Latino Mayors and Deputy Director for Marine Corps Museums young age, he was called upon to interpret for Elected Offcials Coalition until the end of his and delegate for the International Committee his parents when they needed to interact in four­year term in 2009. for Museums of Arms and Military History. social or business situations. He enlisted in William O. “Bill” Henry, 80, of DeSoto, Successful in her own right, Mrs. Nihart earned 1953 and eventually became a drill instructor Calif. He was a Korean War veteran. In 1955, the Meritorious Service Award from the Navy with three tours on the drill feld. he was assigned to D/1/3 as part of the Corps’ Relief Society and was a longtime volunteer He was a Vietnam veteran, serving from Test Unit 1, participating in Operation Teapot, with Wolf Trap Farm Park (later called Wolf 1967 to 1969 as the company gunnery sergeant a top secret operation involving 2,600 Marines Trap National Park for the Performing Arts), with E/2/9. He retired in 1973 after 21 years in atomic exercises. According to declassifed Meals­on­Wheels, Ingleside Presbyterian of active duty. records, “On March 22, 1955, at 05:02, Shot Home in Washington, D.C., and the National After the Corps, he went back to school and Bee the sixth Teapot event, an 8­kiloton shot, Museum of the Marine Corps. She was a mem­ earned a college degree. He was a sales rep for was fred from a 500­foot steel tower, 600 ber of the National Society Daughters of the San Diego periodicals for 23 years. He coached Marines crouched in trenches 3,500 yards from American Revolution; Immanuel Presbyterian Little League Baseball, served as a volunteer ground zero.” Henry was one of the Ma rines Church; and the Potomac Hills Garden Club, for his daughters’ Camp Fire activities and in the trench. His helmet, goggles and gas mask book club and neighborhood watch. helped out on numerous school projects and were blown off. It was responsible for his can­ The consummate Marine wife, dedicated feld trips. He was active in fund­raising activi­ cer, which required more than 100 operations. and there for her husband, she is remembered ties at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School. It didn’t stop him from leading a full life as a class act, intelligent, quick­witted, full of An avid baseball fan, when his health as a public servant and businessman. He built humor and a friend to all. Her lifelong friends waned, he used a walking cane fashioned from and paid for a shelter for children, and he remember her love of entertaining, gardening a Louisville Slugger. He served on the board founded “Christmas for the Kids,” a charity and history. She was a special friend to Leather­ of directors of the West Coast Drill Instructor that raised funds for disadvantaged children. neck and this editor and will be missed. Association and participated in the 2/9 annual He also would feed anybody in need. He cham­ Mrs. Nihart is survived by her daughters, reunions. pioned and built low­cost housing for the Catherine Nihart of Massachusetts; Virginia Maj Richard O. “Dick” Culver Jr., 77, disadvantaged and mentally and physically Nihart of Colorado and twin grandsons, Brett in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Well­known as handicapped as well as veterans. He also har­ Nihart of Connecticut and 1stLt Jake Nihart, “The Jouster,” he came up through the ranks bored injured race horses at his ranch, letting USMC. She was a descendent of early Virginia to become a “Mustang” offcer. He served them live out their lives. pioneers, and members of her family partici­ three consecutive tours in Vietnam, 1966­ Col Bruce M. MacLaren, 82, formerly pated in every American war for freedom from 68. He earned the Silver Star as a captain of Belfast, Maine. He graduated from North the American Revolution through the global commanding H/2/3, 9th MAB on July 21, Providence High School in Rhode Island, war on terrorism in Afghanistan. 1967, while engaged in a company­size search­ received a bachelor’s degree from Norwich Sgt Edward A. Pyrzynski, 82, in Ham­ and­destroy mission during Operation Bear University in Vermont and a master’s degree mond, Ind. He served from 1952 to 1955. He Chain along the coastal region between Hue from the University of Maine. He served 30 was a BARman with F/2/7, 1stMarDiv during and Quang Tri cities. Later, he helped organize years in the Corps, including a tour in Vietnam the battle for Outpost Vegas in the Korean War the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School at MCB where he was awarded the Bronze Star. and was awarded the Purple Heart. He worked Quantico, Va., and was on the Marine Corps He resided in Belfast from 1984 until 2006 at Republic Steel in Chicago as a metallurgist, Rife Team in the 1970s. and participated on the Water Aquifer retiring in 1985. He was a graduate of Virginia Military Committee, the Comprehensive Planning

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Obitspp60-61.indd 61 6/11/14 12:33 PM Serviing VVetterans,, Educators,, Hiisttoriians aand TTheiir FFamilliies Siince 11987

VIETNAM BATTLEFIELDS EUROPE BATTLEFIELDS 3 - 13 Aug - USMC I Corps Airfare Included 3 - 14 Sep - WWI - 100th Anniversary of 23 Aug - 6 Sep - “Delta to the DMZ” “The Great War” - 1914 6 - 19 Sep - I Corps “Tanks & Ontos” The Gunny went back to Red 5 - 12 Sep - Napoleon’s Invasion Beach with MHT! 28 Jan - 10 Feb ’15 - Tet Offensive & Hue City of Russia The Ladies enjoy Moscow • Borodino •Post Tour: St. Petersburg going back with you! 5 - 17 Mar ‘15 - 50th Anniv of the Marines Landing at MHT Group Moscow Red Beach - 1965 Don’t miss 19 - 27 Apr ’15 - Turkey 100th Anniversary of the the WWI bus! 7 - 16 Mar ’15 - 2/4 in I-Corps & Op Frequent Wind Gallipoli Campaign & ANZAC Day 2 - 15 May ‘15- “Saigon to the DMZ” 15 - 25 May ’15 - 97th Anniversary of PACIFIC BATTLEFIELDS World War I Battlefields 23 May - 2 Jun ’15 - Battle of Bulge Tour and Paris 1 - 12 Aug - Guadalcanal & “Up the Slot” Bucket List :Drinking from Bulldog Fountain! 30 May - 10 June ’15 - 70th Anniversary 12 - 19 SEPTEMBER TOUR of the Liberation of Italy “Salerno to Switzerland” HIGHLIGHT! 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INVASION OF PELELIU 1 - 9 Jun ’15 - D-Day: Normandy to Paris See this preserved battlefield! 13 - 26 Oct - “China Marines” Return 13 - 20 Jun ’15 - 200th Anniversary Battle of Waterloo German Panther’s Last Stand 1 - 11 Feb ’15 - WWII Philippines 70th Anniversary Korea Battlefield Pre-Tour Liberation of Manila 9 - 16 Mar ’15 - 70th Anniversary of Iwo Jima 65th Anniversary Subsidized Korea Revisits Group at Guam Memorial Guam • IJAA Reunion of Honor • Chartered Flight SOLD OUT in 2014! SIGN UP NOW for 2015! MILITARY HISTORICAL TOURS, INC. 13198 Centerpointe Way Ste 202 Woodbridge VA 22193 Colonel Warren Wiedhahn, USMC (Ret) President/CEO 703-590-1295 • 800-722-9501 • Fax 703-590-1292 Email: [email protected] • Website: www.miltours.com

SOUND OFF Lejeune, NC 28547, (910) 451-3167, david [continued from page 8] [email protected]. Want to Read Some of • 3dMarDiv Assn., Aug. 13-17, Reno, Nev. Contact GySgt Don H. Gee, USMC the Best Sea Stories? • Greg, thanks for your letter and (Ret), P.O. Box 254, Chalfont, PA 18914, thank you for your service to Corps and (215) 822-9094, [email protected], www country.—Sound Off Ed. .caltrap.com. • 5thMarDiv Assn., Sept. 8-13, Tampa, Editorial Irish Pennant Fla. Contact John A. Butler, 11871 Rain- On page 59 of our June issue, in the tree Dr., Temple Terrace, FL 33617, (813) “Books Reviewed” section, we erred in 985-0657, [email protected]. our review of the book “Brothers Forever: • 6thMarDiv Assn., Oct. 7-12, Dum- The Enduring Bond Between a Marine fries, Va. Contact Holiday Inn Quantico and a Navy SEAL That Transcended Their Center, 3901 Fettler Park Dr., Dumfries, Ultimate Sacrifce.” VA 22025, (703) 441-9001, www.sixth We wrote, “The nickname given 1stLt marinedivision.com. Manion by his observant Iraqi counterparts • FLC-FLSG (All units, RVN), Sept. was ‘Asad,’ meaning lion. The ‘Lion of 11-14, Portland, Ore. Contact Jim Kadas, Fallujah,’ as Manion was called … .” In (503) 998-3516, [email protected], fact, the Lion of Fallujah was the name [email protected]. given to Major Douglas A. Zembiec, who • China Marine Assn., Sept. 17-21, was killed in action May 11, 2007, in Charleston, S.C. Contact AFR Inc. (Attn: By Maj Allan Bevilacqua, USMC (Ret) combat operations in Baghdad. First Lt China Marine), 322 Madison Mews, Travis Manion’s Iraqi counterparts did Norfolk, VA 23510, www.afr-reg.com/ Purchase “The Way It Was: call him Asad, but he was not the Lion of chinamarine2014. Fallujah. • USMC Combat Correspondents A Seabag Full of Marine Humor” We regret our error.—Sound Off Ed. Assn., Sept. 8-11, Oceanside, Calif. Con- at www.marineshop.net tact Jack T. Paxton, 110 Fox Ct., Wildwood, or call toll-free (888) 237-7683 Reunions FL 34785, (352) 748-4698, usmccca@cf • 2dMarDiv Assn., Aug. 5-9, Jackson- .rr.com, www.usmccca.org. ville, N.C. Contact LtCol David Brown, • Marine Corps Engineer Assn., Oct. USMC (Ret), P.O. Box 8180, Camp 20-23, Pala, Calif. Contact Ken Frantz, 807

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SoundOff.indd 62 6/9/14 1:16 PM Looking for New Members! We Invite ALL Marines and Friends of the Corps to Join MCA&F as Members PHOTO BY SGT RYAN S. SCRANTON PHOTO BY SGT RYAN

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SoundOff.indd 63 6/9/14 10:15 AM • Marine Corps Air Transport Assn., Stanford, (850) 443-6373, rickstanford46 SemperFiMarinesS.com Oct. 1-5, Branson, Mo. Contact Retired @gmail.com. USMC Apparel & Gift Store Marine Humberto C. Reyes, 2103 W. • Veterans of Guam and Iwo Jima 1-866-361-5141 Mulberry Ave., San Antonio, TX 78201, (70th Anniversary), March 16-23, 2015, (210) 867-9226, (210) 734-5967, hreyes Iwo Jima. Contact Col Warren Wiedhahn, [email protected]. USMC (Ret), Military Historical Tours, • Anacostia Marines, Sept. 21-27, 13198 Centerpointe Way, #202, Wood- Oklahoma City. Contact Ron Bursch, bridge, VA 22193, (703) 590-1295, jwied T - Shirts, Hoodies, Jackets, (928) 533-4349, [email protected]. [email protected], www.miltours.com. Baseball Caps, Glassware, Web • MarDet/Barracks NOB/NAS • 26th Marines Scout Snipers (1968­ Belts,Ratchet Belts, Bedspreads, Bermuda, Oct. 19-23, Branson, Mo. Con- 69) is planning a reunion for 2014 in Blankets, Challenge Coins, tact Dennis McDonald, (763) 473-3458, Omaha, Neb. Contact Cleveland Mason, USMC Flags & More Visit Our Website Today!! [email protected]. (209) 358-1646, [email protected], or www.SemperFiMarinesS.com • MarDet U.S. Naval Prison Ports­ Tom Phillips, (402) 672-1271, tomandwoo P. O. Box 511 Circle Pines, MN 55014 mouth/USNDC, Sept. 17-22, Portsmouth, @swvawcreek.net. N.H. Contact Steve Jennison, (603) • 2d Bn, 4th Marines Assn., Aug. 13-17, 988-9867, [email protected], www Portland, Ore. Contact John Schassen, Carriage Hills Blvd., Conroe, TX 77384, .mardetusncd.com. 14740 S. Sugar Pine Way, La Pine, OR (936) 273-4830, execdir@marcorengasn • Marine Barracks Sasebo, Japan, 97739, (541) 536-5863, jnschassen@aol .org, www.marcorengasn.org. Oct. 7-9, San Diego. Contact SgtMaj .com, www.2-4association.org. • Marine Corps Mustang Assn., Sept. James Abraham, USMC (Ret), (949) • 3d Recon Assn., Sept. 16-21, Reno, 16-18, Las Vegas. Contact Sue Haley, (520) 951-3824, (949) 433-3998, a-abraham@ Nev. Contact Doug Heath, (770) 684- 628-7809, (541) 535-7117, suzhaley@gmail sbcglobal.net. 7668; Bob Hoover, (843) 302-2151; or .com, www.marinecorpsmustang.org. • USMC Postal 0160/0161, Oct. 19-24, Cyndie Leigh, (702) 271-0365. • USMC Tankers Assn., Oct. 2-4, San San Antonio. Contact Harold Wilson, (740) • 7th Engineer Bn Assn. (RVN), Sept. Diego. Contact Buster Diggs, (619) 873- 385-6204, [email protected]. 18-21, Alexandria, Va. Contact Doug 7385, [email protected]. • Subic Bay Marines, Sept. 2-7, San McMackin, (623) 466-0545, gunnymac@ • West Coast Drill Instructor Assn., Diego. Contact John Laccinole, (818) hotmail.com; Norm Johnson, (989) 635- Sept. 4-7, San Diego. Contact Gregg Stoner, 591-8916, [email protected], www 6653, [email protected]; Jim Taranto, (619) 884-9047, [email protected], .subicbaymarines.com. (518) 567-4267, [email protected]; or SgtMaj Bobby Woods, USMC (Ret), • CUPP Marines (RVN), Sept. 27- or Harry Dill, (704) 708-9865, hdill@ (760) 215-9564, www.westcoastdi.org. Oct. 2, Washington, D.C. Contact Rick carolina.rr.com. Lend a Together, we’ll overcome any helping obstacles in hand. our way. This Independence Day, we remember our Marines who are in harm’s way. We can’t be with them overseas, but we can help them prepare mentally for battle.

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SoundOff.indd 64 6/9/14 1:16 PM MCA&F AMMO TECH AWARDS Reception Congratulations! 2013 AMMO TECH AWARD RECIPIENTS

Lance Corporal Sergeant Jason Gunnery Sergeant CWO3 Gable K. Guno Douglas, S. McCrady, USMC Jason M. Rodriquez, Mountain, USMC USMC 2013 Gunnery Sergeant Edwin USMC 2013 Ammunition Offi cer 2013 Gunnery Sergeant Edwin W. Johnson, Jr. Memorial 2013 Gunnery Sergeant Edwin of the Year Award W. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Ammunition Technician NCO W. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Ammunition for Exceptional Management Ammunition Technician of the Year Award for Professional Technician SNCO of the Year Award Marine of the Year Award for Excellence for Distinguished Service Superior Achievement

SoundOff.indd 65 6/9/14 10:16 AM DANNER UNISEX USMC RAT TEMPERATE BOOT 501689 Rat Boot — Member Value Price: $306.00 Non-Member Price: $340.00

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• 1/27 (RVN, 1968), Sept. 18-21, Jack- sonville, Fla. Contact Felix Salmeron, 1406 Nighthawk Dr., Little Elm, TX Steven 75068, (469) 583-0191, [email protected], or Grady Birdsong, (303) 466-6491. • 2/26, Sept. 18-22, Charleston, S.C. Pressfi eld’s Contact Sonny Hollub, (512) 825-4730, [email protected]. Latest • 3/11, Sept. 10-14, San Diego. Contact Doug Miller, (402) 540-9431, dmiller48@ A Hard Hitting Look at the gmail.com. • “Stormy’s” BLT 3/3 (1961-62), Oct. 1967 Arab-Israeli War 20-23, Las Vegas. Contact James Burrus, (949) 830-1732, [email protected]. The Lion’s Gate: On The Front Lines of • Wpns Co, 1/1 (1988-92), Sept. 27, the Six Day War Las Vegas. Contact John Patricio, (916) 941- (Hardback) 1595230912 6791, [email protected]. Member Value Price: $26.96 • Co A, 1st Bn, 7th Marines Assn., Non-Member Price: $29.95 Oct. 19-22, North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Contact Leonard R. “Shifty” Shiffette, 25 www.marineshop.net • 888-237-7683 Emery St., Harrisonburg, VA 22801, (540) The MARINE Shop: 300 Potomac Ave., Quantico • 703-640-7195 434-2066, (540) 745-2066, captshifty@ The MARINE Shop at Camp Lejeune: Bldg. 84, Exchange Annex, Hadnot Point • 910-451-7500 comcast.net. • Co B, 7th Motor T Bn (RVN), Oct. The MARINE Shop and www.marineshop.net purchases help fund MCA&F Programs that support 1-3, San Diego. Contact Tim Weddington, Marines! Learn more at www.mcafdn.org. 2527 S. Glen Ln., Independence, MO 64052, (816) 808-2357, timweddington@ comcast.net. • A/1/12 (3dMarDiv, RVN), Sept. 17-21, GET MEMBER VALUE PRICING! JOIN TODAY! San Diego. Contact Bob Schoenleber, (425) www.mca-marines.org • 1-866-622-1775 822-7474, [email protected]. • D/1/7 (RVN), Aug. 28-31, Alexandria,

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SoundOff.indd 66 6/9/14 1:16 PM Va. Contact Pat Hanley, (989) 859-5915, [email protected]. • D/2/13 (Battle of Ngok Tavak and Kham Duc, 1968), Oct. 8-13, St. Louis. Contact Greg Rose, gregvn68@gmail A 496 page memoir by a Vietnam .com, or Bill and Ann Schneider, wschnei grunt and drill instructor that [email protected]. chronicles how Marine Corps • G/2/7, Aug. 6-10, Portland, Ore. Con- tact John Jones, (207) 717-3861, jejones48 values changed his life and @gmail.com. prepared him for a 29 year career • G/3/1 (Korea), Sept. 29-Oct. 3, Beau- in law enforcement. fort, S.C. Contact Carleton “Bing” Bing- ham, 1453 Patricia Dr., Gardnerville, NV By Raymond F. Wright Jr. 89460, (775) 265-3596, bingbingham@ msn.com. • I/3/1 (Korea), Aug. 13-17, Branson, Mo. Contact Suzi Woodward, (860) 262- 1334, suzi11111@ aim.com. Website: www.my35yearsinuniform.com • I/3/9, Aug. 5-11, Philadelphia. Contact Barbara Cunningham, 3075 Pine Rd., Amazon.com - My 35 Years in Uniform Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006, (267) 325-5226, [email protected]. • K/3/1 (RVN, 1966-71), Aug. 21-24, Rochester, Minn. Contact David Crawley, (507) 273-7183, [email protected]. • K/3/7 (and attached units, RVN), Sept. 9-15, San Diego. Contact William Rolke, (262) 780-0993, k37usmc@att .net, or Jerry Walker, (951) 203-2280, [email protected]. • 3d 155 mm Gun Battery (SP), Sept. 11-13, Alexandria, Va. Contact Ed Kirby, (978) 987-1920, [email protected]. • Point Mugu Marine Detachment (1946-60), Sept. 5-8, Branson, Mo. Con- tact Arthur Smallenberger, (816) 436- 6493, [email protected]. • Yemassee Train Depot, Oct. 17-18, Yemassee, S.C. Contact Roy Hughes, P.O. Box 265, Yemassee, SC 29945, (843) 589- 3385. • TBS, Co F, 6-79, is planning a re union. Contact LtCol Tom Conners, USMC Awarded Marine Corps Food & Hospitality Excellence Award (Ret), (919) 303-2697, (919) 418-5757, [email protected]. • USMC SATS/EAF, Aug. 12-16, Balti- more. Contact James Halterman, (443) 402-0720, [email protected]. • 81 mm Mortars, H&S Co, 1/1/3 (Camp Sukiran, Okinawa, 1959-60), Sept. 16-18, Quantico, Va. Contact Ron Peacock, 95383 Nassau River Rd., Fernan- dina Beach, FL 32034, (904) 583-2640, [email protected]. • Plts 17 and 19, Parris Island, 1955 (and others who went through PI during 1955 are welcome too), May 14-16, 2015, Parris Island, S.C. Contact Al Pasquale, (484) 802-2516, [email protected]. • Plt 291, Parris Island, 1964, is plan- ning a reunion. Contact Sgt Ernest Ben- nett, (304) 269-3294, [email protected]. • Plt 296, Parris Island, 1965, Nov. 7-10, Parris Island, S.C. Contact SgtMaj Jim Butler, USMC (Ret), (910) 340-7074, [email protected].

www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck JULY 2014 LEATHERNECK 67

SoundOff.indd 67 6/9/14 1:17 PM • Plt 331, Parris Island, 1959, is plan­ • VMF-323/VMF (AW)-323 (1960-64), McAnally, 152 Frissell St., Hampton, VA ning a reunion. Contact MGySgt Bob Sept. 2­5, Pensacola, Fla. Contact T. C. 23663, (757) 723­0317, yujack46709@ Daniels, USMC (Ret), (904) 579­4346, Crouson, (209) 369­6793, tc@inreach gmail.com. [email protected], or Bob Wood, .com. • USS John R. Craig (DD­885), Sept. (205) 903­7220, [email protected]. • VMA (AW)-533 (Chu Lai/Iwakuni, 24­28, Portland, Ore. Contact Jerry • Plt 358, San Diego, 1959, Aug. 7­10, 1969-70), Sept. 5­7, Havelock, N.C. Chwalek, 9307 Louisiana St., Livonia, San Diego. Contact MSgt John Newport, Contact Jerry Callaway, (303) 946­7893, MI 48150, (734) 525­1469, jermail@ USMC (Ret), (770) 926­4752, mrnmrs41@ [email protected], or John Murphy, ameritech.net, www.ussjohnrcraig.com. aol.com. (609) 313­8434, [email protected]. • USS Perkins (DD­26, DD­377, DD/ • Plt 2023, San Diego, 1983, is planning DDR­877) Assn., Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. a reunion. Contact Jeffrey R. Johnson, Ships and Others 10­14. Contact Billy or Sue Orr, 2388 E. 3751 Merced Dr., Unit 4D, Riverside, CA • USS Canberra (CA­70/CAG­2), Oct. State Hwy. 56, Bonham, TX 75418, (903) 92503, [email protected]. 8­12, Norfolk, Va. Contact Ken Minick, 227­1852, [email protected]. • Plt 4035, “Papa” Co, Parris Island, P.O. Box 130, Belpre, OH 45714, (740) • USS Ranger (CVA/CV­61), Oct. 1­4, 2000, is planning a reunion for 2015. 423­8976, [email protected], Jacksonville, Fla. Contact Larry Schmuhl, Contact Tammy (Manyik) Epperson, (571) www.usscanberra.com. (904) 997­2217, [email protected]. 451­7263, [email protected]. • USS Hornet (CV­8, CV/CVA/CVS­ • USS Saratoga (CV­3, CVA/CV­60), • Marine Air Groups (WW II-pres- 12), Sept. 9­14, San Antonio. Contact Carl Sept. 25­27, Louisville, Ky. Contact ent), Oct. 1­4, Branson, Mo. Contact or Sandy Burket, P.O. Box 108, Roaring Harvey Hirsch Jr., 139 Beechwood Dr., James Jordan, (417) 535­4945, james Spring, PA 16673, (814) 224­5063, Franklin, VA 23851, (877) 360­7272 [email protected], or Bob Miller, [email protected], www.usshornetassn (SARA). (636) 327­5854, [email protected]. .com. • U.S. Navy Amphibious Force Veter- • VMF/VMA-311 Assn., Oct. 1­5, San • USS Houston (CL­81), Oct. 20­25, ans Assn., Sept. 7­10, New Orleans. Antonio. Contact Jim Galchick, 1290 E. Norfolk, Va. Contact Donna Rogers, 3949 Contact John J. Walsh, 2745 Dalton Ln., 12th St., Salem, OH 44460, (330) 337­ Little John Dr., York, PA 17408, (717) 792­ Toms River, NJ 08755, (732) 367­6472 (do 9383, [email protected]; George 9113, dlr7110 @yahoo.com. not call after 8:30 p.m. ET), navy_guys@ Phander, 3032 Potshop Rd., Norristown, • USS Inchon (LPH/MCS­12), Oct. 12­ verizon.net. PA 19403, (610) 584­5654, piboxer@com 16, Norfolk, Va. Contact David F. Fix, cast.net; or Cecil Cheeka, 2207 Lilac St. 131 Waypoint Dr., Lancaster, PA 17603, S.E., Lacey, WA 98503, (360) 352­7227, (717) 203­4152, [email protected]. [email protected], www.vmf­vma­ • USS Iwo Jima (LPH­2/LHD­7), Aug. 311reunion.org. 27­31, Jacksonville, Fla. Contact Robert Visit SCUTTLEBUTT

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SoundOff.indd 68 6/9/14 1:17 PM Leatherneck’s Marine-To-Marine Classifeds

Made in the U.S.A. Marine Corps Rings, Jewelry & Gifts THE CORPS STORE

Men’s Rings and www.TheCorpsStore.com Jewelry U.S.M.C. & U.S.N. SPECIALTIES (843) 521-1775 Proudly serving Marines, Sailors and their families since 2002 Curt Furtado, U.S.M.C., 1982-2004

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Order online at: MarineCorpsRings.com Marine-to-Marine Classifed or call us at 800-876-8028 is ONLY for those who served. Marine Corps rings, jewelry, clothing, If you served, then this is knives, ags and gifts. Ofcially Licensed your place. Steve Hosie, Sgt USMC, 1986-1993

The 2014 Leatherneck Marine-to-Marine Classifed Information and Insertion Order

Classifed Advertising Policy Name ______Marine-to-Marine classifed ads are accepted on a space-available basis Street ______and available only to those and/or their City ______spouses who served in the United States Marine Corps. The ad must list State ______ZIP ______the years served in the Marine Corps. Day Phone ______All ads are black-and-white in this section. Ads are accepted camera- Email ______ready and electronically; pdf, tif or jpeg formats (300 resolution). Any ___ Please charge my MasterCard/Visa/American Express $______Total classifed ad may occupy one column Credit Card Number ______Exp. Date _____ width (2.25 inches) by a maximum of 10 inches of column height. Signature ______Marine-to-Marine classifed ad rates are $100 per column inch. There is a 10% discount for 6 months or more of ___Check enclosed insertions. Payment information must accompany order.

Send insertion order and materials to: Leatherneck Magazine, M2M 715 Broadway St., Marine Corps Base, Quantico, VA 22134 Or email to: [email protected] • Offce: 718-715-1361

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SoundOff.indd 69 6/9/14 10:16 AM NETWORKING Reader Assistance Edited by Clare A. Guerrero Entries for “Reader Assistance,” including “Mail Call,” are free and printed on a space-available basis. Leatherneck reserves the right to edit or reject any submission. Allow two to three months for publication. Send your e-mail to [email protected], or write to Reader Assistance Editor, Leatherneck Magazine, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134.

Mail Call Pennsylvania, a member of VMFA-542, town, NY 12886, to hear from or about • Marine veteran Daniel J. Donnelly, 1965-66. Joseph ANNINO and Daniel ESPI- 7921 Highpoint Rd., Baltimore, MD • Marine veteran John D. Lopez, (661) NOSA, with Plt 358, Parris Island, 1964. 21234, [email protected], to 331-8511, [email protected], to • Col Jim Reid, USMC (Ret), 25887 hear from Marines stationed at North hear from or about Frank M. OWENS Lewis Ranch Rd., New Braunfels, TX Camp Fuji, Japan, 1954-55 (below), or from Tucson, Ariz., who served with his 78132, [email protected], to hear from Marine MPs he served with at NAS brother, Bernadino LOPEZ, on Okinawa from or about former 1stLt Phil North Island, Calif., 1956-58. and in the Philippines, 1960-61. HAMILTON, who served in Co B, 1st • Marine veteran COL Thomas A. • Timothy R. Henricks, 35 Pamela Ln., Bn, 8th Marines, 1972-74. Boland Sr., USA (Ret), (803) 210-5510, Amesbury, MA 01913, (978) 712-0322, • Col John R. Pierce, USMCR (Ret) and [email protected], to hear from or to hear from Marine veteran Arthur LtCol Kim E. Smith, USMCR (Ret), about Theodore HEBERT from Clear- HENRICKS III, who served in Vietnam. [email protected], to hear from water, Fla., who may have been in Plt 365, • Noah H. Belew, USMC (Ret), P.O. Col Christopher BAKER, USMCR Parris Island, 1962; attended avionics Box 816, Gulf Breeze, FL 32562, noah@ (Ret), last known to be in the Philadelphia school in 1963; and was stationed at semperfdelisnoah.com, to hear from Ma- area and a member of the Marine Corps MCAS El Toro, Calif., with VMFA-513, rines who served with him in 1stMarDiv, League. 1964-66. He also would like to hear from WW II; and 1stMarDiv, Korea. • Marine veteran Anthony K. Van or about Richard W. PHILLIPS from • James J. Morris, P.O. Box 2, Wever- Reusen, 11514 N. Monika Leigh Pl., Tuc- Y L L E N N O . D L J E I N A F D Y O S E T R U O C Marine veteran Daniel J. Donnelly would like to hear from Marines stationed at North Camp Fuji, Japan, 1954-55.

70 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

ReaderAsstpp70-71.indd 70 6/9/14 2:59 PM son, AZ 85737, (520) 742-4797, akvr13@ [email protected], wants a tape or gmail.com, to hear from or about Craig CD of “The Pain and the Pride.” S. PAPALEO, who served with “Lima” • Eric Nutting, P.O. Box 2287, Twin FT Co, 3d Bn, 5th Marines, RVN, 1967-68. Falls, ID 83303, (208) 410-7176, enutting 15 • Dave Sullivan, (508) 886-6025, (508) [email protected], wants a July 1980 issue Telescoping 799-9229, [email protected], to hear of Leatherneck. from leathernecks who served with Co A, • Dena La Rue, 601 Maynard Blvd., Flagpole 1st Bn, 7th Marines and witnessed the Jacksonville, NC 28546, (910) 358-5906, actions of platoon sergeant, 1st platoon, wants a January 1968 issue of Leather­ Telescopes from 7ft to 15ft neck Package Includes: Fred RATLIFF during Operation Meade for her husband, 1stSgt Roman A. � 3' X 5' USA Flag � Anodized Finished Pole River, Dec. 7, 1968. La Rue. � 3” Gold Ornamental Ball • Kevin MacDermott, country code: • Former Sgt Kenneth W. Merson, 4333 � No Ropes or Pullies � Two Flags � Installation Sleeve � 5 Year Warranty 353, 87-237-7794, kmacdermot13@gmail Country Bridge Rd., Lakeland, TN 38002, � Free 2' X 3' Marine Corps .com, to hear from Marines who were (901) 249-4066, kenneth.lindseymerson@ Catalog Price: $229.00 stationed in Derry or Londonderry, verizon.net, wants a recruit graduation Your Price $149.00 Ireland, during WW II, and from or book for Plt 195, Parris Island, 1971. about combat correspondent Sgt Robert • Ellen Owens, 3 Ocean Marsh Ln., St. SHOW YOUR COLORS! T. DAV IES, or his wife, Dorothy Jeanne Helena Island, SC 29920, (843) 838-2223, CRANE, or sons Crane DAV IES and wants a recruit graduation photo for Plt 3' X 5' � Embroidered Stars Monte DAVIES. 221, San Diego, 1968. � DuPont Nylon USA FLAG � Sewn Stripes • Marine veteran Andrew Shay, 431 Only $20.00 W. 13th St., Peru, IN 46970, (574) 808- Sales, Trades and Giveaways Catalog Price $33.00 9365, [email protected], to • Capt Lloyd L. Loy, USMC (Ret), 5281 hear from members and drill instructors Navaho Dr., Alexandria, VA 22312, (703) CUSTOM FLAGS & BANNERS AVAILABLE of Plt 3117, San Diego, 1987. 354-8456, [email protected], has a Call Today for Your FREE Catalog! recruit graduation book for Plt 1005, Wanted Parris Island, 1967. UNCOMMON USA, INC. Readers are cautioned to be wary of sending money without confirming 1-800-470-2210 authenticity and availability of products 5025 South 36th St., Phoenix, AZ 85040 offered. Fax: 602-438-1411 ¥ Web Site: www.uncommonusa.com • GySgt E. A. Heisey, USMC (Ret), Plus shipping and Taxes Gear for Beach Ready Marines!

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Your purchases at The MARINE Shop help fund the MCA&F Programs that support Marines! Learn more at www.mcafdn.org.

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ReaderAsstpp70-71.indd 71 6/9/14 1:14 PM POETRY Gyrene Gyngles

Edited by Clare A. Guerrero

Please submit copies of original poems with frst publishing rights and author’s permission to print granted to Leatherneck. Poems may be edited or shortened, as necessary. Due to volume received, submissions will not be acknowledged or returned.

Some Gave All, All Gave Some Was the Battle Worth It? In felds across the nation, Marines have been asking this Under stones straight in a row, Since Fallujah was taken from the Iraqi forces: In shady pines, there rest the souls, Was the battle worth it? Of the bravest folks we know. The heart of the question is, Was the cause just? You see, they thought not of themselves, When off to the unknown, Because, Marines are just too damn good to waste. Going to where duty called, We can only answer from the perspective of battles past. Perhaps not coming home. And, what we know is that there was sacrifce and honor in it. Sacrifce itself is always noble. Yet some returned to grand parades, At the bloody Second Battle for Fallujah, Bright banners fying high, Marines “shaved their moustaches and fxed bayonets,” While others in a wooden box, Always knowing that they fght for each other frst. Had no time for goodbye. Marines fght, and sometimes die, that is a fact. A few even remain unclaimed, Valiant sacrifce is worth it, but, For no one knows their names— Only if we, who remain, Honored for eternity, Remember and go on to lead good lives. By just a simple fame. If we remember and honor The courage and sacrifces of our brothers, This day if you should think of them, At places around the world and for hundreds of years, And quietly shed a tear, At battles like Fallujah, Khe Sanh, Remembering their sacrifce, Chosin, Iwo Jima and many others. Their courage, and no fear— Let us accept the truth that history teaches, Proudly fly a waving flag And military theorist Clausewitz noted, Across the clear blue sky. “There is no fnal battle.” If we can do these simple things, They never really die. Winning the peace is never a short-term endeavor. Margie Martinez We must learn this lesson and, most importantly, We must press our leaders for answers to the hard questions, Why I Love the Corps Before a war begins. It gave me direction from the start; Since frst at boot camp, I knew my part. Then, we vets can understand and accept loss. I learned of its history, tradition and drill, For the truth is, every battle, like every Marine, matters; Of shooting at targets, in time, with skill. Because we love our brothers-in-arms and never forget them. We never leave Marines behind; Never on the battlefeld, With uniform pressed and looking good, And not in our hearts, where they live on through us. I stood inspections as best I could. Shakespeare interpreted King Henry’s words It gave me confdence in many ways, To his men before battle: Which has guided me through the toughest days. “From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered, It taught me love for truth and good, We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” For love of life and brotherhood. To lead full lives, we must believe It set a standard to live and die, In concepts much greater than our everyday lives demand. And time for fun and for standing by. Life goes on, the Corps lives on and we remember. That’s the only immortality. It saved me from some nasty “scrapes” Marine veteran Michael Spataro And freed me in some great escapes. The world seems all so different now. I love the Corps, and this I vow! Former Cpl Chuck Parnell

72 LEATHERNECK JULY 2014 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

Gynglesp72.indd 72 6/9/14 12:22 PM TAKING CARE OF OUR OWN with MarineCare MCA&F’S EXCLUSIVE TRICARE SUPPLEMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM With MCA&F’s TRICARE Insurance Supplements You’re Covered!*

MCa&F endorsed TrICare Supplements help keep Ask about the TRICARE affordable health care within your reach.  as an MCa&F Gold Discount Card!** Memberyouareguaranteedacceptance†subjecttoPre-existing Conditionslimitations.Wehavevariouslevelsofcoverageto • Save 20-60% on Dental Care choosefrom,includinginpatient-onlyandinpatient/outpatient • Prescription Drug Discounts coverage. • Online Health Assessment VALUABLE SURVIVOR COVERAGE! • Members-Only Interactive Thisbenefitallowsthespouseandchildren(ifcovered)of Wellness Website acoveredmembertocontinuecoverageundertheTrICare • Online Newsletter SupplementPlanatnocostforoneyearifthememberdies. **Thisdiscountplanisnotinsurance;itisadministered byCareingtonInternationalCorporation *TrICareSupplementInsuranceisunderwrittenbyHartford 7400GaylordParkway,Frisco,TX75034 LifeandaccidentInsuranceCompany,Simsbury,CT06089.

†TrICare Supplement benefits are subject to the terms and conditions of the policy. Policies underwritten by HartfordLifeandaccidentInsuranceCompanydetailexclusions,limitations,reductionofbenefitsandtermsunder whichthepoliciesmaybecontinuedinforceordiscontinued. Photo taken by:Cpl. Antonio Rosas

VISIT US AT WWW.MCAINSURANCE.COM/TRICARE TODAY! OR CALL 1-866-340-4360 FOR MORE INFORMATION TRICARE Gold Discount Card Disclosures: THIS PLAN IS NOT INSURANCE. THIS IS NOT A MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLAN.** This plan does not meet the minimum creditable coverage requirements under cancel within the first 30 days after receipt of membership materials and receive a M.G.L. c. 111M and 956 CMR 5.00. The plan provides discounts at certain health full refund, less a nominal processing fee (nominal fee for MD residents is $5). care providers for medical services. The range of discounts will vary depending Discount Medical Plan Organization and administrator: Careington International on the type of provider and service. The plan does not make payments directly to Corporation, 7400 Gaylord Parkway, Frisco, TX 75034; phone 800-441-0380. The the providers of medical services. Plan members are obligated to pay for all health program and its administrators have no liability for providing or guaranteeing care services but will receive a discount from those health care providers who have service by providers or the quality of service rendered by providers. This program contracted with the discount medical plan organization. You may access a list of is not available in Montana and Vermont. This plan is not currently available in participating health care providers at this website. Upon request the plan will make Washington. *Medicare statement applies to MD residents when pharmacy available a written list of participating health care providers. You have the right to discounts are part of program. ©2014 AGIA Policy Form #SRP-1269(HLA)(5516) For advertising purposes only, MCA&F is the Marine Corps Association 31153

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