FORTITtJfli..BULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGI

HISTORICAL BULLETIN VOLUME XXVI WINTER 1996-1997 NUMBER 3'

'ALLIGAIOR MACHINES AND MARINES' SUBJECTS OF NEW LVT MUSEUM AT CAMP DEL MAR. ThJBUTE 1D

A SCHOLARLY AND GENTLEMANLY MARINE, MAJOR GENERAL JOHN P. CONDON. . NEW BAYFLE HONORS

ADDED TO 'Iwo JIMA MEMORIAL'. . . GIN BARNEYF'S MEDALS, SOME Now HARD TO FIND, Go TO MUSEUM

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

PCN 10401220100

Marine Corps Historical CenterBuilding 58, Washington Navy Yard

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

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

DIRECTOR EMERITUS

BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)

DIRECTORCol Michael F. Monigan, USMC

Acting

Secretary to the Director Vacant.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Col Michael F. Monigan. USMC

HISTORICAL BRANCH

Acting Head/Head, Histories Section: Mr. Benis M. Frank,Chief Historian; Dr. Jack Shulimson; Mr. Charles R. Smith:Ma1 Steven M. Zimmeck, USMC; Maj James G. Antal,USMC: Mrs. Wanda E Renfrow. Oral History Unit: Mr.Richard A. Long. Mr. David B. Crist. Reference Section: Mr.Danny). Crawford: Mr. Robert V. Aquilina; Mrs. Ann A.Ferrante: Miss Lena M. Kaljot; Mrs. Shelia Gramblin. Ar-chives: Mr. Frederick). Graboske; Mrs. Amy C. Cohen, Per-sonal Papers; Mrs. Joyce C. Hudson, Official Papers.

MUSEUMS BRANCH

Acting Head/Offlcer.in.Charge, Air.Ground Museum,Quantico: Mr. Charles A. Wood. Operations Officer lstLtKristina L. Wenger, USMC. Museums Section: Mr. CharlesA. Wood, Chief Curator; Mr. Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas,Material History; Mr. John G. Griffiths, Sgt Dieter Stenger,USMC, Ordnance; Mr. Mitch Garringer, SSgt Troy H. Lump-kin, USMC. Cpl David Nieves,Jr., USMC. Restoration; Mr.Michael E. Starn, Aeronautics; Mr. Ronald). Perkins, Mr.Ronnie D. Alexander, Exhibits; Mrs. Nancy F King, Uni-forms; Mrs. Jennifer L. Castro, Registrar, Mrs. Kathryn R.Troui, Programs Assistant. Security: SSgt Anthony). Pastella,USMC; Cpl David Trelinski, USMC; Cpl Chad G. Paquette,USMC; Cpl Tobias T Pasky, USMC; PFC Larrissa Morgan,USMC.

MARINE CORPS MUSEUM UNIT. WASHINGTON, D.C.

Exhibits: Mr. James A. Fairfax; Mr. Gordon Heim. MarineCorps Art Collection: Mr. John T Dyer, Jr.

SUPPORT BRANCH

Head/Division Executive Officer LtCol Leon Craig, Jr.,USMC. Editing and Design Section: Mr. Robert E. Struder;Mr. William S. Hill; Mrs. Catherine A. Kerns. Library: MissEvelyn A. Englander. Administration: lstLt Mark R.Schroeder, USMC; GySgt Dwayne L. Eubanks, USMC; SSgtMyrna A. Thomas, USMC; Sgt Eric M. Trischan, USMC; SgtMarello P. Harris, USMC; Cpl Juan E.Johnson, USMC; LCpIMichael L. Danielson, USMC. Security Unit: SSgt Treaty N.Williams, USMC; Cpl Edward M. Hartzell, USMC; LCplRichard W. Normant Ill, USMC.

Mr. Robert E. StruderSenior Editor/Editor Fortitudine

FORTIT[JD INEMotto of the United States Marine Corps in the 1812 era.

Historical Bulletin Volume XXVI Winter 1996-1997 No. 3

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Memorandum from the Chief Historian: An Eagle is Downed:Major General John P. Condon

Benis M. Frank 3

New Battle Honors Added to Marine Corps MemorialCol Michael F Monigan, USMC 7

High-Tech Shelving Expands Space for Reference Section's Burgeoning FilesDanny]. Crawford 9

12th Commandant's Medals Provide Puzzles for StaffKenneth L. Smith-Christmas 10

Contract to Purchase Slave Among Commandant's 200-Year-Old PapersAmy Cantin Cohen 11

LVI Museum Preserves Pendleton's Amphibian HeritageCharles R. Smith 12

'Homemade' Histories Can Preserve Marine Fact and LoreBenis M. Frank 14

Awards Cite Veteran Pilot Condon and Author MoskinCharles R. Smith 17

Reservists Aim to Fill in Blanks in 4th Division HistoryMaj Craig A. Swanson, USMCR 19

Historical Quiz: Marine Corps AviationMidn2C Richard M. Rusnok, Jr 20

Japan's National Library Fulfills Microfilm AgreementFrederick]. Graboske 21

New Books: Letters from Women in Uniform Make Absorbing Text]ena Beth Antal 22

Answers to the Historical Quiz: Marine Corps AviationMidn2C Richard M, Rosnokjr 22

Marine Corps Chronology: July-December 1948Robert V Aquilina 23

Royal Marines in U.S. Stage Birthday Party at CenterCapt Dave U< H. lVilson, RM 24

ABOUT THE COVER

"Alligator Landing Craft" loaded with assault Marines move toward a Pacific island beachin this pen-and-ink drawing with watercolor wash by combat artist Tom Dunn, completedin the late 1940s. "Alligator Machines and Marines" are the subjects of the new World WarII and Korean War LVT Museum, created by the Assault Amphibian School Battalion atCamp Del Mar at Camp Pendleton, California. Historian Charles R. Smith describes thisnew museum facility and its complement of fully restored Landing Vehicles, Tracked, in afeature beginning on page 12. Elsewhere in the issue, Chief Historian Benis M. Frank recom-mends that Marine veterans get busy writing the histories of their battalion- and company-level units, before these memories pass into oblivion, in the article beginning on page 14.

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

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

2 Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997

HISTORYAND MUSEUMSDIVISION

Memorandum from the Chief Historian

R ETIRED VETERAN Marine aviator Maj-Gen John Pomeroy Condon died of

an aneurysm and lymphoma at his homein Alexandria, Virginia, on 26 December1966, just six days after his 85th birthday.

Gen Condon was a native of the upperpeninsula of Michigan, where it was oftensaid that "Summer was on Tuesday thisyear." He became interested in the UnitedStates Naval Academy early as a result ofknowing of the experiences of other youngmen of the area who were attending. Hefirst went to Severn School, in Severn,Maryland, a famed preparatory schoolwhich graduated many candidates for en-try into either the United States Militaryor United States Naval Academy.

Easily passing the entrance examina-tions, Condon entered the Naval Academyin June 1930 with the rest of the Class of1934. He said, in his oral history, that themost influential factor in his choice to be-come a Marine was the presence of hisroommate, Philip H. Torrey,Jr., son of Ma-rine MajGen Philip H. "Philip the Hard"Torrey. Of his classmates, those who optedto become Marines were Victor H. "Brute"Krulak, Frank Tharin, Harold 0. "Hap"Deakin, Ralph "Rollo" Rottet, and HenryW. "Bill" Buse, among others. All of thesemen eventually became general officers.

G EN CONDON HAD very warmmemories of his time at the Acade-

my, and often agonized about the hardtimes that it has come upon as a result ofthe recent flurry of unfavorable publicityabout certain incidents occurring there. Inhis years, he was the captain of the lacrosseteam, and, in fact, was elected to the All-American lacrosse team.

Following graduation and commission-ing, as were all new second lieutenants,Gen Condon was assigned to Basic School,which, at the time, was located in thePhiladelphia Navy Yard. His was a remark-ably small class of 35 boot lieutenants, infact the last small Basic School class inmodern history. His first assignment was

JOHN POMEROY CONDON

'Johnny" 'Clip pewa '"Ope"HOUGHTOr., Mien.

FROM the icy land of furs, copper and Paul Bunyan phan-tasmagoria comes the black haired John Pomerov Condon.Deserting his tribesmen, lie donned his snowshoes and

set our on the long trek to the Naval College.A versatile athlete, he has reached the acme of his desire, char

of captaining the lacrosse ream. The beautiful legged Apollocan be seen any afternoon, mesmerized by the copper faced god,Lacrosse, grunting, sweating and pirouetting with a grace whichwould have inspired the envy of the Cluppewa who must Ii avebeen his very close neighbors.

Coming from the Am'ien NoI,lc.cs of the Upper Peninsula lie hasthe persuasive charm of a Clsesterteld which gives him readyaccess to the hearts of G'nocracv the world over. Of late lie hasbecome more or less monogynous, hut, as far as we know, hehas not vet been bound by the rincalia,s ,natrjmonu.

Aside from all the verhage, Johnns' has the respect, admirationand friendship of his classmates. He is a true friend and has asinc he for everyone. Honi colt qo: mat iiii penis.

f.acroste 4, 3, 2, 1. 'N' 3, 2, 1. Captain i. Football 4.

C. P.O. )

Benis M. Frank

Fortziudzne, Winter 1996-1997

An Eagle is Downed:Major General John P. Condon

in the USS Pennsylvania, to the Marinedetachment commanded by Capt EmeryEllsworth "Swede" Larson, who was wellknown for his exploits as both footballcoach and player on the famous Quanticoteams of the early 1930s. Gen Condonreally wanted to go into flight training,and, in fact, had orders to Pensacola forthe February 1935 class. Capt Larson talkedhim out of accepting them because he feltthat young Lt Condon should experienceduty with the ground forces before learn-ing to fly. After his cruise in the Pennsyl-vania, in June 1936 he was assigned tocommand the machine gun platoon ofCompany H, 2d Batallion, 6th Marines.His decision regarding his future wasquickly made, for as he recalls in his tapedmemoirs:

After a few mornings of turningout for troop and inspection withmy . . . platoon and, instead of find-ing four [machine gun] carts andabout 30 to 40 Marines, I'd find onecart and three Marines. I found outthat the rest of them were out cut-ting grass, doing odd jobs or pick-ing up papers around the base andwhat not, a continuous thing. I said,'I think I've had enough of this,' soI reinstituted my request for flighttraining and I was ordered to Pen-sacola in October [1936], followingmy July reporting to the 6thMarines.

2dLt Condon had his photograph takenduring flight training in January 1937 atthe Pensacola, Florida, NavalAir Station.

served as general officers in World War II.As a new member of the squadron, hecontinued his training, including instruc-tion in fighter plane tactics. He had to gothrough a whole series of checks under thescrutiny of some of the more experiencedpilots in the squadron. Before the UnitedStates entered World War II, he was a con-siderably seasoned Marine pilot who had

flown most of the aircraft in the Corps' in-ventory at the time. In June 1941 he wastransferred to VMF-121 and assigned dutiesas squadron executive officer.

SHORTLY AFTER THE Japanese attack onPearl Harbor, the squadron was trans-

ferred to San Diego, and in March 1942,Condon was transferred to Marine AircraftGroup (MAG) 12, as group operationsofficer. In January 1943, the group wentforward to Noumea and then up to Efatein the New Hebrides. When his groupcommander, Col Ed Pugh, was ordered upto Guadalcanal to relieve Col Sam Jack,the fighter commander of Aircraft, Solo-mons (AirSols), Condon went along alsoto be the operations officer.

On 16 April, RAdm Marc Mitscher,Commander of AirSols, received a highlyclassified message signed by Secretary ofthe Navy Frank Knox. It was based ontranslated radio intercepts of Japanesetransmissions and stated that AdmIsoruku Yamamoto, the architect of thePearl Harbor attack and senior Japanesenaval officer, was to make an inspectiontour of Japanese bases in the Rabaul-Bougainville-Kahili area. The messagecontained his exact schedule. The AirSols

It was while he was undergoing flighttraining that he metJane Anson, who be-longed to a prominent Pensacola familyand who not too much later became hiswife. Gen Condon recalled that he enjoyedhis flight training and, in retrospect, feltit made "for a very well rounded appreci-ation and understanding of current aircraftand air power and also was a gener-alized approach which introduced the stu-dent aviator to his new environment.

U PON COMPLETION of his flight train-ing in December 1937, he was desig-

nated a naval aviator and assigned to Ma-rine Fighting Squadron 1 (VMF-l) atQuantico. He remained with the squadronuntil shortly before the attack on PearlHarbor. As he recalled, while at Quanticohe flew with some rather notable Marinepilots, among them " 'Paddy Mac' McKit-trick and Oscar Brice," both of whom

4 Foriziudine, Winter 1996-1997

On Guadalcanal in 1943, LtCol Condon, operations ofjicer Fighter Command, seatedcenter talked with, from left, LtCol L. S. Moore, executive officer MAG-12; Col EL.Pugh, commande, Fighter Command, and assistant operations officer LtColJ. Sapp.

command interpreted Knox's message asdirecting them to intercept Yamamoto'splane and shoot it down.

A s GEN CONDON recalled in an inter-view some years later:

Colonel Pugh and I were calledinto Reai Admiral Marc Mitscher'sComAirSols headquarters on the16th . . . . We sat down with Ad-miral Mitscher . . . . We discussedthe message . . . and who was in-volved. We read the detail of themessage to the minute, whereYarnamoto would be and at whattime, where he would board a boatto make the run to the seaplanebase, when he would come back tofly over to Kahili for the return toRabaul. It was very detailed, and wetalked about how best to do the job.Well, in the course of the conversa-tion and the discussion, it becamepretty clear that we had no aircraftthat had the range to do that exceptthe P-38s .

it was P-38s that we needed,and additional long-range tanks, ex-tra drop tanks, to make that long,low altitude mission . . . . It was tobe out of sight of land, down on thedeck, which was a hell of a long wayto go, at one hundred feet max overthe water. That's about close to atwo-hour flight without ever gettingabove a hundred feet .

Those parameters of the missionwere already discussed, includingthe need for radio silence, the needto avoid any possible detection fromobservers on islands, either visuallyor by radar. These requirementswere now mentioned, and then,based on the intercept schedule, thediscussion went into where thehighest probability of success wouldbe achieved. When he was landingat Ballale, with all its AAA? Whenhe was in the boat enroute to theseaplane base? . . . And [it wasi feltthat the time it would take to gofrom Ballale over to the sea planebase on Shortland would allow forsome flexibility. In other words, ifyou were two minutes late in mak-ing the air intercept, you weren't go-ing to see him, he would be gone.

In the final analysis, it was decided thatMaj John Mitchell, USAAC, who was to

command the flight, should decide howthe intercept was to be made, and he said,"I like the air intercept because, althoughthe probabilities might be fairly low atthat distance . . . if it's made, it's a surething . . . if we shoot that plane down,nobody is going to survive.

Condon went back to the AirSols Fight-er Command headquarters, and:

We had a table there with a chartof the area, and we went over theparameters of the mission as laiddown by the admiral: No closer than20 miles to any land until Bougain-ville, and the need for preciselymaintaining the courses, speeds,times, and legs that were prescribed,because otherwise there would be nointercept .

By that time it was late in the af-ternoon on the 17th, and I sat downat that table and plotted withparallel rules and so forth, the truecourse and true air speeds that hadto be maintained to work the inter-cept selected, all based on Yamamo-to's schedule . . . . We had to makesome assumptions, and an impor-tant one involved the Japanese pen-chant for precise performance,punctuality, etc. . . . They were notgoing to be one second off thetimed schedule. And furthermore,I felt that they would do the samewith the airplanes. We thought thebomber. . . would be all shined upand waxed up and everything, andso I even added five knots to what

Col Condon, in warm leather flight jack-et, was an aircraft group commander inKorea when this photo was taken in 1952.

we normally gave them as a cruisingspeed.

T HE FINAL RESULT of this mission wasthat the P-38s intercepted Adm

Yamamoto's flight exactly as planned andshot his bomber down, which caused amorale crisis in Japan when news of hisdeath was released to the Japanese peo-ple. Based on the planning for the mis-sion, a task in which then-Maj Condon wasa major player, the assignment was success-fully carried out by Army Air Corps pi-lots flying twin-engine P-38s. Because ofhis role as AirSols operations officer andplanner for this mission, for many yearsGen Condon was considered the "dutyexpert."

LtCol Condon accompanied the AirSolscommand in the invasion of Bougainvilleon 1 November 1943. The missions of Air-Sols were to supervise the building of thePiva strips and to direct the operations ofAllied aircraft which rose from the newairfield to strike Rabaul, the heart of ene-my strength in the area. In January 1944,Condon returned to the States for assign-ment as executive officer of Marine BaseDefense Aircraft Group 45 on the westcoast, at Miramar, California. In Octoberhe was reassigned as executive officer ofMarine Aircraft Support Group 48, whichwas tasked with training and qualifyingMarine squadrons for service on board es-cort carriers to fill the Navy's need for ad-ditional carrier-borne planes in the finaldays of the war.

Gen Condon returned to the Pacific tojoin MAG-33 on Okinawa as executiveofficer, and later joined MAG-14 as com-mander. During the occupation ofJapan,he served as executive officer of MAG-31at Yokosuka. In the period 1946-1948, hewas assigned in Washington to the staffof the Deputy Chief of Naval Operationsfor Air (Military Requirements), and backhe went to duty with Marine Corps air. Inthe post-WWII period, he commandedseveral groups and squadrons. One ofthese was VMF-311, the first Marine jetsquadron "stood up." Gen Condon stat-ed in his memoirs that he was given thissquadron because he had been instrumen-tal in getting jet aircraft for the Corpswhen serving in the office of DCNO (Air).He went to the Air War College, MaxwellAir Force Base in 1949 and, followinggraduation, was assigned back to Washing-ton for duty in the Weapons Systems

For/ittidine. Winter 1996-1997 5

Evaluation Group in the office of theSecretary of Defense.

I N 1951, C0L CONDON went to war oncemore when he took command of

MAG-33 at Pohang in Korea. After sixmonths, he was given command ofMAG-12, which had the last of the Cor-sairs and ADs in the Corps. Following hisreturn to the United States in early 1953,he was assigned to Headquarters MarineCorps to sit on a board to examine thestructure of Marine Corps aviation. In Au-gust he went down to Quantico, to theMarine Corps Education Center, where hewas one of three aviation colonels in agroup of 10 colonels working on MarineCorps problems associated with the adventof nuclear warfare. After a year in the FirstAdvanced Research Group, Col Condonwas assigned in 1954 as the chief of staffof the Education Center, and in 1956 aschief of staff of the 2d Marine Corps Air-craft Wing at Cherry Point. Two years later,promoted to brigadier general, he went toParis, France, to become AssistantJ-3 onthe staff of the U.S. European Command.

Following his tour in Europe, in 1961Gen Condon was assigned as Command-ing General, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, inIwakuni, Japan. At the same time, he woretwo other hats: Commander, Task Force 79

(Seventh Fleet), and Commander, JointTask Force 116 (CinCPac). He was given hissecond star as a major general in 1961, andwas ordered back to the States to com-mand the 3d MAW in July 1962. He re-tired in 1962, after more than 28 years ofactive service.

In his retirement, he spent 14 years withNorth American Aviation and RockwellInternational as a program manager andexecutive at the division and corporate lev-els. During this time, he acquired a masterof science degree in business at the Univer-sity of California, Irvine, and in 1975, adoctorate in administration from the sameinstitution. He retired from Rockwell in1976, and moved to Alexandria, Virginia,where he resided until his death.

H E BECAME ACTIVE in the affairs of theMarine Corps Historical Foundation

from its beginning, serving as a memberof the board and as president. His leader-ship during its formative years did muchto shape its subsequent course and direc-tion. Shortly before his death he delivereda completed history of Marine aviation oncarriers in World War II for publication bythe Naval Institute Press.

At its annual meeting in November1996, Gen Condon was awarded the Ma-rine Corps Historical Foundation'sHeritage Award in recognition of "his ac-

complishments in the Marine Corps, hislifetime interest in Marine Corps history,and his services to the Foundation. In allthings, John Condon epitomizes the idealof officer, gentleman, and scholar." GenCondon was too ill to accept the award atthe meeting, so the Foundation President,retired LtGen Philip D. Shutler, visitedhim at home to present the well-deservedhonor.

For a decade or more, Gen Condon wasworking on his carrier history and also ahistory of Marine Corps aviation in a car-rel around the corner from my office. Heknew all of the Center's staff personallyand by name, and was generally acceptedas an ex-officio staff member. Every daythat he was in the Center, he would joinme in a cup of coffee for far-ranging dis-cussions of the current and past MarineCorps, of Marine Corps personalities weboth knew (and not necessarily loved,although he was gentler than I), the newsof the day, and politics. It is very difficultto accept that he will no longer do this.I will miss him.

A funeral mass attended by the Com-mandant and numerous other dignitarieswas celebrated for him at the Naval Acade-my chapel, and he was interred in theNaval Academy cemetery with full militaryhonors on 31 December 1996. L11775L11

A career highlight occurs on 7 August 1961 at Iwakuni, Japan,as 1st Marine Aircraft Wing commander Condon 's new two-star

insiginia are pinned on by, from left, Marine Corps IG BGenT F Riley and assistant wing commander BGen R. L. Kline.

New Battle Honors Added to Marine Corps Memorialby Col Michael F Monigan, USMC

Acting Director

F OR ONLY THE third time since itsdedication in 1954, additional battle

honors have been added to the MarineCorps War Memorial, better known as theIwo Jima Monument, near Arlington Na-tional Cemetery. The Persian Gulf, Pana-ma, and Somalia have taken their places ofhonor in chronological order on thesecond band of the frieze, expertly carvedand gilded by Mr. Thomas H. "Tom"Winkler of Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

The original band of battle honors,which was chiseled into the black granitebase prior to installation, starts with theREVOLUTIONARY WAR and ends withKOREA in an unbroken line, spanningthe entire frieze. In 1974, prior to the endof the conflict, VIETNAM was added,without dates, commencing a second bandon the north facade of the granite frieze.This placement was intentional, so as toavoid the front three panels of theMemorial and therefore maintain the in-tegrity of Dr. Felix DeWeldon's originalconcept. This second band was added tofurther in 1986 and contains honors forLEBANON 1958, placed before VIET-NAM; the dates were added to VIET-NAM, 1962-197 5; and DOMINICANREPUBLIC 1965, LEBANON 1981-1984,

and GRENADA 1983 also were added.The most recent battle honors were ap-

propriately completed in time for the an-nual wreath-laying ceremony which wasconducted this year on the morning of 9November 1996. The emblazoned se-quence of the second band now reads: LE-BANON 1958 * VIETNAM 1962-1975 *

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1965 * LEBA-NON 1981-1984 * GRENADA 1983 *PERSIAN GULF 1987-1991 * PANAMA1988-1990 * SOMALIA 1992-1994.

Rumor has it that this update all start-ed with a question posed to the Comman-dant of the Marine Corps (CMC), General

Charles C. Krulak, by a Marine sentry."Sir, when will we put the Persian GulfWar on the Iwo Jima Memorial?"Whatever the genesis, General Krulakdecided it was time and set in motion theprocess which culminated in the additionof the new inscriptions. The Marine CorpsWar Memorial is, of course, a nationalmonument and as such, does not belongto the Marine Corps. Ownership of theMemorial was relinquished to the Nation-al Park Service for perpetual care by thenow-defunct Marine Corps War Memori-al Foundation. This Foundation had raisedthe original $850,000 to create this nation-al treasure and the organization disband-ed shortly after the dedication ceremony.Since federal funds cannot be expendedto embellish or add to an existing nation-al monument, a funding source had to beidentified. The Marine Corps HistoricalFoundation was briefed on what the Ma-rine Corps intended to do and quicklyvolunteered to underwrite the project.

T HE REQUEST 10 add the three battlehonors which were approved by CMC

was forwarded to the National Park Serv-ice (NPS) on 9 April 1996. What followedwas a series of meetings, deliberations, anddecisions made by the Marine Corps, theNational Park Service, and the Commis-sion of Fine Arts, in concert, on how toproceed. Several crucial conferences en-sued. The proposed updates requiredmore space than that which was availableon the panel containing the last entry,GRENADA 1983. One of the key artistic

The inscrij#ion for the peacekeeping mission in Somalia, 1992-1994, incised by

stonecarver Tom W/inkler is so far the sole battle honor on the second band of its panel

New inscrztions for the Persian Gulf W/ar 1987-1991, and the intervention in Pana-ma, 1988-1990, close out the second band of inscrzj.?tions on one panel of the base.

Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997

proposed addition which were hung in-place on the memorial and approvedunanimously.

T OM WINKLER, the stonecarver, is apowerful man, his burly frame hint-

ing at his profession. He returned toWashington and took up residence inArlington on 16 October 1996. With lit-tie fanfare, he commenced work immedi-ately. This no-nonsense but affablegentleman spent long hours each day atthe Memorial and it became apparent thatthis was not the first major undertakingfor the Coloradan. His precision hand-chiseling quickly brought to life the in-scriptions in beautifully shaped letters,numerals, and devices meticulously in-cised into the smooth granite surface. Theconstant interruptions from tourists, cu-rious about his work, never flustered him.

He obviously enjoyed the interaction withthe never-ending flow of visitors, his out-going personality and easygoing nature ac-commodating all. He became, in fact, anambassador for the Marine Corps andbonded easily with the sense of pride andrespect all Marines feel for our Memorial.Mr. Winkler fastidiously completed allwork on Sunday, 3 November 1996 and fi-nal acceptance being approved, hereturned home the next day to continuework on a project for the University ofDenver.

The criteria established for battle honorssubmitted to the Commandant of the Ma-rine Corps for ultimate approval are: theoperation must be a definable military ac-tion, participation must be recognized bythe award of an expeditionary streamer orappropriate campaign streamer, and thatMarine fatalities resulted at the hands of

Thomas H. Wink/er of Wheat Ridge,Colorado, added the new inscrij,tionswhile attending to questions from tourists.

decisions made called for the additionalhonors to be broken apart. GULF WARand PANAMA would close out the panelcontaining GRENADA, the rear dedica-tion panel would be skipped, and SOMA-LIA would be added to the follow-onpanel, continuing the line of the band.Ultimately, the Marine Corps was issueda work permit by the NPS on 9 October1996 to commence work. This permit wasmade possible by the personal involvementand indispensable assistance of Mr. GaryPollock, Mr. Creg Howland, and Mr. GlenDemar of the National Park Service andMr. Thomas Athertotì, Secretary of theCommission of Fine Arts.

Simultaneously, the Marine CorpsHistorical Foundation initiated a funddrive and solicited bids from three promi-nent architectural sculptors. Mr. Winklerwas selected for the commission and wasnotified of this action by the DirectorEmeritus, BGen Edwin H. Simmons,USMC (Ret), on 14 August 1996. Mr.Winkler came to Washington, D.C. in ear-ly October to take a rubbing of the exist-ing battle honors and to meet with theofficers of the National Park Service andMr. Atherton. Upon his return to Colora-do, he submitted scale-drawings of the

8 Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997

The majestic scale of sculptor Felix de We/don's conception of the Iwo Jima flag raisingis made apparent by contrast to the size ofstonecarver Winkler at work atop his scaffold

a hostile force while engaged in this ac-tiori. The prominent, wreath-decorateddedication reads, "IN HONOR AND

COUNTRY SINCE 10 NOVEMBER1775." The Commandant stated it best onthe clear and bright morning of 9 Novem-ber 1996, as he addressed the large turnoutof Marines, distinguished guests, and spec-tators: "Today we engraved three new bat-tle honors onto this symbol of uncommonvalor and common virtue—Persian Gulf1987-1991, Just Cause 1988-1990, andSomalia 1992-1994. In doing so, we arereminded that yet another generation ofMarines have engraved, by their sacrifice,their commitment to this great Nation ofours. It is those Marines and the ones whowent before, that we honor today."

The Marine Corps Historical Founda-tion is accepting donations for this and fu-ture updates to the Marine Corps WarMemorial. Those who care to help shouldsend their contributions to: War Memori-al, Marine Corps Historical Foundation,P.O. Box 420, Quantico, Virginia22134-0420. L11J1775L11i

High-Tech Shelving Expands Space for Reference Section's Burgeoning Filesby Dannyf Crawford

Head, Reference Section

A MAJOR, TWO-MONTH renovationproject designed to increase the file

storage capacity of the Reference Sectiongreatly, while at the same time improvingthe appearance of its work spaces, wascompleted in November 1996.

Since the opening of the Marine CorpsHistorical Center nearly two decades ago,in spring 1977, the section's files havegrown dramatically to the point wheretheir cabinets were filled to capacity andthe number of cabinets had doubled, withspace for no more. These five groups offiles—subject, unit, biographical, geo-graphic, and photographic files—are the"life's blood" of the Reference Section,enabling the historians to respond to near-ly 8,000 requests each year. New files areadded each week on all sorts of topicsrelating to Marine Corps history, but thespace available in the Historical Center ismore or less fixed.

A solution came in the form of a"modular mechanical assist aisle saver sys-tem," or high-density moveable shelving,that would allow for a 40-50 percent ex-pansion of the files. Work began in lateSeptember with the first challenge beingto move 50 loaded five-drawer file cabi-

nets out of the section into the adjacentmulti-purpose room so that the new shelv-ing could be installed. Aside from thesheer magnitude of moving all thesematerials, which would be accomplishedwith the excellent support of the Center'senlisted Marines, the challenge was tokeep these files organized and accessibleso that the staff could continue to respondto the requests that pour into the sectioneach workday.

W ITH THE FILE cabinets moved out,installation of the moveable shelv-

ing commenced, and within a week, thereference staff was beginning the rime-

consuming task of bringing the contentsof 50 file cabinets back into the sectionand into the new shelving. As historianssplit their time between phone calls andvisiting researchers, and their filing tasks,they awaited the final stage of the reno-vation process—the installation of newcarpet. In late October, nearly all of theremaining furniture was moved out to al-low installation of the carpet.

Similar plans are in the works for reno-vation of the Archives Section and its Per-sonal Papers Unit during the next twoyears, as part of the overall plan to con-tinue to modernize and refurbish the Ma-rine Corps Historical Center. L1J1775LJ

I'oriziad,ne, Winter 1996-1997

Wink/er prepares the gilding for the new inscrittions, all three of which were sup-ported by the Marine Corps Historical Foundation. The Foundation has createda fundfor which donations are welcome to finance this and future updates to the memorial.

MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THE UNIT-ED STATES MARINE CORPS WHOHAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES TO THEIR

The 'modular mechanical assist aisle saver system "is a boon to reference historians,who respond to nearly 8,000 public requests for detailed information each year.

12th Commandant's Medals Provide Puzzles for Staffby Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas

Curator of Material History

Q F THE MORE THAN 4,000 medals inthe Marine Corps Museum's collec-

tion of decorations and medals, the mostnoteworthy are those awarded to Marineswho had a significant impact on the his-tory of the Marine Corps. Among themare such Marines as SgtMaj Dan Daly,remembered for their acts of selfless valor,and former Commandants and othersenior officers who shaped the destiny ofthe Corps. In this latter category are themedals of MajGenComdt George Barnett,which were donated to the Museum thispast summer by his step-grandson, GeorgeBarnett Gordon.

Gen Barnett's tenure as Commandantis clearly one of the most important peri-ods in the history of the Corps during thiscentury. Commissioned into the MarineCorps upon his graduation from the NavalAcademy in 1881, Barnett served a seriesof sea-going tours, interspersed with theusual barracks and special duty tours,through the Spanish-American War, dur-ing which he landed in Cuba with ColRobert W. Huntington's Battalion. Priorto being selected as the 12th Comman-dant of the Marine Corps in 1914, he spentthree years on expeditionary duty in Cubaand, most importantly, organized andcommanded the First Advanced BaseBrigade at Philadelphia's League IslandNaval Shipyard.

W ITHIN THREE MONTHS of assuming

the post of Commandant, GenBarnett organized and dispatched a

brigade of Marines to support the U.S. Na-vy's seizure of the Mexican port of VeraCruz, an act directed by PresidentWoodrow Wilson to halt arms shipmentsto the Mexican rebels. In the next year,Marines came ashore at Port au Prince,Haiti, in what would become a 19-year oc-cupation, while next door, in the Domini-can Republic, Marines landed thefollowing year and occupied that countryuntil 1924.

However, the greatest test of the MarineCorps during this period was America'sentry into the war which had been ragingin Europe for the previous two and one-half years. In 1917, the strength of the Ma-

rine Corps stood at little more than 18,000officers and men, but would expand tomore than three times that number by theArmistice. Two brigades of Marines weresent to France, with one of them coveringitself with glory at the battles of BelleauWood, Soissons, Saint Mihiel, Blanc Mont,and the Argonne Forest. More Marineswere guarding the oil fields in Texas andnaval bases around the country, andproviding garrisons in Cuba, Haiti, Chi-na, and the Dominican Republic, as wellas serving with the fleet. The large Marinebase at Quantico, Virginia, was purchasedand the recruit depot (also acquired un-der Gen Barnett's tenure) at Parris Island,South Carolina, was expanded.

In spite of his many achievements andalthough widely regarded as a popular andcompetent officer, Gen Barnett wasrelieved as Commandant in a controver-sial move by the Secretary of the Navy twoyears after the end of World War I, andwas assigned to be the first Commanderof the Department of the Pacific until hisretirement in 1923. Gen Barnett died in1930.

Gen Barnett's medals were given to hisstep-grandson when his widow, Mrs. Le-ha Barnett, passed away. When the me-dals arrived at the Museum, there wereseveral questions raised by the staff con-cerning the condition and configurationof the medals. In the first place, most ofthe medals were either suspended fromthe wrong ribbons, or were turned back-wards from the attaching clasps. Second-ly, the ribbon with the rarel seen West

Indies medal was different from thatshown in Gen Barnett's official portrait.This handsome oil painting which hadbeen executed in 1917, was the genesis ofthe History and Museums Division's ser-ies of Commandants' portraits (see "TheCommandants' Portraits", Fortitudine,Winter 1994-1995). Mr. Gordon had noidea why the medals were incorrectlymounted and stated that they were in thatcondition when they came into his pos-session. The staff conducted research onthe medals and was able to reconfigurethem properly. The question on the differ-ence in the ribbon colors was solved whenthe staff found that the ribbon on theWest Indies campaign medal had, as hadboth the Army and Navy versions of theSpanish Campaign medal, changed fromred and yellow (as seen in his portrait) toblue and yellow in 1913. Gen Barnett ap-pears to have had this medal re-ribbonedafter World War I when he had the groupremounted to include his World War Imedals.

HE HIGHEST DECORATION in theI group is the Navy DistinguishedService Medal, which was presented toGen Barnett for his outstanding serviceduring World War I. (The French govern-ment also conferred a Legion of Honormedal on Gen Barnett, but, sadly, thismedal is not included in the group.) In-cluded in the grouping is his World WarI Victory Medal with a "France" clasp (hevisited the front during the war) and theMaltese cross which was worn on the rib-bon bar to represent the "France" clasp.

10 Foriitudine, Winter 1996-1997

Gen Barnett's medals include, from left, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, "Samp-son" Uest Indies Medal with the four bars, and Navy IVest Indies Campazn Medal.

In addition to these are his medal for serv-ice during the Cuban Pacification (SerialNumber 335) and his Marine Corps Ex-peditionary Medal (Serial Number 4486),with a numeral "4" on the ribbon. Bothof these medals have the serial numbersimpressed on their rims. The general'sNavy/Marine Corps West Indies 1898Campaign medal (Serial Number 9) withits blue and yellow ribbon, of course, isalso included.

This scarce medal was among the firstseries of campaign "badges" awarded toAmerican servicemen shortly after the turn

of the century, and confusion soon aroseover its use. The medal was given to thoseMarines and sailors who had served onboard ship in the West Indies, but it waslater discontinued because it could not beworn with the Naval Campaign-West In-dies "Sampson" medal which had beenauthorized as early as 1901, and most ofthe participants were eligible for both me-dals. In order to rectify this situation andto regularize the issuance of medalsamong the services, the Navy/MarineCorps counterpart to the Army's SpanishCampaign medal was authorized for issue

to all combatants serving in any of thetheaters during the Spanish-AmericanWar.

The prize of this medals group is the"Sampson" West Indies medal with bothits "USS New Orleans" bar and the three"Santiago" bars shown suspended on themedal in Gen Barnett's portrait. The edgeof the medal is marked "1st Lieut GeorgeBarnett USMC" in capital letters. All ofthe medals, with the exception of the Ma-rine Corps Expeditionary Medal, aremounted together and arrived in a vintageleather case. L111775E1

Contract to Purchase Slave Among Commandant's 200-Year-Old Papers

T HE MARINE CORPS' Personal PapersArchive is generally comprised of

primary source materials that give a first-hand perspective on historical Marines andMarine operations. Typically these are oneperson's view of events in which they par-ticipated or which they witnessed,documented in various forms: diaries, let-ters, manuscripts, and photographs. Mostfocus on wartime situations.

The Archives' LtColComdt FranklinWharton Collection in some ways is an ex-ception. Within it there are no journalsor diaries describing daily events, andthere are no letters written home to his fa-mily. It is an unusual collection, but itdoes contain documents which areprimary sources. One of these gives per-spective on American society of thenineteenth century: it is a slave sale con-tract, dated 1814.

On 5 May 1814, the 3d Commandantof the Marine Corps purchased a "negroman" named Natt for the amount of $450from Alexander H. Boteten. The transac-tion occurred in the tenth year of Whar-ton's 14 as Commandant (1804-1818).Within the contract, Boteten stipulatesthat the man can be Wharton's property"for twelve years and no longer." Afterthat, he "is and shall be free." It is proba-ble that Boteten had an agreement withthe man and was thereby ensuring that thearrangement would be honored over time.

I N THE MULTIRACIAL, multiculturalAmerica of today it is astounding to

learn that Wharton owned slaves, andmore so to read that he purchased a slave

by Amy Cantin Cohen

Personal Papers Unit

while serving as Commandant of the Ma-rine Corps, the first to occupy the Com-mandant's House. However, in the contextof the times it is not really so surprising.Two hundred years ago, many high-ranking officials of the United StatesGovernment were members of affluent fa-milies, a great number of which were slaveholders. Then, by some accounts, Whar-ton's own family was the wealthiest inPhiladelphia. His brother Robert was themayor of Philadelphia for 15 terms, hisbrother Samuel was a prosperous mer-chant, his brotherJoseph was a well-knownauthor, and his cousin Thomas was gover-

nor of Pennsylvania.,Looking upon the society of the peri-

od, it seems almost to be expected thatWharton, as other men of substantialwealth, owned slaves. Perhaps his decisionin that regard was more of a reflection ofhis society than a dark act which over-shadows his talents and abilities, the suc-cess of his tenure as Commandant, or theearly growth of the Marine Corps as an in-stitution. Indeed, one of the insightsgained from using the Archives is to findthat all Marines in some way, for good orill, reflect the civilian society from whichthey come. L111775L11

Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997 11

Handwritten in Georgetown in the District of Columbia in May 1814, the sale con-tract stipulates that after a full term of 12 years the man Natt "It and shall be free."

cy e•- t21m€t'

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'jec'

LVT Museum Preserves Pendleton's Amphibian Heritageby Char/es R. Smith

Historian

A WORLD WAR lI-era Quonset hut built in 1944—originally used for trackedvehicle maintenance — is home to seven meticulously restored period amphibi-

an tractors and armored amphibians used by the Marine Corps during the Pacific War,and later in Korea. The Assault Amphibian School Battalion officially dedicated theWorld War II and Korean War LVT (Landing Vehicle, Tracked) Museum at Camp DelMar, MCB Camp Pendleton, California, last spring.

Although the museum focuses on the restored LVT 1, LVT 2, LVT 3, LVT 3 (C),LVT 4, LVT (A) 1, and LVT (A) 5 (modified) amphibians, it also features two rebuiltLVT engines (the massive radial Continental and V-8 Cadillac), uniforms and equip-ment displays, photographs, and artwork. Interpretive displays trace the development,operational employment, and impact of these "Alligator Machines and Marines" onthe conduct of amphibious and ground combat operations and the history of the Corps.

For more than 50 years, assault amphibian vehicles used in World War II, Korea,and Vietnam sat in an outdoor lot on the corner of Vandegrift Boulevard and Rattles-nake Canyon Road at MCB Camp Pendleton. Over the years, exposure to the sun,rain, and salt air took its toll. Several years ago, the decision was made that those vehi-cles of historical importance to the Marine Corps would be maintained at Camp Pen-dleton, while the remaining, largely prototype, vehicles would be sent to the Marine Among the LVTi the Museum alio of/2'iCorps Logistics Base at Barstow, California, for safeguard and perhaps future restoration. amtrackers' uniforms and memo,abilia.

F OR THOSE VEHICLES remaining at Camp Pendleton, something needed to be done.Thoughts of preservation soon evolved into ideas for creating an amphibian trac-

tor museum. Previous attempts to preserve and display the amphibians had run out

Envisioned as an unarmored cargo-carrying vehicle, the Museum 's LVT I was one ofthe first production mode/s delivered to the Marine Corps. The vehicle wou/d see serv-ice on Guada/canal, Bougainville, Tràrawa, and Cape Gloucester during World War II.

On display in the Del Mar Quonset hut arethe World War Il-era LVT (A) I, above, andthe Korean War- vintage LV] 3 (c. below.

12 l'u,iiii,ilin, \X7iiu ur I))6-1'))7

of steam because of logistical problems. However, early last year, Marines working un-der LtCol Clayton E Nans, commanding officer of the Assault Amphibian School Bat-talion, began the process of establishing a museum.

Building 21561, one of the last World War Il-style Quonset huts, was cleaned outand two World War II amphibian tractors moved in. Eventually, a total of seven tractorvariants were added. Over the next several months, Marines from the Assault Am-phibian School Battalion, Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch, General Support Main-tenance Company, and several local volunteers cleaned, scraped, painted, and evenfabricated new steel cleats for several of the vehicles, all in an effort to stabilize thehistoric vehicles.

While the museum provides a home for these antique amphibian monsters, it alsoprovides the school a unique training tool, exposing students at all levels—the "1800basic crewman," the "1803 basic assault officer," and the "1833 advanced unit leader"— tothe historical origin of their MOS.

Asked why the museum was established, LtCol Nans said, "Because we are amtrack-ers and proud of the traditions and valor of Alligator Marines:' Speaking at the muse-um's dedication, guest of honor Col Victorj. Croizat, who as a young Marine lieutenant

The LVT 3 and a roadede sign call atten- .

commanded a company of tracked vehicles at the landing on Guadalcanal, said: Fortion to the museum created by the Assault . , . . . .

me, it s like going back in time. Think of putting 30 men in one of these boxes andAmphibian School Battalion at Pendleton. . . ,

dropping them off on an unfriendly beach. Its very challenging just to do the naviga-tion, much less hit the beach with people shooting at you." L11J1775L111

Complementing the modijiedLVT (A) 5,above, are Continental and Cadillac V-8engines, belo u', that o wered amp hibians.

The Museum's dedication and opening day ceremony Jatured guest of honor Col Vic-tor]. Croizat, USMC (Ret). Then-2dLt Croizat was executive officer of Company A,1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion, which was assigned to support the 1st Marine Divi-sion on the day following Pearl Harbor and took part in the Guadalcanal landing.

lü,'iiiiilin, \X/intcr I))(-I))7

'Homemade' Histories Can Preserve Marine Fact and Lore

I RECEIVED A LE1TER in early Octoberfrom Jerry Brooks, in which, among

other things, he made a cogent observa-tion concerning unit histories. He said:"Formal Marine Corps official unit histo-ries are seldom made at levels below theregimental level. Most of us in units at thebattalion level [and belowl have to be con-tent being footnotes or sentences or para-graphs in the larger histories unless wework together to compile our lower levelunit histories. In my opinion, many WWIIMarine combat units are now passing intooblivion as [theirl last members are pass-ing on. Sad."

He also went on to say, "Most of us don'trealize that we can combine our remem-brances, photos, and documents and com-pile an interesting, accurate, andinformative unit history book. The unithistory books will outlive us by a hundredyears in many of our own local libraries

Mr. Brooks is exactly right. In our ownfive-volume official History of US. MarineCorps Operations in World War II, and ourfive-volume US. Marines in Korea,1950-1 953, the nature of each World WarII landing and the overall campaign inKorea, the immensity of these operations,did not permit us to go below battalionlevel except when a company or platoonwas involved in extraordinary action. Inour soon to be 11-volume US. Marines inVietnam series we did go below battalion

by Benis M. FrankChief Historian

and sometimes even below company leveljust because it was a small-unit war, for themost part. Again, the nature of combatin Vietnam dictated how we would writeits history. Then, in our official PersianGulf War history, we will be dealing withbattalions, regiments, divisions, and theI Marine Expeditionary Force. Those whohave read the Gulf War monographs wehave published to date will note this tobe the case.

H AVING SAID THIS, I will now take upMr. Brooks' other comment, i.e., un-

less individuals and postwar unit associa-tions undertake to write their ownhistories, the institutional memory mayvery well be lost. This is all too true.However, with the advent of the 50th an-niversary of World War II and with the ap-proaching commemoration of the 50thanniversary of the Korean War, some ex-cellent autobiographical histories have al-ready been published. The first of thesewhich comes to mind is Dr. Eugene B.Sledge's With the Old Breedfrom Peleliuto Okinawa, which tells of his experiencesas a mortarman in Company K, 3d Bat-talion, 5th Marines, in those two amphibi-ous assaults. This outstanding work hasseen many editions and has been ac-claimed by such noted military historiansasJohn Keegan as being one of the exem-plar autobiographies to come out of WorldWar II. As a veteran of those two opera-

tions and, as is Gene Sledge, a 1st Divi-sion Marine, I can attest to the accuracyof his descriptions. With relation to theKorean War, I have just read a moving au-tobiography by lstLt Joseph R. Owen,USMC (Ret), who served with CompanyB, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, in Korea. Thebook is entitled Colder than Hell: A Ma-rine Rijie Company at Chosin Reservoir.It was recently published by the Naval In-stitute Press, and I recommend it. Thereare similar works both in and out of print,but these are two good examples of howinstitutional memories of events, periods,campaigns, and units can be kept alive.

In the Historical Center Library, we havea number of unit histories which werewritten by individuals who were formermembers of the unit about which theywrote, or the history was a team effort byunit members. A few titles from amongthis group of histories are: Edward W.Farmer, A View from the Rear Rank: AStory of Marine Air Warning SquadronEight in World War II, published by theauthor, an AWS-8 member, in 1992;JohriJ. Forster, The History of the Eighth FieldDepot and Eighth Service Regiment, US.Marines in World War II, 1992; Charles L.Henry, 2dAirdrome Battalion, Fleet Ma-rine Force, United States Marine Corps,a.k.a. 17th Defense Battalion, 17th An-tiaircraft Battalion, 17th Antiaircraft Ar-tillery Battalion, from 28 October 1942

14 Fortitudine. Winter 1996-1997

The original members of the "Black Sheep Squadron," photographed here on Vellalavella in the Pacific in December 1943, are the subjects of Frank E. Walton's OnceThey Were Eagles, a "unit history" with the added distinction of commercial success.

to 6 December 1945, 1985; Hugh Morseand George Head, Wi-i, Pearl Harbor toPeleliu, published in 1993 by the A-i-IBook Committee; Ezell Odom, A Mont-ford Point Marine: Fleet Marine Force Pa-cific: A Few Experiences by one of theChosen Few, 1993; Raymond S. B. Perry,The Bombers ofMAGSZAM: A History ofMarine Bombing Squadron 611, publishedin 1987 by the author; 2ndArmoredAm-phibian Battalion, USMC, W7WII: SaiOan,Tinian, Iwo Jima, 1991; Frank F. Walton,Once They Were Eagles: The Men of theBlack Sheep Squadron, University Press ofKentucky, 1986; Arthur W. Wells, The

Quack Corps: The Men of the Second Ma-rine Amphibian Truck (DUKW) Compa-ny, 1992; Larry I. Woodward, Before theFirst Wave: The 3rdArmoredAmphibianTractor Battalion — Peleliu and Okinawa,Sunflower University Press, 1994; and Su-per Breed I: A Journal of the First MarineEngineers, Pioneers, and Seabees, WyattPublishing Company, 1990. In addition,we hold a history of the 9th Defense Bat-talion, written by the son of one of itsmembers, retired Marine Maj Charles D.Melson, whose last tour of duty was as a

historical writer in the Marine CorpsHistorical Center.

If someone reading this gets a hanker-ing to do a unit history, well, the Histori-cal Center is the place to begin his or herresearch, and the History and MuseumsDivision staff is here to give professionalguidance. This Center was the brainchildof the former Director of Marine CorpsHistory and Museums, BGen Edwin H.Simmons, USMC (Ret), who conceived itas being a "one-stop Marine Corps histo-ry resource," wherein a scholar researchingMarine Corps history could find most, ifnot all, of the material he or she was seek-ing. To begin with, our Archives Sectionhas, or knows how to retrieve, the war di-aries and after-action reports of bothWorld War II and Korea, and the com-mand chronologies of the Vietnam andthe Persian Gulf Wars. The Archives Sec-tion can also retrieve operation orders formost, if not all, of the Marine Corps' warsin the 20th century. Another rich sourceof information within the Archives Sectionis our Personal Papers Unit, which holdsthe personal papers (letters, orders, pho-tographs, and the like) of Marines, fromprivate to flag rank, who served in theCivil War, and earlier, as well as those whoserved in more modern times. This is anenormously rich source of 2,656 processedpersonal collections, and about 500 whichare undergoinng processing. Many a visit-ing scholar has supped heavily on the

Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997 15

Histories such as Larry I. W/oodward's Before the First Wave: The 3d Amphibian Trac-tot Battalion — Peleliu and Okinawa provide the detail that often is lacking in officialhistories. Above, landing craft head toward the heavily bombarded Peleliu beaches.

"L'il Bat," a radar-equipped mascot, adorns the history by Edward W Farmer A Viewfrom the Rear Rank: A Story of Marine Air Warning Squadron Eight in World War II.

material in this collection, as well as onthe contents of the Marine Corps Oral His-tory Collection. This group contains thetranscripts of interviews conducted withmost past Commandants, beginning withGen Clifton B. Cates, and ending withGen Carl E. Mundy, Jr. The collection alsocontains the transcripts of more than 300former and retired prominent Marines,many of whom were junior officers inWorld War I and rose to general officerrank in World War II. Interviews in thisgroup also relate to the Korean War as wellas Vietnam. With respect to Vietnam, we

Denizens of 'Boot Camp'— oversizedmosquitoes and gnats — illustrate Farmer'sMarine Air W7arning Squadron 8 history,

have close to 6,000 interviews conductedin the field in Vietnam, many of themwith Marines who had just come in frompatrols or after close combat with theenemy.

T HERE ARE A couple of other sectionsin the History and Museums Division

which can be of assistance to the aspiringresearcher. One such area is our Histori-cal Library, established in 1843 by ColonelCommandant Archibald Henderson as thelibrary for Marine Corps Headquarters.Since that time, it has grown to where itnow holds more than 41,000 boundvolumes and periodicals; 4,000 reels ofmicrofilm; and a growing collection ofvideotapes and CD-ROMs. The book col-lection concentrates on Marine Corps his-tory; histories of amphibious warfare andrelated naval history; American history;museum studies; and histories of militaryuniforms and weaponry. If the librarydoesn't have a book which a researcherneeds, it can most likely be obtainedthrough an interlibrary loan.

Another important area for researchersis our Reference Section. Each year, theSection's Reference Historians respond toupwards of 8,000 written, telephoned, andwalked-in requests. The section holdsthousands of subject, geographical, unit,and biographical files. The subject files in-clude an extensive collection of materialson events, issues, and wars of the MarineCorps from its founding to the present.The geographical files contain a collectionof records on locations where Marines havelanded or been stationed. Histories of Ma-rine Corps bases and barracks are alsofound here. The unit files contain work-ing files on all Marine Corps units, pastand present. Within these files on bothair and ground units are histories of eachunit, commanding officer lists, and unitlineage and honors records. Our bi-ographical files provide information onmore than 15,000 prominent Marines,such as former Commandants andrecipients of the Medal of Honor, andother notables who had an impact on thehistory of the Corps. The Reference Sec-tion also holds the microfilmed musterrolls of the Corps going back to 1798.These are important to anybody who isworking up a command list, or just look-ing to see the names of all the Marineswho served in a certain unit at a certaintime.

a unit history, or research primary sourcesaround which a unit history is to be writ-ten, will have to visit the Marine CorpsHistorical Center in the Washington NavyYard. Here, experienced professional Ma-rine Corps historians can guide a research-er's efforts and direct him to the areaswhich hold the material which will ad-vance his efforts. Marine historians en-courage such efforts because they oftenmean that a hitherto-unexplored area ofMarine Corps history will at last be rev-ealed. The final product will help fill inthe "gaps" in Marine Corps history. Andthat is always to the good. L111775L11

In any case, anyone who wants to write

16 Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997

Awards Cite Veteran Pilot Condon and Author Moskinby Char/es R. Smith

HLctorian

F OR H IS LI FI1LONG interest in Man neCorps history and service to the Ma-

rine Corps Historical Foundation. MajGenJoh it P. Condon, USMC (Ret), was

presented the support group's HeritageAward at its fall I9)6 Awards Ceremony.Nla;Cien Condon subsequently died inDer ember 1)96 [see "Memorandum fromthe Chief Historian'' on page 3 of thisissue[.

Condon entered the Marine Corps inI )31 upon graduating from the NavalA adernv and earned his wings asa navalaviator in 1937. As a young pilot he wasone of the Marine Corps' pioneers whoflew from aircraft carriers, an experiencewhich would influence his appreciation ofthe flexibility of' Marine Corpsav ationrlowii to the present day.

In World War II he served on Guadal-canal, in the Northern Solomons, and atOkinawa, where he commanded MarineAircraft Group 14. During the KoreanWar, he commanded MAG-33, the firstMarine aircraft group to fly jet aircraft incombat, arid MAG-12, the last group tofly the legendary Corsair against the ene-my. Later, he commanded both the 1stand 3d Marine Aircraft Wings. Followinghis retirement in 1962, he completed adoctoral degree and embarked upon a se-cond career in the aerospace industry.

Q NE OF THE earliest senior cfficers toaffiliate with the Historical Eon nda-

toil. MajGen Condon served successivelyas v e president, president, and chairmanof the board. His leadership of the Foun-dation during its formative sears, notedh)undation President LtGen Philip D.Sliutler, Sr., USMC (Ret), "did much toshape its subsequent successful course anddirection. Recently. MajGen Condon,working at the Marine Corps Historical(,en ter, drafted a history of Marine Corpsaviation and completed a history of Ma-ri ne aviat ion on board carriers in World\X'ar II, which is scheduled to be publ shedby tile U.S. Naval Institute Press. "In alliii ings,'' concluded LtGcn Shutler, ''John( ndon epitomizes the ideal fighter pi -lot, officer, gentleman, and scholar.''

Former commander of both 1st and dMAIVS, /vfajGen]ohn I? Condon a/so wasa president of the HLrtorica/ Fo iendatio n.

NI r. j. Robert Moskin received the Dis-tinguishc'd Service Award, the Founda-tions highest award, at the 26 O toberl))6 ceremonies for his extensive accom-plisltmc'nts in American and Marine Corpsii story and his service to the Foundai ionas a di rector, member of the awards )ur.and seminar chairman. A native of New'ork and a graduate of Harvard Universi-iv. Moskins long relationship wit b the Ma-

title Corps began in l) after the tragisRibbon Creek inrident at Parris Island.'[hen a senior editor with Lao,i magazine.he made an i i-depth study of the MarineCorps which ultimately led to his writingTin' I S. lLirim' (.ijc .S/r1. a compre-hensive history (If the Corps. puhl ished iiil)7 and subsequent ft revised and cx-panded. His other works i nr ride i/nDcc/i,u' / the ;lmei'o'a;i lLz/e, 71u71'od/.'l moiig Lion, and his most recent, .11,:liii man's lL'zi'. t he story of the period be-tween the end of World War II in Europeand t lie final VR tory over Japan

"In sum." t lie Eon idat ion InS I tided,

"Mr. Moskin has made a tiperli rout rihu-I ion to A inerican h story, to ni lit ars his-tots'. to the Marine Corps. and, mostespecially, to the Marine Corps IlisInrilalIs rind at mn.

D R. DON ALl) I. 13i't"t''ci R. professor of

history at the Marine (;orps Com-mand and Staff College. was this ear'swniner of the Colonel Robert Delis Heinl,Jr.. Award. presented to the author of thebest article pertineiti to Marine Corps his-o iry. I-I is article, at rercd I inages:

Ohiirc'rs of Royal Marines. I -IoI3," waspublished in the January l)5 issue of i/h'/iii'/ii/ o/ Uh/itar)' IIi

I'oi'/i/in/ine. Winter I ))6-19)T I

.1. Robert Moskin, right, accepts the Marine Corps Historical Loandation D/iting mi bedService A ward from Assistant Commandant of'the Marine Corps cen Richard/Neal.

Dr. Bittner received his doctorate in his-tory from the University of Missouri in1974. He served in the Marine Corps from1963 to 1989 with the 2d Field ArtilleryGroup, Marine Barracks, Keflavik, Iceland,and on board the Talladega, before retir-ing as a lieutenant colonel. His publica-tions cover a wide variety of militarysubjects from Britain and Ireland duringWorld War II to the portrayal of the Brit-ish Army in Jane Austen's novels.

The General Wallace M. Greene, Jr.,Award, given to the author of the out-standing nonfiction book pertinent to Ma-rine Corps history, was presented to Dr.Eric Bergerud for his Touched with Fire:The Land U2ar in the South Pacific, pub-lished by the Viking Press. Through care-ful research and numerous interviews withparticipants, he presents a vivid accountof World War II fighting men who adapt-ed to an environment that tested thelimits of their endurance.

A graduate of the University of Min-nesota and the University of California atBerkeley, he received a fellowship from theArmy's Center of Military History thatenabled him to write two books on theVietnam War. He currently teaches histo-ry at Lincoln University, a small college inSan Francisco.

E STABLISHED BY Col Robert G. F.

Hanke, USMCR, in memory of hisfather, Wing Commander Ralph Hanke,Royal Air Force, the General Roy GeigerAward is given to the author of the bestarticle published in the Marine CorpsGazette in the field of Marine Corps avi-ation during 1995. This year's recipient wasDr. Eliot A. Cohen for his article, "Airpow-

er, the Next War, and the Marine Corps,"published in the November 1995 issue.

A graduate of Harvard University, Dr.Cohen has written extensively on a varie-ty of subjects in strategic studies and mili-tary history, including net assessment, thenature of war in the Third World, andproblems of intelligence analysis. A con-sultant to the White House, CIA, Depart-ment of Defense, and the Commission onRoles and Missions, Dr. Cohen currentlyis a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Inter-national Center for Scholars and profes-sor of strategic studies at the JohnsHopkins School of Advanced InternationalStudies.

T HE SERGEANT MAJOR Dan DalyAward was presented to LCpI Chance

D. Puma, USMC. The award, funded byLeatherneck magazine, is given for superi-or writing pertinent to Marine Corps his-tory by an enlisted author for a MarineCorps post or station periodical. LCpIPuma received the award for his article,"Bugle Calls," published in Pass in Review,which outlined the history of Marine bu-glers and highlights Marine BarracksWashington as the only Marine Corps poststill using a live bugler.

LCpl Puma began his Marine Corpscareer in 1994. Following basic training atParris Island and Marine combat trainingat Camp Geiger, he attended the DefenseInformation school at Fort Benjamin Har-rison, completing the basic journalism andbroadcasting courses. He reported to Ma-rine Barracks Washington where he was as-signed as a staff writer and combatcorrespondent for the post magazine, Passin Review. LCpI Puma became editor af-

ter attending the Defense InformationSchool's editors' course.

The Colonel John H. Magruder IIIAward for excellence in depicting MarineCorps history in exhibits or displays in amuseum or similar setting was presentedto the LVT Museum, Assault AmphibianSchool Battalion, Camp Pendleton, inrecognition of an immaculately restoredcollection of all operational types of LVTs,making use of an existing historic struc-ture [see article, page 12].

Two Colonel John H. Magruder SpecialRecognition Awards were made. The firstwas given to LtCol Charles V. Mugno,USMC, for the MajGen Paul J. Fontanadisplay at the MCAS Cherry Point Officer'sClub, a historical display in a non-museum setting. The large encased wallpanel displays photographs, memorabilia,and biographical information of MajGenFontana, a distinguished Marine Corpsaviator and leader.

Special recognition also was made of theBrooks Detachment of the 1812 MarineBrigade, a living history group. Thedetachment was formed three years ago todevelop an educational program thatwould show the life of a War of 1812 Ma-rine. It is named for Lt John Brooks, sonof a governor of Massachusetts, who diedwhile commanding the Marine detach-ment at the Battle of Lake Erie.

C OL EDWARD M. CONDRA III, USMC(Ret), was this year's recipient of the

Colonel John W. Thomason, Jr., Award forhis positive and continuing contributionsto Marine Corps art. The ThomasonAward, named for the highly decoratedcombat officer and artist, is given for ex-cellence in the fine or applied arts, includ-ing photography, in depicting thehistorical or contemporary Marine Corps.

Holder of degrees from several presti-gious art schools and universities, ColCondra entered the Marine Corps in 1960and served two combat tours in Vietnamas an engineer officer and field com-mander. He has also been an author,visual communications instructor, anddirector of the MacArthur Memorial inNorfolk, Virginia. As a combat artist, hispictorial coverage of Marines and the warsin Vietnam and Lebanon have beenreproduced widely, and more than 100pieces of his work form part of the per-manent Marine Corps Art Collection.

L111775L1

18 Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997

Dr Eric Bergerud right, cited for his recently published Touched with Fire: The LandWar in the South Pacific, received the General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., Award for thebest nonfiction book pertinent to Marine Corps History, presented to him by Gen Neal.

Reservists Aim to Fill in Blanks in 4th Division Historyby Maj Craig A. Swanson, USMCR

Historical Detachment, 4th Marine Division

T HE CELEBRATED World War II historyof the 4th Marine Division is well

known. Activated at the height of the warin August 1943 at Camp Pendleton,California, the division participated insome of the most bitterly contested am-phibious assaults of the war, against theJapanese-held islands of Roi and Namurin the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Is-lands, Saipan and Tinian in the MarianasIslands, and finally, IwoJima. In its shortbut eventful two years, three months, andthirteen days of wartime existence, eightmembers of the 4th Division were award-ed the Medal of Honor. The division it-self earned a Presidential Unit CitationStreamer with one Bronze Star, a NavyUnit Commendation Streamer, theAsiatic-Pacific Campaign Streamer withfour Bronze Stars, and the World War IIVictory Streamer. The World War II his-tory of the 4th Division is described inmany general historical works on the warin the Pacific, and is the subject of twobooks concentrating entirely on the divi-sion's exploits. What is less well known iswhat the 4th Division has done since theend of the Second World War.

Shortly after the conclusion of the war,Marines of the 4th Division were either

discharged or reassigned as it was deacti-vated in September 1945. On 8june 1962,however, the division was formally reacti-vated, this time as the Marine CorpsReserve's ground combat component.Where once the Reserve had existed as acollection of disparate units stationedaround the country with little or no con-tact with one another, the reactivated 4thDivision encompassed all of the groundcombat elements of the Reserve. Objec-tives were to enhance training, adminis-tration, mobilization, unit cohesion, andcombat effectiveness. The 4th Marine Di-vision was to serve as the Marine Corps'strategic reserve, ready at short notice tomobilize and provide the same capabili-ties as active-duty divisions. Developmentfrom an ideal to a reality, however, tookliterally decades to fulfill.

IN THE I96oS, the 4th Division's newheadquarters was formed, again at

Camp Pendleton, and basic questions wereaddressed over the role the division wouldplay in Marine Corps planning. In the1970s, the division's readiness continuedto improve as training steadily becamemore realistic and both the quality andquantity of assigned Marines rose dramat-

ically. In the 1980s, training improved fur-ther, with greater variety and moreambitious exercises as funds became avail-able to equip the Reserve with the sameweapons and equipment as its active-dutycounterpart. In the 1990s, with the divi-sion's extensive participation in the Persi-an Gulf War, it came full circle from itsWorld War II origins. Once again, Marinesof the 4th Division were engaged in com-bat. Unlike the post-World War II period,however, after this war the 4th Divisionwas not deactivated, but instead becameincreasingly important in a period ofaustere defense budgets and different na-tional security concerns.

The complete story of the 4th MarineDivision has, until now, not been present-ed in any serious way. The need for fillingthe gap in the historical record from WorldWar II to the present was first addressedin june 1995 when the division's Com-manding General, BGen Frederick R. Lo-pez, issued the order to bring the division'sstory up to date with a hardbound, book-length, illustrated history. Members ofMTU-NYO5 were assigned to the specialtask with a projected completion date ofApril 1997. (While the project has beenin progress, MTU-NYO5 was formally

Marines of the 4th Division hurl grenades toward an enemy fox-hole on Saipan in 1944. The valiant IT'orld War II history of the

division, the subject of two books concentrating entirely on it.is well known. The divi.rion's role in the post-war Corps is not.

redesignated as the Historical Detach-ment, 4th Marine Division). Work beganimmediately to accomplish the basicresearch for text, photographs, and origi-nal art from sources including the MarineCorps Historical Center. the National Ar-chives, the Library of Congress, the HooverInstitution Library and the archives of theMarine Corps University. Research materialincludes a myriad of both primary andsecondary sources including commandchronologies, periodicals, the Congres-sional Record, maps, Marine Corps ord-ers and other documents, personal papers,base newspapers, Marine Corps HistoricalCenter publications, photographs, art-

work, oral histories, independent researchreports, and material submitted by thevarious units of the division.

The goals of the ambitious project areboth to present a detailed and livelychronological narrative of what the divi-sion has done during its existence and toaddress a number of related thematic is-sues. For example, the work will examinesubjects important to the history of the di-vision such as the impact of the endingof the draft and the implementation ofthe Total Force concept, the transitionsfrom control from Marine Corps districtsto the 4th Division's headquarters, the re-lations between Instructor/Inspector staffs

and Reserve tinits, and mobilization plan-ning and implementation. In this way, thework is intended to he hot Ii i titerest ing tothe general reader curious about the his-tory of the division, and useful to policymakers seeking serious I osig lits in to the4th Division's past iii on is-r to het 5cr chartits future.

W HtLl ,tHt \X'( )ttK is intended tomeet rigorotis standards of Ii istor-

ical scholarship, it a Iso should prove live-ly and informative, with iheral use ofphotographs and artsvork and a fiacus onthe individual Marines who have beenmembers of the division over the sears. Asa valuable adjunct to existing researchmaterial, the 4th Division I Tistorical

Detachment is also in the process of con-ducting additional oral histories of key in-dividuals in the di', isionc past and of itscurrent leaders.

Anyone ititerested ut contributing anymaterial (old letters, photos, documents,old 4th Marine Division ptil)lications, oralhistories, etc.) to enrich tlus project shouldcontact the Officer- in-Charge. 4th MarineDivision Historical Project, Col RichardVan Home, in care of the Marine CorpsHistorical Cc-titer. i'he new history is

scheduled for coiiipletion ui the latespring or early summer of W97. Distribu-tion will be made by the 4th Marine Di-vision and, sincc' the hook will bepublished through the Government Print-ing Office, it may also be available for pur-chase through GPO bookstores. 1 775[

Historical Quiz

Marine Corps Aviationb) zlIidn2C Richard /i4. Rii.inoh. Ji:

L /vicd Statc.c Naval A cadcmFRc/2'ren cc Sect/on Intern

1. When did Marine Corps aviation "getoff the ground?"

2. What were the two primary aircraft usedby the Corps during World War I?

3. Which airplane. originally focind un-suitable for carrier operations. was usedwith great success by Marines in the Pa-

fR during World War II.?

4. What was the namc- given to theJapanese airfield captured after ferocious

fighting on Guadalcanal in World WarII?5. What squadron was commissioned inI)48 to experiment with rotary wingflight?6. Which Marine pilot and baseball starflew 38 combat missions during theKorean War.

I ow many aircraft were downed by Ma-rute pilots during the Korean War?8. Which helicopter appeared first in Viet-

nani in 1066 and connnues to provideclose air support to M:iruic's today?0. What is the nickname of the Lao kheedKC—130F aircraft flown and maintained byMart nt-s. which is usc'd to support the BlueAngels flight demonstration i earn?

10. Which aircraft entered Marine servicein 1083 and served is a repIaement fiarthe McDonnc'll Douglas F-i Phantom andthe C;nimntmin A-6 linruder?

nsa en on page 22)

20 Fori,i/u//e(, Wiiiici 0)1)6tO)7

Marine Reservists were represented in large numbers in the Persian Gulf U'zr Here,in January 1991, Marines of Battalion Inding Team 1/4 disassemble a Soviet-builtZPU-i machine gun, previously operated by Iraqi forces on Miradam Island in Kuwait.

Japan's National Library Fulfills Microfilm Agreement

Q NE OF THE MOST ENJOYABLE aspects

of my job recently has been work-ing with the professional archivists of theNational Diet Library (NDL) ofjapan ontheir project to microfilm large portionsof the Marine Corps' World War II records.So it was doubly a pleasure to welcome Mr.Tatsuru Watanabe, chief of the NDUsModern Japanese Political Documents Di-vision, when he arrived here on 3 Decem-ber 1996.

Mr. Watanabe visited the HistoricalCenter earlier, in 1995, to give the finalgo-ahead for the project, and subsequentlywas my host in Japan during my visit therein February 1996. The purpose of his visitthis time was the formal presentation ofa copy of the first batch of completedmicrofilm. Because these reels cover theOkinawa campaign it was appropriate thatthey be accepted on behalf of the MarineCorps by Chief Historian Benis M. Frank,an Okinawa veteran and the author ofthree books on the subject.

After the formal presentation, Mr.

Watanabe invited us to appraise the un-usual quality of the microfilm by compar-ing it to the original paper copies. Mr.Frank and our archives specialists were im-

by Frederick]. GraboskeHead, Archives Section

pressed. The now-yellowing and -brittleoriginal records were brighter and cleareron the microfilm, thanks to the skills ofthe camera operators. For the first time inmany years, handwritten charts for beingfreshly copied were completely in focusand were easily legible.

Q UR AGREEMENT with the NDL is thatwe receive a copy of the completed

microfilm in recognition of our coopera-tion in the project. As the microfilmingof segments of the records is completed,we will be retiring the paper records to theNational Archives for permanent reten-

tion. Members of the public will be direct-ed to the Archives for access to theserecords; we will reserve the microfilm reelsfor Marine Corps use only.

At some time in the not-too-distant fu-ture we hope to digitize the records fromthe microfilm, a quicker and less costlyprocess than digitizing from paper. Ourlong-term goal is to have the records ofWorld War II, Korea, Vietnam, and thePersian Gulf War available to the publicin electronic form. With the help of ourastute NDL colleagues, we are makingprogress steadily toward reaching thatgoal. L111775L1

subscription(s) to Fortitudine for $7.00 each per year ($8.75 foreign).

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Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997 21

Thtsuru Watanabe, far right, of the National Diet Library ofJapan. watches as projectmanager Shinji Fujishiro, center displays the new World War II microfilm. Watchingat the side are Frederick j Graboske, Mrs. Joyce Hudson, and Benis M. Frank.

S3

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New Books

Letters from Women in Uniform Make Absorbing Text

T HE LIBRARY of the Marine CorpsHistorical Center receives many re-

cently published books of professional in-terest to Marines. Most of them areavailable from local bookstores andlibraries.U re in This War Too: W/orld War II Let-ters from American Women in Uniform.Judy Barrett Litoff and David C. Smith.New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.260 pages. This book offers a different per-spective from most wartime writing. Thesetwo history professors have combined theirskills to present the reader excerpts frommore than 30,000 wartime letters span-ning the lives of women in every branchof the Armed Forces. We are taken fromthe military build-up in Hawaii prior toPearl Harbor to eyewitness accounts of theBattle of the Bulge. $27.50What They Fought For: 1861-1865. James

byjena Beth AntalMarine Corps Historical Center Volunteer

McPherson. Baton Rouge: Louisiana StateUniversity Press, 1994. 85 pages. ThisPulitzer Prize-winning Princeton historyprofessor offers a look at excerpts from theletters and diaries of nearly 1,000 Unionand Confederate soldiers who, contrary topopular belief, did know why they werefighting and were articulate and informedconcerning the issues of the day. Both Un-ion and Confederate soldiers, according toMcPherson, saw themselves as custodiansof the legacy of 1776. $14.95.

Fields of Battle: The Wars for NorthAmerica. John Keegan. New York: AlfredA. Knopf, 1996. 334 pages. In Keegan'sindomitable style, he takes his readers intoour past, discovering the character of theAmerican terrain and climate, and thecompetition for the land's naturalresources. These factors, according to the

author, dictated why men fortified wherethey did, campaigned as they did, andwere drawn to such battlefields as York-town, Gettysburg, and Bull Run. He dis-cusses the famous engagements in ourmilitary history. The narrative ends withU.S. and Canadian troops saving Keegan'snative Britain and liberating France fromGermany during WWII. $30.00

Sailing on the Silver Screen: Hollywoodand the US. Navy. Lawrence Suid. An-napolis: Naval Institute Press, 1996. Theauthor provides a fully documented his-tory of the making of the Navy's image onfilm from the earliest days of the moviesto the present. His history covers filmsfrom pre-World War I to post-Cold War,more than 100 films as varied as Annapolisand Hunt for Red October. $45.00

L111775L11

Answers to the Historical Quiz

Marine Corps Aviation(Questions on page 20)

1. The official birthday of Marine Air is22 May 1912. On that date Lt Alfred A.Cunningham reported to the Marine Bar-racks at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to be-gin flight training. He soloed on 20August 1912 in Massachusetts and becameNaval Aviator number five and the firstMarine pilot.

2, The Marines used DeHaviland DH-4and DeHaviland DH-9 bombers, whichwere obtained through a special deal withthe British. They were used for both scout-ing and basic ground attack missions.

3. The Vought F4U Corsair had manydifficulties in its carrier suitability trials.The Marines, however, handily proved theprowess of this aircraft while the Navy sort-ed out the problems with its airframe.Many Marine Corps aces piloted the Cor-sair, including perhaps the most widelyknown Marine ace, LtCol Gregory "Pap-py" Boyington.

4. After the Marines captured the partial-ly constructed airstrip on the fifth day of

the battle, they completed it using aban-doned Japanese equipment. The airfieldbecame known as Henderson Field,named in honor of Maj Lofton R. Hender-son, who was killed at the Battle of Mid-way leading a dive bombing run. Thisairfield proved critical to the success of thePacific campaign.

5. Marine Helicopter Squadron One(HMX-1) was established at Quantico toevaluate the feasibility of the doctrine ofvertical envelopment. The squadron con-tinues to exist today primarily to providehelicopter support to the President of theUnited States and White House oper-ations.

6. Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Wil-liams, arguably the greatest hitter of alltime, was also a captain in the Reserves.He interrupted his baseball career duringboth World War II and the Korean War.

7. Marine pilots accounted for 27 enemyplanes shot down. All but six were accom-plished by Marines flying the North

American Aviation Inc. F-86 Sabre. Fiveother kills were the result of Marines fly-ing in the venerable Corsair and a singlekill was recorded by an Douglas ADSkyraider.8. The Bell AH-1 Huey Cobra was derivedfrom the UH-1 Huey airframe. Armedwith rockets and a 20mm cannon, it wasthe first dedicated helicopter gunship inthe U.S. inventory. With planned up-grades, the AH-1 will continue providingsupport well into the next century.9. The Lockheed KC-130F is nicknamed'Fat Albert," in reference to the aircraft'sappearance and in honor of the famouscartoon character of the same name.10. The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hor-net entered service in January 1983 andthe first squadrons deployed in July 1983.Many squadrons have since outfittedthemselves with the McDonnell DouglasF/A-18C Hornet. The McDonnell Doug-las F/A-18D Hornet replaced the Grum-man A-6E Intruder beginning in the late1980s.

22 Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997

Fortitudine's chronology feature continues with a selectionof events in the Marine Corps from July-December 1948,

including the issuance of a Presidential Executive Order ban-ning color bias in the Armed Services, the enlistment of womeninto the regular Marine Corps, and the continuation of civil warin China.18Ju1—In Palestine, a provisional Marine Consular Guard wasdetached from the 21st Marines on board the USS Kearsarge atTripoli, and sent to Jerusalem to protect the U.S. Consul Gener-al in that city.2OJul—In Washington, D.C., President Harry S. Truman issueda Presidential Proclamation calling for the registration, duringthe period 30 August-18 September, of all men between the agesof 18 and 25 for military service. The first inductions were tobe held after 1 October 1948.22 Jul—The Marine Corps announced that due to increasedvoluntary enlistments, the Corps would not need any drafteesin 1949.26Jul—President Harry S. Truman issued an Executive Orderbanning color bias in the Armed Services.25 Aug — 2dLtJohn Earl Rudder, the first African-American Ma-rine officer to receive his commission into the regular MarineCorps, began training in the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico,Virginia.30 Aug—Registration for the second peacetime military conscrip-tion in U.S. history began.31 Aug—The Marine Garrison Forces, Pacific, command was

PFC John W Davis, USMCR, and MSgt Gilbert H. Johnson per-form administrative duties at Montford Point, Camp Lejeune,North Carolina, on 27 July, one day after President Truman is-sued his executive order banning color bias in the Armed Forces.

deactivated, and the Commanding General, FMFPac, assumedadministrative control of all Marine security forces and support-ing establishments in the Pacific Ocean Areas.13 Sep—The 4th Marines (Rein) left Morehead City, North Caro-lina, to become the landing force of the Sixth Fleet in theMediterranean.18 Oct—Col Katherine A. Towle reported for duty at Headquart-ers Marine Corps as first Director of the Corps' permanent peace-time component of Women Marines.10 Nov—On the 173d anniversary of the Marine Corps, eightformer members of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve were en-listed into the Regular Marine Corps.17 Nov—A platoon of Marines was sent to Nanking to protectthe American Consulate when the fall of that city to Communistforces appeared imminent. The guard was withdrawn in April1949 when the Communists refrained from looting the city.18 Nov—A 62-man Marine guard was sent to Haifa and assignedto the U.S. Military Observer Group, which had been stationedthere during the Arab-Israeli War.23 Nov-16 Dec—In China, increased pressure by Chinese Com-munists caused the United States to transfer Marine BattalionLanding Team 9 (BLT 9) from Guam to Shanghai to aid in theevacuation of American nationals.31 Dec—Marine Corps active strength was 88,000; women inthe regular Marine Corps or active Reserve numbered 24 officersand 300 enlisted women. L11775L1J

Colonel Katherine A. Thwle, who had been an administrator atStanford University in California, became the first Director ofWomen Marines at Headquarters, Marine Corps, on 18 October

Marine Corps Chronology

July-December 1948by Robert V Aquilina

Assistant Head Reference Section

Fortitudive, Winter 1996-1997

MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL CENTERBUILDING 58, WASHINGTON NAVY YARD

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

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

A NNUALLY THE ROYAL MARINES serving in the UnitedStates of America assemble in Washington, D.C., on

or around 28 October to celebrate the birth of our Corps.We take this opportunity to hold a birthday party receptionto which we invite as many members of our brother Corpsas we can, as well as former USMC exchange personnel andretired Royal Marines living in the USA, not only to swap afew war stories, but also to thank those with whom we workover here and whose assistance, cooperation, and hospitalitywe enjoy on a daily basis.

Our 332d anniversary reception was held on 31 October1996. Very generously, the Director of Marine Corps Historyand Museums offered us the use of the Special ExhibitsGallery of the USMC Historical Center in the WashingtonNavy Yard which, with its splendid displays charting the his-tory of the USMC, proved to be the ideal and most fittingvenue that we have had the privilege to use to date.

On arrival guests were greeted by Col Andrew Pillar, theBritish Embassy Marine Attache, and his wife, Shirley. HerMajesty's Royal Marines Plymouth Band was flown across fromEngland especially for the occasion and added some flourishto the evening with "Beat Retreat" on the quarter-deck andits own rendition of the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn. Col Pillarmade a brief address to the assembly, in which he said:

"Ladies and Gentlemen and fellow Marines, thank you allvery much for being here this evening to mark the 332d an-niversary of the birth of the Royal Marines. Firstly, on behalfof all the Royal Marines stationed in the USA, most of whomare here tonight, I would like to express my gratitude for themany congratulatory messages I have received from the UnitedStates Marine Corps and Attache Corps. I would like to saya public thank you to BGen Simmons, Col Monigan, and theirstaff for affording us the use of this magnificent Museum inwhich to hold our birthday party and for all theit assistance.I cannot think of a more appropriate setting for this event,surrounded as we are by images and exhibits of the valiant

exploits of our somewhat younger, but considerably larger,brother Corps with which we have shared so much through-out our respective histories and with which we enjoy so muchin common today .

"Now, although we are celebrating our birthday on 1November, our Corps was actually founded on 28 October1664, when at the outbreak of the Second Dutch War a regi-ment of 1,200 land soldiers was raised by order of the LordAdmiral, later King James the Second.

"Titled 'The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regi-ment of Foot,' and also 'The Admiral's Regiment,' its men werekitted out in yellow coats, red breeches, and stockings andhats bound with gold braid. It seems we still have a proclivi-ty for making a sartorial statement! The regiment served withdistinction during the Dutch Wars and in 1690 was expand-ed and styled the Marines.

"In 1827, when it was decided to present a new color toeach of the four Royal Marines divisions, King George IV waspresented with a list of no less than 106 battle honors, in orderthat he might select those that should be emblazoned on thecolors. His Majesty, finding it impossible, directed: 'That theglobe circled with a laurel wreath should be the distinguish-ing badge as the most appropriate emblem of a Corps whoseduties carried them to all parts of the globe—in every quart-er of which they had earned laurels by their valour and con-duct.' The Corps subsequently assumed the crest and badgewe wear to this day and we were bestowed with the motto'Per Mare Per Terram'—By Land and by Sea.

"Since those formative years the Royal Marines have takenpart in more battles on land and sea than any other branchof the British Forces and although we have grown considera-bly taughter and leaner in more recent years our Corps is inremarkably good health as we approach the millenium.

"Again, thank you all for joining with us to celebrate ourbirthday anniversary and, as a finale, the Band of Her Majesty'sRoyal Marines Plymouth will beat retreat."

24 Fortitudine, Winter 1996-1997

Royal Marines in U.S. Stage Birthday Party at Centerby Capt Dave W H. Wilson, RM

Royal Marines Administration and Operations Offlcer British Embassy