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HISTORICAL BULLETIN VOLUME XXVII SUMMER 1997 NUMBER 1

FORTITUDINEBULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGRAM

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TWENTY-FIFTH PAMPHLET, ON JAPAN OCCUPATION, TO COMPLETE WORLD WAR II ANNIVERSARY SERIES . . . ROEBLING

‘ALLIGATOR’ AT AIR-GROUND MUSEUM NAMED ENGINEERING LANDMARK . . . COLLECTING AN ORAL RECORD FROM 26TH

MEU(SOC) MARINES IN ALBANIAN EVACUATION OPERATIONS . . . ANNUAL CHRONOLOGY SPOTLIGHTS 1996 MARINE CORPS

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2 Fortitudine, Summer 1997

HISTORYAND MUSEUMSDIVISION

Marine Corps Historical CenterBuilding 58, Washington Navy Yard

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

Telephone (202) 433-3534

DIRECTOR EMERITUSBGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)

DIRECTORCol Michael F. Monigan, USMC

Secretary to the Director: Ms. Kristen M. Reed

DEPUTY DIRECTORVacant

HISTORICAL BRANCHActing Head/Head, Histories Section/Chief Historian: Mr.Benis M. Frank. History Writing Unit: Dr. Jack Shulimson;Mr. Charles R. Smith; LtCol Leroy D. Stearns, USMC; MajJames G. Antal, USMC; Mrs. Wanda F. Renfrow. OralHistory Unit: Mr. Richard A. Long; Mr. David B. Crist.Reference Section: Mr. Danny J. Crawford; Mr. Robert V.Aquilina; Mrs. Ann A. Ferrante; Miss Lena M. Kaljot; Mrs.Shelia Gramblin. Archives: Mr. Frederick J. Graboske; Mrs.Amy C. Cohen, Personal Papers; Mrs. Joyce C. Hudson,Official Papers.

MUSEUMS BRANCHActing Head/Officer-in-Charge, Air-Ground Museum,Quantico/Chief Curator: Mr. Charles A. Wood. MuseumsSection: Mr. Charles A. Wood; Mr. Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas, Material History; Mr. John G. Griffiths, SgtDieter Stenger, USMC, Ordnance; Mr. Mitch Garringer,SSgt Troy H. Lumpkin, USMC, Cpl David Nieves,Jr.,USMC, Restoration; Mr. Michael E. Starn, Aeronautics;Mr. Ronald J. Perkins, Mr. Ronnie D. Alexander, Exhibits;Mrs. Nancy F. King, Uniforms; Mrs. Jennifer L. Castro,Registrar; Mrs. Kathryn R. Trout, Programs Assistant.Operations/Security Officer:1stLt Darren S. Boyd, USMCR;SSgt Anthony J. 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 BRANCHHead/Division Executive Officer: LtCol Leon Craig, Jr.,USMC. Editing and Design Section: Mr. Robert E. Struder;Mr. William S. Hill; Mrs. Catherine A. Kerns: Library; MissEvelyn A. Englander. Administration: Capt Mark R.Schroeder, USMC; SSgt Myrna A. Thomas, USMC; Sgt EricM. Trischan, USMC; Sgt Marello P. Harris, USMC; SgtJoslyn V. Benjamin, USMC; LCpl Michael L. Danielson,USMC. Security Unit: Sgt Anthony U. Greene, USMC; CplEdward M. Hartzell, USMC.

Senior Editor/Editor, FortitudineMr. Robert E. Struder

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

Historical Bulletin Volume XXVII Summer 1997 No.

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

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

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THE COVER

Memorandum from the Chief Historian: Center Completes Pamphlet Series Saluting Heroes of World War II

Benis M. Frank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Historical Quiz: From ‘Amphibian Tractors’ to LVTs in the Marine Corps

Sgt Dieter Stenger, USMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Quantico’s ‘Alligator’ Listed as Engineering Landmark

Sgt Dieter Stenger, USMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Answers to Historical Quiz: From ‘Tractors’ to LVTs in the Marine Corps

Sgt Dieter Stenger, USMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Wealth of Papers Allows HQMC Archives to Share

Frederick J. Graboske . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Current Chronology of the Marine Corps: Bosnian Aid, Recruit TrainingChanges Marked 1996Ann A. Ferrante . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Corps’ Oldest Library Gets Newest Search SoftwareEvelyn A. Englander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

26th MEU(SOC) Marines Describe Civilian EvacuationsDavid B. Crist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

New Base Facilities Named for Memorable MarinesRobert V. Aquilina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Marine Corps Chronology: July-December 1949Robert V. Aquilina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Gleaming Brass, Interactive TV Enliven Corps MuseumKenneth L. Smith-Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

George Godden, who was assigned during World War II as picture editor ofLeatherneck Magazine, served as model for Tom Lovell’s artistic gunny for aLeatherneck cover in the period of the U.S. occupation of Japan. Lovell,already a well-established artist and illustrator, himself was serving as a staffsergeant on the magazine’s staff, and along with fellow artist and close friendJohn Clymer, was the creator of much of the magazine’s enduring cover artof the time. Some of the covers of historic Marine Corps events painted byLovell and Clymer later became a series of prints widely distributed by theMarine Corps Gazette. Although originally a New Englander, Lovell went onto become a reknowned painter of the American southwest and of otherminutely researched historical subjects, and continued with his work until hisaccidental death, in a tragic car crash in which his daughter also was killed,near his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 29 June.

Fortitudine, Spring 1997 3

Memorandum from the Chief Historian

Benis M. Frank

Center Completes Pamphlet SeriesSaluting Heroes of World War II

The official United States commem-oration of the 50th anniversary of

World War II ended in 1995 withevents observing the signing of thesurrender documents by the Japaneseon board the Missouri in Tokyo Bayon 2 September 1945. We expect tocomplete publication of our plannedWorld War II commemorative series ofpamphlets this year. During the inau-gural meeting of the History andMuseums Division’s newly formedWorld War II Commemorative Com-mittee in January 1990, then-DivisionDirector BGen Edwin H. Simmonspredicted that it would take sevenyears for the titles in the series to bepublished, and he was not far off themark.

We planned to publish 32 titles inall, but will complete the series with25, the last four of which are sched-uled to appear in coming months. Theseries as published will cover everyMarine Corps landing and campaign inthe Pacific War, as well as some addi-tional topics relating to the MarineCorps in World War II, such as African-American Marines, Women Marines,defense battalions, Marine Raiders,and the like.

The planning for the series beganwhen principal HD staff members

met with Gen Simmons, who outlinedhis views of what the purposes andgoals of the committee should be. Ourprogram would be related to theDepartment of Defense 50th Annivers-ary of World War II CommemorationCommittee’s themes, “Honor theVeteran” and “A Grateful NationRemembers.” In addition, the purpos-es of our World War II pamphlet serieswere threefold: 1) expressing appreci-ation to the World War II generation ofMarines; 2) reacquainting the Amer-ican public with the Marine Corps’

World War II accomplishments; and 3),and most importantly, telling today’sMarines what their forebears did 50years ago. It was decided that approx-imately 60 percent of each pamphletwould be devoted to previouslyresearched material, while the remain-ing 40 percent would representheretofore unseen or unpublishedmaterial, such as items from oral his-tories and personal papers, artworkfrom our Marine Corps Art Collection,and photographs which had notappeared elsewhere. At the same time,the museums side of the division was

commemorations, and to recruitingstations and reserve unit training cen-ters.

The business of the initial meetingsof the committee was to determine

various pamphlet subjects and titles,and to consider whom we felt wouldbe the best author of each booklet. Inaddition, W. Stephen Hill, our VisualInformation Specialist, was taskedwith preparing proposed layouts forthe pamphlets and developing a spe-cial Marine Corps 50th anniversarylogo which would appear on eachpamphlet as well as on official MarineCorps Historical Center stationery andenvelopes. The logo Hill designed, asshown at left, was well received andalso immediately adopted. The symbolshows a silhouette of the MarineCorps Memorial set against large out-lined numerals, “50th,” with the leg-end “1941 WWII 1945” in reverse out-lined letters reminiscent of the incisingon the statue’s base. It should benoted that this logo eventually waswidely used during the commemora-tive period by Marine Corps organiza-tions as well as by Marine veterans’groups. The logo even appeared insome of the publications of the Army-oriented DOD World War IICommittee, which also had lapel pinsmade up with the logo on it.

The number of events which wecould commemorate could have

been unending, but had to be madefinite. We decided that the major cam-paigns of the war from the MarineCorps’ viewpoint would be the focusof our effort. Clearly, the capture anddefense of Guadalcanal would be ahighlight of the 1992-1993 commemo-rations, but the immediate prewarperiod, including the Iceland occupa-tion in 1940-1941, and the anxious few

brought into the planning, for it wasdetermined that there would beexhibits with appropriate contempo-rary artifacts designed to parallel eachperiod/event of World War II to becommemorated. In addition to theseexhibits, Museums Branch exhibitrypersonnel would make a total ofapproximately 55 event-associatedmodules which would be shipped fortemporary loan and exhibit to Marinebases and commands both at homeand abroad from Europe to Okinawa,to universities and colleges which hadNROTC units, to the sites of battle

W. Stephen Hill’s well-received design.


months after Pearl Harbor in 1941-1942, when Marines on Wake and inthe Philippines fought and died orwere captured, would also be coveredboth by story and artifact. At the war’send, the battles in 1945 for Iwo Jimaand Okinawa were obvious subjectsfor coverage, as were the immediatepostwar occupations by Marines inNorth China and Japan (although wewere unable to achieve the writing ofthe North China history). In all, 28subject areas were initially identifiedfor historical writing and museumexploitation during the 1991-1997period.

Our immediate concern was howthe History and Museums

Division was to accomplish this task ofexhibitry and publications while con-tinuing with our normal daily work-load. Initially we felt that our histori-ans could undertake this program asan additional duty, but this provedelusive at first and impossible at thelast. We figured that each publicationtitle needed to be completed at least ayear before commemoration of theevent. In this way, layout and othereditorial work could be done in timeso that publication of the pamphletwould coincide with the anniversaryof the event. We were able to accom-plish this with the Guadalcanal,Tarawa, Guam, Iwo Jima, andOkinawa pamphlets. Three of our his-torians__Henry I. “Bud” Shaw, Jr., for-mer chief historian; J. Michael Miller,

former personal papers collectioncurator; and historian Charles R.Smith_were able to write pamphlets inthe series, and more of this below.

We brought up the shortfall inavailable authors in the History

and Museums Division by takingadvantage of some former Marinesand friends of the Marine Corps,accomplished authors who expressedan interest in being one of the writersin this ambitious 50th anniversary pro-gram. The one-time chance to write anofficial history not loaded with foot-notes and appendices had an appeal.Those individuals who took on a topicwell within their experience or exper-tise agreed to hew to the same guide-lines and editorial authority that gov-ern the historians of the History andMuseums Division. I found that as Iedited and otherwise prepared eachmanuscript for publication, somerequired little or no tweaking, whilesome others_and not too many, fortu-nately_needed considerable touchingup. Some manuscripts came fullyaccompanied by photos, maps, andsidebars. Others required map andphoto research. Such staff members asRichard A. Long, Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas, and I provided sidebarswhere needed, and Art Curator John T.Dyer, Jr., recommended certain piecesof combat art suitable for the variouspamphlets, while volunteer George C.MacGillivary recommended appropi-ate maps.

Finally, financial support for theauthors’ travel and research came inthe form of numerous small grantsmade possible by a bequest from theestate of Emilie H. Watts in memory ofher late husband, Thomas M. Watts,who served as a Marine and was therecipient of a Purple Heart, and laterfrom similar grants established by theMarine Corps Historical Foundation.

The first of the pamphlets to bepublished, Opening Moves:

Marines Gear Up for War, by BudShaw, appeared in March 1992. In it,he looked at the pre-World War II“Old Corps,” and its posture on theeve of war when the Marine Corpswas about the size of the New YorkCity police force. He discussed the 20years of expeditionary duty during theso-called “Banana Wars,” and thedevelopment of amphibious warfaredoctrine at Quantico, leading to thepublication of that doctrine inTentative Manual for LandingOperations. The author also discussedthe various fleet landing exercises inwhich the doctrine was rehearsed andrefined, and the development of thevarious types of landing craft whichcame to be used in the Pacific War. Inthis pamphlet, Mr. Shaw spoke of theformation of the 1st and 2d MarineDivisions, and treated the growth ofMarine Corps aviation in the prewarperiod, and the aircraft it had in itsarsenal. He concluded by saying, “In ageneral sense, the Marine Corps was

Fortitudine, Summer 1997 5

ready to fight on 7 December 1941, asit has always been, regardless of size.”

The second and third pamphlets toappear were Infamous Day:

Marines at Pearl Harbor, 7 December1941 and First Offensive: The MarineCampaign for Guadalcanal. The PearlHarbor pamphlet was written byRobert J. “Bob” Cressman, a formerMarine Corps Historical Center refer-ence historian who is now with theNaval Historical Center, and J. MichaelWenger, a freelance military historian.

In their history, Cressman andWenger, both of whom have writtenextensively about Marine Corps andnaval operations in World War II, relat-ed the response to the Japanese sneakattack on 7 December 1941 by Marineson board Navy ships anchored inPearl Harbor, Marines stationed at thebarracks in the Navy Yard, and thoseat the Ewa Mooring Mast Field. Theauthors pointed out that many of theMarines who survived the attackwould go on to fight the enemy insubsequent operations of the PacificWar.

Mr. Shaw’s second pamphlet forthe World War II series docu-

mented the actions of the 1st MarineDivision (Reinforced) under the com-mand of MajGen Alexander A.Vandegrift in the landings onGuadalcanal, Tanambogo, and Gavutuin the first U.S. offensive of World WarII. Guadalcanal was a very complex

operation, as the author explained inhis history, telling of such major mat-ters as the Navy-Marine Corps com-mand relationship in amphibious land-ings, the combat-testing and -refine-ment of amphibious warfare doctrine,land- and carrier-based air operations,logistics at Guadalcanal, naval opera-tions in the waters around Guadal-canal, and the influence of all of theseelements, and more, on the overallvictory at Guadalcanal. Mr. Shaw alsotold of the ill-fated Japanese attemptsto throw the Marines off the island,and in the enemy’s failure to do so,how the myth of Japanese invincibilitywas punctured. Equally important isthe story of Marine air at Guadalcanaland veteran aviator BGen Roy S.Geiger’s Cactus Air Force. This pam-phlet, like many of the others in theseries, was replete with contemporaryphotographs and combat art not pre-viously seen.

Following not too long after theGuadalcanal history was Col James

A. Donovan’s Outpost in the NorthAtlantic: Marines in the Defense ofIceland. The choice of Col Donovanas author of this pamphlet was partic-ularly fortuitous because, as a secondlieutenant, he was a member of the 1stBattalion, 6th Marines, 1st ProvisionalMarine Brigade, when it was deployedto Iceland to join British forces todefend that country from a potentialNazi takeover. Col Donovan provideda good picture of life in a prewarMarine infantry battalion as it pre-pared for war, and then deployment toan unknown destination. He told ofthe brigade’s eight-month stay onIceland under conditions for whichthe Marines were not prepared, eitherin dress or equipment. Col Donovangave a good picture of the day-to-day,often boring, conditions of theMarines as they trained in an unfamil-iar environment, and how they wereable to keep busy in the long, darkdays of winter. For them, the highlightof the deployment was the day thatPrime Minister Winston S. Churchillreviewed a parade of the Allied garri-son. This pamphlet is particularly strik-ing because of the inclusion of ColDonovan’s contemporary sketches,

many of which were seen here for thefirst time

Bob Cressman’s second title in theseries was A Magnificent Fight:Marines in the Battle for Wake Island.Although the gallant and heroic storyof the Wake Marines had been toldmany times before, the exhaustive andcomplete research the author accom-plished for the pamphlet gave a freshnew perspective. As a matter of fact,the pamphlet served as the basis for afull-length book by Cressman, laterpublished by the Naval Institute Press.By means of maps, illustrations, andfirst-hand accounts_both Americanand Japanese_the author provided analmost minute-to-minute account ofwhat happened on Wake from justbefore the first bombs were dropped


to the point when the entire garrisonwas surrendered. In between was amoving description of the valorousattempts of both the reduced force ofMarine aviators and ground crewmenand all others, Marines, sailors, andcivilians on the island to force theenemy to make an extraordinary effortto take Wake.

The first of retired Marine ColJoseph H. “Joe” Alexander’s three

pamphlets in the series appeared inNovember 1993, in time for the com-memoration of the 50th anniversary ofthe horrific landing and battle onTarawa. In Across the Reef: The MarineAssault of Tarawa, Alexander meldedthe material of previously published

official histories together with the per-sonal reminiscences of Tarawa veter-ans found in the Center’s Oral HistoryCollection. In addition, he used thepersonal papers and photographsfound in the Personal PapersCollection here, as well as somenever-before-seen photographs ob-tained from other sources. The authorconstructed, step by bloody step, thestory of the most furious 76 hours inMarine Corps history, which began on20 November 1943. During thosehours, the outcome was sometimes indoubt. Col Alexander clearly outlinedthe bravery and leadership of officersand enlisted Marines alike in his mov-ing narrative. Like Mr. Cressman, ColAlexander expanded his pamphletinto a full-length book, UtmostSavagery: The Three Days of Tarawa,which also was published by theNaval Institute Press, to great criticalacclaim. As a matter of fact, in 1995, itearned him the Wallace M. Greene, Jr.,Book Award presented by the MarineCorps Historical Foundation; theFranklin and Theodore RooseveltNaval History Prize given in 1995 bythe Navy League of New York and theRoosevelt Foundation; and the 1996Alfred Thayer Mahan Award forHistory given by the Navy League ofthe United States.

Another pamphlet appearing at thesame time was Up the Slot:

Marines in the Central Solomons, writ-ten by Maj Charles D. Melson, USMC(Ret), a former member of the Historyand Museums Division staff. MajMelson told the story of the fightingwhich took place in mid-1943 in theCentral Solomons at New Georgia asthe Allies climbed up the Solomonschain, beginning with the landing onGuadalcanal in August 1942 and end-ing with the 1 November 1943 inva-sion of Bougainville at EmpressAugusta Bay. Maj Melson looked atthe New Georgia operation from thepoint of view of the Army and MarineCorps ground units; the activities ofthe Marine defense and raider battal-ions; and the role played by Marine airover New Georgia and up and downthe Solomons chain.

Five new titles appeared in late

1993-early 1994. Two of them,Breaking the Outer Ring: MarineLandings in the Marshalls andBreaching the Marianas: The Battle forSaipan, were written by Capt John C.Chapin, USMCR (Ret), a veteran ofboth of those campaigns. Capt Chapinwas our most prolific writer in theseries, because before we closed itout, he did pamphlets on Bougainvilleand the liberation of the Philippines,more of which will be found below.The Marshalls combat narrative toldthe story of MajGen Harry Schmidt’s4th Marine Division which landed inthe Marshalls in January-February1944: on Roi-Namur by the 4thDivision; on Eniwetok by the 22dMarines together with the 106th


Infantry of the Army 7th InfantryDivision; on Majuro by the Marine VAmphibious Corps ReconnaissanceCompany; and on Kwajalein itself bythe 32d and 164th Infantry. The suc-cess of these operations did indeedbreach the outer barrier of Japanese-held islands which guarded the HomeIslands of Japan.

Chapin’s second pamphlet relatesthe story of the terrible battle for

Saipan, the length of which forced adelay in the landing on Guam. The 2dand 4th Marine Divisions, earlierblooded on Tarawa and in theMarshalls, respectively, forced heavilydefended beachheads against deadlyJapanese fire directed by observers

looking straight down on the beachesfrom the heights above. As the authorconcludes, “. . . the hard experienceson Saipan led to a variety of changes[in amphibious landings] which paidvaluable dividends in saving Americanlives in future Pacific campaigns. Andthe loss of the island was a strategicstrike from which the Japanese neverrecovered . . . .”

In an entirely separate theater,Marines fought A Different War:Marines in Europe and North Africa.In his history, LtCol Harry W. Edwards,USMC (Ret), a former head of theMarine Corps historical program andcommander of the Marine Detachmentat the American Embassy, London,near the end of World War II, answersfor all time what Marines did inEurope during the war. Edwards dealswith the missions of Marines assignedto the Office of Strategic Services(OSS) in Europe and North Africa; theMarine Barracks in Londonderry,Northern Ireland, and its bagpipeband; and the individual seniorMarines serving on the staffs of thecommands heading up the NorthAfrican, Italian, and Normandy land-ings. He also deals with the Marinedetachments on board U.S. Navy cap-ital ships in European waters.

Former Marine Corps combat corre-spondent, Capt Cyril J. O’Brien, USMC(Ret), drew upon his own experienceswhen he wrote Liberation: Marines inthe Recapture of Guam. As an enlisted

CC, O’Brien covered and wrote dis-patches about the fighting on theisland. The defeat of the Japanese onGuam meant the recapture of the firstpiece of American territory lost to theJapanese in the early days of WorldWar II.

Cdr Peter B. Mersky, USNR (Ret), awidely published writer on mili-

tary aircraft, prepared Time of the Aces:Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942-1944. As the title suggests, this is thestory of Marine airmen who rose fromHenderson Field on Guadalcanal andfrom other fields on islands up theSolomons chain to successfully chal-lenge experienced Japanese fighterand bomber pilots. From the two yearsof the Solomons campaign, beginningwith the 7 August 1942 landing of the1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal,more than 70 Marine acesemerged_pilots who had shot down atleast five planes_11 of whom wereawarded the Medal of Honor. An inter-esting addition to his pamphlet wasinformation about the Japanese pilotsand planes Allied aviators met in theskies over the Solomon Islands.

As the WWII commemorative peri-od began drawing to a close, we

continued busily to publish ourseries of pamphlets. Added to thegroup was A Close Encounter: TheMarine Landing on Tinian, writtenby Richard Harwood, himself a veter-


an of Tinian, as well as of Tarawa,Saipan, and Iwo Jima. At the time ofwriting this history, Harwood hadrecently retired as deputy managingeditor of The Washington Post, butwas continuing his journalistic careeras a syndicated columnist. AdmRaymond A. Spruance, a senior com-mander in the Pacific War, called theshore-to-shore landing on Tinian ofthe 2d and 4th Marine Division on 24July 1944 the most perfect amphibiousassault of the war, and certainly lesscostly than the Saipan landing whichpreceded it. After a series of suicidalJapanese counterattacks, the Marinesrapidly drove south across the island.“The fighting,” 4th Marine Divisioncommander MajGen Clifton B. Catesreported, “was different from mostany that we had experienced becauseit was good terrain . . . . It was a goodclean operation and I think the menreally enjoyed it.”

Cape Gloucester: The Green Infernoreturned the series to the

Solomons campaigns. It was writtenby Bernard C. Nalty, a former civilianhistorian with both the Marine Corpsand the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who hadretired after 20 years as a civilian his-torian with the Air Force historicalprogram. In this pamphlet, we learnedthat, after a period of rest and rehabil-itation in Australia followingGuadalcanal, the 1st Marine Divisioncame under Gen Douglas MacArthur’sSixth Army for the landing on 26

December 1943 at Cape Gloucester,on the island of New Britain. Here,Marines found that as they swept eastwith a mission of destroying the majorenemy base at Rabaul at the tip of theisland, the terrain was every bit asmuch of an enemy as the Japanese.The three-month operation resulted inthe destruction of both enemy forcesand their vital supplies. In the end, theMarines did not have to captureRabaul, since it was neutralized byAllied planes flying from airfieldsquickly prepared by Seabees onBougainville and by planes rising fromthe decks of aircraft carriers. PeterMersky’s Time of the Aces . . . tells ofthis aspect of the war.

In our planning, we made certainthat one of the titles in the serieswould deal with the women Marinesin the war. For this title, we calledupon Col Mary V. Stremlow, USMCR(Ret), a former member of the MarineCorps Historical Foundation Board ofDirectors and the author of the officialA History of Women Marines, 1946-1977, which we published. Thenotion of using women to relieve maleMarines “for essential combat duty”initially was unpopular on all MarineCorps levels. But as women wereincorporated into the Corps, attitudeschanged and adjustments were made,largely owing to the excellent individ-ual reputations of Women Reservistsand top-quality leaders such as ColRuth Cheney Streeter, first Director ofWomen Marines. By war’s end, less

than three years after the formation ofthe Marine Corps Women’s Reserve,18,460 active-duty women held assign-ments in more than 200 occupationalfields at Marine bases throughout theUnited States and in Hawaii.MajGenComdt Thomas Holcomb, whoinitially opposed having women in theCorps, paid them a simple but distincthonor when he said: “Like mostMarines, when the matter first cameup I didn’t believe women could serveany useful purpose in the MarineCorps . . . . Since then I’ve changedmy mind.”

T he Right to Fight: African-Amer-ican Marines in World War II was

Bernard C. Nalty’s second title in theseries. He was particularly suited to beauthor of this history, for he was theco-author of a 13-volume series,Blacks in the United States ArmedForces: Basic Documents. In The Rightto Fight . . ., Nalty told the story of therecruitment of African-Americans intothe Marine Corps in 1942, and theirtraining at a segregated boot camp,Montford Point, in westernmost CampLejeune, North Carolina. Nalty relatedthe activation of two African-AmericanMarine defense battalions, the 51stand 52d, and a host of ammunitionand depot companies which support-ed Marine divisions in combat in thePacific War. In telling this story, hedoesn’t gloss over the fact that youngAfrican-Americans had to fight for“The Right to Fight,” in order with


validity to call themselves “Marines.”Col Joe Alexander’s second title for

this series was Closing In: Marines inthe Seizure of Iwo Jima. Like his pam-phlet about the Tarawa landing, this,too, was well received. As is known,Iwo Jima was the largest all-Marineamphibious operation of World War II.Seventy-two thousand assaulted theheavily fortified island in February1945. In 36 days of fighting against adisciplined force of deeply entrenchedJapanese, the Marines achieved totalvictory, attaining all tactical objectivesand destroying a reinforced enemydivision while doing so. The victorywas not without cost. The landingforce sustained 26,000 casualties. Morethan 6,000 died. Twenty-two Marines,four Navy hospital corpsmen, and oneNavy landing craft skipper wereawarded the Medal of Honor. Half ofthem were posthumous awards. AsCol Alexander so well demonstrated inwriting about Iwo Jima, FAdm ChesterNimitz was exactly right when he saidof the operation, “Among theAmericans who served on Iwo Jima,uncommon valor was a commonvirtue.” These words are now chiseledinto the granite base of the MarineCorps Memorial at Arlington NationalCemetery.

Prolific author and historian Maj JonT. Hoffman, USMCR, biographer of

MajGen Merritt A. Edson, wrote FromMakin to Bougainville: Marine Raidersin the Pacific War. When it appeared,

many former members of Edson’sRaiders, the 1st Raider Battalion, wroteto say that the title should have been“From Tulagi to Bougainville,” sincethe landings on Tulagi took place ear-lier than the one on Makin. Perhapsthey are right. In any case, in this pam-phlet, Maj Hoffman told of the devel-opment of the raider concept in theMarine Corps, the formation anddeployment in combat of the firstraider units, and of LtCols Edson andEvans F. Carlson, the two key MarineCorps personalities and commandersin this evolution. Hoffman also relatedMarine Corps attitudes concerning theestablishment of raider units, and theunhappiness of infantry unit comman-ders when outstanding officers andenlisted Marines opted to join or wererecruited by one of the two new raiderbattalions. He wrote of the 2d RaiderBattalion’s raid on Makin Island, 17-18August 1942_indeed after the 7 Augustlanding on Tulagi of the 1st RaiderBattalion. The Makin raid was the onlyoperation of its type conducted byMarine raiders in the Pacific War.Hoffman also wrote about the dramat-ic action in which the 1st Battalionwas involved_the landing on Tulagion 7 August and the Battle of “Bloody”or “Edson’s” Ridge on Guadalcanal thenights of 12-13 and 14-15 September1942. While raider units as such lastedfor only about two years, as this pam-phlet told, in those two years, Marineraiders performed ably in combat andtheir accomplishments are firmly set in

Marine Corps lore, traditions, and his-tory.

Maj Melson’s second pamphlet inthe series was Condition Red:

Marine Defense Battalions in WorldWar II. It should be noted at the out-set that the editorial expenses of thisparticular history were supported bygenerous grants from the DefenseBattalion Association and several of itsindividual members. In his history, MajMelson traced the origins and activitiesof the 20 defense battalions stood upby the Marine Corps in the war. As thepossibility of war with Japan loomed,Commandant of the Marine Corps GenThomas Holcomb seized upon theidea of forming defense battalions as ameans of increasing the Corps’strength beyond the prewar figure of19,000 officers and men. Just beforethe onset of war, the first of several900-man defense battalions tookshape in the United States. The mis-sion of these units was to “hold areasfor the ultimate offensive operationsof the fleet.” Of the seven defense bat-talions organized by late 1941, onestood guard in Iceland, five served inthe Pacific, and another trained on theWest Coast for eventual deployment tothe Pacific. The first real test of thedefense battalions came with the sav-age air attacks on Wake Island on 8December 1941. After 15 days, Wake’sdefenders, with limited means at theirdisposal, sank one warship with aerialbombs and another with coast artillery


fire, and during the final Japaneseassault on the island, the Marinesinflicted hundreds of casualties on theenemy. From the beginning at Wake,Melson covered the major activities ofPacific-deployed battalions. As thePacific War drew to a close, many bat-talions found themselves in the back-water of the war, “struggling withboredom rather than fighting anarmed enemy.”

One of the most difficult battles inthe Pacific War for the Marines

was described by a veteran of thatlanding in Bloody Beaches: TheMarines at Peleliu. BGen Gordon D.Gayle, USMC (Ret), was a major com-manding the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines,1st Marine Division, in the unrelentingfighting which began on 15 September1944. On that date, the division land-ed against heavy opposition on anisland dominated by a long, precipi-tous coral ridge, the Umurbrogol, hon-eycombed with caves and masked bydense jungle. Here the Japanese con-structed defensive positions whichmade Peleliu a veritable, formidablefortress. It was in the early fightingthat then-Maj Gayle exhibited theintrepid leadership which earned himthe Navy Cross. Although the beach-head was established on D-Day andafter five days of heavy fighting thesouthern end of the island was inMarine hands, the battle was far fromover. Bypassing the island’s heavilyfortified central ridges, the 1st MarineDivision secured Peleliu’s northern tipand adjoining islands. Yet, theUmurbrogol Mountain with the enemydeeply dug into its caves presented amajor, festering problem as theMarines concentrated on reducingthese positions. In the end, reductionof this redoubt cost both the 1stMarine Division, and the Army 81stInfantry Division, which relieved it,heavy casualties. This pamphlet wasparticularly enhanced by the inclusionof the striking artwork accomplishedby Texan artist Tom Lea, who accom-panied 1st Division Marines ashore.His vivid paintings brought the realityand horror of Peleliu to life.

The fourth and last Pacific battle ofthe 1st Marine Division was chronicled

by Col Alexander’s third pamphlet inthe series, The Final Campaign:Marines in the Victory on Okinawa. Asdid the other titles in the commemora-tive series, these two rang true andaccurately portrayed the mind-bog-gling realities of the horrors of Peleliuand Okinawa. Although the troops ofIII Amphibious Corps (1st and 6thMarine Divisions) and the Army XXIVCorps (7th and 96th InfantryDivisions) landed unopposed on 1April 1945, wondering where theJapanese were, they were not long infinding out. What was a “cakewalk”landing would turn into a nightmarebattle lasting more than 80 days. Forthe troops on the ground, the aircraftin the air, and naval shipping offshore,there was no respite. Col Alexanderwas quite successful in bringingtogether all the disparate elementswhich led to the defeat of the enemy.And with the publication of theOkinawa pamphlet, our commemora-tion of the World War II battles of theMarine Corps ended, but not quite.

We expect to publish the last fourpamphlets in our series shortly, bring-ing the collection to a grand total of 25histories. Prolific Capt Chapin is theauthor of two more histories, Top ofthe Ladder: Marine Operations in theNorthern Solomons and And a FewMarines: Marines in the Liberation ofthe Philippines. The first will tell thestory of the Bougainville operationand the diversionary action atChoiseul, and touch on the beginning

of Allied air operations from the Pivastrips on Bougainville. With the com-pletion of their ground operations onBougainville, Marine units refocusedtheir attention on the Central Pacificand the bloody battles fought there. Inhis Philippines pamphlet, Capt Chapinwill tell about the support Marineartillery units provided to the Armyunits committed to recapturing thePhilippine Islands. An importantaspect of this campaign was the roleof Marine aviation in rendering closeair support to Army infantry unitscommitted to annihilating the enemyin the Philippines. The success of theefforts of Marine air is demonstrated inthe laudatory messages Army com-manders sent to the Marine aviationcommand and their demand for all theMarine air support they could get.

J. Michael Miller’s From Shanghaito Corregidor: Marines in the Defenseof the Philippines will tell the heroicstory of the 4th Marines, stationed formany years in Shanghai, and theirdeployment to the Philippines on theeve of World War II. The regimentfought valorously on Bataan Peninsulaand on the island fortress ofCorregidor to no avail. Relentlessly,the Japanese army overcame allAmerican resistance. The story willend with the burning of its regimentalcolors by the 4th Marines and the sur-vivors herded into captivity and theso-called “Bataan Death March,” anevent so monstrous and inhumanethat it remains an indelible blot on thehistory of World War II.

Bringing the series to a close willbe Charles R. Smith’s Securing the

Peace: Marines in the Occupation ofJapan. In this pamphlet, Mr. Smith,one of our senior historians, will tellthe story of the landing of VAmphibious Corps troops on the westcoast of Kyushu and their deployment.Not knowing what to expect, andcombat-ready to repel all anticipatedJapanese reaction to the occupation,the Marines instead found a popula-tion sick of war and ready to cooper-ate with the occupying forces. Formany of the combat troops whofought across the Pacific, this was asatisfying and relieving situation. And


for many of the Marines who took partin the occupation, their memories ofthe postwar Japan they discovered areprobably the pleasantest of all thememories they have of the war.

Now that our World War II com-memorative series is nearly com-

pleted, I think we can look back atthis effort with some pleasure andpride. That is not to say that thereweren’t some glitches and errors alongthe way, which I believe we havecleared up.

We did receive some satisfyingpraise such as “It’s rewarding toreceive the WWII CommemorativeSeries Pamphlets. All are interestingand sober reminders of the long hardmarch to Tokyo. Bless all campaignsand . . . the men who were there.”And then, one letter that said, “TheCommemorative Series is great! Many

new details and information.” That isexactly what we hoped to provide ineach title. Dr. Philip K. Lundeberg,Curator Emeritus of the NationalMuseum of American History, and oneof the leading experts on naval histo-ry wrote:

Many thanks for the fascinatingUp the Slot and Time of the Aces,latest in your excellent series onMarines in World War II. I amimpressed by the new genera-tion of authors this series intro-duces. These publicationsemploy an exceptional range ofwell-chosen graphics: charts,photos, combat art and moderninterpretive sketches. Togetherthey illuminate a text of richdimension: tactical, logistic,strategic, technological and, notleast, the human equation. PeterMersky’s “other side of the hill”

Historical Quiz

From ‘Amphibian Tractors’ to LVTsin the Marine Corps

by Sgt Dieter Stenger USMCCuratorial Assistant

Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum

1. In the early 1920s, who produced the study entitledAdvanced Base Operations in Micronesia that examined therequirements to seize advanced naval bases, based onJapanese mandates in the Pacific?

2. Who, in the mid-1930s, invented the amphibious tractor,nicknamed the “Alligator,” that would revolutionizeamphibious warfare?

3. Which Marine captain was directly involved in the earlytesting of the amphibian tractor as the Assistant G-4 of the1st Marine Brigade and, in 1965, served as CommandingGeneral, Fleet Marine Force Pacific?

4. Company A, led by Second Lieutenant Victor J. Croizatand belonging to which amphibian tractor battalion, leftDunedin, Florida, on the morning after the attack on PearlHarbor, for New River, North Carolina, to join the 1stMarine Division?

5. What tactical role did the amphibian tractor playthroughout the Central Solomons campaign that began withGuadalcanal on 7 August 1942 and ended with the landing

on Cape Gloucester on 15 December 1943?

6. What famous bloody battle in November 1943 markedthe turning point in the tactical employment of the amphib-ian tractor from cargo to personnel carrier?

7. The LVT (A) 1, or armored amphibian tractor, was fittedwith the M3A1 “Stuart” tank turret. What caliber was themain gun on the LVT (A) 1?

8. Besides the .30-caliber and .50-caliber machine guns,37mm cannon, and 75mm howitzer (LVT [A] 4), what otherweapons system expanded the tactical capability of theamphibian tractor as demonstrated on Peleliu?

9. On February 1945, what island was assaulted by morethan 448 amphibian tractors belonging to the 2d ArmoredAmphibian Tractor Battalion, and the 3d, 5th, 10th, and11th Amphibian Tractor Battalions and is considered thelargest all-Marine battle?

10. Where is the World War II-Korea LVT Museum locatedtoday?

(Answers on page 13)

account of Japanese aviators inthe Solomons places the achieve-ments of Marine Corps airmen inthe finest perspective. Here againwe find the wisdom of honestevaluation of hardy opponents.Quite a far cry from the naivefocus of our historical accountsof World War I.

This, of course, was a heady letterfrom Dr. Lundeberg, but in it I

think he caught what we tried to do inthe series, and I hope that we accom-plished what we set out to do: honorthe Marine veterans of World War II;inform the current generation ofAmericans of the sacrifices theseMarines made to secure the peace andensure freedom for all; and, mostimportantly, educate today’s youngMarines about the traditions and histo-ry of their Corps. ❑ 1775❑


Quantico ‘Alligator’ Listed as Engineering Landmarkby Sgt Dieter Stenger, USMC

Curatorial Assistant, Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum

On the afternoon of 21 May, theRoebling “Alligator” amphibian

tractor on display in the Marine CorpsAir-Ground Museum was recognizedby the American Society of MechanicalEngineers (ASME) as a HistoricMechanical Engineering Landmark.The Society’s Landmarks Program illu-minates the national technologicalheritage and serves to encourage thepreservation of the physical remains ofhistorically important works. Since1971, when the program was estab-lished, 193 historic appointments aslandmarks, sites, and heritage collec-tions have been made. Recognition ofthe “Alligator” had been an ongoingproject for the regional branch of theASME over the past two years.

Brought to national public attentionin a Life Magazine issue in 1937, theamphibian tractor was an obscureinvention by steel magnate and entre-preneur Donald Roebling. The “Alli-gator” was designed for rescue workin the Florida Everglades, until it wasdiscovered by the Marine Corps. In

1941, the first LVT-1 was delivered fortesting to Dunedin, Florida, where thenucleus of the future amphibian trac-tor battalions was formed in the smalltown’s hotel. The amphibian tractorelevated amphibious warfare to newlevels of combat efficiency and effec-tiveness during World War II, provid-ing a solid foundation for the FleetMarine Force doctrine that had beennewly established in 1933. TheRoebling “Alligator” was the progeni-tor of several generations of the land-ing vehicle, tracked (LVT), that wasrenamed the Assault AmphibianVehicle (AAV) in the 1970s. Today, theAAV is on active duty serving with sev-eral assault amphibian battalionsaround the world. The newest gener-ation is the advanced assault amphib-ian vehicle (AAAV), that will bring theall-important vehicle up to, or evenbeyond, modern weapons systemsstandards.

The “Alligator” on display in theAir-Ground Museum is the third

At right, the amphibian tractor “Alligator,” on display at the Air-GroundMuseum, was designated a historical mechanical engineering landmark by theAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers.

MajGen Leslie M. Palm, Director, Marine Corps Staff at Headquarters MarineCorps, left, joins History and Museums Director Col Michael F. Monigan, center,and Air-Ground Museum Exhibits Specialist Ronnie D. Alexander at reception.


Robert M. Vogel, left, and K. H. Shankar, center, present the Landmark plaque toBGen Edwin C. Kelley, Jr., CG, Marine Corps Base, Quantico.

amphibian tractor that Roebling pro-duced in the 1930s. This model, seri-al number 18R658, is the one whichthe Marine Corps decided to purchasewith military specifications. Originallydonated by the Roebling family to thelocal Gandy Marine Corps ReserveFacility in Florida, the “Alligator” stoodon display in Gandy to commem-morate both the tractor and it’s inven-tor, Donald Roebling. In 1984, the“Alligator” was brought to Quantico,restored, and placed on exhibit in the“Early Years” hangar of the MarineCorps Air-Ground Museum.

The Engineering Society viewing ofthe original “Alligator” com-

menced at the Air-Ground Museumwith a historical exhibit that traced thedevelopment and restoration of theamphibian tractor. Shortly after thearrival of MajGen Leslie M. Palm,USMC, Director of the Marine CorpsStaff, the party moved to the MarineCorps Research Center. After a wel-come by BGen Edwin C. Kelley, Jr.,USMC, Commanding General, MarineCorps Base, Quantico, the ASMELandmark Programs were brieflyexplained by Mr. Robert M. Vogel,Secretary of the Society’s NationalHistory and Heritage Committee. A

history of the “Alligator” was given byMuseums Branch Curator of MaterialHistory, Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas.A plaque was then presented by theformer President of the ASME, Mr.Robert B. Gaither, to the Marine Corps.Accepting this recognition were BGenKelley and Col Michael F. Monigan,USMC, Director of Marine CorpsHistory and Museums. The contentsof the plaque appear at right above.

Closing comments were providedby Mr. K. H. Shankar, Chairman ofASME’s Northern Virginia Section, whothen invited the assembly for refresh-ments at a reception co-hosted by theASME and the Marine Corps HistoricalFoundation.

The unequaled performance of theamphibian tractor during WWII is

more than deserving of the highestaccolades. As a combat assault vehi-cle, the LVT shuttled thousands of menand tons of materials to the thresholdof the Japanese-held Pacific islands.Beginning at Guadalcanal in 1942 andending on Okinawa in 1945,Roebling’s humble experimentationwith amphibian vehicles brought hislegacy and contribution to the fore-front of modern amphibious warfare. ❑ 1775❑

NATIONAL HISTORICMECHANICAL ENGINEERING

LANDMARKALLIGATOR AMPHIBIAN

1940This vehicle, originally designedfor civil rescue work in floodedareas and travel in swampyregions, was developed byDonald Roebling in 1935. It wasmodified for use as a ship-to-shore transport for men and sup-plies during WWII. The paddle-tread propulsion system made ita true amphibian, the predeces-sor of all tracked landing vehi-cles. This example is believedto be “Alligator Three,” proto-type of over 15,000 various typesand models after the war.Development of the helicopterprecluded further civilian appli-cations.

Answers to the Historical Quiz

From ‘Tractors’ to LVTsIn the Marine Corps

(Questions on page 11)

1. Major Earl H. Ellis

2. Mr. Donald Roebling

3. Captain Victor H. Krulak

4. 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion

5. Logistical support, as amphibiancargo-carriers that hauled ammunitionand medicine, evacuated the wound-ed, and brought other supplies intothe beachhead.

6. Tarawa

7. 37mm

8. The flamethrower

9. Iwo Jima

10. Assault Amphibian School Bat-alion, Marine Corps Base, CampPendleton, California


Wealth of Papers Allows HQMC Archives to ShareBy Frederick J. GraboskeHead, Archives Section

The Marine Corps Historical Centerhas nearly 2,700 collections of

donated personal papers. They coverthe period from the Revolutionary Warthrough the recent humanitarian assis-tance to Somalia. In addition to these,we have hundreds more currentlyawaiting processing. Given the vol-ume and the quality of materialsalready on hand, it is now incumbenton us to become more selective in thecollections we are willing to accept.Our focus is on memoirs and lettershome, the kinds of materials that pro-vide a personal feel to records of com-bat. We ask that prospective donorscontact the head of the PersonalPapers Unit, Amy C. Cohen (202-433-3396, DSN 288-3396) prior to sendingmaterial to us.

Our mission is the collection ofmaterials on the general history of theMarine Corps with special emphasison combat operations. There are otherarchival repositories within the MarineCorps with specialized collections.The Parris Island and San Diego com-mand museums have collections relat-ed to the history and activities of thoseposts. The Marine Corps UniversityResearch Center Archive at Quanticohas collections related to that post andto the activities and functions of theMarine Corps Schools. If offered mate-rials which are not precisely suitablefor our collection, we often can offeradvice on the appropriate repository.

Once materials have been accept-ed and processed for inclusion in

our collections, they remain there per-manently. We do not destroy materialbecause we need the space, becausewe no longer think it is important, orfor any other reason. Only twice in thepast five years have we transferredunprocessed collections to otherrepositories, in both cases because theinterest to Marine historians was smallin relation to the volume of paper.Only our Director or Deputy Directorcan approve such transfers, known asde-accessions. In one case, the papers

of a professor of amphibious warfareat the Naval Academy were sent to theAcademy’s own archive. In the othercase, the papers of a prominent jour-nalist who once had served as aMarine OSS officer were sent to theLibrary of Congress.

Not long ago we cooperated withCBS News as they prepared to

interview former Assistant Comman-dant Gen Walter E. Boomer on theGulf War. In return for the documentswe copied they provided videotapecopies of the broadcast version as wellas outtakes. They have no objection toresearchers viewing the tapes, butthey assert their rights under the copy-right law to approve the making ofany further copies.

Once we have accepted a collec-tion, we decide on its priority of pro-cessing. There are two criteria: impor-tance to Marine Corps history andresearcher interest. The first criterioncovers the papers of former Comman-dants. This year we have processedthe papers of Gen Carl E. Mundy andcurrently are working on a 50,000-page accretion to Gen Alfred M. Gray’spapers. Both of these projects wereentrusted to one from among ourexcellent group of volunteers, retiredCol Alfred J. Croft. In addition, we are

organizing records related to theCommandant’s House; these are in thecare of another volunteer, CharlesEngelhardt. There are accretions toseveral other Commandants’ papers,which we intend to complete thissummer. Not infrequently, the pro-cessing of accretions exposes weak-nesses in the original description andarrangement, which we then correct.

The second criterion, researcherinterest, involves other sections of

the Historical Branch. The ReferenceSection suggested a collection relatedto the Marine Corps Memorial; that hasbeen completed. The Chief Historiansuggested the Korean War photosabout which I previously have writtenin this column. There are nearly 5,000of them, almost all with the originalcaptions. We expect that project to becomplete this month, so that we willbe able to assist the historians prepar-ing our Korean War commemorativebooklets, and other historians prepar-ing for the 50th anniversary of thatwar.

For 10 years we have relied onGeorge MacGillivray, another of ourexcellent group of volunteeers, to ser-vice our map collection. He comes inon Tuesdays, and we have held allmap inquiries until then. Last summer,

Archives volunteer Charles Engelhardt currently is organizing records in the col-lection relating to the Commandant’s House, below, at Marine Barracks,Washington, D.C. More such volunteers are needed.


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interns helped reorganize the collec-tion into our new map cases. Thissummer other interns are creating adatabase of the 10,000 maps. We hopethe project will be finished by the endof the summer. Then we can provideimmediate responses on our holdings.MacGillivray will handle the moretechnical questions, and the databasewill assist him as well.

The projects described above alsohave a high volume. Although the

number of unprocessed collectionsremains uncomfortably high, we aremaking significant progress in reduc-ing their volume: approximately 20%this year. We would like to acceleratethis progress: if anyone you know inthe Washington area is interested inbecoming a volunteer, we would behappy to talk about opportunitieshere. Also, if you know of college stu-dents looking for internship experi-ence, we would be interested in talk-ing with them about working here.Interns are given a minor stipend foreach day’s work. Anyone interested involunteering or interning here maycontact the interns’ coordinator, Mr.Charles R. Smith at (202) 433-4244, orme at (202) 433-3469. ❑ 1775❑

install the tracks, and then reinstalledwhen their work was finished. Thisoffered an opportunity for the staff to perform some preventative mainte-nance on many of the artifacts on per-manent exhibit in the cases.

At the end of the Time Tunnel, vis-itors will see that the last case and

facing panel have been completelyredone. The old painted medium-bluedecorative trim around the case hasnow been replaced by carpeting. Theinterior of the case accurately reflectsthe Marine Corps of 1997, and featurescurrent uniforms, equipment, wea-pons, and insignia which are all armsand specialties. In addition, somecivilian items are included to under-score the Commandant’s concernabout family values The panel on theopposing wall features large coloredphotographs which are integral to thewhole panel. In the center of thepanel is a touch-screen computermonitor “kiosk” which features aninteractive program about today’sMarine Corps.

A planning team, made up of staffmembers from each section of theDivision and the Reservists of MTUDC-7, has been working together toformulate the final plans for therestructuring of the entire TimeTunnel. The final product will closelyresemble the work that has been doneon the last case. Each of the fiveexhibit cases following the KoreanWar exhibit have to be redesignated,removed, redesigned, and replaced.Several of the exhibits will be new(Desert Storm, for example) and will,of course, have all new items whichhave been collected in the field inrecent years.

Since some of the other exhibits willbe consolidated, they will have

some significant items which havebeen on display for years redistributedamong them, with some new addi-tions. The first 15 cases will be reno-vated in place, with many of the arti-facts being replaced by others fromthe reserve collections. Each oppos-ing panel on the other side of the hall-way will also be reworked. ❑ 1775❑

Marine Corps Museum Gets Sprucing Up

(Continued from page 24)


Current Chronology of the Marine Corps

Bosnian Aid, Recruit Training Changes Marked 1996 by Ann A. FerranteReference Section

T he “Current Chronology of theMarine Corps” highlights impor-

tant events in contemporary MarineCorps history. It has been compiled bythe Reference Section for the past 14years by researching literally hun-dreds of pages of primary and sec-ondary sources each week. Below areselected entries from the 1996chronology:

11 Jan - President Clinton signed an ExecutiveOrder establishing an Armed Forces ServiceMedal to recognize members of the ArmedForces who serve in significant foreign opera-tions such as peacekeeping or prolongedhumanitarian operations, yet not against armedopposition or involving hostile action. It wouldbe awarded only for operations for which noother U.S. service medal is approved. Themedal would be effective for service on or after1 June 1992, corresponding with the beginningdate of U.S. assistance in Bosnia.

17 Jan - After 55 years in the Navy Annex build-ing in Arlington, Virginia, Headquarters MarineCorps moved to new offices on the E-Ring ofthe Pentagon, adjacent to those of the Secretaryof the Navy. Commandant of the Marine CorpsGen Charles C. Krulak addressed an audience atthe dedication ceremony. Although the movewas not the first for Headquarters Marine Corps,which has been located at various sites in theWashington, D.C., area since 1800, it was per-haps the most significant link of the MarineCorps command with that of the other ArmedServices.

19 Jan - BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC(Retired), retired as the civilian Director ofMarine Corps History and Museums, a positionhe held since leaving active duty in 1978.General Simmons’ 54 years of cumulative ser-vice was marked during ceremonies inWashington, D.C., with the Commandant of theMarine Corps, Gen Charles C. Krulak, presiding.

26 Feb - 12 Mar - More than 4,200 Marinereservists from 38 different states participated inExercise Battle Griffin 96 held in Norway. Itwas the largest Marine Reserve exercise sched-uled for 1996. The exercise tested the NorwayAir-Landed Marine Air-Ground Task Force pro-gram, the Corps’ only land-based prepositioningprogram, and involved staging Marine Corpsequipment in specially constructed caves inNorway. The exercise also provided Marines anopportunity to train for combined-arms opera-tions in an extreme, cold-weather environment.

7 Mar - Three American servicemen were con-victed by a Japanese court of abduction andrape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl the previousSeptember, a crime that ignited a public outcryagainst the presence of American military baseson Okinawa. Most American bases and aboutthree-fifths of the 47,000 American troops inJapan are located on Okinawa. The twoMarines and one sailor were sentenced to 6 1/2- 7 years in a Japanese prison.

18 Mar - More than 500 Marines and 3,500Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel began amajor staff training exercise at Camp Blanding,Florida. Exercise Internal Look 96 took place toprepare for future crises in the Persian Gulf andwas the largest U.S. Central Command exercisewithin the United States this year. The CentralCommand last held an Internal Look exercise in1990 just before Iraq invaded Kuwait. GenColin Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefsof Staff, credited that 1990 exercise for prepar-ing U.S. planners to succeed in OperationsDesert Shield and Desert Storm.

27 Mar - President Clinton nominated MajGenCarol A. Mutter for appointment to the grade oflieutenant general and assignment as DeputyChief of Staff for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.Already the senior woman in the military, GenMutter, 50, was serving as Commander, MarineCorps Systems Command at Quantico, Virginia.Unfortunately, Gen Mutter would not make his-tory as the first woman in the U.S. military towear three stars. That honor went to VAdmPatricia Tracey who was nominated some sevenweeks after General Mutter but was officiallypromoted 10 July, 13 days before Gen Mutter.

20 Apr - In Operation Assured Response, a rein-forced company from the 22d MarineExpeditionary Unit (Special OperationsCapable) was airlifted into the U.S. Embassycompound in Monrovia, Liberia, in order to pro-vide security and assist the embassy and itsMarine detachment in evacuation of Americanand designated foreign citizens due to continu-ing political unrest and increased lawlessness inthe Liberian capital. Ten days later, several ofthe 270 Marines guarding the embassy returnedfire from Liberian street fighters, killing threeand wounding several more. Some 2,100 peo-ple were flown from the embassy to neighbor-ing countries and thousands of others assisted inleaving by commercial ships.

25 Apr - 20 May - Combined Joint Task ForceExercise 96/Purple Star linked the armed forcesof the U.S. and the United Kingdom in a corps-level wargame exercise that spanned militaryinstallations in Virginia, North Carolina, South

Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. It involvedmore than 53,000 total troops of whom38,000 were U.S. forces including Marinesfrom the II Marine Expeditionary Force(Forward) and the 24th Marine Exped-itionary Unit. The joint/combined exercisewas directed by Commander in Chief, U.S.Atlantic Command, General John J.Sheehan, USMC, and it was designed to rep-resent methods by which a coalition forcecould prepare for possible security chal-lenges.

5 May - A new memorial to American ser-vicemen who died in El Salvador, 1981-1992, was dedicated at Arlington NationalCemetery. The black granite marker is inmemory of five Marine Corps securityguards who were among 21 U.S. militarypersonnel who died while assigned to dutyin the then-embattled Central Americancountry. The memorial was sponsored byNo Greater Love, a Washington-based non-profit organization, that holds tributes forthe families of those who died serving theircountry overseas.

10 May - The lives of 14 U.S. servicemen (12Marines, one sailor, and one soldier) endedtragically when a CH-46E Sea Knight trans-port helicopter and an AH-1W Super Cobrahelicopter collided in the air over CampLejeune, North Carolina, while participatingin Combined Joint Task Force Exercise 96.The crash was the deadliest Marine trainingaccident in seven years. On 20 March 1989a CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter crashedinto a mountainside near Pohang, SouthKorea, during Exercise Team Spirit, killing19.

14 May - More than two decades after thefinal shots were fired in the Vietnam War,President Clinton signed an executive orderending Vietnam’s designation as a combatzone. The recommendation to end the com-bat zone status came from the Pentagon.The designation had been preserved forpeople declared missing from the VietnamWar, but the last government-acknowledgedprisoner of war was declared dead 19September 1994.

21 May - Marines from the 22d MarineExpeditionary Unit (Special OperationsCapable) responded to U.S. Embassy securi-ty requirements in the Central AfricanRepublic following a request from the U.S.ambassador for security assistance due tocivil unrest following an army mutiny.Marines in Operation Quick Response


processed departing personnel, conducted com-munications, and reinforced existing security forthe embassy. The 22d MEU(SOC) continued toprovide security at the American embassy in theLiberian capital, Monrovia, in Operation AssuredResponse.

7 Jun - Nine Marine lieutenants were foundguilty of at least one of four charges stemmingfrom a cheating scandal during August 1995 atthe Basic School, Quantico, Virginia. The ninelieutenants from Charlie Company were impli-cated in cheating on a land navigation finalexam. Officials discovered that at least 16 lieu-tenants were involved in a scheme where somestudents were given “cheat sheets.” Furtherinvestigations indicate that as many as half ofthe 250 officers in the company may have reliedon the lists.

12 Jun - The Marine Corps deployed its first fullaviation squadron to Bosnia-Herzegovina insupport of Task Force Eagle, the U.S. contingentassigned to NATO’s Operation Joint Endeavor.The 1st Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadronwould support the U.S. contingent of theMultinational Military Implementation Force byproviding field commanders with real-timeimagery for reconnaissance and surveillance.

14 Jun - Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 235was deactivated at Naval Air Station Miramar,San Diego, California. The “Death Angels” wasoriginally activated in 1943 and participated infour World War II campaigns as well as theVietnam War during 1966 - 1968.

17 Jun - Last February, changes in the conductof the semi-annual physical fitness test wereannounced in ALMAR 070/96 and included alonger run and more sit-ups for women, plus amodification in the execution of pull-ups formen. The above revisions remained valid butadditional guidance on the pull-ups as well asthe proposed scoring matrix was announced inALMAR 213/96. Of major concern to maleMarines is the implementation date of the “deadhang” pull-up (without “kipping”) that would be

implemented, along with the other revisions, on 1 January 1997 vice 1 July 1996.

Jul - The Marine Chemical and BiologicalIncident Response Force (CBIRF) based at CampLejeune, North Carolina, was a member of theU.S. joint task force keeping watch over theOlympics held in Atlanta. The new force wasmade up of 350 Marines and sailors. Its missionwas to respond swiftly to any threat in the U.S.or in a U.S. interest abroad, identify problems,decontaminate areas, treat casualties, and bol-ster local medical agencies’ treatment capabili-ties. Formed during April 1996, the CBIRFresponded in a security capacity after theCentennial Park bombing.

11 Jul - Col John R. Bourgeois retired after 17years as Director of “The President’s Own” U.S.Marine Band and Music Advisor to the WhiteHouse. The 25th Director in the band’s history,Colonel Bourgeois ended an acclaimed careerthat spanned nearly 40 years. The Marine Bandmarked the special occasion with a concert atDAR Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C. Thedirector’s baton was passed to Maj Timothy W.Foley.

20 Jul - 5 Aug - A number of Marine athletes par-ticipated in the Centennial Olympic Games heldin Atlanta, Georgia. Marine Cpl Tom Goughwas a standout, setting three Americanweightlifting records, including a 440.9-poundclean and jerk on his first attempt and a 369.3-pound snatch on his third attempt. Cpl Goughplaced 14th overall in the 91 kilo division in hisfirst Olympic appearance.

25 Jul - The Marines received authorization for12 more general officers after weeks of leadinga military services assault to break through afive-year-old congressional ceiling on the num-ber of authorized flag officers. The Marineswould be entitled to raise the number of activeduty generals from 68 to 80. It would give the

174,000-member Corps one more general than ithad in June 1945 when the force was 475,000strong.

30 Jul - Gen Charles C. Krulak, 31stCommandant of the Marine Corps, unveiled hisplan “Transformation” that would be a processof making Marines for the 21st century. GenKrulak’s vision of what the 21st century holdsfor U.S. Marines led to a new approach in train-ing Marines for warfighting. The Commandantcalled for making Marines tougher physically,mentally, and morally. The biggest changewould occur in the eleventh week of boot campwhen both male and female recruits would betested by the “Crucible,” a 54-hour event whichwould offer highly focused physical and mentalchallenges. Major changes under the transfor-mation program would begin at the recruitdepots during October.

16 Aug - Marine 1stLt Jeanne Buchanan becamea Naval Flight Officer and received her wings atgraduation at Pensacola Naval Air Station,Florida. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy,Lt Buchanan completed her training withTraining Squadron 86 and would go on to trainin the EA-6B Prowler electronic jamming jet.She is the second woman in the Marine Corps tobe “winged” and trained to fly an aircraft, andthe first in a fixed-wing tactical aircraft. The firstfemale Marine aviator, 1stLt Sarah Deal, wastrained to fly the heavy CH-53E Super Stalliontransport helicopter.

20 Aug - The U.S. Atlantic Command’s secondmonthly contingency readiness exercise at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, began when a reinforced pla-toon from U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic,departed for training as part of ExerciseFairwinds. The Army and Marine Corps alter-nated deployment of forces for this series ofexercises since July. Exercise Fairwinds, whichincluded engineering, medical, and securityforce training, began in April 1995 and wasdesigned to ensure that various U.S. militaryforces were prepared to deploy and conducttheir respective missions while remaining self-sustained.

1stLt Jeanne BuchananSquadron 235 Insignia

Gen Richard I. Neal


During the past year, the libraryhas been developing a computer-

based catalog of its holdings to sup-plement the traditional library cardcatalog. At this time, the catalog is inits test or developmental phase. Twothousand bibliographic records fromthe past 10 years have been loadedinto the computer along with InMagicsoftware, which was selected to makethe quick searching of records possi-ble.

The bibliographic citations from1843 to 1986 will be added to thecomputer catalog within a fewweeks, and then records of all theholdings can be searched by comput-er. It is the InMagic software whichmakes it possible to search eachword/term. The software also hasthe capability to accommodateimages within its textbase.

In the library’s case, its records,when taken from OCLC (OnlineLibrary Cataloging Center)__a biblio-graphic utility with more than 13,000member libraries, worldwide__are inMARC format (machine readable for-mat). InMagic has a MARC adaptorthat translates these MARC recordsinto standard English that can be easi-ly read.

The library’s holdings can besearched by author, title, publicationdate, publisher, or any key word in itsdatabase. Terms can be combined orlimited to make the searching as pre-cise as possible. The hope is that thecatalog is user friendly and effective.This same InMagic software would beappropriate for searching the Center’sother collections as in the future theirrecords are converted to electronicformat.

In accord with the Division’s mis-sion to promote the study of MarineCorps history, and with the traditionallibrary approach for sharing biblio-graphic information, it is planned tooffer copies of the diskettes of ourlibrary holdings to the Marine CorpsUniversity’s Research Center to incor-porate into its online catalog,“Chesty.”

We also plan to provide other inter-ested DOD and Marine Corps librariesa CD/ROM of our library hold-ings_libraries such as the NavalAcademy, the Naval War College, theNavy Department Library, and theMarine Corps base libraries. Also inthe future, it is hoped this catalog willbe internet accessible (and InMagichas available another adaptor to con-vert it to HTML for the World WideWeb). ❑ 1775❑

30 Aug - Approximately 570 Marines from 2dBattalion, 5th Marine Regiment, at CampPendleton, California, were deployed to the firelines in northern Oregon to assist 1,600 fire-fighters in mop-up efforts, helping to bring the50,650-acre site at Umatilla National Forestunder control.

17-26 Sep - Exercise Fuerzas UnidasCounterdrug (Riverine) ‘96 took place inPanama. It involved military personnel andcivilians from Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela,and the United States. The latest in a series ofmultinational exercises sponsored by the U.S.Southern Command, it was the first hosted bythe U.S. Marine Corps. The focus of the exer-cise was to develop ways to eradicate the ship-ment of illegal drugs from the region. It alsowas the first exercise to concentrate on riverineoperations in combating illegal drug trade.

19 Sep - Gen Richard I. Neal was promoted tohis present grade and named the next AssistantCommandant of the Marine Corps during afrocking ceremony at Marine Barracks,Washington, D.C. He assumed his new posi-tion on 27 September, succeeding Gen RichardD. Hearney who retired from the Marine Corpswith more than 34 years of service.

25 Sep - Deputy Secretary of Defense JohnWhite informed Congressional leaders that theDepartment of Defense would redouble itsefforts to investigate matters relevant to the ill-nesses of Persian Gulf War veterans. He wouldhead a new “action team” that would reassessall aspects of the Pentagon’s many programs of

research and inquiry into the causes of Gulf Warailments. Among the new actions would be a$5 million research effort looking into the pos-sible effects of low-level chemical exposure.

26 Sep - After more than 15 years of debate byMarine Corps uniform boards, female drillinstructors were issued the same trademark“Smokey the Bear” field hat as their male coun-terparts. The scarlet shoulder cord worn byfemale drill instructors since 1983 would nolonger be authorized.

Oct - The Marine Corps grounded 90 of its 170AV-8B Harrier aircraft following the latest twoHarrier crashes in a series of recent majormishaps involving Marine pilots. Seven Harrierscrashed in the past year, including two duringthe month of October. The Harrier’s 406 modelsingle-engine was the principle target of investi-gators. This was the second time those planeswere grounded in less than a year — 70 Model406 powered Harriers were grounded in March.

18 Oct - Of the Marine Corps’ 154 CH-53Es, 68were still grounded as of this date awaiting partsthat should prevent repeats of the 9 May crashat a Sikorsky facility in Connecticut. While therecovery effort would continue, it fell off sched-ule because of the need to manufacture some ofthe parts. The Marine Corps grounded the heli-copters in June after the initial crash investiga-tion.

9 Nov - New battle honors were unveiled at theMarine Corps War Memorial, Arlington, Virginia,better known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, during

annual wreath-laying ceremonies in honor ofthe 221st birthday of the Marine Corps. “PersianGulf 1987-1991 � Panama 1988-1990 � Somalia1992-1994” joined numerous other Marine Corpsoperations. Architectural sculptor Tom Winklerof Wheat Ridge, Colorado, engraved and gold-leafed the new honors in conformity with thestyle of the existing lettering on the memorial.

Dec - Beginning this month, every recruit grad-uating from boot camp and every officer candi-date completing Officer Candidates School willreceive a laminated plastic card embossed withthe Marine Corps’ core values. All Marineswould sign the back of the card as a visibledemonstration of their individual commitmentand carry the card at all times as a dailyreminder that they joined a corps of dedicatedprofessionals for whom honor, courage, andcommitment are a way of life. This was part ofthe Marine Corps Values Program consisting ofinitial entry training, reinforcement education,and sustainment education.

2 Dec - U.S. and Japanese officials signed anagreement to reduce the size of American mili-tary presence on the island of Okinawa yetmaintain the present U.S. Armed Forces troopstrength there. The U.S. will return control ofmore than 12,000 acres of land on Okinawa tothe Japanese, 97 percent of which was used bythe Marine Corps. The 12,000 acres was to beturned over to Japan by 2008. Marine Corps AirStation Futenma, the largest Marine Corps facili-ty to be returned to Japan within seven years,was considered for relocation to a revolutionaryfloating sea-based facility off Okinawa.❑ 1775❑

Corps’ Oldest Library Gets Newest Search Softwareby Evelyn A. Englander

Historical Center Librarian


Since the end of the Cold War,Military Operations Other than War

(MOOTW) have become commonMarine Corps operations. Increasingly,the most prevalent of these endeavorsis the NEO, or non-combatant evacua-tion of civilians. Seven times since1990 Marines have been called uponto evacuate civilians threatened by theanarchy and civil war caused by col-lapsing central authority. All but oneof these NEOs transpired in Africa.The lone exception occurred in Marchas Marines of 26th MEU(SOC) execut-ed Operation Silver Wake in Tirana,Albania, as Europe, too, proved it wasnot immune to the problems of thelate 20th century. Over two weeks inJune, the author, as a member of theOral History Unit, collected docu-ments and conducted 33 interviewswith the Marines of 26th MEU(SOC),recording a Marine Corps success, onethat displayed the versatility and util-ity of the MEU in contemporary oper-ations.

Albania’s problems originatedwhen government-sponsored pyramidmoney schemes collapsed, bankrupt-

ing one in every four Albanians. Therecent proliferation of satellite dishesamong the populace fanned the flamesof discontent as Albanians viewedwestern television and discovered theshortcomings of their 40 years ofCommunist rule. Albanians rampagedthrough the streets, looting not onlybusinesses, but also armories as themilitary disintegrated along with civilauthority. The MEU’s S-2, Captain JohnP. Talnagi, estimated that more than 5million weapons and pieces of ammu-nition were looted from Albanian arse-nals. This included the larger weaponsystems, such as T-54 tanks, whichwere seen filled with civilians “joy-rid-ing” through the city streets.Widespread shooting occurredthroughout the capital of Tirana, asmen, women, and even young chil-dren armed with AK-47s randomlyfired into the air.

By his own admission the Com-manding Officer of 26th MEU(SOC),Col Emerson Gardner, “leaned for-ward.” With the situation in Albaniadeteriorating, the MEU was scheduledfor a port visit in Malta. Gardner

pushed to have the U.S.S. Nashville’scourse changed to Corfu, Greece,where it would be much closer torespond to any contingency. Simul-taneously, he ordered the ForwardCommand Element (FCE), command-ed by MEU Executive Officer LtColDaniel F. Tarpey, to cross-deck fourCH-46s and two AH-1W Cobra heli-copters from the U.S.S. Nassau to theNashville. From there, coupled withthe embarked infantry company, theMarines possessed the capability toquickly insert a force into the embassyif required. Earlier, Col Gardner hadrelayed his concept of operations toSixth Fleet and the EuropeanCommand (EUCOM), informing themof the MEU’s ability to respond to thegrowing crisis.

These precautions proved fortu-itous, especially for the American

citizens in Albania. On 13 March, theU.S. ambassador in Tirana requestedadditional security for the embassyand the evacuation of American citi-zens from the country. Only theNashville and her embarked Marineswere available to quickly respond tothe crisis. At dusk, the helicopters lift-ed off from the Nashville with 30Marines bolstering the six-man FCE,four men from 26th MSSG as theEvacuation Control Center (ECC) anda platoon from Company C, 1stBattalion, 8th Marines, as the securityforce. The Marines had been briefedthat they would be flying into a pas-sive environment. As they approachedthe landing zone, all were surprisedand more than a little apprehensive atthe sight of the large amount of tracerfire which filled the night sky.

The Marines landed in a footballfield-sized clearing located at the bot-tom of a large depression in the mid-dle of the Rilindja Ridge housing com-plex, one mile south of the embassy.They were greeted by 51 embassydependents who, unknown to LtColTarpey, were awaiting an immediateevacuation. After some brief confu-

26th MEU(SOC) Marines Describe Civilian Evacuationsby David B. CristOral History Unit

Some of the 877 American citizens and third-country nationals prepare for evac-uation by Marine Corps helicopters in Tirana, Albania. As anarchy gripped theAlbanian capital, entire families were forced to flee, bringing what few personalpossessions they could carry with them.

Photo courtesy of Maj Robert H. McKenzie, USMC


sion, they were loaded on board thehelicopters and flown to the Nashville.The FCE was established in an aban-doned embassy employee’s house andthe ECC was set up in a parking lotnear the main gate. 2dLt John K.Jarrard dug his platoon in around thehousing complex to provide security.But with only 18 men in an area thatrequired two platoons, he admittedlater of spending an anxious night asstray rounds impacted into the hous-ing complex.

All the while, the Nassau, with theremaining aviation assets and the

designated helicopter company,steamed north from Malta to theAlbanian coast. The next day, themorning of the 14th, HMM-365 insert-ed 150 Marines into the small LZ atRilindja Ridge. This force comprisedCompany B, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines;a full ECC; and a BLT tactical CP. Twoplatoons and the ECC were deployedaround the housing complex, whileone platoon secured the embassycompound. A plan to use a large air-field in the north of the city wasscrapped at the last minute, accordingto Tarpey, due to the heavy volume offire between competing factions atone end of the runway. Additionally,EUCOM objected to the idea of U.S.forces securing a runway which everyother nationality would try to use toevacuate their own citizens.Throughout the day, Marine CH-46and CH-53 helicopters ferried evac-uees from Tirana to the Nassau, whereafter further processing, Marine andNavy helicopters flew them toBrindisi, Italy. The evacuation stoppedat dusk due to the increased hazardsof flying at night and the noticeableincrease in volume of fire as Albaniansemerged into the darkened streets tounload, as one Marine stated, “a fewclips of ammunition into the sky.” Bythe end of the day, 357 civilians,including 278 American citizens, hadbeen evacuated to safety.

The next morning the evacuationresumed until halted after the onlyexchange of fire between Marines andAlbanians during the entire operation.In the first incident an AH-1W, flownby LtCol Richard J. Crush and Capt

Dennis J. Kiely, flew over an aban-doned S-60 site on a large ridgelinesouthwest of the Rilindja Ridge hous-ing complex. They observed whatappeared to be a man pointing an SA-7 in their direction. Kiely releasedflares while Crush banked the Cobrahard down and to the right. Crushcame back over the position for a sec-ond time, only now with his wingmanclose behind. As Captain Kiely recal-led in his interview:

As we once again passed abeamof them a different characterjumped up and picked up thetube and put it to his shoulder.This time I really thought he wasgoing to launch it. He just hadthat look . . . . Col Crush breakshard down, we pop off a bunchof flares and say, OK you bas-tards, this time it’s going to be it.As soon as Col Crush breakshard and down I start seeingsmoke and orange fire and Ithought they had launched onus. What it turned out wasWoodman and Trigger [theirwingman] were there and sawthem raise the tube and theydidn’t know what they weregoing to do, and they justopened up on them. I guess thatwas the rounds impacting on thedeck.A short time later, another AH-1W

overflew a ZSU position on the sameridgeline. After drawing fire twice, theCobra returned fire with its 2.75” rock-

ets, silencing the position. Followingthese incidents Sixth Fleet ordered ahalt to the evacuation to reassess thethreat. But there were no furtherprovocative actions toward the U.S.forces and the Albanians appeared togo out of their way to avoid any activ-ity that might be construed as hostile.By the end of the second day 688civilians had been flown to safety. Theevacuation continued over the nextfew days with the number of evacueesdropping off sharply. The BLT com-mander, LtCol Richard S. Moore,began to rotate additional companies,a platoon at a time, into the embassyand housing area to provide relief forBravo company.

One tense moment, as related inthe oral history interviews by

Capt Van K. Tran and his crew chief,LCpl James P. Ryba, occurred whentwo Marine CH-53s were tasked to res-cue a number of Turkish nationalstrapped on a beach. When theytouched down on the grid coordinatesgiven them, instead of the Turks, theyfound themselves overwhelmed byhundreds of panicked Albanians whowere under the false impression thatthe helicopters were there to rescuethem. As Captain Tran observed:

People started coming to wherewe were and I didn’t think toomuch of it, until I noticed thatpeople started running towardthe Dash 1 helicopter. I turned tothe co-pilot and said, “Hey, look

Photo courtesy of Maj Robert H. McKenzie, USMC

Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, guard the main gate into the U.S.Embassy’s housing complex at Rilindja Ridge. One mile south of the embassy,Rilindja Ridge became the evacuation point for civilians fleeing Albania inMarch and April 1997.


at that [laughing], they are tryingto get into Dash 1.” At that pointI turned around and there wereAlbanians inside my helicopter!The Marines had to physically

remove the Albanians from the heli-copters as some clung desperately toseats or anything they could hold onto. Unfortunately, the 53s could nottake off for fear that the tail rotorwould dip down into the crowd clus-tered around the back of the heli-copter. Eventually the Marine securityforce and the sand kicked up by therotor wash kept the Albanians at baylong enough for the two helicopters totake off. The Turkish nationals wereeventually rescued by an Italian navalvessel.

Meanwhile, 26th MEU(SOC) beganto monitor another crisis, this

time in Zaire. A civil war and theimpending collapse of the Mobuturegime posed a growing danger toAmerican lives. In preparation for anevacuation, a Joint Task Force (JTF) ofmainly Army and Air Force personnelout of Europe had already been sentto the airport at Brazzaville, Congo,just across the river from Kinshasa. Itcomprised a 675-man headquarterselement commanded by an Armymajor general, but had few actualtroops to do the evacuation and littleNEO experience. The AmphibiousReady Group received a tasking on 20March to conduct split operations anddispatch the Nassau to support the JTFin the Congo. Fortunately, Col Gardnerand his MEU had trained for splitoperations in both the MEU workupand just a few weeks prior in an exer-cise. Gardner ordered six helicopters,plus some ammunition and spareparts, to cross deck to the Nashvillewhile the Nassau with Bravo companyand the bulk of the aviation assetsheaded south at 19 knots for the 5,200-mile journey to the Congo.

As an evacuation could be orderedat any time, Col Gardner devised

a proactive plan that would enable theMEU to respond quickly if the JTFrequested support as the Nassau tran-sited around Africa. As he explainedin his oral history interview:

I had three Marine KC-130s at-tached to me for an exercise inIsrael . . .and I just kept them . . . .So we developed a series of rollingpackages in which we could flyMarines by helicopter to various airstations as the ship passed themand then load 117 Marines ontoeach C-130 and fly them straight toBrazzaville. The time it wouldrequire to reach it depended uponwhich airfield they flew out from.So from the 21st on, we could havehad Marines in Brazzaville if needbe, and as the ship closed, ourresponse time was reduced. They arrived off the coast on 2

April and fell underneath a newlyrevamped and scaled-down JTF, withthe Marines now providing the bulk ofthe forces. Operation GuardianRetrieval, as it was called, took on adecidedly Marine appearance. 26thMEU(SOC) carried on board a proto-type of a command and control suitecalled the “JTF enabler.” This packageof computers and secure communica-tions was designed to allow the MEUto “enable” the establishment of afunctioning joint headquarters aboveand beyond a MEU’s capabilities. ThisJTF enabler now formed the backboneof the new headquarters’ commandand communications abilities, elimi-nating the need for such a large sup-port force that marked the earlier JTF.Constraints imposed by EUCOM limit-ed the number of forces in Brazzavilleand thus the MEU developed adetailed evacuation plan which keptthe bulk of its forces on ship some 200miles away. It conducted numerousrehearsals to hone a plan whichwould allow for Marines to be inKinshasa within just a few hours

All the while, the remainder of theMEU continued to support Silver

Wake in Albania. Officially the evacu-ation ended on 26th March, but theMarines continued to provide securityfor the next 30 days until a more per-manent arrangement could be made.The mission finally ended on 29 Aprilwhen a composite Marine securityforce company from the U.S. and Italyarrived to relieve the MEU.

On 26th May portions of 22d

MEU(SOC) on board the U.S.S.Kearsarge, which had sailed early,arrived to relieve 26th MEU(SOC).While the situation in Kinshasa hadstabilized somewhat, the possibility ofa rapid deterioration existed. After asmooth turnover, 26th MEU sailednorth for the wash-down in Rota,Spain. There, they rejoined the rest ofthe MEU for the first time in more thantwo months.

The experiences of 26th MEU inAlbania and Zaire serve as an

excellent example of MEU operationsin the 1990s. The need to respondrapidly to developing crises and theincreasing need to conduct split oper-ations, in this case more than 5,000miles apart, illustrate the challenges foramphibious forces today. It is a goodexample of the expeditionary nature ofthe MEU. For example, at the airport inBrazzaville, the trucks required to refu-el arriving aircraft were broken and theArmy and Air Force lacked the internalability to repair them without contrac-tor support. Marines from the MSSGusing the facilities on the Nassau sim-ply manufactured the required parts,thus eliminating the problem. The JTFenabler package proved its worth byallowing the MEU to provide the back-bone for the JTF command and reducethe overall size of the U.S. forces com-mitted. Although the Marines succeed-ed overall, as Col Gardner readilyadmits, “I could not have done it with-out help.” Augmentation from MarineForces Atlantic was needed to “fill inthe “holes,” as the Marines T/O provedincapable of manning both the FCEsrequired for the two operations.

The interviews with 26th MEU arepart of a continuing effort con-

ducted by the Oral History Unit andthe Historical Center to record contem-porary Marine Corps operations. Thecollection has amassed more than 100interviews since the 1990 evacuationof the embassy in Liberia. BothReserve and active-duty historianshave added to the collection by con-ducting additional interviews on otherrecent humanitarian and NEO opera-tions such as those in Haiti and SierraLeone. ❑ 1775❑


New Base Facilities Named for Memorable Marinesby Robert V. Aquilina

Assistant Head, Reference Section

Regular readers of Fortitudine willrecall that the Reference Section of

the Marine Corps Historical Centeradministers the Marine Corps Com-memorative Naming Program. Thepurpose of this program is to recog-nize and pay tribute to heroic and dis-tinguished Marines by naming build-ings, classrooms, streets, roads, andother facilities on board bases in theirhonor.

Facilities are normally named inhonor of deceased Marines or mem-bers of other military services whodied while in service with MarineCorps units. The names of individualswho have made outstanding contribu-tions of a lasting nature, either to theMarine Corps, or to the welfare ofMarines, may also be considered. Todate, more than 725 facilities are sonamed, and more than 525 Marines sorecognized.

The following are among the signif-icant naming actions which have beenapproved by the Commandant of theMarine Corps since December 1996:

In December 1996, the Commandantapproved the naming of the MarineCorps Training Center, Folsom,Pennsylvania, in honor of MajGenSmedley D. Butler, USMC (Deceased).A legendary figure in the Marine Corps,the career of the dynamic SmedleyButler is well known throughoutDelaware County and the Philadelphiaarea of Pennsylvania.

In January of this year, theCommandant concurred in the namingof the new Bachelor Enlisted Quartersat the Naval Education and TrainingCenter, Newport, Rhode Island, inhonor of Cpl David B. Champagne,USMC (Deceased). Cpl Champagnewas posthumously awarded the Medalof Honor for heroism while servingwith the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, inMay 1952 during the Korean War.

In January, the Commandant alsoapproved the naming of the newCorporals’ Classroom at Marine CorpsBase, Camp Pendleton, California, inhonor of former Sergeant Major of theMarine Corps Leland D. Crawford(Deceased). Throughout his militarycareer, SgtMaj Crawford made impor-tant contributions to the Marine Corpsand to the welfare of all Marines.

In March, the Commandant ap-proved the naming of the future head-quarters of the 14th Marines at theNaval Air Station Joint Reserve Base,Fort Worth, Texas, in honor of ColRichard M. Cutts, USMC (Deceased).The new headquarters is scheduled tobe completed by October. Col Cuttswas the first Commanding Officer ofthe 14th Marines when the unit acti-vated 26 November 1918 at Quantico,Virginia. He served a distinguishedcareer in the Marine Corps from 1899

until his death in 1934.In April, the Commandant ap-

proved the naming of Courtroom 1, inBuilding 22163 at Marine Corps Base,Camp Pendleton, California, in honorof MSgt Daniel L. Corwin, USMC(Deceased). MSgt Corwin, a courtreporter by military occupational spe-cialty, was instrumental in the designand equipping of two recently reno-vated courtrooms at Camp Pendleton.His insight in constructing the court-rooms was essential and ensured thatthe rooms were functional and con-tributed to the effective administrationof justice. MSgt Corwin, his wife, andson died tragically in an automobileaccident on 31 October 1996. He hadcompleted 15 years of active militaryservice.

In May, the Commandant approvedthe naming of the Academics Buildingat Officer Candidates School, MarineCorps Combat Development Com-mand, Quantico, Virginia, in honor ofFrederick C. Branch. On 10 Nov-ember 1945, Mr. Branch became thefirst African-American commissionedas a Marine officer. He subsequentlycommanded an African-American vol-unteer reserve unit in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, and after his servicewith the Marine Corps, began a 35-year career as a science teacher.❑ 1775❑

Then-BGen Smedley D. Butler

Cpl David B. Champagne

SgtMaj Leland D. Crawford


Marine Corps Chronology

July - December 1949by Robert V. Aquilina

Assistant Head, Reference Section

F ortitudine’s Chronology feature continues with debatesin Washington during the summer and fall of 1949 over

the future role of the Marine Corps in the United Statesdefense establishment.Summer 1949 - An Officer Candidate Screening Coursewas established in the Marine Corps. The course wasdesigned to test leadership potential of a small group of tal-ented enlisted men, and was opened to enlisted Marineswith a college education or GCT score of 120. After fourweeks, those who qualified were commissioned andordered to Basic School for further training. 11 Aug - In Palestine, BGen William E. Riley, USMC, wasassigned to the United Nations’ Palestine Truce Mission asChief of Staff. The UN’s Palestine observance staff underGen Riley was to be cut from 500 to 40 persons.24 Aug - In Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, abronze memorial tablet was dedicated in honor of 32Marines who died in a plane crash on the South TacomaGlacier on 10 December 1946.6 Sep - A battalion landing team of the 21st Marines leftMorehead City, North Carolina, to become the landing forceof the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. It was redesignat-ed 2/2 (Rein) on 20 October.30 Sep - Marine Corps strength as of this date was 84,200.17 Oct - The 2d Marines was reorganized and enlarged to full regimental strength. At the same time, the 6th Marineswas also reactivated on the regimental level.17 Oct - In Washington, the Commandant of the MarineCorps, Gen Clifton B. Cates, voiced his opposition to whathe believed was an attempt by the Army General Staff todrastically reduce the size of the Marine Corps. Marine

Corps authorized strength stood at 100,000 men but wasslated to be reduced to 67,000 by 30 June 1950. GeneralCates was supported in his views by retired MarineCommandant Gen Alexander A. Vandegrift.

20 Oct - In Washington, Gen J. Lawton Collins, Army Chiefof Staff and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assuredthe House Armed Services Committee that the Army didnot intend to phase out the Marine Corps and assume itsamphibious operations or to force the Navy to transfer itsair arm to the Air Force.

21 Oct - In Washington, Defense Secretary Louis A.Johnson indicated he had asked former Navy SecretaryJohn L. Sullivan to resign because he had opposed unifi-cation of the Armed Services. Sullivan, who quit on 26April over a carrier dispute, denied Johnson’s statementand said he had supported unification but was opposed tothe abolition of Marine and Navy aviation and the “slowdeath” of the Marine Corps. Johnson said the MarineCorps would continue.

25-26 Oct - In Hawaii a 35,000-man, 90-ship Army-Navy-Marine task force “liberated” Hawaii from the theoreticalenemy “Aggressor” in Exercise Miki _ the largest U.S. post-war amphibious maneuver.30 Oct - The Defense Department announced the layingup of various Navy ships in line with announced plans toreduce Navy and Marine manpower by 54,891 men by 1July 1950.

5 Nov - The first enlisted pilots to fly the Lockheed TO-1“Shooting Star” jet underwent training at the Marine CorpsAir Station at El Toro, California. ❑ 1775❑

At services on the slopes of Washington’s Mount Rainier inAugust, Marines present flags to parents and friends of 32

fellow Marines who lost their lives in a plane crash nearbyon 10 December 1946.


MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL CENTERBUILDING 58, WASHINGTON NAVY YARD

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

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

Gleaming Brass, Interactive TV Enliven Corps MuseumBy Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas

Curator of Material History

Visitors to the Marine CorpsMuseum now will see a number

of changes which have been madeover the past year. While some aredecorative, others are new exhibits, orare substantial upgrades of existingdisplays. All of these are the result ofcollaborative efforts on the part ofmany staff members throughout theHistory and Museums Division.

Upon entering the museum, repeatvisitors will find a new stand of colorswhere the Dahlgren boat howitzerused to be. The howitzer has beenmoved, and is now included with theother early landing guns. The newMarine Corps color has all of the bat-tle and campaign streamers attachedto it and is a duplicate of the BattleStandard carried by the Color Guard atMarine Barracks, 8th and I,Washington. The background wallbehind the colors is now covered inscarlet carpeting, with new bold, pol-ished brass letters announcing “UnitedStates Marine Corps Museum.” Thistreatment, designed and executed bythe staff of the Exhibits Section, alsoincludes new golden oak trim leadingup from the entrance area. On oneside, the entrance to the Gift Shop hasbeen refurbished, while the museumsecurity staff desk area at the top ofthe other stairway has been complete-ly removed, reconfigured, restored,and reinstalled. The seal of theMarine Corps is prominently placed

over the museum security desk.Just beyond the new desk area, a

new exhibit on the Commandants ofthe Marine Corps was designed, con-structed, and installed in May byRonald J. Perkins and Ronnie D.Alexander of the Air-Ground MuseumsExhibits Section. The large, fine-qual-ity photographs were reproducedfrom the original art under the direc-tion of Chief Curator Charles A. Woodand Art Curator John T. Dyer, Jr., whilenew biographies were prepared by

staff historians and edited by ChiefHistorian Benis M. Frank and Curatorof Material History Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas. This long-term standingexhibit replaces the temporary KoreanWar exhibit which was mounted inconjunction with the dedication of theKorean War Memorial in the summerof 1995 (See Fortitudine, Summer1995), and highlights each of theCommandants of the Marine Corps.

Upon entering the “Time Tunnel,”the visitor will immediately notice

that the new lighting system is rheo-statically controlled by means of atimer and that the small lights aremuch softer, but yet more focusedthan the large track lights which hadbeen installed when the museumopened. These lights are also installedinside each exhibit case, and theyafford the opportunity for more dra-matic highlighting of the artifacts, doc-uments, and graphics. The lightsgradually come up when a visitor tripsa sensor and then fade out after theviewer has moved on to see anotherexhibit. Besides saving money, thissystem also reduces the amount oflight damage to sensitive artifacts anddocuments. The installation of thissystem was a major project in late1966, as about one-third of the arti-facts and graphics in each case had tobe removed for the electricians to

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In the Museum’s “Time Tunnel” dis-play on the contemporary MarineCorps, “Ready, Responsive, Combined-Arms Team,” an interactive TV invitesviewer participation.