7th Marines

“ Shepherd said, noting the division’s favorable experience with fleet support throughout the northern campaign. Unspoken was an additional benefit: Shepherd would have only one adjacent unit with which to coordinate fire and maneuver, and a good one at that, the veteran 1st Marine Division.
Men of the 7th Marines wait until the exploding white phosphorous shells throw up a thick-enough smoke screen to enable them to advance in their drive towards Shuri. The smoke often concealed the relentlessly attacking troops. ”

“ Throughout November the 1st Marine Division continued to occupy the eastern portion of the X Corps defense sector in east-central Korea. From left to right the 1st KMC Regiment, 7th Marines, and 1st Marines held the 121⁄4-mile MLR with two battalions each. The 5th Marines remained in reserve until the 11th, when it relieved the 1st Marines. ”

“ Relief of the 25th Infantry Division by Marine units got underway on 6 July when the first incoming elements of Colonel Funk’s 7th Marines moved up to the right regimental sector manned jointly by364 the U.S. 14th Infantry Regiment and the Turkish Armed Forces Command. Advance personnel reported into the left sector, to be taken over by the Marine 1st Battalion, and at 1400 the 3d Battalion relieved the TAFC reserve battalion in the rear area. ”

“ But Headquarters, FMFPac, prepared the embarkation plans while the regimental staff solved problems of organization and equipment so effectively that the 7th Marines sailed on the 1st, thus beating the deadline by two days.84
84 PacFlt Interim Rpt No. 1, XV: Zebra, 15.
Orders came to El Toro on 16 August for the overseas movement of the remaining elements of the 1st MAW. Units affected were Wing Headquarters Squadron 1 and MAG-12, comprising Headquarters Squadron 12, Service Squadron 12, VMF-312, VMF-212, VMF (N) -542, and the rear echelon of VMF (N) -513. ”

“ CG, 1stMarDiv, Info for CG, FMFPac; 1stMarDiv ComdD, Oct 52; 1stMarDiv PIRs 706–736, dtd 1–31 Oct 52; 7thMar ComdD, Oct 52; LtCol Robert D. Heinl, Jr. memo to Dir, MarCorHist, HQMC, dtd 28 Oct 52, Subj: Notes on 7th Marines’ Action (Defense of “The Hook”) , 26–27 Oct 52, hereafter Heinl, memo.
After the heavy fighting in early October, there was a change in the 1st Marine Division dispositions. On the 12th, the 5th Marines relieved the 1st in the center sector and the latter regiment went into reserve. ”

“ The United States Marine Corps, the efficient fighting, building, and landing force of the navy, has won imperishable glory in the fulfilment of its latest duties upon the battlefields of France, where the marines, fighting for the time under General Pershing as a part of the victorious American Army, have written a story of valor and sacrifice that will live in the brightest annals of the war. ”

“ The 4th Marine Division This division had its roots in the shifting and redesignation of several other units. The 23d Marines began as infantry detached from the 3d Division in February 1943, the same month that an artillery battalion became the genesis of the 14th Marines and engineer elements of the 19th Marines formed the start of the 20th Marines. In March the 24th Marines was organized, and then in May it was split in two to supply the men for the 25th Marines.
Department of Defense Photo (USMC)
This war-time shuffling provided the major building blocks for a new division. ”

“ Thus it is that the United States marines have fulfilled the glorious traditions of their corps in this their latest duty as the "soldiers who go to sea." Their sharpshooting—and in one regiment 93 per cent of the men wear the medal of a marksman, a sharpshooter, or an expert rifle-man—has amazed soldiers of European armies, accustomed merely to shooting in the general direction of the enemy. Under the fiercest fire they have calmly adjusted their sights, aimed for their man, and killed him, and in bayonet attacks their advance on machine-gun nests has been irresistible. ”

“ Much praise was due to the Seamen for their unparalleled exertions in landing the remaining troops, cannon, and stores, amidst a most dreadful surf, and the heaviest rains.
The Marines were left at the first posts, the Malata and the Polverista, with a view to secure the retreat of the advanced forces, if necessary; to preserve a mutual communication with the ships, and to guard the stores and heavy artillery. "They," says Sir William Draper, "from the good conduct and example of their Officers, behaved very well, and were of great use upon all occasions." ”

“ On 15 December control of the landing force passed from the I Marine Amphibious Corps to the Army’s XIV Corps. The Americal Division gradually replaced the 3d Marine Division, which had borne the brunt of the fighting. For much of the month the 2d Raider Regiment served as corps reserve, but these highly trained assault troops spent most of their time on working parties at the airfield or carrying supplies to the front lines. On 21 December the raiders, reinforced by the 1st Parachute Battalion and a battalion of the 145th Infantry, assumed the position formerly occupied by the 3d Marines. ”

“ Since the seizure of this important area, the regiment has demonstrated its tenacity in holding ground gained against repeated enemy counter-attacks and counter-landings.
3. The Sixth Marine Division looks with pride on the accomplishments of the Twenty-second Marines. The esprit de corps, courageous determination, and outstanding fighting ability of this regiment is worthy of the greatest praise.
4. Let us not forget that these achievements have not been without cost. The glory gained belongs equally to those who so unsparingly gave their lives in the performance of their duty. ”

“ At the ringing notes of the bugle, calling up the boarders, the British gathered aft, their faces begrimed with gunpowder, their arms bare, and their keen cutlasses firmly clutched in their strong right hands. The Americans took the alarm at once, and crowded forward to repel the enemy. The marines, whose hard duty it is in long-range fighting to stand with military impassiveness, drawn up in line on deck, while the shot whistle by them, and now and then cut great gaps in (p. 579) their straight lines,—the marines came aft, with their muskets loaded and bayonets fixed. ”

“ In all the history of the Marine Corps there is no such battle as that one in Belleau Wood. Fighting day and night without relief, without sleep, often without water, and for days without hot rations, the marines met and defeated the best divisions that Germany could throw into the line. ”

“ Colonel Wilburt S. (“Big Foot”) Brown commanded the 11th Marines and Colonel Robert B. Luckey, the 15th Marines. The Marine divisions had greatly enhanced their firepower since the initial campaigns in the Pacific. While one 75mm pack howitzer battalion remained (1/11) , the 105mm howitzer had become the norm for division artillery. Front-line infantry units also were supported by the 75mm fire of medium tanks and LVT-As, 105mm fire from the new M-7 self-propelled “siege guns,” 4.5-inch multiple rocket launchers fired by the “Buck Rogers Men,” and the attached Army 4.2-inch mortar platoons. ”

“ The year of desperate fighting, uneasy truce, and renewed combat covered by this volume saw the operational employment of a Marine-developed technique—assault by helicopter-borne troops. Tactics were continually being refined to meet the ever changing battle situation. However, throughout the period, the one constant factor on which United Nations commanders could rely was the spirit and professional attitude of Marines, both regular and reserve. This is their hallmark as fighting men. ”

“ The rapid clearance of the immediate beaches by the assault units left plenty of room for follow-on forces, and the division commanders did not hesitate to accelerate the landing of tanks, artillery battalions, and reserves. The mammoth build-up proceeded with only a few glitches. Four artillery pieces went down when their DUKWs foundered along the reef. Several Sherman tanks grounded on the reef. And the 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, reached the transfer line by 1800 but had to spend an uncomfortable night in its boats when sufficient LVTs could not be mustered at that hour for the final leg. ”

“ With that, the escort carriers departed the area and left close air support to the 47th Fighter Squadron for the duration of the battle.
While technically not a “supporting arm,” the field medical support provided the assault Marines primarily by the Navy was a major contributor to victory in the prolonged battle. The practice of integrating surgeons, chaplains, and corpsmen within the Fleet Marine Force units continued to pay valuable dividends. In many cases company corpsmen were just as tough and combat-savvy as the Marines they accompanied. ”

“ By the return of Major Tupper to Europe, and the fatal events of the 17th of June, the command of the Marines soon after devolved upon Major (now Lieutenant-General) Souter.
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Bunker's Hill was fortified, and our troops retained the Peninsula, which rendered their duties very severe. The Americans prevented every supply from the interior, and compelled our Army to subsist upon salt, and indifferent provisions. Cut off from the Continent, their sufferings were great, when sickness became prevalent. ”

“ At a time when speed could have meant rapid gains, the division found itself forced to let the rifle companies fight as best they could and without many of their supporting arms. The brief respite gained by the enemy allowed him to redeploy his forces to resist the attack of the Fourth and Twenty Ninth Marines. ”

“ A farther augmentation of thirty Companies was granted to the Corps of Marines, to keep pace with the general energies, which completed their establishment to fourteen thousand eight hundred and forty-five, being the vote for the service of 1758. At this period too, that highly useful body of men, the National Militia, was ordered to be raised and organized for domestic security, while our regular armies were employed in retaliating the terrors of invasion, and in carrying the war into the foreign possessions of our enemies. ”

“ Besides the brigade of marines in France, it is necessary to maintain forces of marines in [Pg 271] Santo Domingo, Hayti, the Virgin Islands, Guam, Cuba, China, the Philippines, Porto Rico, and Honolulu, while there is a small detachment in London. The fleet of battleships and cruisers absorbs a goodly percentage of the present force, while at the same time it has been necessary to supply men to augment the garrisons of the navy-yards, naval ammunition depots, radio-stations, and other posts of the country. ”

“ The French riflemen they found there were hanging on in the very teeth of the enemy. Their position had been hastily constructed a few days before by the hard-pressed Boche and was a mere selection from the abundant shell craters, connected by shallow digging. The Marines stumbled and slipped through its windings. It was cluttered up with dead men, for it had been strongly held and dearly won. The 49th took over the part allotted to it from some ten platoons of Frenchmen, eight or ten men to a platoon, in command of a first lieutenant. It was what was left of a full battalion. ”

“ And he is trained to meet the emergency.
The new recruit, in ordinary times, is sent for his first instruction to Port Royal, down in Georgia. There he has nothing to do but drill, drill, drill, until he can do the infantry evolutions in his sleep. He learns to drill, he learns to keep clean—the Marines are something of a dandy corps—and he learns to take care of himself no matter what happens. He is taught to be a soldier and a man. He learns to walk straight, shoot straight, think straight. ”

“ The vice-admirals carry theirs at the fore-top-gallant-mast head, and the rear-admiral carries his at the mizen-top-gallant-mast head.”
“Oh, oh, that is it! Then we know at last what is the meaning of ‘the red flag at the fore.’”
“Yes, that must be now pretty plain to you. The marines are a very efficient part of the British force; they are not to be out-done either in courage or patriotism. For some time in my younger days I belonged to them, and it was then that I picked up what knowledge of nautical tactics I possess. ”

“ Marine enlisted men are traditionally shrewd at sizing up a tactical situation, and they sensed that a change was at hand. For three days and nights they had been on the defensive, fighting for their lives, and now the word was passed from one man to another that the Marines were about to snatch the initiative. ”

“ CHAP. XXXVI. Twenty-one thousand three hundred and five Marines were voted for the year 1782.
Accounts were received in March of the fall of Minorca, after sustaining a siege which immortalized its defender, General Murray, and his brave garrison. It was scurvy alone that conquered it, which a body of Seamen, formed into a Marine Corps, withstood. Many were the honourable traits of patience and zeal shewn by the Soldiery of every description, through sufferings under disease and fatiguing duties. The Royal Artillery was, as usual, conspicuous for their courage and exertions. ”

“ They are also instructed in many exercises pertaining to the navy, as rowing, naval signalling, gun drill, &c. In action they act as riflemen, and on many ships serve a portion of the guns. When circumstances require a force to be landed from ships present to guard American interests in foreign countries, legations, &c., the marine guard is usually sent, though, if numerically insufficient, sailors are landed also. Marines also garrison places beyond the territorial limits of the United States which are under navy control. ”