United States Marine Corps

1
United States Marine Corps

• HISTORY

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Birth of the Corps

• 10 November 1775
• 2nd Continental Congress
• Resolved that two battalions of Marines be
  raised, and that particular care be taken, that
  no persons be appointed to office, or enlisted
  into said battalions, but such are good seamen,
  or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be
  able to serve to advantage by sea, when
  requiredthat they be enlisted and commissioned
  for the present war between Great Britain and the
  colonies, unless dismissed by Congress. That
  they be distinguished by the names of the 1st and
  2nd battalions of American Marines.

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Tun Tavern

• Birthplace of the Marine Corps
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Established as recruiting headquarters
• Samuel Nicholas was commissioned a Captain and
  ordered to raise the 2 battalions
• Traditionally, he is the first Commandant of the
  Marine Corps
• Robert Mullen, was the owner of Tun Tavern and is
  known as the first Marine recruiter.

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Capt. Samuel Nichols
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First Amphibious Landing

• New Providence, Bahamas
• Led by Samuel Nichols
• 3 March 1776
• Captured Fort Montague without firing a shot

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Early Traditions

• Quatrefoil
• Enabled Marine sharpshooters to distinguish
  between friend and foe. Worn today on Officer
  barracks cover.
• Leatherneck
• Nickname comes from leather collar around neck
  used to keep the head erect and protect against
  sword slashes.

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To the Shores of Tripoli

• Barbary Pirates War
• Battle of Derna, Tripoli
• 1805 Lt. Presley OBannon with 7 marines joined
  400 of Prince Hamets men and attacked the
  capital of Derna.
• Mameluke Sword Prince Hamet presented his
  personal sword to Lt. OBannon after the victory
  at Derna. Marine Officers still wear a replica
  of the Mameluke Sword.

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Grand Old Man of the Marine Corps

• Archibald Henderson
• 5th Commandant of the Marine Corps
• 1820-1859

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The Mexican War

• Battle of Chapultepec
• Battle for fortress on top of a plateau near
  Mexico City
• The Scarlet Stripe (Bloodstripe)
• 90 of Marine Officers and Non-commissioned
  officers were casualties during the battle of
  Chapultepec.
• Blood Stripe is worn today on the dress blue
  trousers to commemorate those casualties.

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Marine Corps Emblem

• Brigadier General Jacob Zeilin
• 7th Commandant authorized the emblem
• The Eagle, Globe, and Anchor
• Eagle Nation
• Globe Worldwide Service
• Anchor Naval Traditions

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Dan Daly

• Recipient of two Medals of Honor
• Boxer Rebellion
• Single-handedly held off wave after wave of
  Boxers attacking his post over 3 days
• Haiti
• Went behind enemy lines to retrieve a machine gun
  lost in a river in the first minutes of fighting.
  Returning with it, the Marines were able to
  capture the stronghold and burn it to the ground
  

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Smedley Butler

• Veracruz, Mexico
• 1914 Actions in the occupation of Vera Cruz,
  Mexico.
• Fort Reviere
• Last Bandit stronghold in Haiti. Major Butler
  led his men through a drainpipe and directly into
  the stronghold fighting against 70 bandits with
  pistols and knives. After the fighting 50
  bandits were killed.

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The Great War

• Belleau Wood
• French were retreating and encouraging the
  Marines to do so also. Capt. Lloyd Williams
  responded, Retreat hell, we just got here!
• French awarded the 4th Marines the Croix de
  Guerre, its highest award.
• June 6-12 Marines took the woods over 5 days.
  The 4th Marine Brigade suffered enormous
  casualties protecting Paris.
• Also awarded at Soissons and Blanc Mont
• 5th and 6th Marine Regiments still wear the Croix
  de Guerre.

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Devil Dog

• Named by Germans following Belleau Wood
• Teufelhunden Devil Dogs
• Germans classified the Marines as shock troops
• Reserved only for highly skilled military
  organizations

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Gen. John A. Lejeune

• 13th Commandant
• Guided Corps to Amphibious Assault role
• Established the Marine Corps Institute
• Started the Company Grade Officers School and
  the Field Grade Officers School.
• Organized Headquarters Marine Corps.
• Started the tradition of the Birthday Ball
• 10 November
• Birthday message read at each ball.

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Gen. John A. Lejeune
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World War II

• Island Hopping Campaign
• Guadalcanal
• First Marine Amphibious Landing of WWII
• Tarawa
• Japanese claimed a million men assaulting for a
  hundred years could not take Tarawa, It took the
  Marines just 76 hours.
• 17 Japanese surrendered, the rest fought to the
  death.
• Landing Vehicles Tracked (LVT) first used in
  Tarawa and them implemented across the Corps.

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Iwo Jima

• Iwo Jima
• Needed to provide Air Raids to mainland Japan.
• Among the Americans who fought and died at Iwo
  Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue
  Admiral Chester A. Nimitz
• Raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi
• Photographed by Joe Rosenthal

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Okinawa

• 3 months of fighting
• 117,000 Japanese on the island
• Largest land offensive in the Pacific
• Allowed Navy to tighten blockade of Japan
• First invasion on Japanese Home soil

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Korean War 1950-1953

• Pusan Perimeter
• Army pushed back to Pusan
• Marines rushed over and secure perimeter
• Battle for Inchon
• Almost completely opposed
• Too difficult, too risky, and almost impossible
• Marines landed on West end of Korea
• 15 Sept. 1950
• 2 days fought through city and took Seoul, the
  capital by 26 September, 1950.

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Frozen Chosin

• Marines moving North during winter through
  mountains
• Col Lewis B. Chesty Puller? CO 7th Marines
• Chinese attacked
• Army and UN crumple and retreat, leaving Marines
  alone with no supplies.
• 8 chinese division surrounded the Marines
• Were not retreating, were just attacking in a
  different direction
• 1st Marine Division was the only unit to come
  back fully intact.

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Korean War Developments

• Lightweight Body Armor, the origin of the flak
  jacket
• Thermal Boots
• Helicopter and Vertical Envelopment

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Vietnam

• Operation Starlite
• 2,000 NVA expected to attack Chu Lai
• Marine use 3-pronged attack
• By foot from the North
• Helo from the West
• Amphibious Assault from the Southeast
• 1st major defeat of the NVA and denied the Viet
  Cong sanctuaries along the coast.

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Tet Offensive

• Goal of NVA was to capture Saigon, Hue, Khe Sanh,
  and Da Nang.
• Hue City was captured. Marines had to fight
  house-to-house to retake the city.
• Khe Sanh, the Marines held off three NVA
  divisions from January 21-March 30, 1968.
• NVA used 25,000 troops in offensive
• Lost 8,000
• Tet related battles lasted 4 months, and NVA lost
  more than 80,000 casualties.

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USMC Sniper Program

• Marine Scout Sniper Program
• GySgt Carlos Hathcock? 93 confirmed kills,
  longest kill was 2,500 meters
• Him and other snipers showed how effective a tool
  snipers were and the Scout Sniper Program became
  permanent in the Corps

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Beirut, Lebanon

• 32nd MAU was to help evacuate the Palestinian
  Liberation Organization (PLO)
• The mission was successful and Marines left the
  area
• Following worsening civil war, the Marines
  returned.
• 23 October 1983 the Marine barracks was bombed by
  a suicide bomber in a 5-ton truck.
• 241 Marines and sailors were killed.

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The 80s

• Grenada
• October 1983 Operation Urgent Fury landed
  Marines and Soldiers to rescue American medical
  students being held captive.
• Panama
• 20 Dec. 1989 Pres. Bush Sr. ordered U.S. forces
  to invade Panama and apprehend Manuel Noriega
• Noriega was the Panamanian dicator
• Mission Priority was to
• Install rightfully elected officials
• Apprehend Noriega
• Restore peace to the Panamanian people
• Noriega surrendered after 12 days

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The 90s

• Persian Gulf War
• 2 Aug. 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait.
• Operation Desert Shield was the buildup of
  American troops in the area.
• Operation Desert Storm (16 Jan. 1991)
• 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions conducted a frontal
  attack.
• Amphibious demonstration was also held to divert
  the Iraqis attention
• Army swung around the left flank deep into Iraq.
• War lasted 100 hours

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Somalia

• Somalia lost 500,000 to starvation and drought in
  1980s
• 14 clans fought each other for control of the
  government
• Marines landed in Mogadishu 9 Dec. 1992
• Established Humanitarian Relief
• 1993 starvation was stopped, UN took over