US Marine Corps Recruit Depot - Yearbook (Parris Island, SC)

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1715 when Alexander Parris, long time Public Treasurer of South Carolina, came into possession. The island's name dates back to him. MARINES LAND AT PARRIS ISLAND United States Marines were first connected with the island as early as 1861, when with a band of seamen, they took possession of it and nearby Forts Beauregard and Walker during the War Be- tween the States. The first Marine Corps activity was established on Parris Island on June 26, 1891, when a small detachment arrived with First Sergeant Richard Donovan, USMC, in charge, for duty in connection with the U. S. Naval Station, Port Royal, South Carolina, which was located on Parris Island. The detachment was highly commended for its service in preserving life and property during the hurricane and tidal wave which swept over the island in 1893. In 1909, a school for Marine officers was established here, and, in 1911, two recruit companies were established. One was trans- ferred to Charleston, S. C., and the other Norfolk, Va., during the latter part of the same year, and the buildings were used as Navy disciplinary barracks. On November 1, 1915, the area was again turned over to the Marine Corps, and recruit training reestablished. Parris Island has since become famous as a training base of U. S. Marines. During World War I, some 41,000 recruits were trained here. Prior to 1929, all transportation to and from the island was by small boats operating between the Post Docks and Port Royal, South Carolina. ln 1929, the water era came to an end with the com- pletion ofthe Horse Island bridge and causeway. PARRIS ISLAND AT WARTIME LEVELS ln August, 1940, recruit training was first organized on a battalion basis. With the coming of World War ll, a flood of recruits, as well as new permanent personnel to train them arrived aboard the island. The Base was enlarged to handle 13 recruit battalions, and, between 1941 and 1945, almost 205,000 recruits were trained at Parris Island. At the time of the Japanese surrender, there were more than 20,000 fledgling Marines in training at Parris Island. At the end of the war, the island was reduced to a population low by the rapid demobilization. Prior to the outbreak of the crisis in Korea, there were only two recruit battalions in training. At the start of the Korean Campaign, Parris Island's recruit population was barely 2,350. That figure swelled to a peak load of 24,424 recruits undergoing training in March of 1952. From the outset of the Korean Campaign to the withdrawal of the First Marine Division from Korea, more than 138,000 Marines received their recruit training at Parris Island. In September 1946, it was decided at Headquarters Marine Corps to reorganize the post at Parris Island in the interests of greater efficiency and economy of personnel and to give it a designation that would reflect its primary mission. At the direction of the Com- mandant, the Commanding General at Parris Island prepared plans and tables of organization to carry out the change, and after a preparatory transitional period the approved reorganization of- ficially went into effect. On December 1, 1946, the Marine Barracks, Farris Island, became the Marine Corps Rercruit Depot, Parris s an . . Headquarters and Service Battalion I .. . 1 ' -3. I I I ' WI' i. P77 '4.'-:L 7' .....e.,,auQ-a.i- I I -. V-ff -W---tl fl?-Li imemsiegsas P.-1-3.5m IRON MIKE

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here, he named adjacent St. Helena lsland and claimed it for Spain some 50 years before the French attempted to colonize the islands which included this Marine Corps Re- cruit Depot. An expedition of French Hugenots, under Jean Ribaut Csometimes spelled Ribaultj, landed here in April, 1562. Before returning to France, they established Charles Fort on what is now Parris Island. Historians are indebted to one member of this expedition in particular. He was a cartogra- pher of considerable ability named Lenoyne. One of his maps of the region firmly locates Charles Fort on Parris lsland. In 1663 William Hilton, of Barbades, rediscovered Charles Fort while exploring the newly-chartered province of Caro- lina. Today, the Ribaut Monument stands on the site of ancient Charles Fort to mark one of the first colonies estab- lished in the New World. In 1670 an English expedition arrived in the area and settled down to establish permanent towns and the first of the famed southern plantations. The Lord Proprietors of South Carolina passed the title to Parris Island down through several colonial settlers until Marine Corps Exchange Recruit Training Regiment Headquarters I ft' War Memorial Building

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