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

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AMERICAN SPIRIT HONOR MEDAL The American Spirit Honor Medal is a medallion offered and provided by the Citizens Committee for the Army, Navy and Air Force, Inc., of New York, NY. The American Spirit Honor Medal has been accepted by the Department of De- fense for use as an award to enlisted personnel who, while undergoing basic training, display outstanding qualities of leadership best expressing the American Spirit - Honor, Initiative, Loyalty, and High Example to Comrades in Arms. This medallion has also been accepted by the Department of Defense for the promotion of closer ties between the Armed Services and the Civil Communities of the United States in which the Armed Services establishments are located. mytxm fmtn'wiyiyrx' mama, wtdmyantuig A.AW:...5,MMwmew , . Iggmn - ZMMM, 23.44; mi i' . yyfzmofJ 41mmum4u Er; 15 hm t gut . winuvanumgm .rmm. ngmumsuxeauizh -AE-u..my'n; .

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THE MENTAL AND MORAL QUALITIES 0f the United States Marine have been tested constantly since the birth of the nation. All through the long history of the Marine Corps there are examples, both in war and peace, of his versatility, trustworthiness, singleness and tenacity of purpose, cour- age, faithfulness and self-sacrifice. The rich tradition of the Corps dates back to November 10, 1775, when it was established by the Contintental Con- gress. In the Revolutionary War, the Marines fought against the British Fleet on the ships of John Paul Jones, and made their first amphibious landing on the beaches of the Baha- mas in 1776. Marines ended their war with the Mediterra- nean pirates when they planted the Stars and Stripes over the pirate stronghold of Derne, in Tripoli, after a six- hundred-mile march across the desert of North Africa. In the War of 1812, they fought on Lake Champlain and Lake Erie, and were with General Jackson behind the barricades at New Orleans. They defeated the Seminole Indians in the dense swamps of Florida in 1836, and fought under General Scott in the Mexican War of 1846-48. Their first visit to Japan came in 1854 as guard detachments from the ships of Commodore Perry's fleet. Under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee, U.S.A., Marines captured John Brown at Harpefs Ferry in 1859. They fought savages in Formosa in 1867, and stormed the barrier forts of Korea in 1871. During the Spanish-American War, a single battalion of Marines held the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, against 6,000 Spaniards, while oth- er Leathernecks distinguished themselves at the Battle of Santiago and with Dewey at Manila. They helped quell the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, and from then on until World War 1, men of the Corps campaigned in the Philip- pines, Cuba, Mexico, Haiti, and Santo Domingo to protect American lives and property. On the battlefields of France, Marines were called Devil Dogs by the Germans because of their courage and tenaci- ty of attack. In the first World War, the Fourth Brigade of Marines took part in five operations as part of the famed Second Division of the A.E.F. - Belleau Wood, Soissons, St. Mihiel, Chapagne, and the Meuse-Argonne. Marine units were decorated six times by the French during these campaigns. The interim between world wars found the Marines en- gaged in developing the technique of amphibious warfare and in their traditional pursuits around the globe, from guarding the US mails to fighting bandits in Nicaragua. World War II saw the men who wear the eagle, globe, and an anchor valiantly defend Wake Island and Bataan and then spearhead the amphibious landings across the Pacific . in the Solomons, at Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, to name a few. Following the war, Marines found a new type of service - duty with United Nations Forces in Korea. The United States Marine Corps, rich in tradition and world-famed for its battle record and esprit de corps, plays an important role as the nation's force-in-readiness to help keep the peace throughout the world today.

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UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS REGRUIT DEPOT PARRISISLAND-SOUTH CAROLINA