US Marine Corps Base - Yearbook (Quantico, VA)

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'A' ei 'Ti Remember The Maine. The ship and i ogeTically, The Maine has blown up, Sir, and we are sinking. ln The war ThaT Tollowed, Marines under Colonel l-lunTingTon were The TirsT Americans To land in Cuba. They were puT ashore on June IO, I898, and aTTer a series oT conTlicTs lasTing several days Tinally drove The Spaniards Trom Their posiTions. ATloaT, Marines disTinguished Themselves in The baTTles oT SanTiago and Manila Bay. The Turn oT The 2OTh cenTury proved a busy period Tor The Marines. ln I899 They suppressed a violenT rebellion in Samoa, and were preparing To Turnish a garrison Tor The naval sTaTion aT CaviTe, near Manila. The insurrecTion oT The Filipinos developed rapidly, and Marines were senT scurrying over Twe many islands oT The Philip- pines. AT Samar, always To be remembered as bloody Samar, an enTire column oT Marines was losT Tor a monTh, and The survivors were liTTle more Than TaTTered skeleTons when They were evenTually rescued. Then, in China, The peace was shaTTered by a Chinese socieTy known as The Boxers, who wiTh Their chanT oT deaTh To The Toreign Devils in- sTiTuTed a reign oT Terror calculaTed aT driving ir Ts Capfain. lnserT shows CapTain Sigsbee. H31 ouT all WesTerners Trom China. Marines were rushed Trom gunboaTs in AsiaTic waTers. They landed and hammered Their way To Pekin, where They were beseiged wiTh The resT oT The Toreign legaTions. The nearesT eTTecTive Torce oT Marines was in The Philippines. TogeTher wiTh soldiers They were hurried To The rescue, and aTTer severe TighTing, managed To hack Their way Through The hosTile cordon, TighTing Trom TienTsin To Pekin To raise The seige. In The spring oT l9I4, TogeTher wiTh a landing Torce oT blueiackeTs, Marines swepT across The beach in TronT oT Vera Cruz, Mexico, and oc- cupied and held The ciTy aTTer a desperaTe TighT. AlmosT beTore They had Time To caTch Their breaTh, a serious incidenT occurred aT l-laiTi. A harried people, TranTic Trom despoTism, liTerally chopped Their PresidenT To pieces in The sTreeTs oT PorT au Prince. l-lad They conducTed The as- sasinaTion in such a manner as noT To encroach on oTher naTions probably noThing would have de- developed, buT The Tleeing ChieT ExecuTive had soughT sancTuary in The French LegaTion, whence his inTuriaTed subiecTs dragged him To his deaTh despiTe The proTesTs oT The French Min-

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ThaT nearly Tore The naTion asunder, Marines served boTh on land and on sea. Only a scanT TwenTy of The enfire Marine personnel casT Their loT wiTh The Confederacy, The remaincer sfayed wiTh The Union. So ouTsTanding was The service of The Marines ThaT The Soufh, in admirafion, paTTerned Their own Confederafe Marine Corps afTer iTs NorThern conTemporary. Marines of I8l0. A sTrong Napoleonic influence is reflecfed in The headgear worn by officers and The TighT-fiTTing Trousers worn by all ranks. All ranks wore Their hair powdered and cued and leafher sfocks To hold chins erecf had been in vogue aT leasT a dozen years. WiTh anoTher war Tucked under Their belT, The Marines anTicipaTed a period of relaxaTion, buf This was noT To be. On Independence Day, l866, a greaT fire consumed mosT of PorTland, Maine, and Marines spenT a week proTecTing The helpless ciTy from looTers. There Then occurred rioTs in Philadelphia which had To be surpressed, a piraTe sTronghold in Mexico To be reduced, more rioTs in Brooklyn, a puniTive expediTion in Korea, land- ing parTies To be senT ashore in Colombia, l-lawaii, Panama and oTher places. ln I877, a labor rioT assumed serious proporTions, paralyzed commerce in nine sTaTes and required The mus- Tering of all available Marines To resTore order. ln T882 Marines were senT ashore aT Alexan- dria, Egypf, To assisT in quelling an ugly uprising, and Three years laTer a periodic insurrecTion called Them To Panama once more. In T889 Trouble aT Samoa found The Americans and The Brifish lined up againsT The Germans. War was imminenT, wiTh The gunboafs of all Three naTions ready for acTion. Then a Terrific Tropical sTorm bursT suddenly, wrecking all buT one of The belligerenT ships. The war was forgoTTen as The survivors were drawn Togefher by The common bond of sorrow for Their losT comrades. Some four hundred lives were losT, many of Them Marines. ln T898 The Maine was olown up in l-lavana l-larbor. IT was PrivaTe William Anfhony of The Marines who esTablished an all-Time record for undersTaTemenT when he calmly saluTeol CapTain Sigsbee, U. S. N., and said quieTly, almosT apol- Marines in The Mexican War period, Navy Blue uniforms wifh sky blue Trousers were worn by officers during This period H846-481, when They were aTTired in Their full regalia, and enlisfed men wore a uniform of somewhaf similar shade. Crimson sashes sTill encircled Their waisfs on dress occasions and even a privaTe flefTi wore ornamenfal epauleTTe wifh fringe resembling bullion. Jig

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isTer. lT was evidenT ThaT some naTion would have To resTore order, and iT became The duTy oT The Marines To do This. Accordingly They were rushed To The Republic To resTore order, and Thus began an occupaTion ThaT was To lasT almosT Two decades. On a memorable day in l9l7, when a weary Congress decided iT could no longer honorably avoid war wiTh The CenTral Powers, one oT The greaTesT chapTers in The epic oT The Marine Corps began. The Marines, Their ranks swollen wiTh volunTeers, were among The TirsT American Troops To sail Tor France. There They engaged The en- emy aT Belleau Wood, aT Blanc MonT, aT Soissons, and in The Argonne, as well as aT oTher places. Their acTions sTarTled The world, and The many insTances oT reclcless courage and sl4illTul maneu- vers drew The praise oT all The Allies. One such in- The Assauli' of Chapuliepec, Mexico. cidenT among The many occurred on a cerTain June day when assaulTing waves oT LeaTherneclcs had shaTTered Themselves againsT The sTrongly- held village oT Bouresches. Only TwenTy Marines survived The blisTering Tire oT The Germans To reach The ouTsl4irTs oT The village. BuT These TwenTy blasTed, bombed and bayoneTed Their way in and drove ouT more Than 400 oT The enemy. TwenTy To one were The odds againsT Them . . . buT They Toolc The Town. While The Tamed FourTh Brigade was TighTing in The A. E. F. a lesser lcnown, buT equally brave TlighT oT Marine Tlyers were meeTing The Germans over The mud-raclqed Tields oT Flanders. ln Cuba, and in The Domincan Republic, miles away Trom France, oTher Marines cursed The luclc ThaT held Them so Tar Trom The Tray, yeT iT was one oT These uninspiring liTTle islands. Guam, ThaT The TirsT shoT Tired by an American in World War I was Tired. An American Marine dropped a rifle bulleT in TronT oT a German cuTTer as a signal To heave To. ATTer The war, wiTh The excepTion oT a de- TachmenT in Russia, The Marines Tound Themselves back on Their old sTamping grounds: China, l-lon- duras, and Nicaragua. Nicaragua! WhaT a campaign! From The TirsT hosTile shoT Tired in The gray dawn oT May I6, I927, unTil The Tinal evacuaTion six years laTer, iT was a war To The deaTh. Many brave men perished in ThaT sTruggle: men oT high ideals and paTri- oTism7 men oT honor on boTh sides. WiTh The wiThdrawal oT Marines Trom Nica- ragua, The occupaTion oT China, by TreaTy righTs oT The Boxer Days, became The maior Type oT Toreign duTy. BuT smaller elemenTs were scaTTered elsewhere: The Philippines, Cuba, Virgin Islands, Panama, Pearl l-larbor and The Tiny, windswepT aToll called Walqe lsland. WAKE ISLAND! When The early reporTs oT The assaulT on Pearl l-larbor began To TilTer over