bulletin of the marine corps historical program · fortitudine,vol.33,no.3,2008 3 memorandum from...

RETAINING OUR HISTORICAL MEMORY...COMBAT CORRESPONDENTARRIVES...FIRST AND LONGEST POWS OFWWIIORAL HISTORY IN KOREA...MARINE TALES FROM HILL 881...MARINES IN LEBANON, 1982-1984ORAL HISTORIES OF THE GULF WAR...ENDURING FREEDOM ORAL HISTORIES...BEYOND MAYAGUEZ

BULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGRAMHISTORICAL BULLETIN VOLUME 33, NUMBER 3 2008

PASSTHISISSUEON

TOANOTHERMARINE

DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release; distribution isunlimited.

PCN 10401220100

HISTORYDIVISION

PRESIDENTMARINE CORPS UNIVERSITY

MajGen Donald R. Gardner, USMC (Ret)

DIRECTORDr. Charles P. Neimeyer

Secretary to the DirectorMrs. Jeanne Riffe

CHIEF HISTORIANMr. Charles D. Melson

HISTORIES BRANCHMr. Charles R. Smith (Branch Head);Dr. Nathan S. Lowrey; Mr. PaulWestermeyer; Mrs. Wanda F. Renfrow

HISTORICAL REFERENCE BRANCHMr. Danny J. Crawford (Branch Head);Mr. Robert V. Aquilina; Ms. Lena M.Kaljot; Ms. Kara R. Newcomer; Ms.Annette D. Amerman; Mrs. SheliaBoyd

ORAL HISTORY BRANCHDr. Fred H. Allison (Branch Head); Mr.Rob Taglianetti

FIELD HISTORY BRANCHCol Stephen Evans; Col Patricia Saint;LtCol David Benhoff; LtCol LarryMcFall; LtCol Kurt Wheeler; LtColCraig Covert; LtCol Jeffrey Riley; MajDaniel Sparks; Maj Valerie Jackson;Capt Cameron Wilson; CWO-4Michael Sears; CWO-3 WilliamHutson; CWO-3 Timothy McWilliams;GySgt Michael Coachman

FORTITUDINE STAFFMr Kenneth H. WilliamsMaj Valerie JacksonMr. William S. Hill

Mr. Greg A. Macheak

Marine Corps History Division3079 Moreell Avenue

Quantico, Virginia 22134Telephone (703) 432-4877

http://[email protected]

Motto of the United States Marine Corps in the 1812 era

Historical Bulletin Vol. 33, No. 3 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover: a montage of Marine Corpsofficial photographs representing achronological order of wars Marineshave recorded and maintained oralhistories.

Memorandum from the Director: Retaining our Historical MemoryDr. Charles P. Neimeyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Special Edition: Oral History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4National Museum of the Marine Corps: Combat Correspondent CollectionArrives

Owen L. Conner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Oral History: The First and Longest Held POWs of World War II: North ChinaMarine Embassy Guards–Part II

Rob Taglianetti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Histories Branch: Oral History Interviewing in Korea

Charles R. Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Editing and Design Branch: Marine Tales from Hill 881, South Vietnam

Greg A. Macheak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Marine Corps Chronology: Marines in Lebanon, 1982-1984

Kara R. Newcomer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Histories Branch: Oral Histories of the GulfWar, 1990-1991

Paul Westermeyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Histories Branch: Collecting Oral History: Operation Enduring Freedom

Dr. Nathan S. Lowrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Field History: Governance and Economic Development in Ramadi and Fallujah,January 2008

Col Michael D. Visconage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Field History: Beyond Mayaguez: The Marine Corps and the CambodianNational Renaissance

LtCol Larry L. McFall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22In Memoriam: Tribute to the 268 American ServicemenWho Died for Peace:Lebanon, 1982-1984

Robert V. Aquilina and Kara R. Newcomer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Books in Review: Cradle of Conflict: Iraq and the Birth of the Modern U.S.Military

Paul Westermeyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

This bulletin of the Marine Corps historical program is published for Marines, at the rate of onecopy for every nine on active duty, to provide education and training in the uses of military andMarine Corps history. Other interested readers may purchase single copies or four-issue sub-scriptions from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. The appro-priate order form appears in this issue.

“We can only know who we are by being certain ofwho we have been.” Gen Leonard F. Chapman, Jr.

24th Commandant of the Marine Corps

2 Fortitudine,Vol. 33, No. 3, 2008

RETAINING OUR HISTORICAL MEMORY...COMBAT CORRESPONDENTARRIVES...FIRST AND LONGEST POWS OFWWIIORAL HISTORY IN KOREA...MARINE TALES FROM HILL 881...MARINES IN LEBANON, 1982-1984ORAL HISTORIES OF THE GULF WAR...ENDURING FREEDOM ORAL HISTORIES...BEYOND MAYAGUEZ

BULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGRAMHISTORICAL BULLETIN VOLUME 33, NUMBER 3 2008

PASSTHISISSUEON

TOANOTHERMARINE

Fortitudine, Vol. 33, No. 3, 2008 3

Memorandum from the Director

Dr. Charles P. Neimeyer

Retaining our Historical Memory

For a number of years now, theHistory Division has maintained a

robust oral history program. Thisedition of Fortitudine is dedicated tothis program and its contributions toMarine Corps history. Fully function-ing as a sub-branch of the divisionsince 1965, Oral History’s first histo-rian was the legendary Benis Frank,a combat veteran of World War II andKorea. During his time as chief oralhistorian, Ben Frank amassed atremendous amount of taped materi-al that ranged from an extensiveseven-hour-long interview with thelegendary Louis B. “Chesty” Puller, torecordings with CommandantsLemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. and CliftonB. Cates, to Graves B. Erskine, andthousands of hours of tape from indi-vidual Marine combat veterans of allranks who served during World WarII, Korea, and Vietnam. It was Benwho established the processes andprocedures for identifying and cata-loguing various oral histories cur-rently in use by the branch today.Based on the path breaking work ofColumbia University historian AllanNevins, the History Division greatlybenefited from Ben’s personal touch.His crowning glory was the estab-lishment of a robust oral history pro-gram that captured on tape for allposterity the thoughts, activities, andideas of senior Marine Corps leadersand selected notable Marines.

Since the Vietnam War, field inter-views have remained the number-one priority for the Oral HistoryBranch. Vietnam-era MarineCommandant, General Wallace M.Greene, Jr. was fully convinced thatoral history could provide the Corpswith a treasure trove of “lessonslearned” gathered from the personalexperiences of thousands of return-ing combat veterans. As a result ofhis emphasis, oral history has

tape is cumbersome for a researcherwho might have to listen to hours oftaped conversation that may or maynot directly relate to his or her his-torical project. Moreover, justbecause a veteran makes a statementon tape does not mean it is factuallyaccurate. Sometimes veterans forgetevents, names, and locations from abattlefield now long in the past.There are inherent weaknesses to theconversational structure of a tapedinterview. It is absolutely incumbentupon a researcher to further corrob-orate the facts before using them asa confirmed reference. Finally, indi-vidual interviews usually only give aresearcher a constricted glimpse ofthe overall activity going on in a par-ticular battle or operation. Good useof oral histories requires researchersto review multiple interviews at vari-ous levels of command in order toget a fuller and more accurate pictureof what was going on.

The History Division’s oral historyprogram plays a crucial role in

the retention of the historical memo-ry of our Corps. Our collection spansinterviews provided by nearly everyCommandant since General LemuelC. Shepherd, Jr., to young Marinesjust out of boot camp and currentlyserving in combat zones around theworld. The collection is an invalu-able tool to researchers and buffsalike. Many Marines usually do notthink their personal stories are veryimportant, but I always remind themthat Marines make history every daywhether they realize it or not. As cur-rent Oral History Branch Head Dr.Fred Allison noted, “oral historyallows the Marines of yesterday andtoday to speak to those of tomorrowand indeed 100 years hence.” I mustsay I certainly agree with him.Semper Fidelis. �1775�

archived over 14,000 interviews fromveterans of the Cold War, Beirut,Desert Storm, and Operations IraqiFreedom and Enduring Freedom,many of which were recorded direct-ly by History Division field histori-ans.

If historians want to enliven theirresearch with direct primary sourceaccounts on a battle or operationsince 1965, they need look no furtherthan History Division’s extensive filesand tapes. In sum, these taped his-tories provide researchers with a spe-cific snapshot in time. One particularoral history I especially enjoy listen-ing to is a taped interview conductedby a Marine combat correspondentgoing ashore in a U.S. Navy landingcraft at Iwo Jima on the second dayof the battle, 20 February 1945. Asyou listen to the tape, you can actu-ally hear the rapid and deep boom-ing sound of naval gunfire beingfired directly over the approachinglanding craft, and you are immedi-ately struck by the sheer amount ofnoise that accompanies a battle inprogress. If a researcher wants to geta first person “feel” for what it musthave been like for thousands ofMarines going ashore in similar land-ing craft on “D-Day” (19 February1945), one only need listen to a fewminutes of this tape.

While we in the History Divisionare indeed quite proud of our

extensive collection, the use of oralhistory is not without its pitfalls.During the early years of building thecollection, it was not unusual for BenFrank and others to amass the tapedinterviews in the name of expedien-cy without ever getting around toproviding the tape with a transcriptor even a summary of what wasbeing discussed on the tape. Thus,without a transcript or summary, the


National Museum of the Marine Corps

Combat Correspondent Collection Arrivesby Owen L. Conner

Curator of Uniforms and Heraldry

Photo by Owen Conner

SSgt James Moser, Jr.’s bible and Swiss-made “Hermes Baby” 1940s typewriterserved him well during his combattours.

Throughout World War II, ColonelRobert L. Denig’s radiomen usedrecording equipment loaned by theU.S. Congress to capture the sounds ofthe war in the Pacific, interviewMarines, and produce radio broad-casts heard around the world. TheLibrary of Congress holds about 1,600of these vintage recordings in itsMarine Corps Combat RecordingsCollection (1941-1945). The collec-tion can be searched using the SONICdatabase.

In the summer of 1941, the U.S.Marine Corps established a new

public relations agency to promoterecruitment and disseminate stories,photographs, and motion pictures.Colonel Robert L. Denig was selectedto lead the organization. A 36-yearveteran of the Corps, Denig hadserved with Major General ThomasHolcomb during World War I. Equallytalented as a combat officer and anadministrator, Denig modernized theMarine Corps’ public relations pro-grams and stationed official combat

correspondents around the world.Known affectionately as “Denig’sDemons,” these photo and print jour-nalists were recruited by the Marine

Corps from a pool of the best andbrightest of the era. They hailed fromsuch illustrious newspapers asWashington D.C.’s Evening Star, TimesHerald, and Washington Post, thePhiladelphia Bulletin, and the NewYork Daily News and Mirror. Onceenlisted, the correspondents were sentto boot camp alongside their fellowMarines and were promoted to therank of sergeant when assigned to thefield.

One of these “Demons” was a 28-year-old staff reporter from theEvening Star named James F. Moser,Jr. Originally from Culpeper, Virginia,Moser had worked at the Star since1937. He was married with an infantdaughter and was a police beatreporter. When he was drafted in1943, he volunteered for service in theMarine Corps and was eventuallyassigned to the 1st Marine Division. Asa minor hometown celebrity, hiscareer was well documented. LocalVirginia newspapers and colleagues atthe Evening Star traced his Marinetraining, honors, and eventual travels

The Marine Corps Oral History Collection containsapproximately 15,700 oral history recordings of

Marines, and those who fought with them, who haveoffered their reminiscences and experiences from everyconflict and operation over the last 100 years. Most ofthe interviews are housed in the Audio-VisualInformation Repository of the Marine Corps Archives andSpecial Collections located at the Gray Research Centerin Quantico, Virginia. A sub-series of this collection isthe Marine Corps Career Interview Oral HistoryCollection, which contains over 200 career Marine inter-views, most of which have been transcribed into 200- to400-page transcripts, bound, and distributed throughoutthe Marine Corps community. History Division is work-ing on scanning these and providing full electronicaccess in the future. The scope of the Marine Corps OralHistory Collection spans 1898 to 2008, including a small

number of reminiscences from the Spanish-AmericanWar (1898), Abyssinia (1903), Cuba (1906-1917), TheGreat White Fleet (1907-1909), Panama (1908-1910), andHonduras (1924). A larger number of interviews havebeen gathered on the more recent conflicts includingWorld War I (45), Nicaragua (45), Haiti (40), SantoDomingo (21), and China (88). Since the relationshipbetween the Marine Corps and the Library of Congressstarted during World War II, both institutions have beenleading collectors of Marine interviews. Each article inthis issue of Fortitudine discusses some aspect of everymajor conflict the Marine Corps has been involved insince World War II. The individual writers captured whatthey believed to be the essence of the program at thetime, including differing techniques in collection, mod-ern application to writing projects, and overall usefulnessto students of Marine Corps history. –Rob Taglianetti

Special Edition

Oral History


across the Pacific with periodicupdates and photos. In return, Mosersent them short, unofficial briefs doc-umenting his observations on every-thing from curious island religious cer-emonies to historical and geographicfacts about New Guinea.

In his more official capacities,Sergeant Moser served as a combatcorrespondent from December 1943to February 1944, taking part in 1stMarine Division operations in theBattles of Cape Gloucester and NewBritain. In 1944, when it wasannounced that there was a shortageof correspondents for the upcominginvasion of Guam, Moser volunteeredto temporarily serve with the 3dMarine Division. Typical of many of“Denig’s Demons,” he was constantlyon the lookout for firsthand materialfor his news stories. During the fight-ing for Guam, Moser landed with theinitial assault waves and accompaniedMarines involved in the most intenseareas of fighting on the island. Whilefiling reports from the beach, he waspainfully wounded in the ear by aJapanese mortar fragment. For mostMarines, the injury would haveentailed a temporary respite from bat-tle, but Sergeant Moser refused to beevacuated when he learned he wasthe only surviving correspondent fromhis combat team. After receiving firstaid, he continued to report on hisunit’s activities from the frontlines,and in the process, he was constantlyexposed to enemy machine gun, mor-tar, and rifle fire. On repeated occa-sions, he left comparatively securepositions to observe individuals andunits involved in the most seriousfighting.

In recognition of the “courage andprofessional skill” he exhibited in

the battle, Sergeant Moser was award-ed the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.An unusually detailed Bronze Starcitation was signed by LieutenantGeneral Holland M. Smith, and Moserwas later personally awarded themedal by the Commandant of theMarine Corps, General Alexander A.Vandegrift.

After recovering from his injuries,Moser returned to the 1st MarineDivision. As a staff sergeant, he con-

tinued to cover the division’s combatoperations through the invasion ofOkinawa. His news stories were dis-tributed to stateside newspapers andLeatherneck magazine and were usedin various other public relations activ-ities. In June 1945, he accumulatedenough points to come back to theUnited States. He resumed his job withthe Evening Star as the police beatreporter and continued to work for thepaper for more than 25 years. After abrief period of retirement, Moser wentback to work for the Free-Lance Starin Fredericksburg, Virginia, until hisdeath on 17 September 1991.

On 12 March 2008, the NationalMuseum of the Marine Corps officiallyaccepted a collection of artifacts fromMoser’s family into its permanent col-lection. Among the items were his per-sonal bible and the Marine Corps-issuecombat correspondent typewriter hecarried through two years of war. Thebible has a small steel plate attachedto the front cover and was rituallystored in Moser’s breast pocket overhis heart throughout his years ofaction. The book’s inlay is inscribedby his sister and also contains a car-toon sticker of a Marine urging thepostal carrier to “rush Marine mail!”

Staff Sergeant Moser’s militarymodel typewriter was built inSwitzerland by Hermes in the 1940s.Known as the “Hermes Baby,” themodel was famous for its small size,light weight, quiet keystroke, andrugged durability. As a Marine Corpsequipment item, it was painted amatte olive drab and included a solidmetal cover that was designed to pro-tect the machine while traveling.Moser’s cover shows the remnants ofofficial military shipping decals andportions of two painted Hula Girlswho once adorned the protective cov-ering.

As the National Museum of theMarine Corps works to preserve boththe material and cultural history of theMarine Corps, the collection of StaffSergeant James F. Moser, Jr., serves asa wonderful reminder of the caliber ofcitizens the “Greatest Generation” pro-duced. Often, national conscriptionand “citizen-soldiers” are associatedwith youth, but during World War II, italso brought specialized skills andexperience to the Nation’s ArmedForces. These professional men andwomen set aside successful careersand families and served their nation inits time of greatest need. �1775�

Marine Corps Photo collection

Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Alexander A. Vandegrift awarded SSgtMoser the Bronze Star for “courage and professional skill” after the Battle ofGuam in 1944.


The Marine Corps History Division has410 World War II interviews, collectedby historians from the beginning of themodern Marine Corps oral history pro-gram in 1963 to the present day. TheLibrary of Congress has 2,049 in itsVeterans History Project.

Almost two months after their cap-ture by the Japanese on 8

December 1941, 189 North ChinaMarines were transferred to their firstprisoner-of-war camp at Woosung, 15miles outside Shanghai, China. Forsome, this first year of their captivitywas the longest; since everything wasstill new, they were not yet desensi-tized to a POW’s monotonous exis-tence, and the chance of repatriationstill kept many alert for signs of hope.Older Marines such as Sergeant MajorCecil M. Dietz, one of the senior rank-ing enlisted men, settled in for whathe fully expected to be a very longprison confinement. Dietz recorded inhis daily diary that “all this will be for-gotten or seem like a bad dream.” Hewas correct on most of his observa-tions and this one is still true for mostof the last 15 survivors, now 66 yearslater. They have not forgotten howthey were mistreated, but it is like abad dream many wish they could for-get.

Sergeant Major Dietz was two yearsout from a 30-year retirement whenthe Peiping Embassy was surroundedby thousands of Japanese soldiers on8 December 1941 (7th in the UnitedStates). He had survived two wars andthree active expeditions. For most ofhis time as a captive, Dietz was adju-tant and in charge of at least one bar-racks of 200 men. Because he wasadjutant, he was allowed to own anduse a typewriter to issue reports ortype up official correspondencebetween the Marines and Japanesecamp authorities. For almost fouryears Dietz secretly used his type-

writer to record his daily activities inthe form of a letter to his wife andchildren. Through 100 inspections, hecleverly hid his diary under his trunk,always expecting it would be foundand never imagining it would make ithome years later.

The Woosung prisoner-of-warcamp offered barely adequate livingconditions. As they entered the pitifulcamp that was to be their home forjust under one year, many men awoketo the realization that they were notgoing to be repatriated as they viewedthe sun baked and gaunt faces of theWake Island Marines and civilians–men suffering tremendously in theNorth China winter because they werestill clothed with the summer garbthey were captured in. ColonelWilliam W. Ashurst and his assistantMajor Luther A. Brown, the seniorranking military officers, representedthe Marines to the prison campauthorities. From the first day, ColonelAshurst filed complaints and peti-tioned the authorities about the needsof the POWs. The camp includedseven old wooden barracks, whichwere 210 feet long by 50 feet wideand contained no furnishings exceptraised wooden platforms that slept

230 men. The camp commandant,Colonel Yuse, informed the newarrivals they were now prisoners ofJapan and would be thus treated tohard work, harsh treatment, and ameager diet. At one point, there wereas many as 1,790 prisoners atWoosung including the China Marines,the Wake Island Marines, about 1,000civilians who worked on Wake Island,the crews of the USS Wake and theBritish HMS Peterel, as well as variousmerchant marines.

Unknown to the Japanese, theMarine prisoners included several

expert radio technicians. Within a fewdays of arriving at Woosung, PrivateFirst Class Jerold B. Story led a groupof daring Marines up through the roofof their barracks into the room wheretheir luggage was locked up by theJapanese. The Marines’ mission was toretrieve several shortwave radio partsthat were carefully secreted through-out several crates back when theywere first taken prisoner. Withinhours, Technical Sergeant CharlesPierce was able to reconstruct theradio parts into a working radio andfound he could pick up KGEI onTreasure Island in San Francisco. The

Oral History

The First and Longest Held POWs ofWorldWar II:North China Marine Embassy Guards–Part II

by Rob TaglianettiOral Historian

Japanese wartime photograph

Japanese officials confer with American and British officers at Woosung PrisonCamp. Clockwise: Col William W. Ashurst, Cdr Leo Cromwell, Maj James P.Devereux, Merchant Captain Malcolm R. Peters, Wake civilian engineerRaymond R. Rutledge.


radio was concealed behind a 2-footby 6-inch board in the wall of theroom of three officers, includingCaptain John A. White. Throughouttheir time as prisoners in China, thesecret radio was never discovered.This radio was a carefully guardedsecret that possibly as few as half adozen even knew about. Not evenSergeant Major Dietz knew of its exis-tence, but his diary is loaded withincredibly accurate rumors that theycould not have otherwise heard. Thissmall handful of individuals had fullknowledge of the progress of the war,perhaps even better than their campauthorities. They carefully leaked outnews at the appropriate times andprobably warned all prisoners not totalk around the Japanese guards aboutthe rumors. This can be observed inDietz’s diary as he accurately learnedof “rumors” of D-Day, successfulbombing missions, the recapture ofthe Philippines and Guam, a turnoverin the Japanese government, thedestruction of the Japanese naval fleet,and news of “a Navy Task Force work-ing within a few hundred miles oftheir position” (Iwo Jima). Manyrumors circulated the day of or within24 hours of the actual events. The cap-tives loved to receive captured airmeninto the camp population as theyoften brought firsthand news of howthings were going in the United States,especially concerning the support forthe war.

The Japanese rationed out rice,soup, and sometimes meat or fish

to the POWs. Total calories wereabout 2,150 on a good day but weremostly carbohydrates, which con-tributed to a high rate of edema. Itwas enough to live and work off ofbut not enough to keep one healthy.For the first two months their diet wasvery meager. A small bowl of rice, abowl of stew, and tea three times aday was all they got. In April of 1942rations were increased to about 650grams of rice per man per day, plussmall amounts of meat. The meat waslater discontinued, and fish or squidwas given to the prisoners on a fewoccasions. They were often hardpressed to find any meat in their“soup.” The only potable liquid was

tea served in cups five times a day.The only source of water was a sur-face well, which all prisoners werewarned not to drink from. Dietzrecorded his weight on an availablescale at various times in his diary.Even before they were transferred totheir first camp, Dietz had lost 20pounds in just over one month onJapanese rations and a few care pack-ages from Chinese friends. After fourmonths in captivity, he weighed just150 pounds and leveled out for theremainder of the war at 145. One par-ticular civilian could not eat rice anddied of malnutrition very quickly.Another civilian was unable to eat thebread or stew but sold it and tried to

live off of rice alone; he got beriberiand dropsy, and eventually died.

The prisoners were allowed togrow a garden in which as many as400–500 men worked while assignedto farm details. In August of 1942, thegardens began to produce but theJapanese took most of the vegetables.On a few very rare occasions, theJapanese would provide the prisonerssome food other than the normalrations. On the Japanese emperor’sbirthday, the POWs each received twoapples and a quarter pound of peanutbutter and another time received friedfish. One constant in the prisoners’diet was that as the war progressed,the food became progressively worse.Good news for American submarinesmeant bad news for food shipmentsand supplies. At times the “meat” thatwas supposed to be in their soupincluded fish in various states of decayand moldy rice became common.Hedgerow soup, as they called it, wascertainly not enough to keep themhealthy through the winter. Items fromthe garden used in soups included let-tuce, spinach, and even weeds.

The Marines who spent most oftheir captivity in China attributed

their survival to the arrival of regularRed Cross shipments; roughly 14packages over three and one-halfyears for each POW. In a letter afterthe war, Lieutenant Colonel Luther A.Brown wrote, “Only POWs can really

Personal Papers of PFC Matthew H. Stohlman

Japanese guards took this photo of PFCMatthew H. Stohlman at the KawasakiPOW camp.

Japanese guard reads the news of the Singapore defeat to the haggard Woosungcamp prisoners.



know what good work the Red Crosshas accomplished. Had it not been forMr. Edouard Egle (Shanghai Red Crossdelegate) and his staff at Shanghai, themortality rate in our camp would with-out doubt have been much greater.”The contents of a typical Red Crosspackage included milk powder,processed cheese, liver paste, cornedbeef, margarine, lunch meat, salmon,sardines, and sugar. When shipmentswere held up and multiple boxeswere received at one time, the officersin charge would ration the distributionto supplement their meager Japaneserations for the longest amount of time,usually one week.

On 17 March 1942, one week afterfive other prisoners escaped and

were captured, four Marines includingCorporals Charles W. Brimmer, JeroldB. Story, Connie G. Battles, andPrivate First Class Charles A. Stewartescaped from the camp and hid out inthe home of a British woman. Whenthe Japanese authorities discoveredthey were gone, the noncommis-sioned officer in charge of their farmdetail was immediately locked up.Then about 100 Marines, including theentire farm detail and their bunk-mates, were jammed into an extreme-ly confined space for one, followed bythe release of 50 one week later, then40 the following week, and then the

remaining 10 after another week.After a month consumed with indeci-sion on which course of action totake, the Japanese found the fourescapees and surrounded the housethey were in. After being interrogatedand beaten for long hours, they weretried by court-martial and sentencedto serve four years in prison. CorporalBrimmer received seven years sincethe Japanese thought he was theleader. After laughing at a joke amongthemselves, the Japanese judgeincreased Brimmer’s sentence to nineyears. Corporal Story latter escapedfrom the Ward Road Jail and, withhelp from friendly Chinese guerillaforces, was able to get back intoUnited States custody.

While at Woosung, there were twounfortunate deaths. On an evening inApril of 1942, a guard brought his rifledown on an indifferent civilian POWwho refused to halt at the guard’scommand. He was shot and the lessonwas learned not to take any com-mands lightly. One morning late in thesummer of 1942, a Corporal Bucherwas working on a farm detail outsidethe camp’s electric fence. As heattempted to throw a sack of beanplants over the fence, he slipped andfell onto the fence, and was electro-cuted. The fence was supposed to beshutoff during the day.

Woosung lay within a flood plain

that ensured the camp was one largemud field at least for the duration ofthe rainy seasons. The POWs’ first taskthat spring was to drain and level it foruse as a Japanese parade ground andprisoner athletic field. The men alsodid farm work and repairing of roads.The officers were never forced to domanual labor, but in some cases theywere made to supervise the enlistedmen. Most officers freely chose towork in the gardens.

The prisoners held athletic eventson their camp compounds, and on atleast one occasion, as many as fivesoftball games were played in oneday. The Japanese camp authorities, atleast once, donated cigarettes to thewinners to use as prizes for theemperor’s birthday field day events.The prisoners also observed MemorialDay with wreath laying ceremonies atthe POW cemetery. With all the hardwork and opportunities to vent theirstress on the sports field, the captiveswere still stretched thin for food,strength, health, and encouragement.

Getting news about the UnitedStates’ economy, support for the

war, and the success of the war wascritical to helping the prisoners carryon and stick it out for the remainingtime. While the Japanese wereadvancing unopposed in the first sixmonths of the war, the POWs wereallowed to have a radio in each bar-racks tuned to a Japanese propagandastation. About the time of the U.S. vic-tory at Midway, the radios wereremoved. By August 1944, theJapanese stopped allowing the cap-tives to even read the Japanese propa-ganda newspapers which could nolonger hide the truth that the war wasbeginning to look bad for Japan. “Wecan not even get the Shanghai papersnow,” Dietz noted and that it “must bepretty bad when they won’t let useven read their own propaganda!!!!”Many of the prisoners’ families backhome learned news of their sons viaradio messages out of Japan. Althoughthe POWs did not say much morethan hello to their families, theJapanese would later attempt to mixthe recorded voices with Japanesenews to manipulate public opinion inthe United States, Japan, and China.

Marines line up at microphones and say "I am well, how are you." The Japaneselater used these in broadcasts to aid their own propaganda, but U.S. citizenspicked them up on shortwave radio and got news to their families.



The captives and their families werejust happy to get whatever news theycould. Every professional broadcasterand amateur shortwave radio hobbyistin the free world picked up these mes-sages and passed them on to the fam-ilies as best they could. Families oftenreceived telegrams from the WarDepartment the day after their son’svoice was broadcast. It was not unusu-al for a family’s mailbox to be jammedwith almost a hundred letters and sev-eral vinyl recordings from dozens ofstates. Sometimes recorded messagesfrom their families were sent overshortwave radio and passed on to thePOWs via telegram.

Toward the end of their 11 monthstay at the Woosung Prisoner of

War Camp, the Japanese administeredmedical examinations to determinewhich of the prisoners were best fit tosend to Japan and sell off as slavelabor to privately owned factories anddocks. On 18 September 1942, 70 pris-oners were sent to Japan-Fukuoka 3-B, including 69 civilians and oneMarine. On 3 November 1942, 58Marines and 12 civilians were sent toJapan–Fukuoka 3-B. About 25 of thesePOWs were North China Marines.Dietz lamented in his diary that byDecember of 1942 they had lost 30North China Marines, including 1death, 4 escapees, and 20 transferredto Japan. Toward the end of the war,Dietz learned that one man amongthis group of 20, his radioman inPeiping, China, was killed in a U.S.bombing raid while working at a fac-tory—a tragic but unavoidable acci-dent. Prisoners who were transferredto Japanese factories in both 1942 and1943 worked with the various process-es of steel production, such as runningsteel presses, forges, and lathes. Thoseat the docks unloaded ships, oftenwith the most archaic forms of one-man load bearing techniques.

On 6 December 1942, the WoosungCamp was closed and all POWs weretransferred to the Kiangwan Prisonerof War Camp. Those prisoners whowere not ill or elderly were marched10 to 12 miles. One reason for themove was that this camp was nearerto Shanghai to facilitate supply.Although the capacity of this camp

reached 1,800 at one point, Dietzrecorded in his diary that “I sincerelybelieve that this camp is the best of allthe war prisoner camps that theJapanese government have.” In addi-tion to the crude facilities for cooking,medical, storage, and a brig, thePOWs developed certain types ofindustry, including a tin shop, tailorshop, shoe shop, and a carpentershop. The prisoners relied heavily onregular supplies from the Internation-al, American, and Canadian Red Crossbut many of their needs dictated thatthey would have to repair and other-wise fashion certain things they need-ed.

Just after arriving at Kiangwan, theprisoners celebrated their second

Christmas in captivity with a dinner.Christmas 1942 included a miracle thatcame out of nowhere in the form of aman they considered an angel fromheaven, at the time. Jimmy James wasin the United States Army in Chinaduring the 1920s. After getting out atthe age of 22, he opened a very suc-cessful hamburger business whicheventually turned into multiple stores.Although the Japanese invaded Chinain 1937, they allowed him to continuehis business. One day in 1942, he reada proud boast in a Japanese-controlledpaper: “Hordes of Defeated American,British POWs in the Shanghai PrisonCamp.” This angered him so muchthat he did everything in his power tosecure permission to deliver aChristmas meal within a week’s time!In famine-wracked China, Jamesfound and roasted 350 turkeys withdressing, sweet potatoes, hundreds ofmince meat pies, candy by the boxful,1,500 Christmas cards signed bywomen, including nuns, who wrotenotes and signed them, gatheredChristmas decorations, scrounged up7,750 cups of coffee, and pulled intothe Shanghai prison camp, like SantaClaus, on 25 December 1942. TheMarines can still taste that meal today.James was later imprisoned himselfbut was released by the end of thewar. At a 1989 North China MarinePOW reunion, he was finally honored,including receiving a letter fromPresident Ronald W. Reagan. TheNorth China Marine POWs are still not

over that meal 66 years later. Not onlydid Jimmy James’ feast arrive that sec-ond Christmas in 1942, but the cap-tives also received supplies from theRed Cross that made the holiday sea-son much more survivable. The pris-oners always got something specialeach and every Christmas. “At least weate one good meal a year,” Dietzrecorded in 1943.

By international law, the Japanesewere required to pay the POWs fortheir work but by late 1943, Dietzrecorded that what they were beingpaid per day was equivalent to aboutone penny in U.S. dollars. At theKiangwan Prisoner of War Camp inearly 1943, the Marines were put towork building a small mountain,which some of the men called aminiature Mount Fuji. The mountainwas a long time in the making as thePOWs built it one wheelbarrow at atime. Some were told that this moun-tain was intended to one day serve aspart of a recreation complex, but itended up becoming a rifle range.What started out as a project employ-ing 100 turned into a working party of600. Although the men needed morefood for energy, this outdoor workwas good for them compared to beingcooped up all day inside their dingybarracks. The summer heat in Chinacaused many prisoners to suffer fromextreme fatigue.

Good news for the U.S. war effortexcited the POWs, yet at the

same time meant bad news for theirwork and treatment. Toward the endof 1943, the front lines of the Pacifictheater drew closer to Japan, and theJapanese workforce began to dwindleenough that Japanese private indus-tries began to call for POW workers tobe sent to Japan to work at docks andfactories. Before the end of the war, allbut a handful of the North ChinaMarines found themselves in the homeislands of Japan. �1775�

(To be continued)

The author thanks Richard Dietzfor quotes from his father’s diaryand John Powers for his expertknowledge and guidance.


The Marine Corps History Division has250 Korea veteran interviews in itscollection, dating from 1963 to thepresent. The Library of Congress has855 Korea Marine interviews in itsVeterans History Project.

One phase of the mission of asmall group of Marine reservists

on duty in Korea in 1951 was tosecure through interviews, informa-tion not ordinarily available in officialunit reports or war diaries. Theadvantages of using the interviewmethod were definite and specific: itwould provide information on the rea-sons behind staff planning and deci-sions during operations; it wouldmake possible an accurate descriptionof terrain and weather factors andtheir effect on operations; it wouldmake available comments on equip-ment and materiel under field andcombat conditions; and it would coversmall unit tactics and operations.

This task was carried out by twoteams of the 1st Provisional HistoricalPlatoon, one attached on temporaryadditional duty status to the 1st MarineDivision and the other to the 1stMarine Aircraft Wing. The concept ofa platoon of this type, populated bymobilized Reserve historians, and acti-vated only during wartime was devel-oped by Lieutenant Colonel Robert D.Heinl, Jr., the head of the HistoricalSection at Headquarters Marine Corpsfollowing World War II. (For a detailedaccount of the platoon and its activi-ties, see Benis M. Frank, “KoreanWar’s ‘Fighting’ 1st ProvisionalHistorical Platoon,” Fortitudine, sum-mer 1989.)

The platoon was somewhat suc-cessful in carrying out its primary mis-sions of assisting in the preparation ofunit historical diaries, special actionreports, and preserving and forward-ing historical documents toHeadquarters Marine Corps, althoughthe major Marine commands in Koreawere already fulfilling these missions.

But in supplementing these docu-ments with interviews and personalobservations, the “the historians,” asBenis Frank noted, “were just not mil-itarily professional enough to performthis mission meaningfully.”

Despite the fact that the teams hadno tape recorders, they did manage toconduct more than 150 interviews, byjotting down both questions andanswers and then, often three or fourmonths later, preparing a type tran-script, which averaged two and onehalf pages. Few have survived.Those interviews that have survivedare incomplete. For example, whilethe number of interviews concerningthe withdrawal from Chosin Reservoiris limited, the character of the materi-al covered is even more limited.There is coverage of small generalactions, but only one interview deal-ing with artillery support; none arefrom the tank crews, truck drivers,engineers, or 4.2-inch mortar crews,who played such an important part inthe movement from Hagaru-ri toHungnam. Consequently, whole seg-ments of the story are missing.

Also, while a majority of the 1stMarine Aircraft Wing interviews cov-ered the same topic several times atdifferent command levels and there-

fore produced a comprehensive pic-ture of an action, the 1st MarineDivision interviews did not. Opinionswere sought from pilots, squadronleaders, logistics officers, ordnanceofficers, forward air controllers, andtactical air controllers in an effort tosubstantiate information gathered con-cerning close air support tactics andweapons. While artillery support wasvital in ground operations of1950–1951, it was covered from thepoint of view and based on the expe-riences of one individual at one com-mand level. As the logistics officerwith the 3d Battalion, 11th Marines, hewas not in a position to get an overallpicture of artillery support. Interviewsshould have been with artillerymen, aswell as those requesting and receivingfire support, in order to determine theeffectiveness of the artillery support.

Because of these and more funda-mental problems, regular Marine offi-cers were ordered to duty with the pla-toon, but even with these regulars man-ning the teams, the division and wingwere unhappy with the platoon andthey made it clear that its services wereno longer needed. The platoon, waseventually disbanded and personnelwithin the division and wing assumedthe jobs that the historians did. �1775�

Histories Branch

Oral History Interviewing in Koreaby Charles R. Smith

Head, Histories Branch

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) SC365618

Historians were often billeted in the public information tent of the 1st MarineDivision, which served both as office and living quarters.


26th Marines, under Captain WilliamH. Dabney. One of the Marines underCaptain Dabney was Lance CorporalGary K. Parker, who helped to resup-ply Hill 881S. Corporal Parker hadjoined the Marines because of troubleat home and found himself inVietnam, which he described as a“life-changing situation” and “veryspooky.” He related that much of thefighting on Hill 881S occurred at night:“It was scary because you couldn’t seeyour hand in front of your face.” Hesaid that the North Vietnamese wereso near to the Marines’ trenches thatyou “could hear them talking, couldsmell the marijuana.” He went on tosay that the North Vietnamese “couldbe 10 feet in front of you and youwouldn’t even know it.”

Corporal Kenneth S. Warner alsotold of a similar feeling of dread whileon patrol. While patrolling in a valleybetween Hills 881S and 881N, hestopped with his patrol and heard“footsteps behind me.” He went on tosay that this was the “eeriest and scari-est feeling in the world like we werebeing watched.” His gut feeling wason the mark for, on19 January 1968, hisunit got ambushedhalfway up Hill881N. The next day,while patrolling withCaptain Dabney, hegot wounded. Afterbeing medevacedout and recovering,Corporal Warnerwas back on Hill881S with IndiaCompany and Cap-tain Dabney.

Each Marine whomade it to Hill 881S,not only had to facehis fears, but for theMarines in heli-copters, they facedsome of the worstweather and hostile

environments. For Corporal BobSteinberg, who was assigned to HMM364 as a crew chief, his first visit toKhe Sanh and Hill 881S impressed himas being “very serene” and an “isolat-ed, desolate” country. However, it wassoon after this initial impression thatCorporal Steinberg would see thingsdifferently, flying in CH-46s to resup-ply the Marines on the hills aroundKhe Sanh.

The Marines on Hill 881S were cutoff from any kind of land resupply

so they were absolutely dependent onCH-46s for food, water, and ammuni-tion. The CH-46s resupplied the hillswith 15 helicopters in groups of three,according to Major Alfred Zindin. Witharmed UH-1 Hueys on either side forprotection, the CH-46s would carryanywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 poundsof supplies in large nets. The heli-copters would slow to 5 to 15 knotsand then drop their loads about 50feet above the hilltop. The CH-46pilots would use the “hellhole” (ahatch in the bottom of the helicopter)in order to avoid dumping the sup-

Lessons learned in attempts to capturecomprehensive interviews throughoutthe Korean War gave historians thewisdom and incentive to change theirapproach when it came to collectingoral histories. The Marine CorpsHistory Division hired historian BenisFrank, who helped organize anunprecedented collection effort thatgathered thousands of interviewsrecorded in Vietnam, and thousandsmore collected by base and unit histo-rians. The Marine Corps HistoryDivision has about 10,000 Vietnaminterviews collected during and justafter the war, and about 100 since.The Library of Congress holds about1,200 in its Veterans History Project.

Oral History collects informationabout a particular war or battle

from a personal perspective of theindividual Marine who was there. It isthis personal perspective that givesoral history its unique ability to por-tray military events with an ambiencethat is not always conveyed by unitchronologies. This article recounts afew personal tales, during the time ofthe Khe Sanh battle, from one of thehill fights—Hill 881 South (881S)—from the Marines who were there.Khe Sanh was an isolated combat baseon a plateau in the northern moun-tains of I Corps, western Quang TriProvince, Vietnam. Surrounding KheSanh Combat Base (commanded byColonel David E. Lownds of the 26thMarines) were a group of hills of tac-tical importance; these hills werelabeled 1015, 950 (east of the RaoQuan River and due north of KheSanh), 558, 861, 881N, and 881S(northwest of Khe Sanh). These hillswere scenes of ferocious fightingbetween the Marines and the People’sArmy of Vietnam (North Vietnamese)from the early days of 1967 through1968.

Hill 881S was about seven kilome-ters northwest of Khe Sanh and wasdefended by Company I, 3d Battalion,

Editing and Design Branch

Marine Tales from Hill 881, South Vietnamby Greg A. Macheak

Technical Writer

The map below shows the locations of the hills surround-ing Khe Sanh Combat Base during the hill fights and thesiege. Hill 881 South is shown about seven kilometersnorthwest of the combat base.


plies down the slope of the hill. If thepilots came under fire, they would“pickle the load” (dump and run) so asnot to lose the crew and helicopter.

These flights of helicopters withsupport aircraft were known as “supergaggles,” and according to CorporalHerrick R. Lord, were the “only thingthat saved us.” Though the super gag-gles brought in tons of supplies, theMarines still faced deprivation whileon Hill 881S. Corporal Lord relatedhow food and water were very tightand had to be restricted. In fact, theMarines ended up scrounging up oldcans of food that had been thrownaway, competing with the indigenous“huge rats.” Apparently, these fero-cious vermin did not fear the Marinesbecause several Marines got bitten andhad to get rabies shots. However, theMarines were not deterred by hugerats and scrounged up enough food tomake their infamous “Tabasco casse-

roles.” The deprivations didn’t endwith the lack of food; the Marineswere short on water, and thus didn’tshave, and their “clothes were rottingoff” according to Corporal Lord.

Though things were tough for theMarines, there were bits of humor

and relief from the fighting. On one ofthe super gaggle flights, a Marine gothis foot caught on the netting andwent for a spin in the air. Luckily hedidn’t drop and made it back to theground, safe and sound. On anotheroccasion, according to Corporal Lord,one night his unit saw thousands oftorches of what they believed to beNorth Vietnamese. They called inartillery and made short work of thatformation. That same night, anotherguy said that he saw a torch and moreartillery was called in on this unluckyenemy; however, the torch turned outto be a firefly—the Marines blew up a

Marine Corps Chronology

Marines in Lebanon, 1982-1984by Kara R. NewcomerReference Historian

The Marine Corps History Division hasabout 100 Lebanon interviews in itscollection, dating from 1982 to thepresent.

The following is a reprint from the1987 History Division publication

U.S. Marines in Lebanon, 1982-1984,by Benis M. Frank. This year marksthe 25th Anniversary of the 23October 1983 bombing of the head-quarters building of Battalion LandingTeam 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, inBeirut that claimed 241 Americanlives.

198225August - Roughly 800 Marines of the32d Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU),commanded by Colonel James M.Mead, land in Beirut as part of a multi-national peacekeeping force to over-see evacuation of PLO guerrillas underIsraeli siege. Force also includes 400French and 800 Italian soldiers.

10 September - Evacuation of PLOcomplete; 32d MAU is ordered out of

Beirut by the President of the UnitedStates.

26 September - Preparations for rede-ployment are underway, in the wakeof the assassination of LebanesePresident-elect Bashir Gemayel, anIsraeli push into Muslim West Beirut,and the massacre of Palestinians at theSabra and Shatilla refugee camps.Marines and sailors of the 32d MAUreceive the Navy Unit Commendationfor their part in the PLO evacuation, inceremonies on board the USS Guam(LPH-9), 60 miles off the coast ofLebanon.

29 September - The 32d MAU returnsto Beirut, to join 2,200 French andItalian troops already in place.

30 September - Marines suffer firstcasualties (1 KIA; 3 WIA) while clear-ing unexploded ordnance from thevicinity of Beirut International Airport.

30 October - The 32d MAU is relievedby the 24th MAU, commanded byColonel Thomas M. Stokes, Jr.

4 November - The 24th MAU extendsits presence in Beirut to the eastern(Christian) sector, patrolling the“Green Line” that divides the city intosectarian parts.

3 December - 24th MAU artillery ismoved ashore. (Battery of six 155mmhowitzers)

10 December - 24th MAU armor ismoved ashore. (Platoon of five M60A7tanks)

13 December - Marines commencetraining of Lebanese Armed Forces.About 75 Lebanese soldiers undergo21 days training in basic infantry skillsand helicopter assaults.

198329 January - Emergency communica-tion network established betweenAmerican and Israeli forces as tensionsmount between adjacent ground units.

2 February - Captain Charles B.Johnson confronts three Israeli tanksas they attempt to pass through hiscompany checkpoint, in the most seri-

hillside, not the bug. And of course,one can not fight a war without asweet treat; James Sigman (rank notgiven) relates how one day his lieu-tenant asked him if he wanted someice cream. Sigman said yes, and thelieutenant pulled out a carton of icecream meant for Hill 861. Everybodygorged themselves on ice cream, butdue to the high sugar content of theice cream, some of the Marines gotdiarrhea.

Oral history listens to the individualMarine’s story that very often does notshow up in the official histories. Oralhistory takes us behind the scenes andshows us the inner Marine as he orshe confronts tough conditions withingenuity and verve. If oral history issuccessful, it is because these Marineswere willing to share their personalstories—where the few did make thedifference at Hill 881S, South Vietnam.�1775�


ous incident to date.

15 February - The 32d MAU, now re-designated the 22d MAU and still com-manded by Colonel Mead, returns toLebanon to relieve the 24th MAU.

21 February - Marines commence fourdays of relief operations in the townof Quartaba during Lebanon’s worstblizzard in memory. With Syrianacquiescence, Marine helicopters alsofly into Syrian-held territory inLebanon’s central mountains to rescuevictims of frostbite and exposure.

16 March - Five Marines WIA in firstdirect attack on American peacekeep-ing troops. Islamic fundamentalistgroup Jihad Islami claims responsibili-ty.

17 March - The 24th MAU receives theNavy Unit Commendation for servicein Lebanon between October 1982and February 1983.

18 April - A large car bomb explodesat the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, causingmassive structural damage and killing61, including 17 Americans. More than100 are injured. Islamic fundamental-ists again claim responsibility.

5 May - Marine helicopter with sixaboard, including Colonel Mead, is hitby ground fire as it investigatesartillery duels between Druze andChristian gunners.

17 May - Lebanon-Israeli withdrawalagreement is signed.

30 May - The 24th MAU, commandedby Colonel Timothy J. Geraghty,relieves the 22d MAU.

25 June - Marines conduct first com-bined patrols with Lebanese Armytroops.

27 June - The 22d MAU receives theNavy Unit Commendation for servicein Lebanon between 15 February and30 June 1983.

22 July - Two Marines and one sailorWIA by shrapnel during shelling ofBeirut International Airport, part of ageneral pattern of increasing indirectfire against the Lebanese Army, theairport, and the Multi-National Force.

10August - About 27 artillery and mor-tar rounds are fired by Druze militiafrom the high ground east of Beirutinto Beirut International Airport,

resulting in one Marine WIA. Rocketsalso hit the Defense Ministry and thePresidential palace, and three cabinetministers are kidnapped by the Druze.

11 August - Eight more rocket/artilleryrounds fired into Beirut InternationalAirport. No casualties.

16 August - Commandant of theMarine Corps, General Paul X. Kelley,visits the 24th MAU.

28August - A combat outpost mannedby 30 Marines and Lebanese Armytroops east of Beirut InternationalAirport comes under fire from semi-automatic weapons and rocket-pro-pelled grenades. Marines return firefor the first time with rifles and M-60machine guns. No friendly casualtiesafter a 90-minute firefight.

29 August - A heavy rocket, mortar,and artillery attack on 24th MAU posi-tions on eastern side of BeirutInternational Airport results in 2Marine KIA and 14 Marine WIA.Marines retaliate with 155mm artillery.

30 August - French and Italian com-mand posts hit by mortar fire. OneFrench KIA; five Italian WIA.

31 August - Department of Defenseauthorizes hostile fire pay of $65 permonth for Marines and sailors of the24th MAU serving in Lebanon. Marinesretaliate with 155mm artillery afterMuslim shelling of U.S. Embassy resi-dence.

1 September - Joint Chiefs of Staffdirects deployment of AmphibiousReady Group ALPHA with the 31st

MAU embarked from the WesternPacific to the Mediterranean in thevicinity of Lebanon.

3 September - The 35th MAU is acti-vated in the Western Pacific to replacethe 31st MAU.

4 September - Israeli forces withdrawto positions on the Awali River, creat-ing a void to be filled by factional hos-tilities among the Lebanese.

6 September - Rocket attack on BeirutInternational Airport from Druze posi-tions in Shouf mountains results intwo Marine KIA; two Marine WIA.Total since 28 August: four KIA; 28WIA.

8 September - Frigate USS Bowen fires5-inch guns in first American use ofnaval gunfire support, silencing aDruze militia battery that had shelledBeirut International Airport. Marinesalso responded with 155mm artilleryfire.

10 September - Battleship USS NewJersey is alerted for deployment to theEastern Mediterranean.

12 September - 31st MAU arrives offLebanon and assumes standby role.

16 September - Destroyer USS JohnRodgers and frigate USS Bowenrespond with 5-inch gunfire intoSyrian controlled parts of Lebanon,after continued shelling near the resi-dence of the U.S. ambassador.

19 September - USS John Rogers andUSS Virginia fire 338 five-inch roundsto help Lebanese Army troops retainhold on strategic Shouf Mountains vil-

Marine Corps Official Photo (DN-SN-84-05173)

A CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter lifts off the Marine compound at BeirutInternational Airport.


lage of Suq al Gharb. American roleshifted from “presence” to direct sup-port of Lebanese Armed Forces in theperception of rebel factions.

20 September - Residence of U.S.ambassador shelled; USS John Rodgersand USS Virginia respond.

21 September - USS John Rodgers andUSS Arthur Radford responded toshelling of Marines at BeirutInternational Airport.

23 September - Indirect fire on Marinepositions countered by 155mmartillery fire and 5-inch gunfire fromUSS Virginia.

24 September - USS New Jersey arrivedoff Lebanese coast following high-speed transit from duty off CentralAmerica.

26 September - Cease-fire went intoeffect at 0600. Announced by SaudiArabian and Syrian officials inDamascus and supported by Druze.Talks begin on formation of new coali-tion government for Lebanon. Marinecasualties to date: five killed, 49wounded.

1 October - 31st MAU departedMediterranean for Indian Ocean inresponse to threatened crisis nearStrait of Hormuz.

5 October - Two Marine helicoptershit by ground fire.

8 October - Two Marines wounded bysniper fire.

13 October - One Marine wounded bygrenade fragments.

14 October - One Marine killed, threewounded by sniper fire. Marine sharp-shooters responded, setting off three-hour firefight. Ceasefire of 26September allegedly still in place.

15 October - Marine sharpshooters killfour snipers.

16 October - One Marine killed, fivewounded by sniper fire.

19 October - Four Marines woundedas attempt to ambush Marine convoywith car bomb was thwarted.

23 October - Suicide truck loaded withequivalent of 12,000 pounds of explo-sives destroys headquarters building

of BLT 1/8 at Beirut InternationalAirport. Almost simultaneous suicideattack destroys building occupied byFrench paratroopers. U.S. casualties:241 KIA; 70 WIA. French casualties: 58KIA. Marine replacement airlifts, via 13C-141 aircraft, begin the same day.

25 October - Commandant of theMarine Corps visits wounded in WestGerman hospital and flies on toLebanon to inspect scene of suicideattack.

4 November - Department of Defenseestablishes commission headed byAdmiral Robert L.G. Long, USN (Ret.)to investigate 23 October suicideattack at Beirut International Airport.Suicide driver blows up Israeli head-quarters in Tyre, killing 29 soldiersand 32 prisoners.

7 November - Brigadier General JamesR. Joy arrives in Beirut to assume com-mand of Marine operations inLebanon.

19 November - The 24th MAU isrelieved by the 22d MAU, which hadparticipated in the 25 October–2November Grenada intervention enroute to the Mediterranean. BrigadierGeneral Joy is in overall command ofLebanon operations for the Marines.

22 November - Defense SecretaryWeinberger states that the 23 Octobersuicide attack on the Marines was car-

The headquarters building of Battalion Landing Team 1/8 lies in ruins after the23 October 1983 suicide bombing that killed 241 Americans.

Marine Corps Official Photo


Marines from the 32d Marine Amphibious Unit walk down the bow ramp of thetank landing ship USS Manitowoc (LST-1180). The Marines were part of a multi-national peacekeeping force assigned to Lebanon after a confrontation betweenIsraeli forces and the Palestine Liberation Organization.


ried out by Iranians with the “spon-sorship, knowledge, and authority ofthe Syrian government.”

4 December - Marines at BeirutInternational Airport come underheavy fire from gun positions inSyrian-held territory. Marine casualties:eight KIA; two WIA. U.S. Navy retali-ates with gunfire. Earlier in the day, a28-plane raid was conducted on Syrianantiaircraft positions in the mountainseast of Beirut, in retaliation for Syrianfire directed at American aerial recon-naissance missions. Two U.S. aircraftare downed, in this first combat mis-sion over Lebanon.

15 December - The battleship USSNew Jersey delivers 16-inch gunfire onantiaircraft positions in the Syrian-occupied mountains southeast ofBeirut, as the Syrians continue to fireat U.S. reconnaissance flights over thearea. This was the USS New Jersey’sfirst action off Lebanon.

28 December - The Long Commissionreleases an unclassified 140-pagereport on the 23 October suicideattack.

19848 January - A Marine is killed byunidentified assailants as he exits ahelicopter at a landing zone on theedge of downtown Beirut. The heli-copter flew to safety, after returningfire with its machine guns.

13 January - Marines in the BeirutInternational Airport area fight a 30-minute battle with gunmen firing from

a building east of their perimeter.

15 January - Druze gunners closeBeirut International Airport for threehours with intense 23mm fire onMarine positions east and southeast ofthe airport. U.S. forces respond withsmall arms fire, mortars, rockets, tankfire, and naval gunfire from the battle-ship USS New Jersey and destroyer USSTattnall. No U.S. casualties.

2 February - Heavy fighting erupts inthe suburbs of Beirut, between theLebanese Army and Shi’ite militiamen.

3 February - Shi’ite leadership calls forresignation of Muslim cabinet mem-

bers and urges Muslims in theLebanese Army to disregard the ordersof their leaders. Prime MinisterWazzan and the Lebanese cabinetresign, to clear way for formation ofnew coalition government.

6 February - Druze and Muslim militi-amen seize much of Beirut in streetfighting and demand resignation ofAmine Gemayel.

7 February - President Ronald W.Reagan announces decision to rede-ploy Marines from Beirut InternationalAirport to ships offshore, leaving aresidual force behind to protect theU.S. Embassy and other Americaninterests. Increased reliance on airstrikes and naval gunfire support indi-cated.

8 February - USS New Jersey bombardsDruze and Syrian gun batteries inLebanon in the heaviest and most sus-tained American military action sincethe Marines arrived in Lebanon in1982.

10–11 February - American civiliansand other foreigners evacuate Beirutby helicopter.

21 February - U.S. Marines officiallybegin their withdrawal from Beirut toU.S. Sixth Fleet ships offshore.

26 February - Withdrawal of the 22dMAU complete. �1775�

Marine Corps Official Photo (DN-SC-87-12081)

U.S. Marines, armed with M16 rifles, take cover behind sandbags during a ter-rorist attack. The Marines were deployed in Lebanon as part of a multinationalpeacekeeping force following confrontation between Israeli forces and thePalestine Liberation Organization.

A Marine stands with a sign that signifies the feelings of the multinational peace-keeping force, in reference to the order that they could not use their weaponsunless it was absolutely necessary to protect themselves and their fellow Marines.



The Marine Corps History Division hasmore than 150 Gulf War interviews inits collection, dating from 1991 to thepresent. The Library of Congress has245 in its Veterans History Project.

During the Gulf War of 1990–91,the History Division deployed

five field historians: Colonel Charles J.Quilter, Colonel H. Avery Chenoweth,Lieutenant Colonel Charles H.Cureton, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis P.Mroczkowski, and Lieutenant ColonelRonald J. Brown. In addition to takingphotographs and collecting historical-ly significant documents, these histori-ans conducted a large number of oralhistory interviews with Marinesdeployed to the Gulf. These inter-views form the core of the oral histo-ries collected on the Gulf War, and arenow stored in the Visual ResearchArchives of the Gray Research Center;most can be located by asking the staffto perform a subject search on theterms “Desert Shield” and “DesertStorm.”

The oral histories collected by thedivision’s field historians cover thebroad sweep of the Marine experiencein the Gulf; they include interviews

with pilots, infantry officers, recon-naissance Marines, armored battalionofficers, headquarters, and servicesupport Marines. In addition, thereare interviews with the major Marinecommanders in the Gulf. LieutenantColonel Brown later covered theexperiences of Marines participatingin Operation Provide Comfort, the1991 humanitarian relief mission innorthern Iraq. After returning to theStates, the field historians used theircollected documents and oral historiesto produce monographs in HistoryDivision’s nine volume U.S. Marinesin the Persian Gulf, 1990–1991 series.

In addition to the interviews con-ducted by field historians during theevent, History Division historians havesince conducted interviews with GulfWar veterans to fill gaps in the recordand further illustrate the Marine expe-rience in the conflict. Some of thehighlights of these efforts includeindepth interviews with GeneralWalter E. Boomer (I Marine Expedi-tionary Force and MarCent comman-der), Major General Fadhel Basri, for-mer commander of the 16th InfantryDivision of the Iraqi Army andLieutenant Colonel Clifford M. Acree,

one of five Marines captured by theIraqis during the conflict. Many ofthese interviews are available in theVisual Research Archives; those whichare not are available at HistoryDivision.

During the Gulf War, the MarineCorps deployed Battlefield Assess-ment Teams overseas. These teamsconducted interviews rather than trueoral histories; they were conducted tolearn lessons from the conflict, not topreserve the historical record ofevents. Nonetheless they provide animportant view of Marines during theconflict, and many of these interviewsare transcribed and preserved in theSouthwest Asia Collection of the GrayResearch Center Archives.

Currently, History Division is pro-ducing an official history of

Marines in the Gulf War, and a com-panion to this piece is an oral historyanthology, collecting some of the moreinteresting interviews concerning theconflict. Like the Korean War, the GulfWar was relatively short, but thanks tothe efforts of the field historians andBattlefield Assessment Teams, it willnot be a “forgotten war.” �1775�

Histories Branch

Oral Histories of the GulfWar, 1990-1991by Paul Westermeyer

Histories Branch

In March 1991, field historian LtCol Dennis P. Mroczkowski stands at the entrance to lane “Blue 3,” where he participat-ed in breach control group operations.

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 07891291


The Marine Corps History Division hasabout 400 9/11 and OperationEnduring Freedom interviews, collect-ed by historians between 2001 and2008. The Library of Congress has afew dozen in its Veterans HistoryProject.

At least as far back as the ancientGreeks, military historians have

prized firsthand accounts as primarysources of information. Because theinformants witness the battle as eitherparticipants or observers, their person-al recollections are often more accu-rate than secondary sources and canilluminate details not always con-tained in official records. For example,they can highlight the context inwhich a conflict occurred, how thebattle may have deviated from theplan, and the contributions of individ-uals or small units lost in the melee.

It was not until World War II, how-ever, that Army historian SamuelLyman Atwood Marshall systematizedthe collection and preservation ofsuch data. He advocated groupdebriefings, conducted immediatelyfollowing a particular combat action,as the preferred method for gatheringinformation. While this technique rep-resented a great advance in oral histo-ry collection strategy, it required that ahistorian be on hand to conduct theinterview; it overlooked the downside

of collaborative accounts; and it madethe transcription of multiple voicesmore difficult. While always a difficulttask, modern field historians havefine-tuned the collection process.

While collecting approximately 376interviews during Operation EnduringFreedom, eight researchers from theHistory Division took a modifiedapproach to documenting Marineoperations in Afghanistan, Bahrain,Kuwait, and Guantanamo Bay. First,they tended to arrive at the tail end ofthe conflict, enabling them collect onthe full range of operations conductedby the units, but soon enough afterthe events that the experiencesencountered were fresh in the partici-pants’ minds. Second, they developeda comprehensive collection plan, tar-geting key personnel, while systemat-ically working down the chain of com-mand: commanding officers and theirprinciple staff, junior commanders,and Marines involved in significantevents. Third, after returning to theUnited States, the field historiansmeticulously summarized the contentof each interview and had keyaccounts transcribed to facilitate useby future researchers. Finally, the oralhistory effort was part of a compre-hensive strategy that included the col-lection and preservation of opera-tional documents, photographicimages, and historic artifacts submitted

Histories Branch

Collecting Oral History:Operation Enduring Freedomby Dr. Nathan S. Lowrey

Histories Branch

to appropriate agencies at the GrayResearch Center and the NationalMuseum of the Marine Corps. Thisstrategy contrasts sharply with theencounter approach, which is to tra-verse the battlefield while huntinghuman-interest stories for public con-sumption.

The rationale behind the HistoryDivision’s oral history program is

to preserve operational information—enhancing students’ education,informing the public, and honoringthe deeds of Marines. Oral historyinterviews collected during OperationEnduring Freedom have been particu-larly effective in revealing the natureof Marine operations in Afghanistan.For example, although efforts to inter-dict the Taliban’s westward escapefrom Kandahar during December 2001were among the 15th MarineExpeditionary Unit’s major tacticalachievements, unclassified documen-tation of the operation remains sparse.Yet by collating data from eleven oralhistory interviews collected by fourdifferent historians, I was able toreconstruct a detailed account ofevents occurring along Highway 1(presented as a chapter in the divi-sion’s forthcoming history of MarineOperations in Afghanistan,2001–2002, which is scheduled toappear early in 2009).

Marine light armored vehicles from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit head east toward Kandahar, leaving little roomfor anything else on the narrow asphalt road known as Route 1 on 9 December 2001.

Photo by Sgt Joseph R. Chenelly

would improve unit cohesion duringfuture field operations.

While I am an obvious advocate oforal history, principally because of itsability to provide context and put aface on dry institutional narratives, theideal scenario is when historians cancombine personal experience withofficial documents, operational graph-ics, and photographs. Consider for amoment how we might enhance theambush account by using data fromoperations orders, situation reports,and intelligence summaries to specifyor verify who did what, where, when,and why. Then add a map depictingnot only the location of significantevents, but also the surrounding ter-rain. Finally, include a revealing pho-tograph that links the various types ofinformation visually, and we havesucceeded in preserving a robustaccount of Marine combat operations.The fortunate researcher will findmost of this data available in the formof a unit’s command chronology, pre-pared by the participants.

As the war against terrorism con-tinues for America’s operationalforces, so does the documentationeffort at History Division. ChiefWarrant Officer 3 Timothy S.McWilliams, a recent graduate ofCalifornia State University-Chico withan MA in military history, has just

deployed to Cent-ral Command’stheater of opera-tions. While there,he will continue tocollect and pre-serve historical in-formation reflect-ing Marine opera-tions in bothAfghanistan andIraq. Upon hisreturn, he will dis-till the data into awritten report thatwill introduce usto the Marines cur-rently serving inharm’s way—sowe may experi-ence and appreci-ate their continuedcommitment vicar-iously. �1775�


The following synopsis of oneengagement illustrates how the per-sonal experiences of several key par-ticipants can contribute to a moreinformative account by addressingparticular aspects of the overall event.

On 4 December 2001, LieutenantColonel Christopher M. Bourne ledelements of Battalion Landing Team1st Battalion, 1st Marines, northtoward Highway 1. After a grueling90-mile trek across the desert, theyestablished patrol base Pentagon onthe south side of the Arghandab River,which Captain Richard W. Whitmerand Company B subsequentlysecured. On the evening of 6 Decem-ber, Major Thomas J. Impellitteri andCompany B, 1st Light ArmoredReconnaissance Battalion, crossed theriver, negotiated their way through asmall farming hamlet, and establishedan ambush along the highway. Whenthe lead vehicle in a widely dispersedTaliban convoy reached the roadblockearly the next morning, GunnerySergeant John A. Dailey and Marinesfrom the Force Reconnais-sance pla-toon dispatched the enemy in a briefbut intense firefight. After withdraw-ing to their objective rally point,

Captain Michael D. Bryan, the compa-ny’s forward air controller, directedCaptain Michael J. Colletta and otherorbiting close air support assets ontothe three remaining enemy transportvehicles, which had attempted to skirtthe Marines’ position.

On the other hand, I have alsoused the same technique to

explore the diversity of experiencesencountered by personnel during cor-don and search operations conductedby the 22d Marine Expeditionary Unitin 2004. Sensitive to indigenous cul-tural values, they attached 12 womenfrom the command, aviation, and sup-port elements to several infantry unitsthen searching remote mountain val-leys for enemy sympathizers andweapons caches. Besides document-ing how they conducted the searches,contrasting related accounts drawnfrom men, women, officers, enlisted,sailors, and Marines revealed a widerange of personal perspectives. Thestudy emphasized how individualdedication and combined effort hadcontributed to their successful accom-plishment of the mission, but it alsoindicated that additional cross training

HM3 Lori Butierries, temporarily attached to Battalion Landing Team 1/6, standsguard over a group of Afhgan women and children as infantrymen search theirhomes in Khabargho, Zabol Province.

Photo by GySgt Keith A. Milks


Field History

Governance and Economic Development inRamadi and Fallujah, January 2008

by Col Michael D. VisconageField Historian

The Marine Corps History Division hasapproximately 4,000 Operation IraqiFreedom interviews in its collection,dating from 2003 to the present. TheLibrary of Congress has about 100 inits Veterans History Project.

Colonel Charlton, 1-3 BrigadeCombat Team, Ramadi

My second day in Ramadi startswith the morning battle update

with 1st Brigade, 3d Infantry Division,Brigade Combat Team (1-3 BCT) atCamp Ramadi on the western edge ofthe city. My first interview is with thebrigade commander, Colonel John W.Charlton. Charlton is on his third tourin Iraq. He is mentioned in Cobra IIfor his role in Baghdad during the ini-tial invasion. His second tour was onthe staff of 3d Infantry Division. Wetalk for an hour and a half, and hewalks me through the more violentand kinetic part of their tour, whichstarted in January 2007. The averagenumber of friendly killed-in-actionwas 10 per month when he arrived. Ayear later, it has been 224 days with-out an attack. During three namedoperations in the spring of 2007, theycleared the city house by house of alQaeda in Iraq and partnered with theIraqi Army and Iraqi Police to hold theareas they had cleared.

Now, their non-kinetic fight isdecentralized, pushed down to twoMarine battalions working under 1-3BCT, their companies, and ultimatelyto the platoon level for execution. Ifthe overall Multi-National Corps–Iraqfight in Iraq is decentralized, the gov-ernance and economic developmentphase is more so. Joint SecurityStations are set up in every neighbor-hood, something like a police stationon steroids, where Coalition forcesand Iraqi Police live and work. Overthe intervening months, they havebeen able to continue to improvesecurity and make good progress on

building up the Iraqi Police, repairingthe electric grid, and bringing in thefirst small business loans. “We’re nolonger focusing on the big stuff—we’re working on small neighborhoodprograms,” Charlton said.

Even information operations aredecentralized, with 80 percent of theinformation operations products pre-pared at the local level—a big changefrom early 2007 when these productshad to be approved at the highest lev-els. Each Joint Security Station is ableto communicate over loudspeakersthrough a project called the voice ofRamadi and with locally printed andposted flyers. If we were in guerillawarfare earlier, we are now practicingguerilla marketing.

Captain Steele, Company G, JointSecurity StationWarar

After our meeting, Colonel Charltontakes me out in his convoy to meet upwith the Company G, 2d Battalion, 8thMarines, (G 2/8) company comman-der at a district council meeting nextto Joint Security Station Warar inRamadi. There are 10 Iraqis in the

meeting; three are in traditional Arabkeffiyeh headdress. They smoke likechimneys. They are being briefed bythree U.S. military officers (membersof the Provincial Reconstruction Teamand civil affairs) on the status of theelectricity supply, which took a down-ward dip recently. Also in the roomare the company commander, CaptainChristopher T. Steele, his civil affairsnoncommissioned officer, and hisinterpreter. What comes out in the dis-cussion is the underlying concern thatthe mayor does not recognize the dis-trict councils, so this causes problemsgetting forward movement on resolu-tion of neighborhood issues. We areserved the traditional Iraqi tea andsome interesting packaged bakerysnack. This goes on for about another90 minutes. As Steele says later, after afew meetings the relationship with thelocal leaders becomes easier, “It’s therule of seven meetings. Once youlearn it’s OK to let your hair down,you make progress. I legitimately viewthem as friends.”

After the meeting, I walk across thestreet with Captain Steele to a Joint

Capt Christopher T. Steele (right), commanding officer of Company G, 2/8, meetswith local community leaders at the Warar Iraqi Police Station, Ramadi, 9January 2008.

Photo by Col Michael D. Visconage


Security Station, which is run by oneof his lieutenants and includes a con-tingent of Iraqi Police. The Iraqi Armyis now officially working outside thecities, so it is just the Marines workingwith the Iraqi Army, going out on jointfoot patrols and keeping their fingeron the pulse as the situation develops.Steele talks about his mission to train,develop, and facilitate the ability ofthe Iraqi Police to protect the city andto partner with local level authorities.The Marines in his company partnerwith the Iraqi Police at seven IraqiPolice stations in the district. He hashis company reorganized along thelines of a mini-battalion, with lieu-tenants and noncommissioned officersfilling traditional “S” section duties.

The Joint Security Station is anothertumble-down sort of cast concrete

building with lots of side rooms. It iscold outside this time of year, andeven colder inside the building. Thereare cardboard boxes of snacks andsundry items on plywood shelves inthe Marine area of the Joint SecurityStation—more goodies from home.They live off of T-rations, but recentlythe Iraqi Police have brought standingfood vendors into the Joint SecurityStation who offer pita sandwiches anda few other fresh foods. When I stopby, they are making some kind ofhush puppy-like deep fried treat. Inthe Joint Security Station, the Marineswho are not on duty are relaxing. Twoare playing Halo 3 on an XBox 360. Ifthis wasn’t a war, it could be somekind of crazy, filthy frat house thatwould certainly be condemned byU.S. standards.

The Marines split up their patrols—half during the day and half at night.The excitement of the day is that threeimprovised explosive devices werefound last night, poorly hiddenaround some trash on a street in thisprecinct. The human intelligencechannels are already churning, andthere may be a raid tonight to roll upthose suspected. We take a vehicleconvoy to another Joint SecurityStation, located on “Give Me Street”—so named for the children who quick-ly gather as the three-vehicle humveeconvoy turns onto the dead-end streetthat leads to Joint Security Station

Thayla. It is a two-building complexalong the northern edge of the city—another site with a team of Marinesand a contingent of Iraqi Police. Theykeep an eye on the nearby hospitaland the surrounding community.Second Lieutenant Kyle Kurtz is incharge and he is an entrepreneurialjunior leader. He has taught himself agood bit of Arabic, and there are jokesback and forth among the Marinesabout the risks of “going native.” Theymove in and around the community,maintaining contacts with residentsand businesses, making intentionalstops to buy food or a soda while stillbeing watchful of security, but in amore subtle way than was the case afew months ago. This builds trust andrelationships—counterinsurgencywarfare by the book.

Lieutenant Colonel Bargeron, 2dBattalion, 8th Marines, Ramadi

I meet with their battalion com-mander, Lieutenant Colonel JayBargeron, Jr. after dark back at CampRamadi. He sees the local conditionsimproving by leaps and bounds eversince they assumed the battle spaceon 1 November. He has the ability tofund local improvements through theuse of Commander’s EmergencyResponse Program funds; $16 millionwas spent at the battalion level onprojects in 2007. I asked him aboutthe “irreversible momentum” dis-cussed in the operations order pub-lished by Multi-National Corps–Iraq inlate December. When will we be ableto move to tactical over watch?Strategic over watch? From Bargeron’sperspective, we are in the irreversiblemomentum stage: “We’re very close toit. The citizens of Ramadi have seenthe stark comparison between2004/2005 and now. No one has anyvested interest in letting things goback to the way they were.”

The last fun of the day comes in theform of my first ride on the tilt-rotorMV-22 Osprey from Ramadi toFallujah. The travel time on missionSteadfast 10 is cut in half compared tothe usual helicopter ride. The loadand unload process is awkward andtime-consuming. The time spent in thehover for takeoff and landing seemsexcessive and there is a lot of vibra-

tion on landing. It also kicks up a lotof dirt. On the plus side, the climb outis an interesting feeling—unusual tobe sitting in helicopter-like airframethat climbs out like a plane.

Lieutenant Colonel Dowling, 3dBattalion, 5th Marines, Fallujah

The morning is cold and wet, withlight rain and temperatures slightlyabove freezing in Fallujah. I learnedlater that they had snow in Baghdad,50 kilometers to the east. After break-fast, I head to the Multi-NationalForces–West headquarters building toplan for the day. Things are in flux,and the bulk of the morning is lost incoordinating details. I did manage toset up an opportunity to link up with3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, at theirheadquarters in nearby Camp Bahria.

The battalion commander withresponsibility for Fallujah is LieutenantColonel Christopher S. Dowling. A for-mer enlisted Marine who got his startas part of the ceremonial detail atMarines Barracks, Washington, D.C.,Dowling is strong in his Catholic faithbut has a broad sensitivity to theIslamic culture of the city and ischarged with coaxing the city along toself-sufficiency. One of his efforts inthe city has been to engage with thelocal imams and to start conversationsabout their traditions and communitystandards. Educating himself on thetradition of helping the needy duringEid (the Muslim holiday marking theend of Ramadan, the Islamic holymonth of fasting), he arranged todonate 20 goats to various mosquesfor slaughter by the imams and provi-sioning to the poorer residents of theprecincts.

As we drive along Route Fran, amain route and landmark for

Marines and soldiers who fought therein 2004–5, Dowling points out themarkets that are open and the usedcar lots that have sprung up. There areweddings being held again, he says.Another barometer of the local envi-ronment is the “souk,” or central mar-ket. In the world of subtle, intangiblemetrics, the souk is a key indicator.Dowling, reflecting his knowledge oflocal customs, is aware that gold is thetraditional wedding gift. Tucked away


in a corner of the souk, a gold vendorhad reopened a few months ago—thefirst time in recent memory. As of hislast visit, there were now over 10 goldmerchants in the souk.

With businessmen, LieutenantColonel Dowling has initiated thesame casual engagement. HajjiMohammed is one example. Noticingthe new restaurant on Route Fran,Dowling stopped in one day and start-ed asking questions about what heneeded to make business better. Hehas done this four or five times, slow-ly building a rapport with HajjiMohammed. He is also implementingsome of the changes that came out oftheir conversations.

When we stopped there today, Iwas able to speak with HajjiMohammed about the business cli-mate and the efforts to rebuild whilewe stood at his front counter andsipped Iraqi tea. He has opened a newdine-in and carry-out kabob eatery.He also renovated five small shopsnext to the restaurant and leases themto other vendors. Through Dowling’sinterpreter, Al (an Egyptian and formerhotel manager in Baghdad who livedin the U.S.), I ask him about his restau-rant. Did he have to borrow money torenovate? No. (Mohammed’s family iswell off). Was he in business at thislocation before the fighting? No, buthe had a restaurant location in the

souk. He also says that he had startedto build a site in the Mansour districtof Baghdad after the fall of Saddam,but left before it was completedbecause of sectarian violence.

At the next level up, the RegimentalCombat Team has an Embedded

Provincial Reconstruction Team head-ed by a State Department officer andusually staffed with United StatesAgency for International Develop-ment, Department of Agriculture,Small Business Administration, mili-tary, and others to spearhead theeffort to bring in projects to restorebasic services and start micro-loanprograms for new businesses. Theyare also assessing and starting to standup former Iraq state-owned industriesin the province.

Lieutenant Colonel Dowling is aman of average height and build, witha weathered look of a boxer who last-ed through some tough matches. Hefocuses his junior leaders on maintain-ing discipline at their outposts, whilestill promoting the same unconven-tional approaches to winning over theIraqis and ousting extremists. Dowlinghas opened the city back up to vehi-cle traffic, although all persons enter-ing the city by main roads are stoppedand checked with biometric screeningdevices before entering. He is havingbarbed wire removed and Iraqi Police

checkpoints have been improved andpainted with bright colors to makethem less emblematic of a war zoneand more a part of the normalcityscape. Concrete barriers along themain road are also painted with pleas-ant scenes—an initiative taken on bythe Iraqis. There are solar-poweredstreet lamps along Route Fran.

Dowling’s battalion is spread out inthe city at joint security stations.

Like in Ramadi, the Marines aredoing joint foot patrols with thelocal Iraqi Police. They get out andinteract at schools, local mosques, andwith the citizens in general. Dowlingis quick to give credit to 2d Battalion,6th Marines, the battalion that com-pleted Operation Allujah, clearing thecity precinct by precinct and settingup joint security stations with the IraqiPolice. Next week they are planning acity-wide soccer tournament with thewinning team to play against theMarines. We stop by one of his jointsecurity stations just north of Fran ona side street across the street from aschool where Dowling has been set-ting up a computer class. A secondlieutenant is in charge and is positiveand upbeat about the situation in hisarea. When we return to the humvees,we find Iraqi children in the streetcrowding the first sergeant and theMarines of Dowling’s security detailfor candy, pencils, and whatever theyhappen to have. It is getting late, so itis back to the checkpoint at the east-ern end of the city. The operation isclearly one of outreach and develop-ment at this time. The battalion hashad no casualties since Dowlingassumed the mission from 2/6 inSeptember.

I had been to Fallujah last in lateJune 2007. Anbar Province continuesto lead the pace of progress by six tonine months over other parts of thecountry. Soldiers and Marines areworking the issues of governance andeconomic development in concertwith the Iraqis. There are certainlymany hurdles left. The issues they arewrestling with are ones that othersregions will soon face. It is a muchbetter situation now compared to thedeath-dealing that was the norm 8, 12,or 36 months ago. �1775�

Photo by Col Michael D. Visconage

LtCol Christopher S. Dowling, commanding officer of 3/5, discusses the buisnessclimate with Hajji Mohammed at his resturant on Route Fran in Fallujah, 8January 2008.


After over 30 years of deliberate, ifnot conspicuous absence, the

Marine Corps has recently re-engagedwith the government and people ofthe Kingdom of Cambodia. In thedecades since the end of hostilities inSoutheast Asia, U.S. Marines havemaintained a mission in the region,revolving around joint U.S./Japaneseand Philippine security, disaster relief,humanitarian assistance, and partici-pation in exercise Cobra Gold inThailand. Throughout that time, rela-tions varying from openly hostile tochilled diplomacy necessitated that theCorps avoid Cambodia. As relationswith Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodiahave warmed in the last few years, theMarine Corps has led in the effort toreach out to Cambodia via aCambodia Theater Security Cooper-ation visit by a Marine expeditionaryunit as well as a visit by a MarineCorps War College class. The recentMarine Corps interest reflects thedawning of a significant opportunityin U.S. theater security efforts in the

region. The result has been the firstMarine visits since the tragically suc-cessful rescue operation to recover thehijacked S.S. Mayaguez and her crew.

The Mayaguez recovery operationin May 1975 was a hastily executedjoint operation in response to the ille-gal seizure by Cambodian Communistforces of the U.S. flagged containership in international waters. The oper-ation ended with the recovery of theship and all its crew, but at a very highprice. Many factors, including thecomplexities of joint operations andlack of intelligence regarding the raidsites on Koh Tang Island (the assumeddetainment site of the imprisonedcrew), resulted in the deaths of 11Marines, 2 sailors, and 2 airmen. Therewere 50 personnel wounded, and ofthe 15 U.S. Air Force helicopters sup-porting the operation, only twoescaped unscathed. Three Marineswere reported missing on Koh TangIsland after the operation and werelater declared dead.

The operation marked a bitter end

to decades of U.S. combat operationsin the region and contributed to a cor-respondingly strained relationshipbetween the United States andCambodia that has only recently seensignificant improvement. The surren-der of the Khmer Republic to theKhmer Rouge on 17 April 1975, fivedays after U.S. Marines evacuatedPhnom Penh, ushered in the nowwell-documented years of genocidalhorror and subsequent Vietnameseoccupation that finally ended whenthe last Vietnamese troops leftCambodia in September 1989.

Since then, Cambodia has movedvery slowly to recover from the dev-astating political genocide that nearlystripped the small nation of all ves-tiges of intellectual and economic cap-ital. National recovery has been ham-pered by constant internal politicalfriction. Remnants of severalCommunist, former Communist, andnationalist factions continue to jockeyfor influence. Governmental and pub-lic corruption has also been a constantroadblock to progress.

The United States opened a diplo-matic mission in Phnom Penh on

11 November 1991, and when thefreely elected Royal Government ofCambodia, a constitutional monarchy,was formed on 24 September 1993,the United States and the Kingdom ofCambodia immediately established fulldiplomatic relations. In May 1994, aU.S. ambassador was installed in thenewly designated embassy. Cambodiawas accepted into the World TradeOrganization in October 2004.

In recent years, relations betweenthe two countries have thawed signif-icantly. According to the U.S. StateDepartment:

In the past two years, bilater-al relations between the U.S. andCambodia have strengthened.

Field History

Beyond Mayaguez:The Marine Corps and theCambodian National Renaissance

by LtCol Larry L. McFallField Historian

The escort ship USS Harold E. Holt (DE 1074) alongside the container ship S.S.Mayaguez near Kho Tang Island off the coast of Cambodia in May 1975. Thisincident contributed to a cold relationship between the United States andCambodia that has only recently seen significant warming.

Department of Defense Photo (USMC)


The U.S. supports efforts inCambodia to combat terrorism,build democratic institutions,promote human rights, fostereconomic development, elimi-nate corruption, achieve thefullest possible accounting forAmericans missing from theVietnam War-era, and to bring tojustice those most responsiblefor serious violations of interna-tional humanitarian law commit-ted under the Khmer Rougeregime.

The Marine Corps has been veryactive lately doing its part to strength-en these relations. The well-executedtheater security cooperation visit ofthe 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit(31st MEU) in November andDecember 2007, and the visit by theMarine Corps War College class thispast February both serve as goodexamples of inexpensive, effectivemeans by which United States region-al theater security cooperation goalscan be advanced.

The 31st MEU and sailors from theUSS Essex spent six days conductingoperations at five different sitesaround this small country, roughly thesize of Missouri, “to foster goodwill,promote cultural understanding, and

facilitate [American Embassy]Cambodia Country Team and [U. S.Pacific Command] goals and objec-tives.” These operations includedmedical and dental treatment, engi-neering construction support, commu-nity relations projects, and military tomilitary activities. The Marine andNavy team set up multiple medicaland dental clinics treating almost 5,000patients. Teams visited three schoolsand an orphanage, assisting withEnglish instruction, performing much-needed facilities maintenance, andsimply enjoying the kids. The uniqueresources and capabilities of theMarine air-ground task force werebrought to bear as it leapfroggedacross the country, busily engaging inactivities from military to military train-ing to replacing two nearly impassablebridges relied on by a remote Muslimvillage for its livelihood. Colonel JohnL. Mayer, commanding officer of the31st MEU, spoke volumes when hesaid, commenting on the synergisticeffect he saw of Marines working withnon-governmental service-orientedorganizations, that “they gave 10 peo-ple sight that had never had sightbefore.”

In support of its regular curriculumrequirements, the Marine Corps WarCollege recently made a trip to Asiathat included the first visit toCambodia by a United States war col-lege. Nineteen students and facultyfrom the Marine Corps War Collegespent four days visiting military basesand receiving briefs by several gov-ernment agencies, including theMinistry of National Defense and theSupreme National Economic Council.Both sides gained insight; the studentscommented repeatedly on the value ofthe visit. Air Force Colonel RobertMahoney, the War College’s academicdean, noted that students had “learnedmore about Third World militaries inthat trip than they had learned in alltheir years of service.”

The Marine Corps War Collegegroup also arranged for a staff ride

to Koh Tang Island, the island onwhich the three Marines were listed asmissing after the Mayaguez operationin 1975. As it happened, the JointPOW/MIA Accounting Command wasalso engaged in a remains recoveryoperation there at the time of theMarine Corps War College visit. Joint

A young Cambodian boy takes anopportunity to catch a ride on theshoulders of a 31st MarineExpeditionary Unit Marine. The 31stMEU recently spent six days participat-ing in medical, engineering support,community relations, and military tomilitary activities in the smallSoutheast Asian Kingdom.

Marine Corps Photo Collection

Marine Corps Photo Collection

Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit participate with localCambodian villagers in the opening of a bridge built by these Marines. Projectssuch as these have helped improve relations with the small yet strategically locat-ed country.


POW/MIA Accounting Command wasestablished 1 October 2003 when theCentral Identification Laboratory,Hawaii, combined with Joint TaskForce-Full Accounting. It currently hastwo recovery teams deployed toCambodia. The first team is scheduledto excavate two sites in northernCambodia. One site is associated witha McDonnell Douglas F-4E aircraftcrash, which resulted in the loss of anAir Force pilot and navigator, and theother may contain remains of a miss-ing Army soldier. The second recoveryteam is excavating on Koh TangIsland. The remains recovery opera-tions executed by Joint POW/MIAAccounting Command have providedyet more opportunities to strengthenbilateral relations with the fledglingconstitutional monarchy. The RoyalCambodian government has gone outof its way to accommodate the com-mand’s requests and has providedmaterial and personnel support for theoperations. The American deputychief of mission in Phnom Penh indi-cated that Joint POW/MIA AccountingCommand operations in Cambodiahave enhanced diplomatic relations.

The Marines of Marine Corps WarCollege left Cambodia with a much

clearer understanding of the securitychallenges of burgeoning democra-cies, especially one on the doorstepof arguably the hottest theater of thecurrent war. The discourse during allthe briefs was candid. General H. E.Neang Phat, secretary of state for theCambodian Ministry of NationalDefense, made it clear to the MarineCorps War College Marines that hebelieves his country has great poten-tial for recovery and a workable plan.He made it just as clear that personnelchallenges and the great need to com-bat governmental corruption and toinstitute governmental and economicreform may trump their plans if head-way is not made. He is attempting torestructure the military in the face ofdrastic budget reductions resultingfrom a major shift in fiscal prioritiestoward economic stimulus. Theplanned restructuring includes transi-tioning a traditional army brigade to amarine brigade that will be responsi-ble for the defense of coastal areas.General Neang also sounded a clearnote of concern as he expressed hisgovernment’s appreciation for sincereoffers of assistance while sometimesfeeling squeezed between rival bene-factors. One case in point may be the

current construction of a small explo-sives plant south of Phnom Penh withwhich the Cambodians are receivingassistance from the People’s Republicof China.

There is a perception among theMarines who visited Cambodia thatthe Cambodians have purpose, ener-gy, and are willing to work hard toeffect change. Even the beggarsseemed to display a measure of pur-posefulness and were anything butthe lethargic examples of the bottomof the economic ladder seen in otherdeveloping countries. People sweepthe streets and till the land with thetools they have. Apparently few haveacquiesced to poverty. This bodeswell for future development as theireconomic council has articulated astrong desire to be a part of the worldeconomy.

Southeast Asia continues to be anarea of strategic significance, par-

ticularly in light of clear Chineseregional intentions, the significantpercentage of global commerce tran-siting the regional sea lanes, and thegrowing radical Islamic threat. Thesimilarities to other U.S. theater secu-rity concerns in the current globalwar and in particular Africa andSouth American Theater SecurityCoopera-tion operations are clear andcompelling. Cambodia could be asource of ever-needed goodwill andsupport in this long war. They havemade commendable strides in break-ing free from tyrannical leadershiptoward an open society grounded inrespect for individual liberty. In addi-tion, their shifting fiscal prioritieshave not been without effect. While2007 figures suggest Cambodia issharing in the region’s current infla-tion woes, the 2007 estimate of annu-al GDP growth was a healthy 9.05percent.

Although not meteoric, theCambodians are clearly a people onthe rise. Colonel Mahoney put it verysuccinctly when he wrote, “U.S. inter-ests are served by engagingCambodia,” and if these recentMarine Corps operations are any indi-cation, the Corps is once again on thecutting edge of service to a greatnation in perilous times. �1775�

Photo by LtCol Larry L. McFall

A typical street scene in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Local children as well as adultsare often busy soliciting from compassionate passers-by. Although ranking as oneof the poorest countries in the world, recent Marine Corps visitors noticed a gen-eral atmosphere of almost joyful industrialism, which they found encouraging.


day since D-Day at Iwo Jima.In tribute to the Americans who

gave their lives in Lebanon for thecause of peace, Fortitudine’s “InMemoriam” is printing the followinglisting of all 268 American service-men—soldiers, sailors, and Marines—who died during the 1982–1984deployment to Lebanon. Unless other-wise indicated, all of the following per-

This year marks the 25thanniversary of the 23 October1983 suicide bombing that

destroyed the headquarters buildingof Battalion Landing Team 1stBattalion, 8th Marines, at BeirutInternational Airport, Lebanon. Theexplosion killed 241 Marines, soldiers,and sailors and represented the largestnumber of Marines killed on a single

In Memoriam

Tribute to the 268 American ServicemenWho Diedfor Peace: Lebanon, 1982-1984

by Robert V. Aquilina, Assistant Head, Reference Branchand Kara Newcomer, Reference Historian

Cpl Terry W. Abbott

LCpl Clemon Alexander

PFC John R. Allman

Cpl Moses Arnold, Jr.

PFC Charles K. Bailey

LCpl Nicholas Baker

LCpl Johansen Banks

LCpl Richard E. Barrett

HM1 Ronny K. Bates, USN

1stSgt David L. Battle

LCpl James R. Baynard

HM Jesse W. Beamon, USN

GySgt Alvin Belmer

PFC Shannon D. Biddle

PFC Stephen B. Bland

Cpl Richard L. Blankenship

PFC John W. Blocker

Capt Joseph J. Boccia, Jr.

Cpl Leon W. Bohannon

SSgt John R. Bohnet, Jr.

Cpl John J. Bonk, Jr.

LCpl Jeffrey J. Boulos

Cpl David R. Bousum

1stLt John N. Boyett

Cpl Anthony K. Brown

LCpl David W. Brown

LCpl Bobby B. Buchanan, Jr.

Cpl John B. Buckmaster

PFC William F. Burley

Maj Alfred L. Butler III

HM Jimmy R. Cain, USN

Cpl Paul L. Callahan

Cpl Mecot E. Camara

PFC Bradley J. Campus

Maj Randall A. Carlson, USA

LCpl Johnnie D. Ceasar

LCpl Sam Cherman

LCpl Randy W. Clark

PFC Marc L. Cole

SP4 Marcus E. Coleman, USA

PFC Juan M. Comas

Sgt Robert A. Conley

Cpl Charles D. Cook

LCpl Curtis J. Cooper

LCpl Johnny L. Copeland

Cpl Bert D. Corcoran

LCpl David L. Cosner

Sgt Kevin P. Coulman

Sgt Manuel A. Cox

LCpl Brett A. Croft

LCpl Rich R. Crudale

LCpl Kevin P. Custard

LCpl Russell E. Cyzick

Cpl David L. Daugherty

Maj Andrew L. Davis

PFC Sidney J. Decker

PFC Michael J. Devlin

Cpl Thomas A. Dibenedetto

PFC Nathaniel G. Dorsey

SgtMaj Frederick B. Douglass

Cpl George L. Dramis

Cpl Timothy J. Duinnigan

HM Bryan L. Earle, USN

MSgt Roy L. Edwards

HM3 William D. Elliott, Jr., USN

LCpl Jesse J. Ellison

PFC Danny R. Estes

PFC Sean F. Estler

LCpl Thomas A. Evans

HM3 James E. Faulk, USN

PFC Richard A. Fluegel

Cpl Steven M. Forrester

HM3 William B. Foster, Jr., USN

Cpl Michael D. Fulcher

LCpl Benjamin E. Fuller

LCpl Michael S. Fulton

Cpl William R. Gaines, Jr.

LCpl Sean R. Gallagher

LCpl David B. Gander

LCpl George M. Gangur

SSgt Leland E. Gann

LCpl Randall J. Garcia

SSgt Ronald J. Garcia

Sgt Edward J. Gargano

LCpl David D. Gay

SSgt Harold D. Ghumm

LCpl Warner Gibbs, Jr.

Cpl Timothy R. Giblin

ETC Michael W. Gorchinski,USN

LCpl Richard J. Gordon

LCpl Harold F. Gratton

Sgt Robert B. Greaser

LCpl Davin M. Green

LCpl Thomas A. Hairston

Sgt Freddie L. Haltiwanger, Jr.

LCpl Virgel D. Hamilton

Sgt Gilbert Hanton

LCpl William Hart

Capt Michael S. Haskell

PFC Michael A. Hastings

LCpl Jeffrey T. Hattaway

Capt Paul A. Hein

LCpl Douglass E. Held

PFC Mark A. Helms

LCpl Ferrandy D. Henderson

GySgt Matilde Hernandez, Jr.

LCpl Rodolfo Hernandez

Cpl Stanley G. Hester

GySgt Donald W. Hildreth

SSgt Richard H. Holberton

HM3 Robert S. Holland, USN

LCpl Bruce A. Hollingshead

PFC Melvin D. Holmes

Cpl Bruce L. Howard

LT John R. Hudson, USNR

Cpl Terry L. Hudson

LCpl Lyndon J. Hue

2ndLt Maurice E. Hukill

LCpl Edward S. Iacovino, Jr.

PFC John J. Ingalls

WO Paul G. Innocenzi III

LCpl James J. Jackowski

LCpl Jeffrey W. James

LCpl Nathaniel W. Jenkins

HM2 Michael H. Johnson, USN

Cpl Edward A. Johnston

American Deaths in Lebanon, 1982–1984

sonnel were members of the UnitedStates Marine Corps. This listing wastaken from the late Benis M. Frank’sU.S. Marines in Lebanon, 1982–1984,published in 1987 by the History andMuseums Division, Headquarters, U.S.Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. Thenext issue of Fortitudine will return tothe usual “In Memoriam” format.

�1775�


LCpl Steven Jones

PFC Thomas A. Julian

HM2 Marion E. Kees, USN

Sgt Thomas C. Keown

GySgt Edward E. Kimm

LCpl Walter V. Kingsley

SGT Daniel S. Kluck, USA

LCpl James C. Knipple

LCpl Todd A. Kraft

LCpl Freas H. Kreischer III

LCpl Keith J. Laise

LCpl Thomas G. Lamb

LT Mark A. Lange, USN

LCpl James J. Langon IV

Sgt Michael S. Lariviere

Cpl Steven B. Lariviere

MSgt Richard L. Lemnah

Cpl David A. Lewis

Sgt Val S. Lewis

Cpl Joseph R. Livingston

2ndLt Donald G. Losey, Jr.

LCpl Paul D. Lyon, Jr.

Maj John W. Macroglou

Cpl Samuel Maitland

SSgt Charlie R. Martin

PFC Jack L. Martin

Cpl David S. Massa

Cpl Michael R. Massman

PVT Joseph J. Mattacchione

SSG Ben Henry Maxwell, USA

LCpl John McCall

Cpl James E. McDonough

PFC Timothy R. McMahon

Cpl Robert V. McMaugh

LCpl Timothy D. McNeely

HM2 George N. McVicker II,USN

PFC Louis Melendez

Cpl Richard H. Menkins II

Cpl Michael D. Mercer

LCpl Ronald W. Meurer

HM3 Joseph P. Milano, USN

Cpl Joseph P. Moore

LCpl Richard A. Morrow

LCpl John F. Muffler

PFC Alex Munoz

Cpl Harry D. Myers

1stLt David J. Nairn

LCpl Luis A. Nava

Capt Michael J. Ohler

Cpl John A. Olson

PFC Robert P. Olson

SSgt Alexander M. Ortega

CWO Richard C. Ortiz

PFC Jeffrey B. Owen

Cpl Joseph A. Owens

Cpl Ray Page

LCpl Ulysses G. Parker

LCpl Mark W. Payne

GySgt John L. Pearson

LCpl Marvin H. Perkins

PFC Thomas S. Perron

Sgt John A. Phillips, Jr.

HMC George W. Piercy, USN

1stLt C. Wayne Plymel

Sgt William H. Pollard

Sgt Rafael Pomalestorres

Cpl Victor M. Prevatt

PFC James C. Price

SSgt Patrick K. Prindeville

PFC Eric C. Pulliam

HM3 Diomedes J. Quirante,USN

LCpl David M. Randolph

GySgt Charles R. Ray

Cpl David L. Reagan

PFC Rui A. Relvas

PFC Terrence L. Rich

LCpl Warren Richardson

Sgt Juan C. Rodriguez

LCpl Louis J. Rotondo

SSG Mark E. Salazar, USA

LCpl Guillermo San Pedro, Jr.

LCpl Michael C. Sauls

1stLt Charles J. Schnorf

PFC Scott L. Schultz

Capt Peter J. Scialabba

Cpl Gary R. Scott

Cpl Ronald L. Shallo

LCpl Thomas A. Shipp

PFC Jerryl D. Shropshire

LCpl James F. Silvia

LCpl Stanley J. Sliwimski

LCpl Kirk H. Smith

SSgt Thomas G. Smith

Capt Vincent L. Smith

LCpl Edward Soares

Sgt Allen H. Soifert

1stLt William S. Sommerhof

LCpl Michael C. Spaulding

LCpl John W. Spearing

LCpl Stephen E. Spencer

PFC Bill J. Stelpflug

PFC Horace R. Stephens

PFC Craig S. Stockton

LCpl Jeffrey G. Stokes

LCpl Thomas D. Stowe

LCpl Eric D. Sturghill

LCpl Devon L. Sundar

LT James F. Surch, USN

Cpl Dennis A. Thompson

SSgt Thomas P. Thorstad

PFC Stephen D. Tingley

LCpl John J. Tishmack

Cpl Henry Townsend, Jr.

PVT Lex D. Trahan

MSG Richard Twine, USA

Cpl Pedro J. Valle

PFC Donald D. Vallone, Jr.

IS1 Michael R. Wagner, USN

LCpl Eric R. Walker

LCpl Leonard W. Walker

Cpl Eric G. Washington

Cpl Obrian Weekes

CWO Kenneth V. Welch, USA

1stSgt Tandy W. Wells

LCpl Steven B. Wentworth

Sgt Allen D. Wesley

GySgt Lloyd D. West

SSgt John R. Weyl

Cpl Burton D. Wherland

LCpl Dwayne W. Wigglesworth

LCpl Rodney J. Williams

GySgt Scipio Williams, Jr.

LCpl Johnny A. Williamson

Capt Walter A. Wint, Jr.

Capt William W. Winter

Cpl John E. Wolfe

1stLt Donald E. Woollett

HM3 David E. Worley, USN

PFC Craig L. Wyche

PFC James G. Yarber, USA

Cpl Jeffrey D. Young

1stLt William A. Zimmerman

HM3 Benjamin A. Rowland stands at attention during the Beirut Memorial ceremony inJacksonville, NC, 23 October 2007. The 1983 Beirut barracks bombing during the LebaneseCivil War destoyed a building killing hundreds of service members, the majority of whomwere U.S. Marines. Photo by Cpl James P. McLaughlin


Books in Review

Cradle of Conflict: Iraq and the Birth of theModern U.S.Military

by Paul WestermeyerHistories Branch

Michael Knights, Naval Institute Press,Annapolis, MD. 2005, ISBN 1-59114-444-2, 462 pp., $39.95

Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait on2 August 1990, instigating 17 years of

conflict with the United States. After along confrontation and a short, violentresolution, coalition forces removedIraq from Kuwait in the spring of 1991.Although a cease-fire was declared, thetwo nations continued to struggle mili-tarily and politically for another decadeand more. The invasion of Iraq in2003, followed by the capture andeventual execution of SaddamHussein, eventually ended the de jurestruggle against his Baathist state, butthe U.S. remains in Iraq today, stillstruggling to achieve its original defacto strategic objective: a sound,secure Iraq that threatens neither itsneighbors nor regional stability.

Michael Knights’ Cradle of Conflictexamines the operational and strategicaspects of this conflict year by year.The first four chapters detail the initialchallenges of Desert Shield and DesertStorm and the immediate aftermath.The military achievement of the UnitedStates and its allies is given morethoughtful consideration than mostworks on the period achieve. AndIraq’s successes, most notably the sur-vival of the Republican Guard and thepreservation of its strategic programs,are carefully examined in detail.

The next four chapters, which arethe most revealing, cover the “warbetween the wars.” From the momentit signed the cease-fire agreement atSafwan, Iraq began to circumvent andstruggle against its terms, as the UnitedStates, in turn, sought to enforce theseterms as strictly as possible. The con-test was played out militarily in thenorthern and southern “No Fly Zones.”While the Americans employed thezones as a means of keeping Iraq weakand under continual surveillance, theIraqis used them as opportunities to

test American aerial capabilities andprocedures. The Iraqis deliberatelyprovoked crisis at their convenience,while conducting a large and compe-tent deception campaign to mask theirown strengths and weaknesses. TheUnited Nations inspectors, searchingfor weapons of mass destruction, cre-ated the perfect theater for this deliber-ate strategy of brinksmanship, whichKnights terms “cheat and retreat.”

The final three chapters explore theAmerican invasion of Iraq in 2003, itsprelude, and the subsequent insur-

gency up until the national elections ofJanuary 2005. In addition to providingan excellent summary of these events,Knights effectively contrasts Iraq’s mis-calculation of America’s intent andcapabilities with America’s failure toanticipate the character and scope ofresistance after Saddam Hussein’s gov-ernment had been removed frompower.

Throughout the book, Knightsdemonstrates how the ruthless andinnovative Iraqi government respond-ed to the prima facie superior U.S. mil-

itary in many effective ways. Air supe-riority was skillfully countered bydeception operations, while grounddominance was met with a willingnessto suffer extensive casualties. Militaryweakness was masked by politicalbombast and diplomatic intrigue. Ineach case, the goal was to husbandthose forces most crucial to the gov-ernment’s survival. Saddam’s strategicgoals were simple: survive, remain inpower, and continue to resist. His owncapture and eventual execution sig-naled the final failure of the first twogoals, but the third goal remains atissue.

Knights is a military analyst ratherthan a historian, and his work shouldbe seen in that light. He conductednumerous interviews and had access tothe required sources, evidenced in hisnumerous citations and extensive bibli-ography. His intent was not to con-struct a rigid historical account, but tonarrate and analyze the events. Thework is occasionally dense and aimedat the specialized reader; he does notshy from the use of acronyms or tech-nical terms. Despite these quibbles, thebook is very readable.

Knights has produced a concise,accurate, and insightful account of theconflict between the United States andIraq. He covers the military and intelli-gence aspects of the conflict extremelywell but pays insufficient attention tothe politics, especially the ways inwhich American domestic politics haveshaped the options available to theU.S. military. On the other hand,Knights’ conclusions avoid the clichédpartisan opinions that poison theanalysis of so many books on the cur-rent conflict. Examining a 15-year-longwar is an intimidating task, but Knightsmanages it with aplomb and skill. Thisbook is an extremely valuable study ofmodern warfare—one that every seri-ous student of the American militaryshould read. �1775�


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