FORTITUD INENEWSLETTER OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGRAM

VOLUME XVI WINTER 1986-1987 NUMBER 3

CHANGING NATURE OF WARFARE IN EAST ASIA Is SUBJECT OF JAPAN TALKS. BATrLE FOR HUE TACTICS

AMPLIFIED BY COMMANDER. AUTHOR ROBERT M0SKIN PAYS VISIT 10 SHANGHAI IN SEARCH OF CHINAMARINES. UNEXPECTED ThOVE OF WW II INTELLIGENCE MATrER. . . FLIGHT LINES: F4U4 CORSAIR

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FORTITLTDINEMotto of the United States Marine Corps in the 1812 era.

Winter 1986-1987

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Director's Page: From Korea to Kampuchea to Kyoto 3

Readers Always Write: How Center Got NVA Canteen;Korea Vets Add Details 8

In Memoriam: Okinawa Operation Veteran;Marine Corps Public Affairs Notable Die 9

Acquisitions: Conservation Practices Save Marine Artifacts for Posterity 10

Historical Quiz: Nicknames of Marine Corps General Officers 11

Air Power History Grants 11

Foundation Hears LtGen Cheatham on Hue Battle 12

On the Trail of the China Marines: Tracing the Footstepsof the 4th Marines in Shanghai 13

Guadalcanal Intelligence: A Personal Collection .. 17

Art Exhibit Recalls Marine Air's 75 Years in the Sky 18

Christy's 1920 'Fly With the Marines' Returns to Print 19

Reserve Historical Unit Report: MTU Activities Range fromTwentynine Palms to Southern Norway 20

Oral History Report: Oral History Program Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary . 21

'Modular' Exhibit Cases Bring Museum to More Marines 22

New Base Facilities' Names Honor Decorated Marines 23

Flight Lines: F4U4 Corsair 24

Answers to Historical Quiz: Nicknames of Marine Corps General Officers . . 25

Korean War Chronology: January-June 1952 26

Historical Foundation Notes: Three-Year Terms Begunby 7 New Board Members 28

THE COVER

Japanese hosts fete Adm Perry and naval and Marine officers in this panel fromthe 40-foot painted scroll by Shotuko Nakao commemorating the admiral's 1853visit to Yokohama. Japanese officials once again welcomed foreign visitors last fallat the International Institute of Strategic Studies conference in the ancient capitalof Kyoto. BGen Simmons joined in discussions of "East Asia, the West and Inter-national Security: Prospects for Peace," and found himself interestingly paired inone committee with Professor Zhang Jing-yi, retired senior colonel of China's Peo-ple's Liberation Army. The details are in "Director's Page," beginning on page 3.

Fortitudine is produced in the Publications Production Section of the History and Museums Divi-sion. The text for Fortitudine is set in 10-point and 8-point Gararnond typeface. Headlines are in 18-pointor 24-point Ga.ramond. The newsletter is printed on 70-pound, matte-coated paper by offset lithography.

Volume XVI

HISTORYAND MUSEUMSDIVISION

No.3

Marine Corps Historical CenterBuilding 58, Washington Navy Yard

Washington, D.C. 20374-0580Telephone: (202) 433-3838, 433-3840, 433-3841

DIRECIORBGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)

HISTORICAL BRANCHCol James R. Williams, USMC

Deputy Director for History

Mr. Henry I. Shaw, Jr.Assistant Deputy Director for History

Chief Historian

Histories Section: Mr. Jack Shulimson; LtCol Gary D. Solis, USMC;Maj G. Ross Dunham, USMC; Maj Arthur F. Elzy, USMC; Ma) CharlesD. Melson, USMC; Mr. Charles R. Smith; Dr. V. Keith Fleming, Jr.

Reference Section: Mr. Danny J. Crawford; Mr. Robert V. Aquilina;Mrs. Ann A. Ferrante; Miss Lena M. Kaljot; Mrs. Regina Strother.

Oral History Section: Mr. Benis M. Frank; Mrs. Meredith P. Hartley

Archives: Mrs. Joyce E. Bonnett.

MUSEUMS BRANCHCol F. B. Nihart, USMC (Ret)Deputy Director for Museums

Mr. Charles A. WoodChief Curator

Artist-in-ResidenceCal Charles H. Waterhouse, USMCR

Marine Ba,s'acks, Special Projects: Mr. Richard A. long. Exhibits: Mr.Carl M. DeVere. Sr.; SSgr Michael V. Gaither, USMC; Mr. Benny LLenox, Sr. Ass: Mr. John T. Dyer, Jr. Personal Papers: Mr. J. MichaelMiller. Registrar: Mr. John H. McGarry Ill.

Museums Branch Activities, QuanticoLtCol Rudy T Schwanda, USMC

Officer-in-Charge

Assistant Officer In Charge for Branch Activities: Mr. Kenneth L.Smith-Christmas. Assistant Officer in Charge for Museums Opera-tions: Capt Jerry W. Swepston, USMC.

Ordnance: Vacant. Restoration: Mr. Joseph E. Payton. Aeronautics:Mrs.JodyY. UlIman. Exhibits: Mr. RonaldJ. Perkins. Uniforms: Mrs.Nancy F. King. Security: SSgt Paul C. McKenna, USMC

SUPPORT BRANCHMaj Danny R. Smith, USMC

Head/Division Executive Officer

Administration: CWO2 J. C. Owens, USMC; Sgr Donald Jackson,USMC. Security: GySgt C. W. Viar, USMC. Library: Miss Evelyn A.Englander.

Publications Production: Mr. Robert E. Struder. Production: Mrs.Catherine A. Kerns. Graphics: Mr. William S. Hill. Typesetting: PFCJavier Castro, USMC.

Editor, FortitudineMr. Robert E. Struder

2

Director's Page

From Korea to Kampuchea to KyotoBGen Simmons

F rom the 8th through the 11th of Sep-tember the International Institute of

Strategic Studies held a conference in Kyo-to, Japan. The IISS is London-based, quiteprestigious, and fairly well oriented on theso-called Western World. Most of the 28annual conferences held so far have beenin Britain or Europe. A noteworthy onewas held in Williamsburg, Virginia, a fewyears ago. This was the first time the In-stitute met in Asia. IISS has somethinglike 2,600 members in 72 countries, ofwhom about 300 came to Kyoto. Thetheme of the conference was "East Asia,the West and International Security:Prospects for Peace."

I had not been back to Japan since 1971.The last and only time I had ever visitedKyoto was to pass through it briefly in Sep-tember 1950 when the 1st Marine Divisionwas staging through Japan for the Inchon

landing. I was then the commandingofficer of Weapons Company, 3d Battal-ion, 1st Marines. The battalion had beenassigned billets in an old ImperialJapanese barracks at Otsu on Lake Biwa,a few miles outside of Kyoto. The barrackshad just been vacated by a unit of the U.S.25th Division which had already deployedto Korea.

In those days Japan was just emergingfrom the rubble of World War II. As allthe world knows, things have changed.Everything now is brisk, shiny, and effi-cient, like the Hondas, Datsuns, and Toyo-tas that have ravaged the American carindustry.

A fter enjoying a strong American dol-lar in my foreign travels, it was a

numbing experience to be on the wrongend of the currency exchange. When I was

last in Japan, the rate had been 320 yento one dollar. It is now about 150 to one.The horrendous prices now prevailing inJapan are no news to Marines serving inOkinawa or in the home islands.

The basic coin is the 100-yen piece. Thenominal value is 67 cents. It is slightlysmaller than a quarter and so is its pur-chasing power. With it you can buy astamp to send a postcard airmail to theStates, or a small can of soft drink froma vending machine, or a thin English-language newspaper, or make a phone call.

The conference sessions were held in themagnificent Kyoto International Confer-ence Hall, a new structure outside of Kyotoset in beautifully landscaped gardensagainst a backdrop of mist-covered moun-tains. The setting reminded me of aJapanese woodblock print—or one of

Marines use scaling ladders to surmount the seawall at Inchon,Korea, in the famous 1950 amphibious assault. Professor Zhang

Jing-yi says the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts opposed "themodern western concept of war and the ancient Oriental art."

3

those scenic postcards which cost me 67cents to mail back home.

We stayed at the old Miyako Hotel,which some of our veteran Marines mayremember from the days of the Occupa-tion or of the Korean War. If you havebeen there more recently you know thatthe old Miyako is not very "old" any more.There is a new Western-style wing wherethe accommodations are indistinguishablefrom a first-class Holiday Inn.

The service is impeccable. The youngbellboys in their Philip Morris uniformsrespond so briskly and are so polite in ac-cepting a 100-yen tip—which, as I havesaid, is not very much—that you are quitecertain that they are on the first rung ofthe management ladder that will leadthem to the management of the Miyako.

T he conference was opened by theForeign Minister of Japan, Tadashi

Kuranari. He started by speaking in En-glish, remarking that it was the first occa-sion for him to speak as Foreign Ministerat an international meeting. After alsoconveying Prime Minister Yasuhiro Naka-sone's personal high regard for the IISS he

then switched to Japanese which wassimultaneously translated into English forthe benefit of the foreigners. The gist ofhis remarks was that there was a require-ment for a global dialog on the questionof "Western" security and that the securi-ty of Europe and of the Asia-Pacific regionshould not be considered in isolation fromeach other.

It was a busy week for Mr. Kuranari, aweek that included a visit to Tokyo bySoviet Vice Premier Gury Marchuk.Reportedly on his agenda was a plannedvisit to Tokyo by Party General SecretaryMikhail Gorbachev, probably early in1987.

Mr. Kuranari's welcoming remarks werefollowed by the first plenary session inwhich Dr. Henry Kissinger was paired offwith Professor Masataka Kosaka on thesubject of "East Asia, the Pacific and theWest: Strategic Trends and Implications."

A long-time member of the Institute,Dr. Kissinger is one of its star players. Myears perked up when I heard him say thatthe United States should not link itsbalance of payments problems withJapanto arguments that the Japanese should be

4

paying for a larger share of their defense.His reasoning was that trade balanceproblems were one thing and U.S. securi-ty requirements quite another.

Professor Kosaka, who was paired offwith Dr. Kissinger, is a professor of inter-national politics at Kyoto University. Hegave a very measured assessment of stra-tegic trends and implications in East Asiasince the fall of Saigon.

T here were a number of other plenarysessions, some of them with single

speakers, others continuing the techniqueof two speakers addressing the same topic.There were also six committee discussions.This is what had brought me to the con-ference. I had been asked to prepare apaper for one of these committees.

I was paired off with an interesting per-son: Professor Zhang Jing-yi of the Insti-tute of North American Studies, ChineseAcademy of Social Sciences, Beijing.Professor Zhang became even more in-teresting after I got to know him andlearned that he was a retired senior colonelor brigadier of the People's LiberationArmy; that he had learned his English,

which is excellent, as a student at anAmerican missionary school in Tsingtao;that as a 16-year old he had been presentat the race track in Tsingtao on 25 October1945 when the Japanese garrison surren-dered to the 6th Marine Division; that dis-illusionment with the Chinese Nationalistgovernment had caused him to go over tothe Communist side; and that he hadfought on the Western Front in Korea,which probably put him opposite the 1stMarine Division.

T he topic, "Korea to Kampuchea: TheChanging Nature of Warfare in East

Asia, 1950-1986," assigned us was far toosweeping for me to handle in my allotted4,000 words so I confined myself to a com-parison at the operational level of theKorean and Vietnam wars from an Ameri-can viewpoint.

Many of Professor Zhang's perceptionsand conclusions were at least compatibleif not identical with my own. He com-pared the peninsular nature, as did I, ofthe two theaters of operations, Korea andIndo-China. Of both wars, he said, in asentence I believe worth repeating: "Newweapons and new tactics appeared one byone in these protracted confrontations be-tween the modern western concept of warand the ancient Oriental art."

I spoke of the underuse and misuse ofour vastly superior air and naval power.Professor Zhang made this vivid withrespect to the Korean War with two strik-ing sentences:

In Korea, the Chinese refinedthe "tunnel warfare" that hadbeen used by guerrillas duringthe anti-Japanese war into apowerful positional warfare meansto enhance the power of theregular army and effectively neu-tralize US air and ground superi-ority in firepower. The Americanstried "to kill hens with knivesmeant for butchering oxen," i.e.,to accomplish conventional opera-tional and tactical missions theUS began using strategicbombers.

H e noted that in both wars our majorsecurity concerns remained focused

on Europe and that this limited the flexi-bility of our military operations in bothaction and scale.

"For example," wrote Professor Zhang,"in Korea the US failed to take action ac-cording to normal military practice whichrequired bombing the important indus-trial and logistic base of Northeast Chi-na. In Vietnam they only took air actionagainst Hanoi. For the same reasons andpolitical concerns, the US strategy of'gradual escalation' was implemented onlyat the conventional level. It only debatedand never took any action of a nuclearnature."

He also said, and I cannot disagree,that: ". . . no matter how important navaland air forces might have been in thesewars, ground forces remained the decisivefactor."

There is another sentence in his paperthat I liked: "The two Vietnam Wars werefought by Vietnamese against the Frenchand, later, Americans, with guerrillawarfare against counter-insurgency, airdefense against air attack and only in thefinal stages set-piece actions between larg-er units."

There were many other parallels in ourtwo papers, but let me leave his paper andget back to a summary of my own.

5

Korea was a conventional war foughtwith conventional uniformed forces usingconventional weapons in a conventionalway. It was a war of east-west lines movingup and down a north-south axis untilequilibrium was reached. The pattern ofoperations was roughly analogous to thepattern of the First World War as foughton the Western Front. The first year wasa war of movement characterized by sud-den and dramatic successes and reverses asnew impulses of force were introduced.After the truce talks began, the fightingsettled down to a stalemated war of posi-tion, during which neither side risked ageneral offensive, until the armistice wassigned.

A clear operational pattern in the Viet-nam War is much less discernible.

Following a long ten-year period of U.S.advice and support to the changing Sai-gon governments, a period of applied"counterinsurgency" theory which was fil-led with circumlocutions and circumven-tions, American ground forces were intro-duced into the war in gradual numbersand at first in a semi-garrison way. The en-

emy was largely invisible and at the sametime he seemed to be everywhere. Hefought unconventionally and artfullycountered American efforts to force him tofight on conventional terms. Even so, eachtime he risked a battle of any size he lost.This was true in the opening rounds of1965 and 1966, most certainly true of hisattempt at a general offensive in 1968, andagain true in 1972, even after most of theAmericans had departed. Not until 1975,when all American troops were gone, didthe enemy win on the battlefield.

I n both wars, the enemy had guaran-teed sanctuaries, both geographic

boundaries and thresholds of military ac-tion that they knew the Americans wouldnot cross. After the first year in Korea, theenemy knew almost with certainty that thewar would not be carried into the Chinesehomeland.

The guarantees in the Vietnam Warwere even more constraining. The Chinesehomeland was never threatened. TheSoviet Union was immune. High technol-ogy efforts to seal off the borders of SouthVietnam from North Vietnam, Laos, andCambodia were expensive and ineffective.Clandestine efforts to penetrate these areaswere in general a failure. The brief incur-sions into Cambodia and Laos in 1970 and1971 were in the first case a transitory suc-cess and in the second case a disastrousfailure. Strategic weapons such as B-52sand aircraft carriers were used as tacticalweapons at great expense and with limit-ed results.

America's supremacy in tactical air pow-er over the battlefield in both wars was off-set by the enemy's passive and activedefenses growing out of his long-learnedexperience going back to his wars with theJapanese and the French. Strategically,North Vietnam was bombed at a level ofintensity that steeled North Vietnameseresolve but did not threaten the homelandwith physical destruction which was quitewithin the American capability.

A merica's naval near-monopoly wasused more effectively during the first

year of the Korean War. After that therewere virtual guarantees that there wouldbe no further amphibious operationsagainst the North Korean coasts. Duringthe Vietnam War, amphibious operationsagainst North Vietnam were much dis-

cussed (Vinh was seen as a target compara-ble to Inchon), but never seriouslycontemplated. The North Vietnamesewere secure in their knowledge that theirhomeland would not be invaded.

In the Korean War, Seoul was twicetaken by the enemy and twice recaptured.Similarly, Pyongyang was taken by theU.N. forces and retaken by the Com-munists. Loss of these respective capitalsdid not end the war for either side. Lossof Saigon in 1975, however, was the death-knell of the Republic of South Vietnam.

Viewed in operational terms, Korea wasa qualified success, and Vietnam was aqualified failure. In Korea, territorial sta-tus quo ante was achieved, but not allmilitary objectives were attained. Viet-nam, despite the ultimate collapse of theSouth Vietnamese government, was not,in operational terms, a complete militaryfailure. From 1965 until 1972, Americanmilitary might, at great cost and not al-ways with admirable efficiency, dominat-ed the battlefield. This of itself was notsufficient to attain an acceptable outcometo the war. Of all the lessons of the Viet-nam War, perhaps the greatest lesson isthat force alone does not translate intopower.

Both wars demonstrated that Ameri-ca is in truth a Pacific power, not an

Asian power, and there is a difference.Certainly this is a lesson that has beenlearned just as it has most certainly beenlearned that America is at grave riskwhenever it essays a ground war in EastAsia.

If there were common threads runningthrough the conference they were aboutas follows:

Old ideas of geography, and of the Eastand West no longer apply. What was oncethe "Far East" is now not so very far, andJapan is now a "Western power."

The nations of East Asia are so diversein their cultures, politics, and economiesthat there is little or no basis for regionalsecurity arrangements such as NATO. Thepresent disarray of ANZUS — the Austra-lia, New Zealand, United States treaty—was several times mentioned. Although itwas not discussed, I thought of the sad fateof SEATO — the South East Asia TreatyOrganization—which was meant to be theAsian equivalent to NATO but which didnot survive even the opening rounds ofVietnam.

6

UN. Commander Gen Douglas MacAr-thur was not permitted to bomb the im-portant logistic base of Northeast China.

The obvious conclusion is that securityarrangements in East Asia are best madeon a nation-to-nation, bilateral basis, asis the case with Japan and the UnitedStates.

T here was general recognition that theSoviet Union had greatly improved

its military posture in East Asia in the lastdecade. I winced to hear a speaker say thatthe Soviets had "built" great naval basesat Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay.

Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gor-bachev's speech at Vladivostok on 28 Julywas a coincidental backdrop to the con-ference and gave an immediacy to theproceedings. Our newspapers seemed tohave missed the significance of thatspeech. What reached the headlines washis announcement that the Soviet Unionwould withdraw six regiments from Af-ghanistan by the end of the year andwould expect a corresponding reductionin Western support of the guerrillas. Thiswould reduce the Soviet troop strength bysix percent—not exactly earth-shaking,and the White House indicated that it didnot attach any great importance to the an-nouncement.

That was what was in the headlines andon the front pages. You had to go to theback pages of such thick newspapers as The

New York Times to read what else Mr.Gorbachev had to say in Vladivostok. Orbetter, you had to read his full speech, aspublished in the English-language editionof Pravda. He had, in fact, laid out a clearagenda of Soviet intentions in East Asia.

H e began his speech with: "DearComrades! I have long intended to

visit the Far East

That this was his first visit to this Asianextremity of the Soviet Union was in it-self a strong signal. He went on to say:

being here in Vladivostok, it is natur-al to examine issues of world policy fromthe Asian-Pacific point of view."

Here are some of Gorbachev's otherstatements:

The concept of nonalignmentwas formed here in Asia, a move-ment which now includes in itsorbit more than 100 states .

The acknowledged leader of thismovement is great India, with itsmoral authority and traditionalwisdom, unique political ex-periences and enormous economicpotential .

The friendly relations betweenthe USSR and India have becomea stabilizing foundation of inter-national scope.

The Pacific region as a whole isstill not militarized to the degreethat Europe is. However, thepotential for its militarization istruly enormous and the conse-quences are extremely dangerous

We will not forget that itwas in Asia that American im-perialism conducted the two lar-gest wars after 1945—in Koreaand Indochina.

Since the second half of the'70s, the US has taken large-scalemeasures to build up its armedforces in the Pacific Ocean. TheWashington-Tokyo-Seoul milita-rized 'triangle' is being formedunder pressure from the US.

I want to affirm that the SovietUnion is ready at any time andat any level to most seriously dis-cuss with China the issues of ad-ditional measures to create anatmosphere of good neighbor re-lations . . . . We have offered tocooperate with China in space,which could include trainingChinese cosmonauts.

The Soviet Union also bordersthe United States in the Pacificregion. It is literally a closeneighbor, at a distance of sevenkilometers exactly from the Sovietisland of Big Diomede to theAmerican Little Diomede. TheUnited States—we clearly givetheir due—is a great Pacificpower.

I would also like to say thatthe Soviet Union is a staunch ad-vocate of disbanding militarygroups and renouncing foreignbases in Asia and in the Pacific,and of withdrawing troops fromother nations' territory.

We propose beginning negotia-tions to reduce the activities ofmilitary fleets in the PacificOcean, primarily vessels equippedwith nuclear weapons.

I would also like to say ingeneral that if the US were togive up military presence in thePhilippines, for example, wewould not leave this unanswered.

Gorbachev also said:

We will do everything possibleto strengthen friendship and stepup multifaceted ties with theMongolian People's Republic, theDemocratic People's Republic ofKorea, the Socialist Republic ofVietnam, the Lao People'sDemocratic Republic, and thePeople's Republic of Kampuchea

We are ready to expandties with Indonesia, Australia,New Zealand, the Philippines,Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,Burma, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Brunei,the Maldive Republic, and withthe very young participants in theregion.

Listing some of those "very young par-ticipants" he included the Republic of

Kiribati. Last year the Soviets gave Kiribati$1.7 million for fishing rights. Those rightsare now being renegotiated. We Marinesknew Kiribati better by its earlier namesof the Gilbert Islands and Tarawa.LJ1775L]

Marines move through a cornfield on operation in Vietnam in1970. Professor Zhang told the Kyoto assembly that Americans

"tried to kill hens with knives meant for butchering oxen" whenthey began using strategic bombers for conventional objectives.

Readers Always W/rite

How Center Got NVA Canteen; Korea Vets Add DetailsCANTEEN IS BITTER MEMENTO

It was June of 1968. I was running sup-plies on Route 9 between LZ Stud/Ca Luand Khe Sanh to troops from my Battal-ion, 2/9, who were posted at all of thebridges along the road. We were makingtwo and three runs a day with three vehi-cles: a jeep, a PC, and a 6by. I was incharge and had about eight riflemen andan M60 mounted on the 6by. We were am-bushed twice during this period. Weearned the name "The Rat Patrol" fromthe grunt companies we were supplying.

The day I obtained the canteen, we weremaking our usual run. I rarely ever rodeanywhere except in the jeep. I either droveor rode shotgun. This day a pay officercame up to me at LZ Stud and said he wasgoing with us. He had the pay checks forthe line companies. He was traveling witha company clerk and a guy from one ofthe line companies. I knew those two guys,for I had been in their presence off-and-on over a period of time. I didn't know thepay officer. I am sorry but my memorycannot retrieve their names.

Talk about fate; the pay officer asked ifI would mind riding in one of the trucksso that they could use the jeep. I didn'tmind and I hopped in with the 6by driver.On the back of the truck were about eightnew recruits who had just arrived in coun-

try. I was to drop them off at their respec-tive companies.

The jeep led, as usual, followed by thePC, then the 6by. About halfway up, wewere coming around a bend, the jeep tem-porarily out of sight ahead of us, an ex-plosion ripped through the air. As weturned the bend, I saw the jeep sitting ina heap of dust and smoke. Small arms firebroke out and our two vehicles came to ahalt. We immediately exited the vehiclesfiring our weapons wildly into the densejungle hillside and took up defensive po-sitions along the road bank. I looked atthe jeep as it suddenly limped off. Itswounded driver had gotten it started. Itstires were blown out on one side. The payofficer lay back against the flattened seat.The company clerk lay hanging out of theback of the jeep, his hands dragging theground as the wounded driver slowly droveoff. They were both killed instantly. I amsorry that I cannot recall their names,maybe you can find it in the historicalrecords.

Some grunts from one of the line com-panies, who were about a mile away, soonappeared, meeting the jeep on their way.We gathered ourselves, and the eight newrecruits, and walked up to meet them. Itwas over as quickly as it happened. Wewere totally shook to say the least. Some

of the grunts wept openly over the deathof their friends and cursed the war.

We checked the area where the explo-sion was set. It was set up on a high bankand blown down into the vehicle. Wefound a wire and followed it to about 15feet wherein we found the place where theNVA soldier hid and hand-detonated theexplosive. That is where I picked up thecanteen.

Following that, I rode in the jeep withtwo flack jackets. Not that it would havemade a difference, it just made me feelgood.

Enclosed is a photo of our "Rat Patrol."Notice how we placed sandbags on thejeep. I'm behind the wheel.

Paul A. FerraroForest City, Pennsylvania

EDITOR'S NOTE: Enemy equipment thatis well documented, such as Mr Ferraro'sNorth Vietnamese Army canteen, is

desired by the Museum. The stories be-hind these objects are considered to lendgreat interest to their display.

THE 'ROCK'AND 'W/INDMILLS'The "Korean War Chronology" in the

Fall 1986 Fortitudine caught my eye sincemy Korean service covered the period—September-December 1951— concerned.The third paragraph from the end caughtmy full attention because I was privilegedto command the 2d Battalion, 5th Marinesduring the action described . .

It was disconcerting to find that Icould recognize little of what I take to bethe official albeit condensed version of2/5's activities. As Iremember it, 2/5 wasassigned to take certain enemy-held ter-rain on the northeast rim of the Punch-bowl, to wit, Hill 812 and the adjoiningand higher hill to the west (was it Hill954?). We took Hill 812 just after dawnon 18 September (I presume it was the18th; I have no handy record of the datesinvolved.) and were advancing on the nextobjective when we were told to stand fast.We therefore dug in on Hill 812. I was toldlater that the attack was discontinued be-cause further advances would havestretched Division's resources beyond thebreaking point. In any case, there was a

Sgt Paul A. Ferraro is behind the wheel with members of the 'Rat Patrol" in thisVietnam snapshot. They ran supplies between Ca Lu andKhe Sanh for the 9th Marines.

8

higher hill beyond 954 and a higher hillbeyond that, etc., etc. Thus ended whatturned out to be the last U.N. offensiveof the Korean War.

After dark on the 18th—or was it the19th—the North Koreans came downfrom Hill 954 to retake Hill 812. Theytried all night, off and on, but Compa-nies E and F plus much help from the bat-talion's 81mm mortars beat off the attacksand drove out one limited penetration.After that, things were relatively quietduring our stay, except for some snipingby enemy mountain guns from 954, par-ticularly on late afternoons when the sunwas in our eyes.

As for the "Rock" cited officially as theobject of the struggle, I can only assumethat this refers to a tall and distinctive out-cropping of rock on a finger ridge lead-ing from 812 up to 954. We had reachedthat point when the attack was called offbut had pulled back to more defensibleground. The North Koreans occupied it,however, although it was so close to ourlines as to be almost within hand grenaderange. Presumbably it was an outpost, and

it must have been the most uncomfortableoutpost in Korea at the time. It wasn'tmuch of a threat to us, but it was certain-ly a challenge. The Marines called it "Luke-the-Gook's-Castle," and hit it repeatedlywith just about every weapon in the Divi-sion's inventory, including 90mm tankguns. The Wing got in the act with rock-ets and some kind of guided air-to-groundordnance. A raid or two found nobodyhome — Luke sometimes pulled out whenthings got too hot, but he always cameback. He was in his castle when the Divi-sion turned the position over to the ROKs,and I suppose he could be there still.

As for Operation Windmill II, I don'trecall it as having supported 2/5, at leastnot directly. Later that winter, LtColGeorge Herring's HMR 161 lifted us todefensive positions on Hill 884— the firsthelicopterborne relief of a front-lineposition — but that was some miles to theeast and several Windmills later.

Col Houston Stiff, USMC (Ret)Scottsdale, Arizona

Pages 34-35 of the Fall 1986 edition ofFortitudine concerns a part of the Korean

War in which I participated as a riflemanwith the Division Reconnaissance Compa-ny, 1st Marine Division .

The article advises . . . that on 19 Sep-tember 1951 HMR-161 successfully trans-ported 224 Marine combat troops to thefront. The assemblage was the DivisionReconnaissance Company, with the sup-port of Heavy Machine Gun Platoon, 2dBattalion, 7th Marines; some forward ob-servers for the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines;and some folks from ANGLICO. Theprocedure was called Operation Summit,and it was in fact the first use of helicop-ters in modern warfare.

Barry D. MurphyVienna, Virginia

Pages 34 and 35 of the Fall 1986 Forti-tudine speak to the first helicopter oper-ations. It is not complete. The first wasOperation Summit, followed by Wind-mills I and II, followed by OperationBlackbird, the first night tacticaloperation.

LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Ret)San Diego, California

In Memoriam

Okinawa Operation Veteran, Marine Corps Public Affairs Notable Die

BGEN GALE T. CUMMINGS, USMC, RET.,a native of Beatrice, Nebraska, died at theage of 89 in Los Angeles, California, on 23October 1986. He enlisted in the MarineCorps in October 1917, and in Decemberthe following year he was commissioned

Then-LtCol Gale T Cummings

by Benis M. FrankHead Oral History Section

a second lieutenant. He was discharged inSeptember 1919, and returned to activeduty in March 1921 as a regular officer.During the interwar period, he served inthe Mail Guard Company, at variousstateside posts and stations, and on boardthe Seattle and the Oklahoma. He joinedthe staff of the Commander in Chief, At-lantic Fleet in April 1942, and two yearslater he joined the I Marine AmphibiousCorps staff on Guadalcanal. During theOkinawa operation, he was the G-1 of IIIAmphibious Corps. At the time of hisretirement, June 1949, Col Cummingswas Post Legal Officer at Marine Barracks,Quantico, and was advanced to the rankof brigadier general for having been spe-cially commended for the performance ofduty in combat.

COL RICHARD S. STARK, USMCR, RET.,died of a heart attack 12 December 1986at his home in Stogrande, Spain. He was

9

born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and wasa graduate of Cornell University. Hereceived an aviation specialist's commis-sion in 1944 and served in World War IIin the Pacific with Marine Air WarningSquadron 12. At the end of the war, heresumed a career in radio and then wentinto television, where he was perhaps bestknown for a commercial he made in whichhe shaved a peach with an electric razor.He remained active in the Marine CorpsReserve and returned to active duty dur-ing the Vietnam War in 1966, headingthe III Marine Amphibious Force CombatInformation Bureau in Da Nang. Follow-ing Vietnam, he became head of the Ma-rine Corps Public Affairs Office in NewYork City. He remained in New York un-til his retirement in 1975. For his servicesin Vietnam he was awarded a Gold Starin lieu of a second Bronze Star Medal. Hehad earlier received the Legion of Merit.

Eli 775E1

Acquisitions

Conservation Practices Save Marine Artifacts for Posterity

T he method originated by the MarineCorps Museum to catalog and record

information concerning new donations toits collections, through use of an in-housecomputer, was described in the Fall 1985issue of Fortitudine. This ongoing ac-cumulation of data gives staff andresearchers ready access to facts on itemsin the collections and indication of theircurrent status. But, while this records-keeping function is indispensable to thegrowing Museum, it is far from being theonly work required to complete accessionof gifts.

When historical objects, or collectionsof photographs and papers, are receivedby the Museum, a detailed study is madeof their material composition and theirpresent condition. These observations leadto procedures which constitute the scien-tific aspect of museum work known as con-servation.

Conservation practices, which responddirectly to the analysis of an object, are ac-tions taken to prolong its life for posteri-ty. It is hoped that an object added to thecollections of the Museum will be held,for study and potential exhibition, forever.

by John H, McGarry HIMarine Corps Museum Registrar

So, steps must be taken to help safeguardit from natural and accidental destruction.

T here are many factors which affect theuseful lifetime of objects. Certainly

one is the environment in which they arestored or displayed. Many objects—particularly paper, photographs, andtextiles — are sensitive to light. Exposure toultraviolet light, found in normal sunlightand many types of artificial lighting,causes fading of colors and sometimesstructural weakening. At the Museum, ef-forts are made to control the amount ofultraviolet light which reaches objects. Re-cently, to assist in protecting the PersonalPapers Collection, plastic covers were fit-ted over flourescent lights to filter outdamaging rays. Likewise, many objectsplaced on display are mounted behindplexiglass which contains the same filter-ing material. In all storage areas attemptsare made to control lighting at an accept-able level.

Assorted environmental dangers areposed by heat and humidity. Museumsstrive for an average humidity level of 55percent. When humidity is too low, cer-

tam materials, particularly wood andpaper, warp and curl. Too much humidi-ty encourages the growth of destructivemold and causes fibers to swell. Thus, theMuseum attempts to maintain a mid-point range through the use of humidifi-ers and air conditioning.

Heat is extremely damaging to muse-um objects. It greatly increases the prob-ability of unwanted chemical reactionssuch as rusting and a host of others whichhasten decay. Slight changes in tempera-ture cause movement of an object's com-ponent materials, so that over time itliterally "rubs itself to death." The mostacceptable temperature for a museum en-vironment is a constant 65 degrees.

Fortunately, insect infestation has notbeen a serious problem for our Muse-

um. Occasionally a new donation is received that contains some type of pest. Twocommon ones are the powder post beetleand the carpet beetle, insects which feed,respectively, on wood and organic materi-al. The museum has been successful ineradicating them by sealing suspect ar-tifacts in plastic bags together with vapo-na strips. This is a slow process, sometimestaking months, but one which conformsto federal regulations regarding the use ofinsecticides. While there are other meansof fumigation that are more efficient, theycan be damaging to artifacts and to the

Registrar John H. McGarry III performs conservation steps which will help preservea Marine Corps Mameluke sword Museum objects are intended to last forever

10

Caribbean Conservation

The author of this report on con-servation technology, MuseumRegistrar John H. McGarry, recent-ly presented a series of lectures anddemonstrations on the conservationof military antiquities for the Na-tional Museum and Art Gallery ofTrinidad. Attending these sessionswere museum staffs from aroundthe Caribbean. The program wasfunded by the Department of Cul-tural Affairs of the Organization ofAmerican States.

people who subsequently handle them.Some objects have a problem of "inher-

ent vice." The term is used to describematerials that are self-destructive no mat-ter what is done. An example is the typeof leather used in many pieces of WorldWar I equippage. Changes in the tanningprocess from the 19th to the 20th centuryintroduced faster and cheaper chemicals.It has been found, however, that thesechemicals—after a period of perhaps 50years — break down the cellular structureof the leather. Normally this problem iscalled "red rot" and is seen as the surfaceof the leather turning to a red powder anddusting off. A great deal of study is be-ing done to find a solution, but for thetime being, most museums can only placethese objects in a stable environment tominimize the damage.

An area of the Museum that has seri-ous problems with "inherent vice" is thePersonal Papers Collection. The modernmanufacture of paper includes a stepwhereby wood pulp is broken down withthe aid of acid. Better-quality paperbenefits from many washings to remove re-maining acid. Cheaper grades of paper,such as newsprint, are incompletelywashed and contain high concentrationsof acid. As a result, this paper over timebecomes "burned." Everyone has seen anold newspaper that has turned brown, andis crumbling. This is the result of acid"burning." The problem is increased bythe presence of strong ultraviolet light.

One way to control the acidity of paperis to store it in acid-free envelopes orfolders. At the Museum, special file foldersand dividers are made of a fine grade ofpaper which tends to draw the acid fromthe object into the folder itself. Separat-ing important documents into thesefolders also prohibits the acidity of any onedocument from migrating to another oneadjacent to it. Thus, those same file folderswhich can be so inconvenient for a

researcher with volumes of material toview, are in fact helping to preserve thepapers for further use.

A major conservation problem facingthe Marine Corps Museum system is

the development of new techniques todeal with 20th-century synthetic materi-als. This is a particular problem for mili-tary museums because of the number ofinnovative materials used in military hard-ware in this century.

An example is aluminum. Widely ap-plied in aircraft, landing vehicles, and evenmess kits, it is a lightweight but strongmetal. Unfortunately, when used in con-junction with other, dissimilar metals, itreacts with them and breaks down, a majorproblem, for example, for the fine collec-tion of LVTs at Camp Pendleton. The alu-minum components of such vehicles,along with the other metals used in theinternal structure, are deteriorating. Todate, there is no method to resolve theproblem.

Another problem facing military muse-ums is the increasingly wide use of syn-thetic materials, such as plastics. Anexample might be a modern flight hel-met. Different types of styrofoam havebeen used as padding in these items ofheadgear. In time these materials becomevery unstable, and are almost impossibleto conserve in recognizable state.

T he development of an exhibit for theMuseum always is a complex under-

taking. Beyond the multiple tasks ofdetailed pre-research, viewing and selec-tion of appropriate artifacts, and the de-sign and construction of the exhibit, areconsiderations of conservation. The re-

11

quired uses of acid-free mat board, stablemetal structures, and special plexiglassscreening must be figured into planningand execution. Environmental condi-tions—light and temperature, as exam-ples — of the exhibit area itself also mustbe accounted for in planning and mount-ing the show.

Scientific conservation work performedby the professional staff at the MarineCorps Museum has proven to be both in-teresting and challenging. The staff hasreason to be proud of its track record inthe care and preservation of irreplaceableobjects in its care. Their work is helpingto ensure that these items of historical sig-nificance will be around for Marines tostudy and learn from for generations tocome. Eli 775L1

Air Power History Grants

The U.S. Air Force Historical ResearchCenter has announced the availability ofgrants of up to $2,500 each for graduateresearch into the history of air power in theUSAF historical document collection. In-formation is available from the Director,USAF Historical Research Center, MaxwellAir Force Base, Alabama 36112-6678.

Historical Quiz

Nicknames of Marine Corps General Officersby Lena M. Kaijot

Reference Historian

1. "Old Gimlet Eye"

Match the nickname with the appropriate Marine general officer:

2. "Bigfoot"

3. "Harry the Horse"

a. Gen Holland M. Smith

4. "Howlin' Mad"

b. LtGen Lewis B. Puller

5. "Red Mike"

c. BGen Hiram I. Bearss

6. "Sunny Jim"

d. MajGen Merritt A. Edson

7. "Hikeem Hiram"

e. MajGen Smedley D. Butler

8. "Old Indian"

f. LtGen John A. Lejeune

9. "Chesty"

g. Gen Alexander A. Vandegrift

10. "Uncle Joe"

h. MajGen Joseph H. Pendleton

i. BGen Harry Liversedge

j. MajGen Wilburt S. Brown

(Answers to quiz on page 25)

Foundation Hears LtGen Cheatham on Hue Battle

T he Marine Corps Historical Foun-dation held its eighth annual meet-

ing on 2-3 November 1986, beginningwith a brunch at Quantico and highlight-ed later by an address to the general mem-bership gathered at the Marine CorpsHistorical Center by LtGen Ernest C.Cheatham, Jr., USMC, Deputy Chief ofStaff for Manpower at Headquarters Ma-rine Corps.

The first event of the meeting was a visitto the Marine Corps Air-Ground Museumfollowed by the brunch at the QuanticoOfficers' Club. Traveling by bus and theirown cars, 28 members and wives led byBoard of Directors member LtGen GeorgeAxtell, USMC (Ret), arrived at the Muse-um at 1030 and were greeted by ColBrooke Nihart, Deputy Director for Muse-ums, and LtCol Rudy Schwanda, Officer-in-Charge of the Air-Ground Museum.The group was divided with each halfguided through the "Early Years" and"World War II" exhibit hangars by one ofthe two officials and spending 45 minutesin each. After the tour, the group repairedto the Wailer Room of Harry Lee Hall.

At the following day's general member-ship meeting, featured speaker LtGenCheatham described his part in the bat-tle for Hue City during the 1968 Tet offen-sive in Vietnam. Gen Cheatham, whocommanded the 2d Battalion, 5th Ma-rines, at the time, provided a number ofinteresting insights into the problems ofa commander and his Marines who wereentering combat in a built-up area for thefirst time. The last such action for Marineshad occurred in the capture of Seoul, coin-cidentally also the 1st and 5th Marines, in1950. And to the surprise of no one in theaudience, the institutional memory of ur-ban street fighting techniques hadvanished. The audience, incidentally, in-cluded LtGen DonnJ. Robertson, USMC(Ret), who had commanded the 1st Ma-rine Division at the time, and MajGenNorman J. Anderson, USMC (Ret), who

Information for this report was derivedfrom materials prepared by Col BrookeNihart, on the visit to the Air-GroundMuseum at Quantico, and by Mr HenryI. Shaw, Jr., on the presentation by LtGenErnest C. Cheatham, Jr

LtGen Ernest C. Cheatham, fthad commanded the 1st Marine AircraftWing.

Interestingly, Gen Cheatham, whenhe received his order to take his bat-

talion north to Hue, immediately went to"the book," reading two manuals on ur-ban combat obtained from his trainingaids library. Partially as a result of thispreparation, but mainly as a result of ac-cumulated military knowledge, he sweptup every 3.5-inch rocket launcher he couldlay hands on, a regiment's allowance, andtook all his 106mm recoilless rifles in orderto supplement his 81mm mortars and haveweapons that could blow holes, big holes,in the buildings that were likely to be adominant part of his combat area of oper-ations.

As the motley motorized column ofinfantry-company Marines and those fromtwo headquarters outfits, his own battal-ion's and the 1st Marines' regimental com-mand echelons, drove north up Highway1 into the southern outskirts of Hue, therewas a smattering of enemy sniper fire andan outpouring of Marine return fire thatslowed the advance until commandingofficers supplied the impetus to get thingsmoving again. A happy find in a gas sta-tion along the way was three copies of astandard tourist map of Hue, delineatingeach major building and street at a scaleof about 1:12,500. From then on, GenCheatham and his two forward-most com-pany commanders had a vital aid to help

12

them coordinate their actions. The stan-dard terrain maps available showed Huein such small scale as to be useless for theclose-in, house-to-house, street-to-streetfighting that followed. As a part of hispresentation to the Foundation members,Gen Cheatham used an opaque projectionof the tourist map paired with contem-porary photographs to illustrate graphical-ly his objectives and his myriad of obstacles(most with gaping holes from his battal-ion "artillery").

Assigned by the 1st Marines to drivewest from Highway 1 along the banks ofthe Perfume River and take everything inits path, the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, asGen Cheatham described the action, per-formed somewhat like the good guys in awestern movie in a "clean-up-the-town"scenario. Snap-shooting around corners,out of windows, often going one-on-onewith the North Vietnamese, the Marinesmoved slowly, very slowly, westward.

It took 10 days of fighting, wherestreets were death-traps, and every win-

dow and shadow held a potential sniper,before the battalion won its way againstodds, sometimes three or four to one, toits objective, a canal about a mile and ahalf from its starting point.

The fighting was so close, as GenCheatham described it, that use of con-ventional artillery and air support was notfeasible. Tanks, in the narrow confines ofthe European-style built-up area, couldnot maneuver and drew devastating firewherever they showed up; Ontos were toothin-skinned to venture into the NVA firelanes. The battle was one of infantrymanagainst infantryman with the Marinesbacked up by organic support weaponswith almost unlimited ammunition. Theenemy Tet offensive had stopped a Marineammo supply column headed northtoward the DMZ on the outskirts of Hue,and Cheatham's battalion as well as theothers under the 1st Marines, drew downliberally on this treasure trove. All theammo you wanted, Gen Cheathamrecalled; thousands of rounds wentthrough each available tube, so much sothat when the battalion withdrew fromcombat weeks later, the armorer could sayof its heavy mortars, "They are the best84mm mortars around!" Eli 775EJ

On the Trail of the China Marines

Tracing the Footsteps of the 4th Marines in Shanghaiby j Robert Moskin

T o hunt for the billets and haunts ofthe Marines who were on duty in

Shanghai between World Wars I and II isintriguing but frustrating. CommunistShanghai today looks like a busy anthillcompared to the hedonistic, often embat-tled, International Settlement of the citythat from 1927 until 1941 was the homeof the 4th Regiment of U.S. Marines. Inthose days, Shanghai was a wide-open portof some 3 million people; and today, theChinese claim, it is the largest city in theworld. But under the People's Republic ofChina, both the Settlement and the Ma-rines have disappeared.

The newly arrived 4th Marine Regi-ment's first "action" occurred on 23 March1927, when the 3d Battalion set up amachine gun at the intersection of Carterand Sinza roads to protect the right flankof the British Coldstream Guards. And itslast took place late in 1940 when Maj LewisB. "Chesty" Puller led 22 Marines to con-front 80 Japanese soldiers who had invad-ed the International Settlement androunded up 200 Chinese. Puller had twoheavy machine guns set up and drew hispistol on the Japanese officer. TheJapanese left without their prisoners.

The story of the "China Marines" is oneof the strangest in the Corps' legend-filledhistory. A decade after World War I, onequarter of the entire Corps was stationedin China, where the Marines lived a daz-zling life with White Russian girl friends,one-dollar Johnnie Walker Black Label,and roomboys to do their chores. Shang-hai was called the City of BlazingNight—the Paris of the East. Back homethe U.S. was wallowing in a massiveDepression. In Shanghai a Marine couldlive like a king.

Between the two world wars, Shanghaiwas the center of the China Marines.

Today it seems strangest of all to visitCommunist Shanghai and try to imagine

J. Robert Moskin is the author of TheUnited States Marine Corps Stor) pub-lished by McGraw-Hill. He is a senior edi-tor of World Press Review.

the westernized International Settlement,the steel-helmeted Marines on duty alongSoochow Creek, and the high life in a citythat now is drab, crowded, and full ofbicycles — not rickshaws.

It wasn't all fun and games. The Chinaservice prepared young Marine officers forleadership roles in World War II. Alex-ander A. Vandegrift; David M. Shoup;Lewis B. Puller; Gerald C. Thomas; Mer-

ritt A. Edson; Evans F. Carlson; Samuel B.Griffith II; Wallace M. Greene, Jr.; LewisW. Walt; and Graves B. Erskine were Chi-na Marines.

The foreign nations had carved twohuge enclaves out of the gut of Shanghai.One was the International Settlement inwhich the British and Americans were themost prominent among seven nations. Justto the south was the French Concession,which the French ruled by themselves, ex-cept that some 25,000 White Russiansmoved in after the Russian Revolution.

T he Marine Corps' history in Shanghaistarted back in 1854 during the Tai-

ping Rebellion when Marines and seamenfrom the sloop-of-war Plymouth wentashore to help the British clear the Imperi-al Chinese Army from the InternationalSettlement. There were numerous inci-dents after that.

In March 1927, the 4th Marine Regi-ment went ashore at Shanghai to protectWestern lives and economic interests in aChina torn by internal conflict. The 1911Revolution of Sun Yat-sen had overthrownthe decaying Chinese imperial court. AndSun's death from cancer in 1925 launcheda period of turmoil during which the ar-

fir

I

cE

Looking down Soochow Creek which the Marines defended from positions on the bankon the right side of the photograph. In the center at the mouth of the creek is theFree Bridge, with the International Settlement at right and the Chapei section at left.

13

A three-story red-brick building at the in-tersection of Avenue and Ferry roads in1930 housedan infantry platoon of the 1stBattalion, 4th Marines. Barbed wire stillwinds around the doorway, although thebuilding is now used as a kindergarten.

mies of Chiang Kai-shek tried to take con-trol of the country. When Chiang closedin on Shanghai, that brought in theMarines.

Col Charles S. "Jumbo" Hill led 66officers and 1,162 enlisted Marines of the4th Regiment into the city on 16 March1927. Maj Alexander A. Vandegrift, whobecame Commandant during World WarII, commanded its 3d Battalion. At first,regimental headquarters was at 96 SinzaRoad in the heart of the International Set-tlement and later was moved a couple ofblocks north to Haiphong Road (nowspelled Haifang).

On 23 March, part of the 3d Battalionwas sent to Soochow Creek to support theBritish at Markham Road Bridge, whichhas been called "the key to the ForeignSettlement." In the wind and rain, theyset up a machine gun a block back fromthe creek at the intersection of Carter and

Sinza roads to protect the right flank ofthe Coldstream Guards.

T wo days later, BGen SmedleyDarlington Butler (he with two Me-

dals of Honor) arrived with portions of the6th Regiment and the headquarters of the3d Marine Brigade. Brigade headquarterswas set up at 47 Avenue Road. The color-ful, outspoken Butler wrote CommandantJohn A. Lejeune that Shanghai was "thecesspool of the world." In April 1927, therewere 271 Marine officers and 4,843 enlist-ed Marines in China. By summer, Butlertook all his Marines except the 4th Regi-ment up north to Tientsin and environs.He seemed attracted there where he hadfought and been wounded during theBoxer Rebellion 27 years before. The 4thRegiment, which would be redesignatedthe 4th Marines in 1930, stayed in Shang-hai continuously until just before PearlHarbor—14 years. They became the "Chi-na Marines."

Seven of its China-duty members even-tually became Commandants: Vandegrift;Clifton B. Cares; Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr.;Randolph McC. Pate; Shoup; Greene; andRobert E. Cushman, Jr.

After winning public attention and ac-claim in World War I, the Marine Corpshad to find a new mission. BGen Butlerwas perceptive when on 12 May 1927, hewrote Commandant Lejeune that heshould send three Marine regiments toPeking, Tientsin, and Shanghai. Butlerwrote: "It will give our Corps a wonderfulreason for existence and increase in size.It will also crown your administration asthe most successful one in the history ofour Corps."

T he two dominating features ofShanghai in those days were The

Bund along the Whangpo River, andSoochow Creek (now the Suzhou River)which flowed into the Whangpo (now theHuangpu). (The Whangpo in turn flowedinto the mighty Yangtze, which madeShanghai the port for much of China's in-terior.) The Bund was (and still is) aWestern-built boulevard and park next towhich are the piers and jetties for thebustling Shanghai trade. The Bund hadlong replaced the towpaths where coolieshad pulled boats before they were powerdriven.

Across The Bund the large European-built office buildings, banks, and hotels

14

still stand in a row as a facade to the city.The office buildings and banks now most-ly hold Communist and governmentbureaucracies. The former Hong Kongand Shanghai Bank now houses the Peo-ple's Municipal Government. The BritishConsulate at No. 33 is a Friendship Store.The famous domed Cathay Hotel facingThe Bund at the foot of Nanking Road,the main shopping street, is now called thePeace Hotel. The elegant playwright NoelCoward settled in the Cathay in 1928 andin four days wrote Private Lives, but to-day the hotel is rather dark and shabby.It still has a lounge where in the eveninga Chinese troupe plays "Big Band" music.

Soochow Creek marked the northernborder of the International Settle-

ment and was the line that the Marinesand the armed forces of the other nationshad to be prepared to defend. Today,Soochow Creek is a narrow, muddy streamwith new high concrete walls. The creekis probably 50 yards wide and 100 yardsat its mouth where it flows into theWhangpo.

Once, a "free ferry" crossed the mouthof the creek. Later, bridges were built, themost important of which were the GardenBridge or Free Bridge, which in 1907replaced the ferry, and the well-knownMarkham Road Bridge further upstream.During their years in Shanghai, the 4thMarines defended both bridges. The steelFree Bridge still rumbles with traffic.Markham Road Bridge is now the Heng-feng Bridge; it was rebuilt in concrete in1948. Last year, concrete emplacements at

the bridge were removed. A police kioskstands in the center of the approach to thebridge, and a policeman directs trafficthrough what is now a busy industrial sec-tion of Shanghai.

When you visit the interior neighbor-hoods of Shanghai today, you walk onquiet, often tree-lined streets, where notan Occidental is to be seen. The corner ofwhat used to called Avenue Road and Per-ry Street is a broad pleasing intersection.Avenue Road is now West Beijing Roadand Ferry Road is called Ikang Road.

Iwas taken there by two helpful

Chinese. Han Zihui is a bright youngmember of the Shanghai Journalists As-sociation who enjoyed trying to locateformer Marine sites. Mr. Han broughtalong Chiang Hoa, who was born inShanghai in 1908 and was a universitygraduate. Mr. Chiang remembers Shan-ghai in the 1930s when the Marines walkedthe streets and some buildings in the In-ternational Settlement denied entry toChinese and dogs.

Together we tried to follow the maps of1927 and 1930 photocopied for me at theMarine Corps Historical Center. It wasdifficult because the Chinese have re-named all the streets. But Mr. Han andMr. Chiang were able to identify, by theirarchitecture, the occasional buildings thathad been built in the 1920s and 1930s.

On one corner of the Avenue Road-FerryRoad intersection stands a three-story, red-brick building. In 1930 it housed an in-

fantry platoon of the 1st Battalion. Strandsof barbed wire still wind around the door-way, although the building is now used asa kindergarten. A bit further north in thenext block of Ferry Road or Xikang Road,we could spot what had been the hospi-tal. It is also red-brick and European-style.Today above the building flies a red flagand a gold star is set in the concrete at theentrance. Now this is the Xikang Road No.3 Primary School. I was told that thebuilding long ago was owned by twoChinese brothers. Their father had treat-ed them equally and given them each anidentical half of the building.

T oday, 252 Xikang Road is a four-storygray stucco building with large win-

dows. This was probably a battalion head-quarters of the 4th Marines. It is now theJingan District Vocational School (thefourth floor seems a recent addition), andlocal people there told my guides that ithad once been used as a crematorium.Nearby was another red-brick buildingthat is broken up into apartments. Oneresident told us that this had been theheadquarters of foreign troops in the dis-tant past.

By 1929, things had quieted down andthe 3d Brigade returned to the UnitedStates, leaving only the 4th Regiment inShanghai. Then in 1931 thejapanese in-vaded Manchuria. And in January 1932,the Japanese garrison in the city attackedthe Chinese 19th Route Army in Shang-

hai's Chapei district north of SoochowCreek. The Marines took to the barricadesand guarded about four miles of the creek.By March the fighting stopped.

On 7 July 1937, Japanese and Chinesetroops clashed at the Marco Polo Bridgeoutside Peking and the Second Sino-Japanese War began. In August, Japaneselanding parties entered Chapei, and inresponse the 87th and 88th Chinese Di-visions poured into the same area. Thefighting was fierce with artillery shellingand repeated air raids. The Marineshelped the International Settlement Policekeep the belligerents out of the Interna-tional Settlement by guarding 7,200 yardsalong Soochow Creek. Barriers were erect-ed at the bridges.

A t this time, the 4th Marines' 2d Bat-talion was commanded by LtCol

Clifton B. Cates, a hero of Belleau Woodin World War I. Headquarters was inHaiphong Road. Company E was com-manded by Capt Wallace M. Greene, Jr.,and he organized it into four-man fireteams for street fighting. These were theforerunners of the Marines' World War IIfire teams.

As the battle intensified, bombs fell inthe International Settlement, killinghundreds of Chinese. That 13 August be-came known as Bloody Saturday. Thebridges were closed across the creek andthe Marines manned their sandbagged po-sitions with bayoneted rifles. On 17 Au-gust the United States started evacuatingwomen, children, and the elderly.

On 19 September, 1,435 more Marinesarrived from San Diego, including twobattalions of the 6th Marines and theheadquarters of the 2d Marine Brigade un-der BGen John C. "Johnny Beau" Beau-mont. Brigade headquarters was set up at65 Gordon Road, which today is calledJiangning Road. The 4th Marines'regimental headquarters was at the south-west corner of Haiphong and SingaporeRoads. There were now 2,536 Marines in

Located by Mr Moskin r Chinese colleagues, the Xikang Road No. 3 Primary Schoolbuilding dates from before U7orld U5'ar II. A gold star is set in concrete at the entrance.

15

6th Marines pulled out, again leaving the4th Marines in Shanghai. Once World WarII began in 1939, the 4th Marines were in-creasingly isolated. The British neededtheir troops elsewhere; the Italians,French, and Japanese were no longerpartners.

China. During September and October,the 4th and 6th Marines rotated on theline.

By 11 November, the battle was over;and the Japanese, after 92 days of

fighting and 40,000 casualties, had con-quered Shanghai. On 3 December, 6,000Japanese troops entered the western endof the International Settlement and stageda victory parade. The Westerners werehelpless to prevent it. A Chinese civilianthrew a bomb into the line of march,wounding three Japanese, and he was shotdead by a Chinese police constable.

In this period, several China Marineshad special experiences that affected thecreation of the Marine Raider Battalionsof World War II. Maj Merritt A. Edsonstudied Japanese amphibious tactics — theJapanese already had ramp-type landingcraft. Capt Evans F. Carlson traveled northto Yenan in Shansi Province and hikedwith the Communist soldiers, studyingtheir guerrilla tactics. And Capt SamuelB. Griffith II (who was stationed in Pek-ing) served as an observer with theJapanese army in Shansi Province justacross the mountains from Carlson.

In February 1938, the 2d Brigade and

Finally, after many delays, on 10

November 1941, orders arrived fromWashington to evacuate the 4th Marines.The 1st Battalion left on 17 Novemberand, the next day, the remainder of theregiment formed behind its band andmarched down Bubbling Well Road andNanking Road to Shanghai's Bund. Acheering crowd lined the route. That wasthe end of the legendary China Marines.

They sailed to Subic Bay in the Philip-pines and after Pearl Harbor were ulti-mately assigned to defend the beaches ofCorregidor. The Japanese landed on theisland fortress on the night of 5 May 1942.After 13 hours of heavy fighting, ColSamuel L. Howard, now commanding the4th Marines, ordered the national andregimental colors burned.

The 4th Marines was the only regimentin the Corps' history to be captured by theenemy. Losses of the 4th Marines in thePhilippines were 330 killed and 357wounded. Of these, 239 died in Japanesecaptivity.

Today, in Shanghai, virtually no oneknows the story of the 4th Marines. Theyare part of a past the People's Republic re-jects, a past dominated by foreign in-fluences and foreign military power. Butthe China Marines are indelibly a part ofShanghai's history and the history of theCorps. E11775E

Sketches accompanying this article wereprepared by CplRoland G. James as illus-trations to A Marine's Guide to NorthChina, published by Division IntelligenceSection, 1st Marine Division, in Septem-ber 1945, as they appear in a copy of thebooklet belonging to Mr Benis M. Frank.

Probably a battalion headquarters of the 4th Marines, 252 Xikang Road, a four-storygrey stucco building with large windows, is now the Jingan District Vocational School.

16

Guadalcanal Intelligence: A Personal Collectionby Herbert C. Merillat

A n unusual personal collection of in-telligence materials from the

Guadalcanal campaign, recently receivedby the History and Museums Division, fillssome gaps in the division's collection ofmaps and adds to its file of topographicphotographs, captured documents, reportsof prisomer interrogations, and patrolreports.

The materials were gathered by WilliamHollingsworth Whyte, Jr., who servedthroughout the campaign as intelligenceofficer with the 2d Battalion, 1st Marines.Lt Whyte contracted malaria on Guadal-canal. In and out of hospitals with recur-rent bouts after the 1st Marine Divisionwent to Australia, he was an instructor inmap reading and interpretation of aerialphotographs for regimental intelligencesections and the Division Scout School. Inthat capacity he collected and used theGuadalcanal materials, which also laterproved useful when he became an instruc-tor in combat intelligence in the MarineCorps Schools at Quantico.

Items of particular interest and valueinclude:

•A long-lost set of pre-invasion aerialphotomaps of the north coast of Guadal-canal and of Tulagi.

'Two Japanese maps: one appears togive the Japanese estimate of Marine dis-positions a few days before the battle ofEdson's Ridge; the other sketches the plan

for attack for the battle for HendersonField late in October 1942.

'A faded Japanese aerial photograph onwhich Mr. Whyte indicated, with unusualclarity, the Japanese routes of approach tothe area south of Henderson Field priorto the October battle.

'An overlay showing patrol actions ofthe 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, west of theMatanikau on 27 and 28 October.

'Prisoner interrogation reports that sup-plement those accompanying the 1st Ma-rine Division Final Operational Report.

The "lost" aerial photomaps of Guadal-canal were made in Gen MacArthur's com-

mand (Southwest Pacific Area, or SWPA)inJuly 1942. Guadalcanal buffs will recallthat, in the planning phase of the opera-tion, mapping information was scarce.SWPA tried to help out by taking the pho-tographs in question, which were sent tothe Commander, South Pacific, in Auck-land. But somehow the photos went as-tray and never reached those who wereplanning the Guadalcanal operation. Asa consequence the 1st Marine Division hadto make do with an unsatisfactory mapmade by Col Frank Goettge's D-2 section,based largely on aerial photographs takenon 16 June 1942.

First Division officers never saw theSWPA photomaps until the divisionreached Melbourne after its withdrawalfrom Guadalcanal. Presumably copies ex-ist somewhere in SWPA files. But accord-ing to Mr. George McGillivray, the retiredCIA map librarian who has been assistingthe History and Museums Division to or-ganize its map collection, Mr. Whyte'scopy of the nine-sheet mosaic is the firstto reach Marine historical files. This copyis a valuable addition to the exhibition ofGuadalcanal maps that Mr. McGillivray(himself a Guadalcanal veteran, in the 1stBattalion, 7th Marines) put together in1982 (Fortitudine, Spring-Summer 1982).That exhibit has since been shown in theDefense Mapping Service, National Ar-chives, Marine Corps Museum, Naval

(Continued on page 25)

One of the aerial photos shows the Henderson Field taxiway looking toward "IronBottom" Sound Note the bomb craters and the pagoda at lower left which servedas operational headquarters of the Cactus Air Force in the first months on Guadalcanal.

Photo from the W/hyte collection captures amphibian craft unloading supplies in theLunga Point area during the early days on Guadalcanal. Note the Higgins boats, precur-sors to the more efficient landing craft that would be used later in W/orld IVar II.

17

Art Exhibit Recalls Marine Air's 75 Years in the Skyby Col Brooke Nihart

Deputy Director for Museums

N ineteen eighty-seven marks the75th anniversary of Marine Corps

aviation. To recognize this diamond an-niversary the Marine Corps Museum hasput on the road a major exhibition of avi-ation art. Assembled from the Museum'sart collection by curatorJohn T. Dyer, the41-piece show is titled "75 Years of MarineCorps Aviation—A Tribute."

The show forms a pictorial record fromthe Wright B-i biplane of 1912 to theMcDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 jet fighter oftoday. It premiered at the Marine CorpsAviation Association convention in Dallaslast October, which was followed by alonger showing at the LTV building indowntown Dallas into November. Fromthere it moved back to the Marine CorpsMuseum in Washington where it openedon 9 January and was to remain until 15February. It was then to move to the AirForce Academy in Colorado Springs for aMarch-April showing, and finally to comeback to the Naval Academy at Annapolis,where it is to appear in Dahlgren Hall dur-ing May and part of June.

Q n 22 May 1912, istLt Alfred A. Cun-ningham reported to the Navy's avi-

ation camp at Annapolis for flight instruc-tion. Cunningham was the first Marine

Corps aviator and number five on the Na-vy's list of pilots. He was to lead the four-squadron 1st Marine Aviation Force inFrance in World War I and to be officer-in-charge of Marine Corps aviation in theimmediate post-war period. Thus 22 Mayhas become recognized as the anniversaryof Marine Corps aviation and is so ob-served each year.

The 41 pieces of art illustrate events ofWorld War I, interventions in CentralAmerica, World War II in the Pacific, theKorean and Vietnam Wars, and recent ex-ercises. It includes works of noted artistssuch as Howard Chandler Christy, JohnGroth, Charles L. Lock, James Butcher,Howard Terpning, Hobert Kent Halladay,and R. G. Smith. Marine artists are

represented by the works ofJohnJ. Capoli-no, Michael Leahy, Hugh Laidman, Vic-tor P. Donahue, Alex Raymond, Paul TArIt, B. J. Parke, Horace Avery Chenoweth,John DeGrasse, John T Dyer, Peter M.Gish, Leonard H. Dermott, Edward M.Condra III, James Fairfax, Keith A.McConnell, DonnaJ. Neary, and WendellA. Parks.

As adjuncts to the exhibition theHistorical Center has produced a posterand a 52-page catalog illustrating all thepaintings in the show. These are made

"Henderson Field; Night" by lstLt HughLaidman, USMCR, is apart of the show.

available to organizations sponsoring ashowing in sufficient numbers to adver-tise the show and give to invited guests atspecial openihgs. In addition to extensivecaptions by aviation historian Maj FrankM. Batha, USMC (Ret), accompanyingeach picture, which in themselves providea history of Marine Corps aviation, theseare preceded by a 4,500-word history byCenter oral historian Benis M. Frank. Theposter features Hugh Laidman's classicpainting of a Henderson Field Corsair be-ing serviced in the rain.

A iso highlighted in the show is theoriginal oil by Howard Chandler

Christy which was reproduced in the ear-ly 1920s as a recruiting poster. The paint-ing has been reproduced again, this timeby the Museum Store with the help of Ma-rine Corps Historical Foundation memberFred N. Ropke, and is available at the storefor $3.00, or by mail for $4.95.

The traveling exhibition is available tomajor Marine Corps installations upon re-quest to CMC (HD). Up to 150 feet ofrunning wall space available to all Marinesand the public would be required andshowings would be from one to twomonths. In particular, Marine Corps airstations are encouraged to request theshow. Eli 775EJ

Device adopted to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Marine Corps Aviation fea-tures the Corps' emblem, aviator's wings, and the anniversary dates, 1912-1987.

18

Christy's 1920 'Fly With the Marines' Returns to Print

Shortly before America's entry intoWorld War I in 1917 until the im-

mediate post-war era was the heyday ofthe colorful recruiting poster. Color pho-tolithography was a burgeoning tech-nique and the N. C. Wyeth-Howard Pyleschool of book illustration flourished.

From about 1912 onward some of theleaders of this movement created recruit-ing posters for the Marine Corps. Theyincluded such luminaries as James Mont-gomery Flagg, Joseph Leyendecker, FrankSchoonover, C. B. Falls, L. A. Shafer, Syd-ney Reisenberg, and Howard ChandlerChristy. Instead of the pasted-up"mechanicals" of today's artwork that gointo a poster or advertising spread, theseartists turned out a finished oil paintingincluding the lettered message. Thepaintings were then converted pho-tographically to color printing plates.The Marine Corps Art Collection in-cludes a number of these oils, at least onefrom each of the above artists. Many canbe seen today on the second deck of theHistorical Center.

Howard Chandler Christy was one ofthe better-known artists of the genre. Hisfirst military art known to the writer isa series of prints produced at the time

In the large canvas held by the Museum,a DeHavillandDH-4 fighter-bomber ac-companies Christy 'r eagle-borne Marine.

by Col Brooke NihartDeputy Director for Museums

of the Spanish-American War showingvarious Army, Navy, and Marine Corpsofficers. His last known military work ishis version of the Iwo Jima flag-raisingdone in 1945 and on exhibit in the Ma-rine Corps Museum. At the pre-WorldWar I Naval Academy, he was well knownfor his "middie girls" painted for theLucky Bag yearbook. Christy's career asa military artist thus spanned an amaz-ing 47 years, at least.

One of the finest paintings in the Ma-rine Corps art collection was done byChristy about 1920 to be used to recruitfor Marine Corps aviation. Titled, "FlyWith the U.S. Marines," it shows a khaki-clad Marine astride a flying eagletogether with a DeHavilland DH-4fighter-bomber in a 45-degree dive. In-explicably, while we have the originalpainting, we do not have an example ofthe poster in the collection.

Lack of a poster of the Christy paint-ing had led to speculation that perhaps

the painting was commissioned and deli-vered but never reproduced as a poster.The doubts were recently laid to restwhen retired Marine Maj John M. Elliott,who is a neighbor here in the Navy Yardwhere he works for Naval Aivation His-tory and Archives of the Naval Air Sys-tems Command, sent us the twophotographs shown here.

According to Maj Elliott, shortly afterCol Thomas C. Turner took over as OICof Marine Corps aviation he led a flightof two DeHavillard DH-4Bs fromWashington to Santo Domingo andreturn. The two DH-4s from Flights C,D, E, or F at Brown Field, Quantico, leftBoiling Field, Anacostia, on 22 April1921 on a 4,482-mile round trip. Theoverwater portions of the trip were thelongest unguarded flights up to thattime. The first plane was piloted by lstLtBasil G. Bradley with Col Turner in therear seat while the second was piloted by

(Continued on page 20)

Photo courtesy of Maj John M. Elliott, USMC (Ret)

Col Thomas C. Turner top right, OIC of Marine aviation, and lstLt Basil G.Bradley — with the "unknown" Christy poster displayed on their aircraft —are wel-

comed on return from Santo Domingo by Capt U Noffett, Navy aviation director

19

Christy Art Reprinted

Reserve Historical Unit Report

MTEJ Activities Range from Twentynine Palms to Southern Norwayby Capt Meredith P Hartley, USMCR

M aj RonaldJ. Brown, USMCR, par-ticipated in Exercise Gallant Eagle

86 with the I Marine Amphibious Force(I MAF) from 19 July to 3 August 1986.Gallant Eagle 86, a United States CentralCommand-sponsored joint exercise, tookplace at the Marine Corps Air-GroundCombat Center, Twentynine Palms,California. Maj Brown was assigned as theMAF historical officer and was tasked withthe preparation of historical reports.

Working in the field, Maj Brown wrotethe I MAF command chronology, went on11 tours of MAF and subordinate com-mand operations, and completed a "realworld" narrative of the exercise for I MAFhistorical use. He also conducted 26 fieldinterviews for use as oral history. Addition-ally, he trained other MAF members toconduct oral history interviews, corrected

small errors in previous command chronol-ogies, and left extensive written guidancefor the next historical officer.

2dLt Bernard McLane, USMCR, tookpart in Exercise Northern Wedding 86with the 4th Marine Amphibious Brigadefrom 5 to 9 September 1986. NorthernWedding 86 was a NATO combined exer-cise that took place in the Sandeford areaof southern Norway. Lt McLane is currentlyworking on an extensive historical reportof the exercise.

R ecently joined to the unit is ColCharlesJ. Quilter, Jr., who served in

Vietnam, flying 252 combat missions, andwas released from active duty as a captainin 1969. In 1972, he became a pilot forWestern Airlines, where he continues to

20

work today. His project is to write the his-tory of VMFA (AW)-531.

A self-taught historical writer, Maj Joe F.Myers, is newly joined to the unit. Heserved in Vietnam and was released fromactive duty in 1976. Currently a retailsalesman, his project is to organize andcatalog the personal papers of LtGenJulian C. Smith.

Recently reappointed, Capt Brian R.Sullivan joined the unit as a specialist of-ficer-historian. Originally commissionedin 1967, he served on active duty until1970, including a tour in Vietnam. Hereceived a doctoral degree in 1984 fromColumbia University and is currently anassistant professor of history at Yale

University. His project is to write the his-tory of Marines in the Mediterranean after1945. L11775L1

(Continued from page 19)

lstLt Lawson H. M. Sanderson, backedup by GySgt Charles W. Rucher. For theirfeat the four Marine aviators were belat-edly awarded Distinguished FlyingCrosses six and one-half years later.

As daring as was this little-known pi-oneering flight and as welcome as werethe photos of the planes and crews ontheir return to Boiling, of greater interestwere the Christy posters affixed to theside of each aircraft. The mystery hadbeen solved; the Christy painting hadbeen reproduced as a recruiting poster.

Photo courtesy of Maj John M. Elliott, USMC (Ret)

The DH-4s — one of them Christy-decorated—piloted by lstLt Bradley and lstLtSanderson rest at Boiling Field in 1921 after the roundtrzj'flight to Santo Domingo.

Although we have no example of theoriginal poster in the art collection, theposter lives on through its recentreproduction by the Marine CorpsHistorical Foundation's Museum Store.Foundation members and former MarineCapt Fred N. Ropkey, while visiting theMuseum, viewed the original Christypainting and offered to assist in its pub-lication. Ropkey is fourth-generationpresident of his family's color separation

and printing firm and his grandfatherknew Christy and had done color print-ing for him. The firm's boardroom, saysRopkey, displays several of Christy'spaintings. Now a copy of the newlyminted poster has been added to itswalls.

the Marine Corps Aviation Association'sannual convention at Dallas. It will bemade available for showing at MarineCorps air stations and other locations.

The Christy painting is included in a41-piece art exhibition observing thisyear's 75th anniversay of Marine Corpsaviation. The show premiered recently at

The poster, republished as part of thesame 75th anniversary observance,turned out as vivid as the original paint-ing. It is available at the Museum Storeat the Historical Center in the Washing-ton Navy Yard for $3.00 and by mail ord-er from the Museum Store for $4.95.

Oral History Report

Oral History Program Celebrates Its 20th Anniversaryby Benis M. Frank

Head Oral History Section

E ach year, as section and branch headsprovide input for the History and

Museums Division annual programprogress report, they see graphic andstatistical evidence of how the projects andprograms under their management havefared in the previous 12-month period. Inthe case of the Oral History Section, thisyear's report marked a milestone, for it was20 years ago that the present form of theMarine Corps Oral History Program tookshape with the publication of a MarineCorps order in June 1966 setting up theprogram.

At that time, the oral history programconsisted of interviews conducted at inter-view centers at major Marine Corps com-mands (13 in all); interviews conducted atthe scenes of crisis actions (such as in Viet-nam) by interview teams organized bybrigades, divisions, and wings; and inter-views conducted with prominent retiredMarines by the Oral History Section itself.Since 1966, the Oral History Program hasbeen expanded to include interviewsrecorded on the scene or following signifi-cant Fleet Marine Force operations,deployments, exercises, and maneuvers;interviews recorded by support, develop-ment, training, and base-type organiza-tions; interviews concerning unique eventsor assignments recorded with or submit-ted by individual Marines; recorded end-of-tour interviews; recorded presentations,briefings, debriefings, and speeches; inter-views with prominent retired Marines; andissue-oriented interviews.

Since 1966, the Marine Corps Oral His-tory Collection has accessioned 6,500 fieldinterviews submitted by FMF organiza-tions and field units — most of them con-cerned with Vietnam. The Oral HistorySection has conducted 667 interviews,transcribed 335 of them, and accessioned300 transcribed interviews representing inexcess of 25,000 pages of transcript. Asmeaningful as these statistics may be, itstill is necessary to determine whether theobjectives of the program were achievedby, in turn, determining how often and

in what manner the collection as a wholehas been exploited.

Initially, the Vietnam-related field in-terviews were to be used together with

other official documentation by ourhistorians as they wrote the multivolumehistory of Marine Corps operations in Viet-nam. As these interviews began coming infrom the field by the hundreds monthlyduring the height of the war, they wereaccompanied by documentation sheetswhich provided information enabling usto list the interviews by name of intervie-wee, the unit to which he belonged andof whose actions his comments concerned,and the subject of the interview. As aresult, the Oral History Section devised arudimentary but effective retrieval systemwhich permits researchers to find the in-terviews they need by interviewee name,unit identification, or subject. In addition,to house historians, historians andresearchers from other Service historicalagencies, as well as academicians, free-lance writers, and students have used theseinterviews.

Vietnam veterans have been visiting theMarine Corps Historical Center to read thecommand chronologies of the units towhich they belonged. They also have beenlistening to the interviews which deal withactions in which they panicipated orwhich were conducted with Marines withwhom they had served. In addition, theVietnam-related field interviews have beenused successfully in treating veteranssuffering from post-traumatic stress syn-drome.

Q ur in-depth interviews with retiredprominent Marines provide a broad

picture of events, personalities, and issuesof historical importance to the MarineCorps which date from the Spanish-American War to the present. While manyserving Marines have only a fleeting andperfunctory knowledge and understandingof the post-World War II unification strug-gle and the Marine Corps' fight for life

21

during the period leading to the enact-ment of the National Defense Act of 1947,those who were closely involved have a veryvivid memory of those times and haverelated in their interviews the means bywhich the Marine Corps survived as an in-stitution. Among the number of retiredMarines who were deeply involved and in-terviewed about this period were generalofficers Gerald C. Thomas, James D. Hit-tIe, Samuel R. Shaw, Victor H. Krulak,and Edward C. Dyer, and Col Robert D.Heinl, Jr. In this body of interviews withretired Marines are personal combat ex-periences, in-depth descriptions of long-past noted Marine Corps personalities, andstories of the development of MarineCorps doctrine. Although Gen HollandM. Smith's death in January 1967, thesame month in which he had agreed tobe interviewed, meant the loss of personalrecollections, he left behind a legion ofofficers who served with him and who wereable to recreate his personality andmeaningfully discuss his decisions and ac-tions in World War II. These interviewswere used by Norman Cooper in writinga biography of Gen Smith for his doctor-al dissertation. In the same manner, BGenFrederick P. Henderson was able todescribe the personality and professional-ism of LtGen Roy S. Geiger, under whomhe served in the III Amphibious Corps inthe Pacific and who died before the onsetof the Oral History Program. Incidental-ly, Gen Henderson's interview is equallyimportant in detailing the history of thedevelopment of naval gunfire supporttechniques in World War II, and when weaccession the interview of MajGen DonaldM. Weller— the father of modern navalgunfire support—we will have a nearlycomplete story of the development andemployment of this supporting arm in thePacific.

Relating to a Marine personality of aneven earlier time, old Marine China handClem D. Russell, who served in the Pek-ing Legation Guard in the early 1930s,

(Continued on page 25)

'Modular' Exhibit Cases Bring Museum to More Marines

V isitors to the Marine Corps Museumare likely to see two kinds of ex-

hibits, standing and temporary. Standing(but not permanent) exhibits are exempli-fied by the Museum's "Time Tunnel,"which presents a history of the Corpschronologically from 1775 to the present.These exhibits change but slowly.

Temporary exhibits, such as those thatchange every six months to a year in thespecial exhibits gallery of the Museum, ex-plore a single theme, an aspect of MarineCorps History, for a limited amount oftime. This year, "From Dawn to SettingSun" presented Marines in the World WarII Pacific campaigns. We will be sendingthis exhibit to the Parris Island commandmuseum following its display in the Muse-um during 1986. It is being succeeded inWashington by a short-term exhibit of avi-ation art in observance of the 75th an-niversary of Marine Corps aviation and,subsequently, by a larger, longer-term ex-hibit on Marines in the multinational forceduring the 1900 "Boxer Rebellion" inChina.

Other temporary exhibit themes at theMuseum over the past nine years includerecruiting posters and methods; Marinesin World War I; aviation art; infantryweapons development; Marine operations,1975-1985; and several major art exhibi-tions. These exhibits usually assemble alarge number of weapons, uniforms,equipment, memorabilia, photographs,art, and captions into segments in casesand on large panels. Such exhibitions re-quire a large expenditure of effort andusually have been erected for one-timeuse.

by Col Brooke NihartDeputy Director for Museums

of MCDEC, Quantico. In the past, thesecommitments presented problems. Theexhibit cases at each of these locations weredifferent shapes and sizes. Each time wemoved an exhibit it, in effect, had to beredesigned in a different format.

We grappled with these problems forsome time before finding a solution. Weuse built-in cases for our standing exhibitsin the "Time Tunnel," but our collectionof temporary exhibit cases, procured com-mercially over the years or scrounged sur-plus, are of many different sizes andconfigurations —wall cases, free-standingcases, and table cases. These cases areheavy, fragile, and bulky. In all, difficultto move. We needed something light,sturdy, small; something that a couple ofmen can slip into the back of a stationwagon or pick-up or be easily crated forcommercial shipment. Low-cost and capa-ble of being fabricated in our own exhibitsshop were also desirable characteristics.

C arl M. "Bud" DeVere, our exhibitschief, who designs and assembles the

displays, designed a case three by four feetwhich could be displayed either verticallyor horizontally. A case of three by four feetseemed to meet the test of handy size, yet

allow for the exhibit of small objects, pho-tos, and other graphics sufficient for an ef-fective interpretation. A six-inch depthaccommodated most objects we would bewilling to risk beyond our own museumsecurity. A sheet of UF-3 ultraviolet light-filtering Lucite inset into the front of thecase secured the contents and eliminatedglass breakage during shipment. A remov-able back panel on which to mount theexhibit material and a folding plywoodstand completed the ensemble.

Guy Borden, then the Exhibits Sectionwoodcraftsman, made up four prototypecases and stands and we tried them outwith small exhibits for the Museum,HQMC, and the Naval Academy. The ap-plication was successful and well received.We quickly perceived the need for a larg-er number of cases, in fact more than ourpresent woodcraftsman, Benny Lenox,could make without stopping all other ex-hibit work.

A request for bids was issued by Head-quarters Support Division's Supply

Branch and a contractor selected. Twenty-four cases and stands have been procured.To date they have been used for exhibitson doctrinal development for MCDEC's

But activities of the Museums Branchextend well beyond the walls of the

Marine Corps Museum. We keep five casesof different sizes and shapes in the lobbyof Headquarters Marine Corps filled withcolorful exhibits and have rotated 83different ones through these cases in thepast seven years.

We send loan exhibits to the commandmuseum at MCRD, Parris Island; the newmuseum at MCRD, San Diego; the seniorMarine officer of the U.S. Naval Academy;the Pentagon; and nine various activities

22

Two of the modular cases are brought together to make a single exhibit, "POW Ma-rines," at the Museum. Prototype cases and stands were designed by Carl M. DeVere.

Education Center; on Combined Actionplatoons, Marine advisors in Vietnam, andWorld War II Raiders for reunions of thesegroups in Washington; on development ofthe Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem;on Marine POWs' experiences; and on for-eign marine corps. Often one case is notenough to tell the story, so up to five cases

have been used to make an exhibit. Some-times the modular cases are combinedwith panels mounted with just flat graphicmaterial.

The ingenuity of the exhibits staff hasresulted in an increased capability todeploy case exhibits beyond the Museumand the Historical Center, where more

Marines can be reached. At this time,deployment of modular exhibits is limit-ed to the greater Washington, D.C. area,but plans are now in the making to pro-cure more cases and to construct specialshipping cases so that modular exhibitscan be made available to an even greaterMarine audience, Eli 775 El

New Base Facilities' Names Honor Decorated Marines

A former Assistant Commandant ofthe Marine Corps, a Medal of

Honor recipient, and seven other highlydecorated Marines from the Vietnam Warhave all been honored recently by com-memorative namings at various MarineCorps commands.

To date, more than 650 facilities havebeen named in honor of some 450 Marinesthrough the Commemorative NamingProgram. The following requests were re-cently approved by the Commandant ofthe Marine Corps:

From the Commanding General, MarineCorps Base, Camp Pendleton: To name theairfield at MCAS Camp Pendleton inhonor of LtGen John C. Munn, USMC. Anative of Prescott, Arkansas, LtGen Munnserved as Assistant Commandant of theMarine Corps from 1960 to 1963 and re-tired from active service on 1 July 1964.A 1927 graduate of the U.S. Naval Acade-

LtGen John C. Munn, USMC, in 1959

by Robert V AquiinaAssistant Head, Reference Section

my and a veteran Marine aviator, LtGenMunn served as commanding general ofMarine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton,from May 1963 until his retirement. Hisdistinguished contributions to the Unit-ed States over 37 years as a Marine officerincluded service in the Pacific Theater(notably Guadalcanal and Okinawa) dur-ing World War II, and in Korea with the1st Marine Aircraft Wing. His contribu-tions to the development of Marine avia-tion included tenure as Director ofAviation at Marine Corps Headquartersfrom 1958-1960. LtGen Munn died on 14April 1986 in Encinitas, California, aftera long illness.

From the Commanding General, MarineCorps Base, Camp Pendleton: To name acommunity center and center court in theSerra Mesa housing area in honor of SgtPaul H. Foster, USMCR. A native of SanMateo, California, Sgt Foster was servingas an artillery liaison operations chief withthe 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, when hewas killed in action on 14 October 1967,near Con Thien in the Republic of Viet-nam. Sgt Foster was posthumously award-ed the Medal of Honor for heroism insacrificing his own life by throwing him-self upon a grenade to save the lives of fel-low Marines.

Sgt Joseph G. Rodrigues, Jr., USMC,killed in action on 3 March 1969

PFC Roy E. Pitts, USMC, killed in ac-tion on 17 February 1969

PFC Darrell T. Ray, USMC, killed in ac-tion on 28 February 1966

From the Commanding Officer Head-quarters Battalion, Headquarters, US.Marine Corps: To name a new gymnasi-um to be constructed at Henderson Hallin honor of Cpl Terry L. Smith, USMC.A native of Nashville, Tennessee, CplSmith was killed in action on 20 February1968 near Khe Sanh. He was posthumous-ly awarded the Silver Star after sacrificinghis life by leaving the relative safety of hisbunker to warn an approaching Marinehelicopter not to land due to intense ene-my mortar fire. Cpl Smith was subse-quently fatally wounded by mortarfragments, gallantly sacrificing his life sothat the helicopter crew might live.

L]1775E1

Sgt Paul H. Foster, USMCR

From the Commanding General, MarineCorps Base, Camp Smedley D. Butler Toname six new high-rise family housingbuildings in honor of six enlisted Marineswho received the Navy Cross posthumous-ly during the Vietnam War:

lstSgt David M. Kaufman, USMC,killed in action on 15 June 1969.

GySgt Joseph F. Covella, USMC, killedin action on 3 January 1966

SSgt Willie D. Tyrone, USMC, killed inaction on 30 May 1965

23

Fhght Lines

F4U-4 Corsairby Maj Arthur F Elzy, USMC

Historical W"riter

Q n 25 January 1944, ChanceVought received a Navy agreement

to a company proposal to build the XF4U-4.This was the beginning of the second majorproduction version of the Corsair, the proto-type of which first flew on 19 April 1944.The production model of the F4U-4 com-pleted its first flight on 20 September 1944and the Navy accepted it on 31 October.Equipped with the new 2,100-horsepowerPratt and Whitney R-2800-18W (water-in-jection) engine, and a four-bladed, 13-feet-

2-inch-diameter, Hamilton-Standardpropeller, this new Corsair was rated at 446miles per hour with a climb rate of 3,870feet per minute; significantly exceeding the395 miles per hour and 2,380 feet perminute climb rate of its predecessor, theGoodyear FG-1. Additionally, the F4U-4 fea-tured a completely redesigned cockpit, anew canopy, an armor-plated bucket seat,and regrouped instruments. Other changesimproved the downdraft-type carburetor,and moved the intake ducts from the wings

to the cowl. It could carry fighter-bomberordnance from fuselage stations and fromrocket launchers on the outer wing panels.Production of the F4U-4 variants totalled2,357 aircraft, including 297 F4U-4Bs withfour-cannon armament (20mm). Despitelarge-scale cancellations of contracts follow-ing V-J Day, production of the F4U-4 byVought continued until August 1947.

The F4U-4 saw extensive combat actionin the Korean War as a ground support!interdiction aircraft. On 11 August 1950, adivision of VMF-323 Corsairs from the USSBadoeng Strait were sent fbward on a search-and-attack mission near the town ofKosong. They were presented with a richtarget of opportunit—an estimated 100 ve-hicles of the NKPA 83d Motorcycle Regi-ment, including jeeps, motorcycles, andtroop-carrying trucks. The F4U-4Bs madelow-level strafing runs the entire length ofthe column and vehicles crashed into oneanother or piled up in ditches while ene-my troops scrambled for cover. The haltedvehicles were sitting ducks for the Corsairswhich raked targets with rockets and can-non fire. After about 40 vehicles were setablaze, another VMFA-323 flight and AirForce F-51s arrived to add the finishingtouches to the "Kosong Turkey Shoot."

A milestone air-to-air engagement oc-cured on 10 September 1952, when a

Corsair pilot downed a Communist MIG-15jet fighter. Captains Jesse G. Folmar andWalter E. Daniels of VMF-312 were lookingfor targets near the town of Chinnampowhen they were jumped by eight MIGs. Theenemy jets made repeated strafing runs onthe slower F4U-4s as they tried to exit thearea. After one of the MIG-15s completeda firing run on the Corsairs, he pulled updirectly in front of Captain Folmar's guns,and a quick burst of 20mm cannon had theMIG ablaze and headed for the ground.

Corsair variants fought the duration ofthe Korean War before finishing their servicecareer with Reserve units in the mid-1950s.

The F4U-4 at Quantico is bureau number97369. Its history card indicates service withVMF-222 and VMF-232. E1775L1

The Museum's F4U-4 (Bu. No. 97369) is equipped with six .50-caliber machine guns.A AN-M2 aircraft, .50-caliber Browning machine gun is displayed in the foreground

Technical DataFor lightest loading conditions shown in initial airplane characteristics and per-

formance chart.

Manufacturer: Chance Vought Aircraft Inc., Dallas, Texas.Type: Carrier-based fighter.Accommodation: Pilot only.Power Plant: One 2,100 h.p. Pratt & Whitney R-2800-18W.Dimensions: Span, 41 ft.; Length, 33 ft., 8 in.Weights: Empty, 9,205 lbs.; gross combat, 14,670.Performance: Max speed, 446 m.p.h. at 26,200 ft.; Service ceiling, 41,500 ft.; Range,1,005 st. mi.; Climb 3,870 ft. per mm.Armaments:* Six .50-cal. machine guns or four 20mm automatic guns; eight 5-in.high-velocity aerial rockets (HVARS); two 1,000-lb. bombs.

*Includes capabilities developed as modifications to the original model, and doesnot necessarily reflect a simultaneous loading configuration.

24

Oral History's 20 Years(Continued from page 21)

provided a vivid and evocative descriptionof life in China for Marines in that periodand an even more vivid description offamed Capt John W. Thomason, Jr. Mr.Russell also described some other famousMarines who were on duty in Peking atthat time. Without the existence of thetape recorder and the oral history conceptthese memories may never have beencaptured.

Similarly, the Oral History Program hasconducted a large number of issue-

oriented interviews. Most recently are the119-plus interviews with members of thevarious Marine Amphibious Unitsdeployed to Beirut and the nearly 50 in-terviews with those Marines and navalofficers involved in the Grenada operation.Both groups of interviews were used ex-tensively to support the writing of histo-ries of Beirut and Grenada which arescheduled to be published this year. In ad-dition, beginning in 1975, to support thewriting of a planned history of StateDepartment Marines, the members of thestaff of the Historical Center conductedinterviews 64 Marine Security Guard Bat-talion officers and enlisted Marines whohad served in guard detachments atAmerican embassies throughout theworld. Included in this group are those in-terviews which were conducted with Ma-

Academy, and Ft. Belvoir Engineer School.As it turns out, the SWPA aerial pho-

tomaps would probably have added littleto the 1st Division's pre-landingknowledge of the target area. The mosaic,on a scale of 1:40,000, shows even less de-tail than the aerial pictures on which theGoettge map (scale 1:24,000) was based.Neither set shows the location of the air-field. (The 16 June air shots were taken be-fore the Japanese began construction, andthe SWPA photos, which bear simply thedate "July," must have been taken early inthat month, for there is no detectable signof an air strip.) The Goettge map, appar-ently based on incomplete coastwatcherinformation, places the airfield farthernorth than it actually was.

Neither mosaic covers the terrain far

rines who were taken captive in Tehranwhen the Shah was deposed and the em-bassy overrun.

A final group of issue-oriented inter-views are those which were done with theassistance of the Marine Corps AviationAssociation with former and retired Ma-rine flyers. Although still a small body ofinterviews, these appropriately supple-ment the interviews in depth conductedwith such Marine Corps aviation pioneersas Generals Francis P. "Pat" Mulcahy,Walter Greatsinger "Great" Farrell, LouisWoods, and others.

More recently, the Oral History Sectioncompleted a marathon 42 and one-halfhour interview with LtGen Charles G.Cooper, one of a lesser length with Maj-Gen Alan Armstrong, and one just aboutcompleted with LtGen Bernard E "Mick"Trainor. All of these are pertinent to cur-rent Marine Corps historical projects be-cause they contain considerableVietnam-related material. Both GeneralsCooper and Trainor served as battalioncommanders in Vietnam and their obser-vations and comments are all the morerelevant.

Soon to be accessioned into the OralHistory Collection are interviews

which were conducted with former Com-mandant Gen Robert E. Cushman, Jr.,who reviewed his transcript before hisdeath, and with LtGen Henry W. Buse, Jr.,

enough south to include Mt. Austen,which was mistakenly supposed to liemuch closer to the coast and was initiallyassigned as an objective to the 1st Marines.Both mosaics do show, indistinctly, run-ning roughly parallel to the shoreline, astream feeding into the river (the Ilu, asit was then labelled) that marked thewestern boundary of Beach Red. TheGoettge map shows that feeder as a veryshort tributary but does not indicate thethick j ungly growth that gave trouble tothe 1st Marines.

After the war Mr. Whyte became aneditor of Fortune magazine and the authorof several books, of which the best knownis the The Organization Man. Now inretirement, he lives in New York City.

L111775L1

25

whose last command was Fleet MarineForce, Pacific. Eli 775[I]

Answers to Historical Quiz

Nicknames of MarineCorps General Officers

(Continued from page 11)

1. e Gen Butler earned his nicknameby being a spit-and-polish gener-al, and a cold, hard Marine witha blunt way of expressing hisfeelings.

2. j Gen Brown was dubbed "Big-foot" during operations inNicaragua in 1927, when he woreout two pairs of boots on a five-month patrol and could not getanother pair from the quarter-master because of the huge size.

3. i Gen Liversedge received his color-ful nickname because of his for-midable stature.

4. a Gen Smith acquired his nick-name (which corresponds to hisfirst and middle initials) becauseof his outward appearance of be-ing hard-boiled and severe.

5. d Gen Edson received his nicknamebecause of his red hair.

6. g Gen Vandegrift acquired thename because he was so even-tempered and good-natured.

7. c Gen Bearss earned his nicknameduring his numerous campaignswhen he was often rememberedcharging to the head of a columnthat was pursuing the enemy,urging his men to "hike alongcheerily."

8. f Gen Lejeune's nickname relatesto his command of the 2d ("In-dianhead") Division in1918-1919. Shortly after one ofthe Division's victories in France,a London paper depicted the unitas a group of wild Indians led bytheir chief (Gen Lejeune).

9. b Gen Puller's nickname was der-ived from his ramrod posture andprotruding chest.

10. h Gen Pendleton's nickname wasbestowed on him because of hissmiling, benevolent coun-tenance.

Lost Whyte Collection Illuminates Guadalcanal Operations(Continued from page 17)

Korean War Chronology

January-June 1952by Robert V Aquilina

Assistant Head, Reference Section

W hile truce talks between United Nations andCommunist representatives dragged on at Panmunjom,

slowed in part over the issue of repatriation of POWs, the 1stMarine Division resumed patrolling activities on the north sideof the trenches and outposts captured during the previous au-tumn's fierce fighting. Marines welcomed the addition ofthermal-insulated boots and armored vests, or "flak jackets," asdual protection from the Korean winter and Red Chinese mor-tars and grenades. The insulated "Mickey Mouse" boot effectivelycurtailed the incidence of frostbite, while the adoption of ar-mored vests was credited with reducing fatal casualties by 30percent.

On 1 January 1952 LtGen Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., becamethe 20th Commandant of the Marine Corps with the rank ofgeneral. On 10 January, MajGen Gerald C. Thomas returnedto Washington from Korea to become Assistant Commandant.His replacement in Korea as Commanding General, 1st MarineDivision, was 58-year-old MajGenJohn T Selden. A veteran ofboth world wars, the Richmond, Virginia, native had most re-cently served as commander of the Troop Training Unit, Am-phibious Training Command, at Coronado. Along with a newcommanding general, the division received from the United New thermal-insulated boots were welcomed by Marines in 1952,States a number of replacements who underwent vigorous train- as protection from the severe cold Heavy construction of thising exercises in the cold of east-central Korea. boot saved a foot when a Marine stepped on a land mine.

MajGen John T Se/den, Commanding General, 1st Marine Di- veteran of both world wars, had just succeeded MajGen Geraldvision, rzght, and Army MajGen R. D. Pa/mer Commanding C. Thomas at 1st Division. Gen Thomas returned to Washing-General, X Corps, meet in Korea inJanua,y 1952. Gen Selden, ton to become the Marine Corps Assistant Commandant.

Marines of the 1st Division attend "school" on land mines andboobytraps in a cold and snowy Korean landscape in January

W ith the truce talks at Panmunjom curtailing large-scalemilitary offensives, the United Nations Command de-

termined upon a redeployment of forces in Korea designed tostrengthen the allied front, and thus improve the U.N. bargain-ing position at the peace tables. The plan called for the deploy-ment of American forces to the most critical sectors of the front.The solidifying U.N. lines would also include the addition ofnewly formed Republic of Korea army units.

In late March 1952 the 1st Marine Division was consequentlyrelieved by other units of X Corps, and began a 140-mile move,codenamed Operation Mixmaster, across the peninsula to theoperational control of I Corps in west Korea. Six hundred trucksshuttled back and forth, transferring nearly 50,000 tons of Ma-rine equipment.

The heaviest equipment sailed on LSDs and 11 LSTs fromSokcho-ri to Inchon. As the extreme western anchor of the EighthArmy front, the division's new 35-mile sector lay in the directpath of the enemy's invasion route to Seoul.

The solidified United Nation's lines resembled the trenchwarfare of World War I. Across "no man's land" the Red Chinesedeployed 15 infantry and 10 artillery battalions with an aggregatestrength (50,000) almost double the size of the 1st Marine Divi-sion. In some areas of the front, opposing trenches were only50 to 150 yards apart. Marine artillery and mortar fire were an-swered by Chinese night raids against 1st Marine Division out-posts. A series of enemy attacks against the western portion of

Three Medals of Honor went to Marines involved in repellingattacks by a Chinese force of 25 battalions on their way to in-

1952. Parka-clad instructor Cpl Charles L. Overdon explains howa "block" mine works and offers advice on detecting them.

the Marine defenses was launched during mid-April 1952. Thefierce determination of the Red Chinese assaults is attested bythe three Medals of Honor — two posthumous — that were award-ed to 1st Marine Division Marines in April and May 1952, forheroic actions in repelling the enemy attacks.

Marine air continued to provide interdiction support to theFifth Air Force. The United Nations Command emphasis on at-tacking the North Korean transportation system continuedthroughout the first six months of 1952, along with increasingutilization of helicopter troop operations. On 5 April 1952 Oper-ation Pronto witnessed the transportation of Marines from the2d Battalion, 7th Marines, along with 10,000 pounds of rations,in the first major troop lift in the new I Corps sector. Addition-al helicopter airlifts followed throughout the month.

During the spring of 1952 Red Chinese forces had begun ex-tending their trench system in the direction of the Marine mainline of resistance. The aptly termed "creeping tactics" weredesigned to give the enemy a dominating terrain position onthe route to Seoul. By July, the 1st Marine Division found ene-my forces uncomfortably close to Marine outpost lines. Thoughslowed by Marine raids and heavy Korean rains, the stage wasset by August 1952 for a renewal of Chinese offensives againstthe 1st Marine Division. The battle names of Inchon, Chosin,and the "Punchbowl" would soon be joined by "Bunker Hill"and "The Hook," as U.S. Marines began their third year of warfarein Korea. Eli 77511

vade Seoul in April and May 1952. From left, they are Cpl DavidB. Champagne, Cpl Duane E. Dewey, and PFC John D. Kelly.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVYHEADQUARTERS U.S. MARINE CORPS

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20380

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

Historical Foundation Notes

Three-Year Terms Begun by 7 New Board Members

Seven new directors — three of them incumbents — are cur-

rently serving on the board of the Marine Corps Histor-ical Foundation. With 48 percent of eligible members sub-mitting ballots last fall, the seven were elected for three-yearterms commencing with their installation at the 3 November1986 meeting of the Board of Directors. The seven, and somebrief information on their backgrounds, are:

Allan R. Milieu, incumbent. Member of the Awards Com-mittee. Professor of history and director of the Program inInternational Security and Military Affairs, Ohio State Univer-sity; author of Semper Fidelis: The History of the US. Ma-rine Corps. Active service: Currently colonel, USMCR;commands Mobilization Training Unit DC-7 (Historical); as-signed to Advanced Amphibious Study Group, HQMC, andthe Command and Staff College, Quantico.

Roger Willock, incumbent. Contributor to Marine CorpsGazette; author of Lone Star Marine and Unaccustomed toFear served on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Advi-sory Committee on Marine Corps History. Active service:1936-1966.

Philip A. Crowl, incumbent. Member of the Grants and Fel-lowships Committee. Former chairman, Department of Strate-gy, Naval War College; served on the Commandant of theMarine Corps' Advisory Committee on Marine Corps Histo-ry; co-author of The US. Marines andAmphibious Uir. Ac-tive service: USNR, 1942-45.

Herbert T. Sweet. Retired Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps;recently retired from staff of the Fleet Reserve Association;active in Marine Corps League and Fleet Reserve Associationactivities. Active service: 1937-1969.

John G. Miller. Retired colonel; currently managing editor,US. Naval Institute Proceedings; former Deputy Director forHistory, History and Museums Division, HQMC. Author ofBattle to Save the Houston. Active service: 1957-1985.

John C. Scharfen. Retired colonel; senior analyst, Titan Sys-tems; frequent contributor to Marine Corps Gazette; presi-dent, NATO Defense College Anciens Association(1984-1986); member, Marine Corps Association Board ofGovernors (1984-1986). Active service: 1943-1946; 1951-1973.

E. Bruce Heilman. Former Marine sergeant; president, Univer-sity of Richmond, Virginia; educator, lecturer, and consul-tant, active in numerous educational, civic, and professionalassociations. Active service: 1944-1947.

T he Foundation combined forces with and assisted insponsoring elements of the History and Museums Divi-

sion at the Marine Corps Aviation Association's 1986 conven-tion held in Dallas October 9-12. Attending werejohn I Dyer,Jr., curator of the Marine Corps Art Collection, who set upan exhibition of art which included 41 paintings com-memorating "75 Years of Marine Corps Aviation;" Benis M.Frank, head of the Oral History Section, who conducted in-dividual interviews focused on air operation "incidents;" andRichard Alger, the Foundation's executive director, who wasinvited to "tell the MCI-IF story" to the gathering, introduc-ing MCAA members to the support provided to the MarineCorps' historical program by the Foundation. Assistance in-cludes research grants, educational fellowships, gifts to theMuseum (including commissioned works of art), profession-al development support, and the conduct and administrationof a variety of awards programs. El 775E

28

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