FORTITUD INEBULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROGRAMHISTORICAL BULLETIN VOLUME XVIII FALL 1988 NUMBER 2

COMBAT ART FROM VIETNAM AMONG LEGACIES OF ARTIST JOHN GROTH. . . REMEMBERING LINCOLN ANDTHE MARINE BAND AT GETFYSBURG ii YEARS AGO. . . UNUSUAL FOREIGN DECORATION AND EYEWITNESSACCOUNT OF CIvIL WAR SEA BATFLE ADDED 10 COLLECTION. . . FLIGHT LINES: SIKORSKY HRS-i HELICOPTER

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

PCN 10401220100

Marine Corps Historical CentrrBuilding 58, Washington Navy Yard

Washington, D.C. 20374-0580

Telephone: (202) 433-3838, 433-3840. 433-3841

DIRECTOR

BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)

HISTORICAL BRANCHCol Marguerite). Campbell. USMC

Deputy Director for History

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

Chief Historian

Histories Section: Mr. Jack Shulimson: LtCoI Gary D. Solis, USMC:Ma) Charles D. Melson, USMC: Maj Leonard A. Blasiol, USMC: Mt.Charles R. Smith

Reference Section: Mr Danny). Crawfotd; Mt 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.

Archiees. Mrs Joyce E. Bonnets.

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

Mt. Charles A. WoodChief Carator

Artist-in-ResidenceCol Charles H. Waterhouse, USMCR

Marine Ba,rai'ki, Special Projects. Mr. Richard A. Long. Evhibits: Mt.Catl M. DeVere, Sc; SSgi Leroy M. Dyas, USMC; Mr. Benny L Lenon,Sr. Art: Mr. John T Dyer, Jr. Personal Papers: Mr J. Michael Miller,Mr. Paul W Hallarts Regi'stvav Miss Jennifer L Gooding

Museums Branch Activities, QuanricoLrCol William A Beebe II, USMC

Assistant Deputy Director for MuseumsOfficer- in.Charge

Asststant Officer.in.Charge for Branch Actie,e,eo' Mt Kenneth LSmith.Chrisimas. Operationi Officer Capt Lawrence E. Ducey. USMC.

Ordnance: Mr. John G. Griffirhs. Restoration: Mr Joseph F. Payton.Aeronauttcs: Vacant. Exhibits: Mr. Ronald). Perkins. Uniforms: Mrs

Nancy F. King. Security: SSgt Mark Heatherron, USMC

SUPPORT BRANCH

Maj George R. Dunham. USMCHead/Division Enecutive Officer

Administratiee' hiLt John B. Dickison, Jr., USMC; SSgt BobbyHolmes, USMC. Security: GySgr C. W. Viar, USMC. Library: MissEvelyn A Englander.

Publication, Production: Mr. Robert E. Struder Productron: Mrs

Catherine A. Kerns. Graphics: Mr. William S. Hill. Typesetting: LCpI

Javier Castro, USMC.

Editor, Fort,tudtneMr Robert E Struder

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

Historical Bulletin Volume XVIII Fall 1988 No. 2

This quarterly bulletin of the Marine Corps historical program is published toeducate and train Marines in the uses of military and Marine Corps history.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Memorandum from the Director With Lincoln at Gettysburg 3

Officer's Research Documents 288 Historical Marine Recruiting Posters 6

'Too Realistic' Missing Poster Sought 6

Acquisitions: Medals Gift Includes Unusual Nicaraguan Decoration 7

Marine Private Recorded Firsthand the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay 8

Historical Center Sees Changes in Several Senior Staff Billets 10

Mentioned in Passing: 'Dean of Combat Artists' John GrothCovered Six Wars 11

Three Highly Decorated Marines of World War 11 Die 13

Historical Quiz: Prominent Marines in World War I 14

MEF Headquarters Naming Celebrates Julian C. Smith 15

Research Highlights Marine Role in 1813 Lake Erie Battle 16

New Books: Book Gathers Past Decade's War College Journal Essays 18

Answers to Historical Quiz: Prominent Marines in World War I 18

Flzht Lines: Sikorsky HRS-1 Transport Helicopter 19

Chronology: 'Over There:' The Marine Experience in World War I, Part II . . 22

Those Vulgar Blue Trousers With The Red Stripes 24

THE COVER

Among a wealth of sketches and other works by renowned American artist JohnGroth held by the Marine Corps Museum is this strong impression of Marines par-ticipating in an amphibious assault, recorded by the artist in Vietnam in 1967. Grothdied recently at the age of 80, and is recalled by Curator of Art Maj John T Dyer,Jr., USMCR (Ret), as the "Dean of Combat Artists" in a memorial tribute begin-fling on page 11. Also in this issue, Mrs. Charles H. Quilter provides a nostalgiclook back at Marine aviators and their families in the pre-World War II period, recall-ing her own courtship, marriage, and early wedded life in Coronado, California.

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

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HISTORYAND MUSEUMSDIVISION

Memorandum from the Director

With Lincoln at GettysburgBGen Simmons

T he 19th of November 1988 will bethe 125th anniversary of the dedica-

tion of the National Cemetery at Gettys-burg. This was an affair arranged byGovernor Andrew G. Curtin of Pennsyl-vania in concert with the governors of theother northern states. Curtin's "agent" onthe grounds—we would call him his"project manager"—was Judge DavidWills. Judge Wills asked Gideon Welles,the Secretary of the Navy, if the MarineBand could take part in the ceremonies.Welles had no objection but deferred toColComdt John Harris.

Col Harris agreeably issued written ord-ers to Capt Alan Ramsay, then the com-manding officer, Marine Barracks,Washington, to take charge of 2dLtCochrane and the Marine Band, and tomove by train to Gettysburg on 18

November.

2dLt Cochrane was Henry ClayCochrane, who was just beginning whatwould be a long and distinguished careerin the Marine Corps. He was a Pennsylva-nian, born in Chester in 1842. Right af-ter the First Battle of Manassas he receivedan appointment as a second lieutenant inthe Marine Corps. Then it was found thathe was only 19 and underage, so he lostthat appointment. He immediately volun-teered for duty with the Navy and servedas an acting master's mate in the Navy foralmost two years, seeing a good deal of ac-tion with the blockading squadrons off theAtlantic and Gulf Coasts. He was on sta-tion off Mobile, Alabama, when ordersreached him, having reached the age of21, to proceed to Washington to receivehis commission. This he received on 20May 1863 and he would continue in theservice until his retirement as a brigadiergeneral in 1905. Along the way he wouldgain a great reputation as a raconteur andspeaker. One of his favorite topics, uponwhich he would speak through the yearswith embellishments, were his recollec-tions of that day at Gettysburg.

2dLt Henry Clay Cochrane, USMC, whowas with Lincoln at Gettysburg, in 1865posed atop Tennessee s Lookout Mountain.

O n the morning of 18 November CaptRamsay, 2dLt Cochrane, and the

Marine Band went down to the old Balti-more and Ohio train station near theCapitol and found there a special train,decked out in flags and bunting, await-ing the arrival of President Lincoln and hisparty. The band had 27 members, half ofthem with Italian names. The Italian in-fluence had persisted since the Band's for-mation in Jefferson's time. One of thenames that sounded Italian, but which wasactually Portuguese in origin, was that ofAntonio Sousa, father ofJohn Philip Sou-sa. The leader of the band was FrancisMaria Scala, who was born in Naples andwho had joined the band in 1842. ButScala's name does not appear in the listof 27 musicians presumed to have gone toGettysburg, so just who it was who wield-ed the baton that day is uncertain.

The train was made up of three coachesand a so-called director's car, the last thirdof which was partitioned off as a roomwith seats around the walls. Lincoln andthree of his cabinet members rode in thiscar. Lincoln had no speechwriters, but hedid have two secretaries, John G. Nicolayand John Hay, and they were with him.

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Young Lieutenant Cochrane, at least ashe tells it, found himself seated face toface with the President. In Cochrane'swords: "1 happened to have bought a NewYork Herald before leaving and, observ-ing that Mr. Lincoln was without a paper,offered it to him. He took it, and thankedme, saying 'I like to see what they sayabout us,' meaning himself and the gener-als in the field. The news that morningwas not particularly exciting, being aboutBurnside at Knoxville, Sherman at Chat-tanooga, and Meade on the Rapidan, all,however, expecting trouble. He read for alittle while and then began to laugh atsome wild guesses of the paper aboutpending movements. He laughed veryheartily and it was pleasant to see his sadface lighted up

The decision to invite Lincoln to theceremony had been an afterthought. On2 NovemberJudge Wills, as Curtin's spe-cial agent, had written Lincoln, informinghim that the governors of the Northernstates that had soldiers who had died atGettysburg had procured ground for acemetery and that he was authorized bythose governors to invite the President tobe present and to dedicate the grounds "totheir sacred use by a few appropriateremarks."

A t a Cabinet meeting on 17 Novem-ber, Lincoln asked Edwin M. Stan-

ton, the Secretary of War, to arrange a spe-cial train to Gettysburg and invitedStanton and the other members of hiscabinet to go with him. Stanton said hewas too busy, as did Gideon Welles, theSecretary of the Navy. Only Secretary ofState William H. Seward, Secretary of theInterior John P. Usher, and PostmasterGeneral Montgomery Blair chose to go.Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase,who was not present, received a note fromLincoln but also declined. MajGen GeorgeG. Meade, who was to head the proces-sion, wrote that he must stay with theArmy of the Potomac along the line of theRapidan.

The train got underway at noon. Run-fling time to Baltimore was an hour and10 minutes. Cochrane noted that Secre-tary of State Seward, who was in chargeof the official party, grew agitated as thetrain approached Baltimore. It had onlybeen two years and nine months since Lin-coln had passed through that city underthreat of assassination en route to his in-auguration.

In those times, with railroading scarce-ly out of its infancy, lines tended to be

short and there were not always connec-tions to the next line. The Baltimore andOhio ended at the Camden Street Stationwhere about 200 pro-Unionists were wait-ing. Lincoln went out onto the platformto greet the crowd, scooping up two orthree babies and kissing them in best poli-tician fashion. The Marine Band alsoemerged from the train to play a numberof rousing selections. Just what they playedis not recorded. It can be supposed that"Hail to the Chief' was included and itis quite probable that they played the war-time favorite, "Rally Round the Flag,Boys," and possibly "Battle Hymn of theRepublic" which had the same tune asanother favorite, "John Brown's Body."

The locomotive had to be uncoupledand the cars individually dragged by teamsof horses up Howard Street to Bolton Sta-

non, the terminus of the Northern Cen-tral Railroad where the cars were recoupledto a new locomotive.

It was close to two by the time the trainpulled out of Baltimore. Lunch was servedfrom a baggage car that had been joinedto the train at Baltimore. Lincoln, accord-ing to Cochrane, joined a circle of politi-cians and high-ranking officers, andswapped stories with them for about anhour. As the train approached HanoverJunction, Lincoln, again according toCochrane, got to his feet and said: "Gen-tlemen, this is all very pleasant, but thepeople will expect me to say something tothem tomorrow, and I must give the mat-ter some thought."

T here are many different versions as tohow and where Lincoln wrote his fa-

mous address. The much-told story thathe jotted down a few notes on the backof an envelope while on the train doesn'thold water. The first draft consists of twopages and totals just 239 words. The firstsheet of this draft is written in ink on sta-tionery with the letterhead "ExecutiveMansion." Cochrane and most others be-lieve that the first nineteen lines of thespeech, which are on that first sheet, werewritten at the White House before Lincolnleft Washington. The second page of thefirst draft is written in pencil on plain

ruled paper. Cochrane's account would in-dicate that this page or at least some partof the speech was written on the train.Nicolay, Lincoln's senior secretary, however,doubted that ". . . Mr. Lincoln did anywriting, or made any notes on the jour-ney . . . either composition or writingwould have been extremely troublesomeamid all the movement, the noise, theconversations . . . but still worse wouldhave been the rockings and joltings of atrain, rendering writing virtually im-possible."

At Hanover Junction, 46 miles fromBaltimore, Lincoln's train was supposed tomeet another special train bearing thegovernors of Pennsylvania and New Yorkand a host of other luminaries. That trainwas delayed by an accident. The Presi-dent's train, after switching onto theWestern Maryland line, continued on intoGettysburg, arriving at about 6:30 p.m.

A large crowd was waiting for the Presi-dent at the little station, but there wereno particular formalities, just a brief wel-come byJudge Wills and then the travel-ers scattered, in John Hays' words, "like adrop of quicksilver spilt," in search of theirlodgings for the night.

p resident Lincoln stayed at Judge Wills'home which still stands on the square

at Gettysburg. In a town crowded with vi-

Lieutenant Cochrane and 27 members of the Marine Band ac-companied President Lincoln by train to Gettysburg. During theceremonies the Marine musicians played "The Doxology." The

band was photographed outside the Commandant's House inWashington in 1864 by Matthew Brady. Trombone player at rehtin the first row, is Antonio Sousa, father ofJohn Philzit' Sousa.

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sitors, Cochrane was fortunate enough tohave a reserved hotel room. Hundreds ofothers slept where they could. Cochranewas surprised to learn that some of thewounded from the battle, fought nearlyfive months earlier, were still hospitalizedin the town.

At dinner in the Wills home Lincolnmet Edward Everett who was also spend-ing the night there. Everett, a leading clas-sical orator of his day, was scheduled togive the main address at the next day'sceremony. Lincoln had been given an ad-vance copy of his speech. Later in the even-ing, the President was serenaded by the5th New York Heavy Artillery Band. Theserenade and the cheers of the crowdbrought Lincoln to the door but he re-fused to make a speech. He had severalreasons. "The most substantial of these,"he said, "is that I have no speech to make.In my position it is somewhat importantthat I should not say any foolish things."

By 10 o'clock Lincoln had retired to hisroom, to work some more on his speech.The second draft contains 269 words andis written entirely in pencil on ruled paper.

Next morning Cochrane awoke to abeautiful Indian summer day, or so hesays. Others say that the morning was over-cast. As Cochrane tells it: "Before ten wewere in the saddle and assembled at thepublic square for the grand military andcivic procession. Mr. Lincoln was mount-ed upon a young and beautiful chestnutbay horse, the largest in Cumberland Val-ley, and his towering figure surmountedby a high silk hat made the rest of us looksmall."

Cochrane was riding in the second rankand he says, "I had a mischievous bruteand it required much attention to keephim from getting out of line to browse onthe tail of the President's horse."

Cochrane also says, "The President rodevery easily, bowing occasionally to right orleft, but it soon became evident that Mr.Seward was not much of a rider." Thesolemn Mr. Seward was unaware that histrousers had worked up his legs, showingthe tops of his home-made gray socks.

T here were four bands in the line ofmarch: the United States Marine

Band, the 2d United States Artillery Regi-ment Band, the 5th New York Heavy Ar-tillery Band, and Birgfield's Band—thelast was a German band that GovernorCurtin had brought from Philadelphia.

The presidential party was preceded by anescort of about 1,200 troops, most of themmembers of the 5th New York Heavy Ar-tillery. Marching time was only about 15minutes. The procession passed down Bal-timore Street to the Emmittsburg Road tothe sound of minute guns, then by wayof Taneytown Road to the cemetery. ThePresident took his seat at the cemetery atabout 11 o'clock. The platform was notvery large and soon every seat was filled.President Lincoln was given a rockingchair. By this time they had been joined

not only by the governors of New York andPennsylvania, but also the governors ofMaine, New Jersey, Maryland, and Indi-ana. Cochrane called the crowd "a vast as-semblage" and guessed its numbers at10,000. Others put the figure at 15,000and some said 30,000 or even 50,000. Mr.Everett was late in arriving. The bandsplayed until noon.

C ochrane was also surprised, andperhaps a little subdued, to see how

much evidence of the great battle foughtthere in July still remained. As he put it:"Rifle pits, cut and scarred trees, brokenfences, pieces of artillery wagons and har-ness, scraps of blue and gray clothing, bentcanteens, abandoned knapsacks, belts, car-tridge boxes, shoes and caps, were still tobe seen on nearly every side — a greatshowing for relic hunters." John RussellYoung, a Philadelphia Press reporter, wasastonished to see the ground still litteredwith the carcasses of dead horses.

The program began with a funeral dirgewritten by Adolph Birgfeld, the leader ofthe German band, followed by a lengthyprayer by Dr. Thomas H. Stockton, theChaplain of the Senate. The Marine Bandthen played "Old Hundred," a favorite

Cochrane retired as a brgadier general in1905 and enlarged his great reputation asa raconteur on the national lecture circuit.

A t least six minutely different versions of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address ex-ist. This version is as it was taken down in shorthand at Gettysburg by

Charles Hale, a reporter for the Boston Advertiser.

Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this con-tinent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the propositionthat all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation —or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated—can long endure.

We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We are met to dedicatea portion of it as the final resting place of those who have given their livesthat that nation might live.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we can-

not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggledhere, have consecrated it, far above our power to add or to detract.

The world will very little note nor long remember what we say here;but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated, here, to the unfinishedwork that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to behere dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from these ho-nored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they heregave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve thatthese dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation shall, under God,have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by thepeople, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

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hymn of the times and perhaps betterknown today as the "Doxology."

T hen the orator of the day, theHonorable Edward Everett, spoke.

Cochrane remembered the oration as

• an exceedingly long production, be-ginning with the custom of the ancientGreeks of burying their dead heroes withpublic ceremony, continuing with a fullhistory of the campaign of which Gettys-burg was the culmination, giving a pictureof the result had the battle been a failure;a statement that the Rebellion had beenplanned for thirty years before it came topass, and an essay upon national affairs

Everett orated for two hours and thecrowd grew restless. We can suppose thatwithout any amplification other than the

leather lungs of the speaker that many,perhaps most, of the huge crowd presentreally couldn't hear what was being said.The oration was followed by an ode writ-ten for the occasion and sung by the Bal-timore Glee Club.

Now it was Lincoln's turn to speak. Hefished his manuscript out his pocket (somesay out of his hat), put on his steel-bowedglasses, and stood up. Cochrane's recollec-tion was that "He was dressed as usual ina black frock coat with turned down shirtcollar, and held in his hand only two orthree sheets of paper. He began in a slow,solemn and deliberate manner, emphasiz-ing nearly every word, and in two minutessat down." Lincoln's remarks were so shortthat he had completed them and had satdown before a photographer could get hispicture.

Charles Hale of the Boston Advertisertook down the President's slow-spokenspeech in shorthand. According to Hale'sversion, Lincoln made two departures fromthe text he had in his hand. Instead of"our poor power" he said simply "our pow-er" and he inserted the words "underGod" in his last sentence. Later, in writ-ing out a final copy of his speech, Lincolnchanged his second use of "We are met"to "We have come."

T he ceremony ended with anotherdirge, played by Birgfeld's Band, and

a benediction by the Reverend Dr. H. L.Baugher. Cochrane's recollections end atthat point with the simple statement:

that evening we left on the returntrip to Washington." L111775L1

Officer's Research Documents 288 Historical Marine Recruiting Posters

T he Marine Corps Art Collection'sholdings of 205 recruiting posters of

different design is well known. Frequent-ly shows of 10 to 20 posters are exhibited.They serve as colorful decoration andnostalgic conversation pieces as well as toprovide a historical record of Marinerecruiting appeals.

Regretfully, by no means all extantposters are in the collection. To close thegap in our poster knowledge, the MarineCorps Historical Foundation awarded agrant to a Marine officer to make colorslides of posters in our collection and tosearch other repositories for posters notrepresented and photograph them also.Collections at the National Archives,Library of Congress, Department ofDefense Still Media Center, Naval Histor-ical Center, and private collections knownto the officer were researched and morethan 80 additional posters photographed.The result of this grant effort just receivedis a binder containing color slides of 288posters identified by date of issue, artistwhen known, any numerical identifica-tion, and the repository holding the copy.Moreover, a plan was presented for keep-ing the reference collection up-to-datethrough the acquisition of slides from theadvertising agency producing new posters.

In 1982 a young University of Marylandstudent and member of the Platoon Lead-

by Col Brooke Nihart, USMC (Ret)Deputy Director for Museums

ers Class at Quantico presented himself tothe Marine Corps Museum with a proposalfor a project to meet his senior class re-quirement. The project was a monographon the history and development throughmany variations of Marine Corps marks-manship badges. His research resulted ina monograph published by the Historyand Museums Division in 1982 and, be-cause of the great demand, reprinted in1983. The student was Michael D. Vis-conage. Five years later, Capt Michael D.Visconage, USMC, stationed at MarineBarracks Washington, presented himselfat the museum with a proposal to pho-

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tographically record all known and avail-able recruiting posters. A Foundationgrant was issued to defray Visconage's out-of-pocket expenses such as for film.

The results will be most useful in thefuture as we now, for the first time, havea basis for a definitive visual image check-list of what must be the majority ofrecruiting posters issued, almost all in thiscentury. It is through such scholarship anddedication by interested volunteers that weaccumulate knowledge about our heritagethat our small staff would be unlikely todiscover. Eli 775EJ

'Too Realistic' Missing Poster Sought

D uring the Korean War, probably in 1952 or 1953, a recruiting poster wasissued and, the story goes, was quickly withdrawn on the insistence of

recruiters. Apparently, the scene on the poster was a bit too realistic to attractrecruits, at least so in the experienced judgement of the recruiting establishment.

The image on the poster was a head-on view of a Marine in full combat gear,crouched on the parapet of a trench, firing his Browning Automatic Rifle fromthe hip into the trench and toward the viewer. The printed message is recalledas being equally startling. The museum's recruiting poster collection does notinclude an example of this poster; Capt Visconage's research did not discoverone. Some Marine, somewhere, perhaps a recruiter, saved a copy of this short-lived combat-motivational poster. The museum would like to acquire a copy or,at the very least, borrow a copy for photographing. If a reader knows of sucha poster, please let us know.— FBN

Acquisitions

Medals Gift Includes Unusual Nicaraguan Decorationby Jennifer L. Gooding

Registrar

T he Marine Corps Museum was therecent recipient of a donation of per-

sonal papers, photographs, and eight me-dals from the estate of Madeline Bryan,given by the Pometto family of FallsChurch, Virginia. Together with PersonalPapers CuratorJ. Michael Miller, I visitedwith Mrs. Vivian M. Pometto upon her re-quest to go through several scrapbooks,photograph albums, and small boxes con-taining the personal papers and medals ofLtCol Robert I. Bryan, USMC (Ret), whodied on 23 May 1976.

Mrs. Pometto, LtCol Bryan's sister-in-law, had contacted Mr. Miller regardingher family's desire to donate this Marine'spersonal papers, inviting us to look at thecollection and choose from it those itemswhich would be beneficial to the MarineCorps Museum's collection.

LtCol Bryan had gathered many in-teresting photographs and othermemorabilia during his 28 years of activeservice in the Marine Corps. The itemstrace his career from 1926, first as a Ma-rine serving in Nicaragua (1927-32) andas a corporal in the Signal Platoon, Head-

Nicaraguan Medal of Merit

quarters Company, 4th Marines, Shan-ghai, China (1933-36), and later as acommunications officer on Okinawa dur-ing World War 11, on detached service withthe U.S. Tenth Army. In the collection areofficial and unofficial photographs ofLtCol Bryan while he was servingin Nicaragua and in China. Many of theunofficial photographs depict Bryan pos-ing with friends in a break of their dailyroutine while stationed in Nicaragua.

From LtCol Bryan's scrapbooks alsocome several newspaper clippings, a

Christmas Mess menu from 1944 in Ha-waii, and some Japanese currency andstamps. Out of all the clippings from thescrapbooks there is one of particular in-terest which dates to the mid-1940s froman unknown newspaper and describes theunexpected reunion of two Bryan bro-thers. PFC Merle Bryan, USMC, and then-Capt Robert Bryan met near the front lineson Okinawa. As quoted in the article,Capt Bryan said of the reunion with hisbrother:

I found him up near the frontlines, operating a telephoneswitchboard at the time. Islipped up behind him and justsat down without him knowing Iwas there. After a moment heturned around and I thought hewould fall off the box he was sit-ting on.

LtCol Bryan's early World War II careerbegan as a Marine gunner at the

Depot of Supplies, Philadelphia, Pennsyl-vania. In June 1944 then-Capt Bryan wasassigned to duty as the CommandingOfficer, Signal Company, V AmphibiousCorps, and in December was detached forservice with the Tenth Army on Okinawa.In 1946 Capt Bryan reported to the NavalTraining Center, Great Lakes, Illinois, asOfficer-in-Charge, Electronic Repair Shop.In November 1947, Bryan was stationed atCamp Lejeune, as the 2d Marine Division'ssignal supply officer. In July 1948 CaptBryan was promoted to the rank of majorand remained at Camp Lejeune untilJune1950. From 1950 until 1953 he was sta-tioned at Headquarters Marine Corps asexecutive officer of Company C, Head-quarters Battalion. The Repair Section,Marine Corps Supply Depot, Philadel-phia, was Bryan's station until his retire-ment in December 1954.

With the personal papers donationcame a collection of eight medals award-

Adm Montgomery M. Taylor USN, presented the Nicaraguan Medal of Merit to then-Cpl Robert I. Bryan at an early 193 Os review of the 4th Marines in Shanghai, China.

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ed to LtCol Bryan for his active service inseveral campaigns and World War II. LtColBryan was awarded the following medals:the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medalwith two bars, the 2d Nicaraguan Cam-paign Medal, the Nicaraguan Medal ofMerit, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Me-dal, the Marine Corps Expeditionary Me-dal, the American Campaign Medal, theAmerican Defense Service Medal, and theWorld War II Victory Medal. Bryan wasalso awarded the China Service Medal andthe National Defense Service Medal, butthey were not found with the rest of thecollection.

The Nicaraguan Medal of Merit is rela-tively rare. The Marine Corps Museum has11 in its collections. The medal itself is tri-angular in shape and copper-colored. Themedal is suspended from a dark-blue rib-bon. In the lower right-hand corner of themedal in capital letters is the word Men-to, or Merit, in Spanish. In some cases, theNicaraguan Medal of Merit will have sil-ver stars on the ribbon to signify partici-pation in the battles of 1927 in Nicaraguafor which the medal was awarded.

LtCol Bryan received the NicaraguanMedal of Merit for "service rendered

the Republic of Nicaragua in the efficientfulfillment of his duty as assistant incharge of the telephone central Hisexceptionally good service during thecatastrophe of Managua in March 1931,was of assistance during the repair andmaintenance of telephonic and telegraph-

Cpl Bryan, standing, posed in Managua,Nicaragua, for a studio postcard photo-graph with fellow Marine Gilbert Fultz.

ic service, resulting in the saving of life andproperty."

Two photographs from the collectiondocument the presentation of theNicaraguan Medal of Merit to then-CplBryan by Adm Montgomery M. Taylorduring a special review of the 4th Marinesin Shanghai, China, circa 1932.

In my research on the Nicaraguan Me-dal of Merit, I found that it, along withthree other medals awarded by Nicaragua—the Medal of Distinction, the Presiden-

tial Medal of Merit, and the NicaraguanCross of Valor—were bestowed by thePresident of the Republic, Adolfo Diaz,in October 1927. As stated in a Head-quarters Marine Corps memorandum dat-ed January 1931: "the medals wereawarded to officers and enlisted men ofthe Marine Corps for service in Nicaraguain the battles of El Ocotal, l6July 1927;Telpaneca, 19 September 1927; andZapotillal on 9 October 1927, and for ex-peditions to Nueva Segovia."

T he medals were held by the StateDepartment until January 1931 and

were not actually presented to the officersand enlisted men designated for the deco-rations until that time. Research hasturned up little information to distinguishwhy each of the four different Nicaraguanmedals were awarded. Apparently thedecorations were awarded at the discretionof President Diaz. In consulting severalbooks on medals and decorations award-ed by the United States and other coun-tries little explanation has been found ofwhy, in particular, the Nicaraguan Medalof Merit was awarded and its significance.The only sure reference made as to whythe medal was awarded is found in a let-ter from President Diaz dated 21 October1927 to Col Louis Mason Gulik, USMC,Commander of American Forces,Nicaragua, which states that they were"given as a mark of appreciation of theservices which certain members of theNaval Corps and Marine Infantry of theUnited States rendered during militaryoperations L1J1775L1

Marine Private Recorded Firsthand the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay

Nothing was heard on ves-sels deck except the orders fromthe commanding officers and pi-lots, but this was doomed not tolast long . . . . 8:00 a.m. our ves-sel received a shot from the waterbattery witch passed through ourbulwarks just forward of our forerigging . . . killing the captain ofthe gun and wounding most allof her crew and officers of the di-vision . . . also carrying awaypart of the gun carriage slide,cutting away part of the fife rail,

by J. Michael MillerCurator of Personal Papers

struck the foremast and carry-ing away one quarter of it, itthen struck a strong oaken bitplated with cast iron 3/4 of ainch thick, sending the cast ironin splinters all around the deck

So wrote Private Enoch Jones, USMC,shortly after the Battle of Mobile Bay

during the Civil War. He served through-out the battle in a gun crew on board theUSS l.ackawanna and kept his experiencesrecorded in a ledger book and assorted

8

papers that recently were donated to thePersonal Papers Collection of the MarineCorps Museum by his granddaughter, Mrs.Virginia Logan of Vancouver, Washington.

The papers begin in August 1862 withPvt Jones' enlistment and end with theconclusion of the war in 1865. The ac-counts provide a fascinating glimpse intothe life of an enlisted Marine of theperiod.

Jones began his career in the MarineCorps in an ordinary way. "After waitingsome time in the office, Bradley and my-self was both sworn in as privates in the

U.S. Marine Corps," wrote Jones. "We wasshowed to a room. . . where we got a strawmattress witch we had to take to our roomand spread on the floor for our bed. 9:00p.m. the fifes and drums beat what iscalled tatoo and the [roll] is called overagain, then all hands turned in on thestraw mattresses witch are in line on thefloor. 9:30 p.m. the drummer gives threetaps on the drum and all the men stoppedoff talking and all is quiet until morning."

F or much of the war, Jones served onboard the USS Lackawanna on block-

ade duty on the Gulf coast near MobileBay, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida,with occasional visits to New Orleans. Heparticipated in the capture of four block-

ade runners, including the CSS Planter,15 June 1863, when the following incidenttook place:

One of her crew was broughton board having took a glass toomuch. He commenced calling ourofficers all the bad names hecould think of so our captain or-dered him to be put in doubleirons but he still went worse sothe captain ordered him to begagged witch was done. He thenraved until the blood trickleddown each side of his mouthwitch promised to be a good ex-ample to the rest of them .

They are about the hardest crowdof men I have ever saw.

The most important action of PvtJones'career was the battle for Mobile Bay on 5August 1864. The collection contains somefascinating detail of the part played by thelackawanna in the battle, including ship-to-ship combat with the confederate iron-clad CSS Tennessee. After running pastFort Morgan at the entrance to the bay, theLackawanna was almost rammed by theConfederate ship but due to Lackawanna'sspeed, she was able to avoid the collision.As the Tennessee passed astern, she was ina position to broadside the Lackawanna,but her guns misfired, saving the Federalsfrom a most destructive raking fire. Afterthe initial engagement with the ironclad,the Union fleet paused in the bay toregroup when "the rebel ram Tenasee wasthen seen approaching again." Pvt Joneswith his Marine and Navy comrades pre-pared to face the enemy a second time:

The ram then steamed on pastthe Hartford and one or twoothers giving broadside for broad-side, then headed on for us9:15 a.m. we struck her .

The shock was so great that itcaused both vessels to remainmotionless for a time completelystopping our engine . . . . She

then drifted down our port sidelike a log . . . . She fired abroadside of three guns into us,all of witch was with percussionshells, one of witch passedthough our bulwark . . . striking[the] blacksmiths forge anvilleand vice, sending it in pieces inall directions . . . . Struck two ofour Marines and one sailor .

the Marines and a few sailormen

Put Enoch Jones aboard USS Lackawanna saw the surrender ofthe Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee in Mobile Bay. The ac-

tion is shown in artwork held by the US. Navy Historical Center.Map detailing the battle, below, is from official Navy records.

9

having been ordered to takecharge of No. 2 gun 200 pd rifleafter her own crew had been shotaway .

T he fighting soon ended with the sur-render of the Tennessee to the Un-

ion fleet and the Marines on the Lack-awanna began cleaning the decks andrepairing the damage to the ship, includ-ing a large hole in the bow, through which

water poured "in a regular stream, so someof our men had to go to work pumpingship while others was stuffing cloth sailsin the bow where it was stove in

Near the end of the war, Pvt Jones wasselected to be one of the Marine honorguards at the funeral of President Abra-ham Lincoln in 1865.

On 21 August 1865, he was honorablydischarged from the Marine Corps andmarried Miss Eliza Whitehead the follow-

ing year. Jones moved west to Missouri andlater to South Dakota, where four daugh-ters were born. He died in 1920 at the ageof 80 but his Marine diary and papers werecarefully preserved by his family until theirdonation to the Marine Corps PersonalPapers Collection. Granddaughter Mrs.Ingan said, "I feel that he would have beenpleased knowing his diary was in theproper place, the Marine Corps Museum."

1111 775 LI

US. Navy Historical Center

In Mobile Bay, the Lackawanna rams the Tennessee with such force that both ships will be immobilized for several minutes.

Historical Center Sees Changes in Several Senior Staff Billetsby Henry 1. Shaw. Jr.

Chief Hlctorian

Several important staff actions have taken place within theHistory and Museums Division during the past several

months. Foremost, we have bid farewell to ColJames R. Wil-liams, Deputy Director for Marine Corps History and Head,Historical Branch, who has retired after 26 years of active duty.Col Williams has returned to Rhode Island to a role as amanagement consultant. In his stead, the new Deputy forHistory is Col MargueriteJ. Campbell, who came to the di-vision from a tour on Okinawa as the G-1, III MAP, whichfollowed her graduation from the National War College. ColCampbell, who has wide experience in the personnel field,will be the first woman to head the Historical Branch.

The Officer-in-Charge, Marine Corps Museums Branch Ac-tivities, Quantico, LtCol Rudy T. Schwanda, who directed theAir-Ground Museum, has retired. LtCol Schwanda, a veterannaval flight officer, remains in the Quantico area. His re-placement, LtCol William A. Beebe II, a helicopter pilot, join-ed us after a tour as the G-4 of the 6th MEB at Camp Lejeune.

Mr. Benis M. Frank, who recently authored our well-acclaimed history, US. Marines in Lebanon, 1982-1984, washonored for this achievement, as well as his oral history ef-forts in the field supporting the writing of both the Lebanonhistory and US. Marines in Grenada, 1983. Mr. Frank, whohas headed our oral history activities since 1966, was awardedthe Department of the Navy's Superior Civilian ServiceMedal by the Marine Corps. The medal was presented to himearlier this year by BGen Simmons on behalf of the Com-m and ant.

Dr. V. Keith Fleming, after nearly a decade as a historianwith the division, has moved to the new War Fighting Centerat Quantico where he will be head of the Historical AnalysisBranch in its Analysis Division.

Maj Arthur F. Elzy, Division Executive Officer and Head,Support Branch, departed the Center on 30 September, alsoto join the staff of the War Fighting Center. His successoris historical writer Maj George R. Dunham.

10

Mentioned in Passing

'Dean of Combat Artists' John Groth Covered Six Wars

When a boy, I wanted to be a soldi-er an athlete, a traveler and to bepresent at the great events of mytime. Through art I've been able tobe all of them and was enabled tosketch and paint most of the greatevents of the past fifty years.

John Groth's own epitaph appeared inWho's Who in America, 1986-1987 edi-

tion, below 30 lines of spectacles-demanding small type outlining his ac-complishments.

Some of his adventures were related inthe Fall 1986 and Spring-Summer 1988 is-sues of Fortitudine. The bulletin gaveGroth a small, black-bordered announce-ment of his death at age 80 when the newscame just before publication of a brief ar-ticle on History and Museums Divisionsupport of Groth's Art Students Leagueretrospective exhibit in New York City last

by May John T Dyer Jr., USMCR (Ret)Curator of Art

November. We sent to this exhibit four ofGroth's paintings from Korea, theDominican Republic, and Vietnam,representative of his work in the MarineCorps Art Collection.

An obituary for John Groth seems in-appropriate, as if he's just off on anothertrip to draw whatever it is he's experienc-ing at the moment. In truth, we feel sor-row at the void his departure leaves in ourown lives for he touched us deeply in shar-ing our experience then perceptivelyreporting on it. I asked him to clear uponce and for all the exact number of warsor conflicts he's been in for our "bio" fileon him and Groth responded with a let-ter that outlined World War II in Europe,for the Chicago Sun and American LegionMagazine; Korea for Abbott Laboratories,Argosy Magazine, and the MetropolitanNewspaper Group; French Indo-China in1951; the Congo in 1960 for the U.S. Air

Rush to hovering medevac helicopter wasdrawn in Vietnam by Groth, who saw Ma-rines speed wounded to a landing zone.

Force; Santo Domingo in 1965 for the U.S.Navy; and, in 1967, Vietnam for the U.S.Marine Corps.

In 1966 Col Raymond Henri, USMCR,and Col Dick Stark, USMCR, the head ofthe U.S. Marine Corps Combat Art Pro-gram and the officer in charge of the Ma-rine Corps Information Office in NewYork City, respectively, convinced Groththat he was not too old, at age 58, to coveranother war. As the first Marine Corpscivilian artist to go to Vietnam Grothshowed good will by donating a few of hisKorean War and Santo Domingo paint-ings to the then-sparse Marine Corps col-lection.

T he Marine Corps Museum exhibitedtwo Groth paintings from Korea in

its very first exhibit of 10 pieces held inApril 1967 in a Washington, D.C., hotelat a Company of Military Historians an-nual meeting. Groth's Vietnam art (fourpieces) was included in a 21-piece, four-artist exhibit (the Corps' first all-Vietnamcombat art exhibit) at the Sheraton Palacein San Francisco in May 1967. Since thenthe Museum has remained fairly faithfulto Col Henri's dictum of there not beinga Vietnam art show without a Groth in it.

Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen

In the powerful composition Hit the Dirt "John Groth showed Marines and villagerssheltering from the explosion of a 105mm artillery shell which fell short of its enemytarget in Vietnam in 1967. Groth reported that no one was killed in the incident.

11

Wallace M. Greene, Jr., after seeing thefour paintings which resulted from Groth'sVietnam tour, wrote to him, "I amdelighted that the Marine Corps is themedium for your current selfless service toour country."

A highlight for Marines and others whoattended the first Military Art Symposi-um held at the Marine Corps HistoricalCenter in October 1983 was Groth's color-ful, but typically modest, talk on his ex-periences as a combat and sports artist andillustrator. He gave a demonstration of hispainting and drawing technique while hetalked and passed his sketchbooks (blackleatherette-covered bond paper) aroundfor the audience's firsthand perusal. Hejoked about one critic's deadly commenton his drawings to illustrate Mark Twain's"The War Prayer": ". . . as if the artistgathered a bucket of worms, drenchedthem in paint and dropped them on acanvas, allowing them to crawl every whichway, hoping to make a picture."

Groth said of his loose, sketchlike draw-ing technique that he allowed enoughlines for viewers to select those they likedto form their own pictures. He said histechnique developed from heeding theadvice given to him by an art director tomake 100 drawings a day as a way to learnreportorial drawing. Groth took him seri-ously, and also encouraged other artists touse sketchbooks whenever time allowed.

He joked about our labelling him "Deanof Combat Artists," saying "when you getold enough, I guess, they call you 'Dean.'About humping hills with Marine andArmy units in Korea while in his 40s, hesaid he felt like a deep sea diver on his wayup. In Vietnam, where solicitous Marinesinsisted he wear flak jacket and helmet,he felt like everyone's grandfather.

There are at least 100 paintings anddrawings by John Groth in the Museum

collection—perhaps more—since as all ar-tists conscious of the high cost of good artsupplies, Groth drew on the backs of someof his earlier sketches for book illustrations;we might have a good drawing of a Ma-rine patrol in Vietnam on one side and analmost-as-good start to a Civil War battlescene from Gone With The Wind on theother.

Ours and future generations are for-tunate to share John Groth's observationson mankind. A few will have had thepleasure of having known the man him-self. As for Marine Corps artists, it seemedas if he was one of us. L111775L11

Groth enjoyedportraying Marines both incombat and in contact with the Viet-namese people. The children's innocencecontrasted sharply with the nearby war

Ferocious charge from a height by a North Korean soldier, wielding a weapon withfixed bayonet, is aimed at an unsurprised and awaiting US. Marine. Groth 's dramat-ic sketches from Korea appeared in Argosy magazine, as well as US. newspapers.

Doggedly at work, undeterred by the curiosity and chatter of local Vietnamese chil-dren, Marines prepare defensive positions outside the city of Sa Huyn. Groth appearsto have delighted in the facial expressions and mild attitudes of the youngsters.

12

Three Highly Decorated Marines of World War II Die

LtGen James M. Masters, Sr.

LtGen James M. Masters, Sr., USMC(Ret), died of cancer at the age of 77 at

his home in Washington.

A native of Atlanta, Gen Masters grewup in Anderson, South Carolina, and at-tended The Citadel for a year before trans-ferring to the Naval Academy from whichhe was graduated with the Class of 1933.Lt Masters was assigned to the normaltours of post, station, and sea duty youngofficers received following Basic School.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked, CaptMasters participated in the defense of thebase as a member of the 4th Defense Bat-talion stationed at Pearl. He remainedwith defense battalions until August 1943,when he took command of the 2d Battal-ion, 1st Marines, which he led in the CapeGloucester operation. Following a brieftour at Headquarters Marine Corps, hejoined the 7th Marines as executive officer.It was in this capacity that he was award-ed the Navy Cross for extraordinary hero-ism on Okinawa in the stalled 7th Marinesdrive against Dakeshi Ridge. "With utterdisregard for his own safety and in the faceof heavy enemy small arms and mortarfire, he unhesitatingly went forward of thefront lines to gain necessary informationof the enemy, which enabled a successfulattack to be made on the following day,"the citation for the award reads in part.

LtGen James M. Masters, Sr., in 1966

Following the Okinawa campaign, LtColMasters went to China with the 1st Ma-rine Division as G-2, and then back to theStates to serve in the Inspection Division.Varied and professionally rewarding as-signments followed: Executive Officer ofMarine Corps Schools; Basic School CO;CO, 8th Marines; National War College;Joint Strategic Plans Group, JCS; and CO,4th Marines. In 1956 he became FMFPacliaison officer to CinCPac, and waspromoted to brigadier general the follow-ing year. He returned to Washington tobecome G-2 at Headquarters and wasgiven additional duty as Inspector Generalof the Marine Corps.

Before his retirement inJune 1968, GenMasters commanded the 1st and 3rd Di-visions; Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendle-ton; and Marine Corps Recruit Depot,Parris Island. His final assignment wasCommandant, Marine Corps Schools,where he was promoted to lieutenantgeneral on iJuly 1966. InJanuary 1968,Marine Corps Schools was redesignatedMarine Corps Development and Educa-tion Command and his title was changedto Commanding General. He was thus thelast Marine to fill the billet of Comman-dant, Marine Corps Schools. Gen Masterswas buried in Arlington NationalCemetery on 8 August with full militaryhonors. — BMF

BGen James 1? S. Devereux

BGen James P. 5. Devereux, USMC(Ret), the "Hero of Wake Island:' as he wasknown, died of pneumonia at the age of85 in Baltimore on 5 August.

The son of an Army physician, Gen De-vereux enlisted in the Marine Corps in1923, and was commissioned two yearslater. In the early 1930s, he was assignedto Peiping and soon commanded theHorse Marines there. Upon his return tothe States in 1933, he was closely involvedwith the Corps' base defense program. Asa result, in January 1941 he was orderedto Pearl Harbor to join the 1st DefenseBattalion, and in October was sent toWake to command the detachment there.

Three days after Pearl Harbor was at-tacked, Wake became the enemy target.

13

Then-Co/James P. S. Devereux in 1946

With some 400-plus Marines, a handfulof fighter aircraft, some naval personnel,as well as a group of civilian contractor'semployees, the island was defendedagainst overwhelming odds. For two weeks,Devereux and his men held fast, mean-while managing to damage two Japanesecruisers and two destroyers, and sinking anescort vessel and two destroyers. Marine airadded to the list by downing eightJapanese aircraft. But on 23 December, aJapanese task force, including two carrierstogether with transports as well as combatvessels, appeared off Wake and managedto land a sizable force which was morethan the Wake defenders could contendwith. Both Wake's naval commander, CdrWinfield Scott Cunningham, and then-Maj Devereux felt it prudent to surrender.All those on Wake spent the rest of thewar in prison camps in China and thenJapan. For his "distinguished and heroicconduct in the line of his profession," GenDevereux was awarded the Navy Cross.

Upon his return from Japan, he wasgiven the rank to which he had beenpromoted during the war, and waspromoted to colonel in January 1946. Heretired on 1 August 1948 while servingwith the 1st Marine Division and was ad-vanced to brigadier general for havingbeen decorated in combat. His post-Marine career was active and interesting.He was a four-term Congressman from

Maryland, where he retired to farm andraise horses. After leaving Congress, hemade an unsuccessful run for the gover-norship of Maryland. He was appointedpublic safety director of Baltimore Countyin the 1960s, and remained active incharitable organizations and volunteergroups. Gen Devereux was buried withfull military honors in Arlington Cemeteryon 9 August.—BMF

Col Peter J. Ortiz

Col PeterJ. Ortiz, USMCR (Ret), a well-decorated Marine whose exploits arelegendary among those who served withhim in the ass in World War II, died 16May at the age of 75 in the Veterans Ad-ministration hospital in Prescott, Arizona.

Born in New York and educated inFrance, Col artiz joined the French For-eign Legion in 1932 and worked his wayup through the ranks to commissionedstatus. He resigned his commission in1938 but returned to fight when the warbegan. Wounded in a battle between theFrench and the Germans, captured andimprisoned, he later escaped from a POWcamp in Austria, and made his way to theUnited States, where he joined the Ma-rine Corps.

After receiving a Marine commission,

Then-LtCoI Peter]. Ortiz in 1952

he was assigned to the 055 and sent toNorth Africa, where he was woundedwhile organizing Arab tribesmen to scoutenemy forces.

14

Upon his recovery, he was assigned toa joint U.S-British parachute team whichjumped into France to assist the under-ground. It was during this period that heaccomplished the separate exploits whichresulted in his being awarded a Navy Crossand a Gold Stat in lieu of a second award.His support for the French resistance con-sisted of coordinating the distribution ofarms and ammunition, as well as helpingfour downed RAF fliers across thePyrenees. He was made a member of theOrder of the British Empire, and receivedthe Croix de Guerre, plus several otherFrench decorations. His American deco-rations consisted of two Navy Crosses, aLegion of Merit, and two Purple Hearts.

In 1944, when a small French village wasthreatened with reprisals by the Germansfor the activities of Ortiz' OSS unit, he andhis men surrendered and spent the rest ofthe war in a POW camp. Two movies weremade based on his exploits—"13 RueMadeleine" and "Operation Secret."

Col Ortiz became a technical advisor inHollywood after the war, and in fact ap-peared in several John Wayne movies. ColOrtiz was buried 23 May with full mili-tary honors in Arlington Cemetery withrepresentatives of the British and Frenchgovernments present. — BMF

Historical Quiz

Prominent Marines in World War I

Identify the following:

by Lena M. KaijotReference Historian

1. Who was the Commandant of the Marine Corps duringWorld War I?2. This World War I Marine is remembered for the famous

battle cry, "Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want tolive forever?"3. He commanded the 2d Division, AEF, during the last

months of the war, and was the first Marine officer to com-mand an infantry division in combat.4. The first Marine aviator, he recommended the organiza-

tion of a Marine aviation force to participate in the Europe-an hostilities during World War I.

5. He was the recipient of the last Medal of Honor awardedfor World War I service.

6. This Marine officer, assigned to the staff of then-BGenLejeune during World War I, established a reputation as amaster strategist and would gain further acclaim for his post-war writings.

7. He commanded the 5th Regiment at Belleau Wood andlater assumed command of the 4th Brigade for the remainderof the war.8. This World War I pilot and his gunner became the first

Marine aviation Medal of Honor recipients.9. He was selected to command the 5th Regiment of Ma-

rines, which was the first organization of the Marine Co.psto be sent overseas for duty in France.10. He is the only living former Commandant of the Ma-rine Corps who saw action in World War I.

(Answers on page 18)

MEF Headquarters Naming Celebrates Julian C. Smith

T he Commandant of the MarineCorps recently approved com-

memorative naming actions for several Ma-rine Corps facilities. The actions honor oneof the outstanding Marine leaders in thefield of amphibious warfare, along with acourageous Navy medical officer, a MarineMedal of Honor recipient, and a Marineofficer and a Navy hospital corpsman,both of whom enhanced community ac-tivities and youth programs during theirmilitary careers.

From the Commanding General, Ma-rine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, NorthCarolina: To name Building H-i, housingthe Headquarters of II MEF and 2d Ma-rine Division, in honor ofLtGenJulian C.Smith, USMC:

A native of Elkton, Maryland, GenSmith was one of the Marine Corps' out-standing leaders in the field of amphibi-ous warfare. A graduate of the Universityof Delaware, he served 38 years as a Ma-rine Corps officer, and died 5 November1975. During World War II, he command-ed the 2d Marine Division during theTarawa campaign, and later was appoint-ed Commanding General, ExpeditionaryTroops, Third Fleet, which captured thesouthern Palau Islands and Ulithi Atoll.In December 1944, Gen Smith took com-mand of the Department of the Pacific,with headquarters in San Francisco,California. In February 1946, he assumed

Then-MayGen Julian C. Smith in 1944

by Robert V AquiinaAssistant Head, Reference Section

PFC Gary U2 Martini, USMC

command of the Marine Corps RecruitDepot, Parris Island, South Carolina, un-til his retirement.

From the Commanding Officei 1st Ma-rines, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pen dIe-ton, California: To name the 53 AreaDining Facility at Camp Horno in honorof PFC Gary W Martini USMC:

A native of Lexington, Virginia, PFCMartini was posthumously awarded theMedal of Honor for heroism while servingwith the 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Ma-rine Division, in the Republic of Vietnamduring April 1967. During Operation Un-ion, PFC Martini twice raced through anopen area under intense enemy fire to res-cue wounded comrades and drag them tosafety. During the first attempt, he wasseriously wounded, but returned to thefire-swept area a second time to rescueanother wounded Marine. During this se-cond attempt, PFC Martini was mortallywounded, but managed to move his in-jured comrade to where he could bepulled to safety. "PFC Martini's outstand-ing courage, valiant fighting spirit andselfless devotion to duty reflected thehighest credit upon himself, the MarineCorps, and the United States Naval Serv-ice. He gallantly gave his life for hiscountry."

From the Commanding Officer, 5thMarines, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pen-dleton: To name the Camp Margarita

15

Dental Clinic in honor of VAdm Alex-ander G. Lyle, DC, USN.

While serving with the 5th Regimentin France on 23 April 1918, LCdr Lylerushed, under heavy enemy shellfire, tothe assistance of Cpl Thomas Regan, whowas seriously wounded. LCdr Lyle ad-ministered such effective surgical aid whilebombardment was continuing, as to savethe life of Cpl Regan. LCdr Lyle subse-quently went on to attain the rank of viceadmiral as General Inspector (Dental) inthe Bureau of Medicine and Surgery pri-or to nis retirement on 1 August 1948.

From the Commanding General, CampLejeune: To name a youth sports facilityat Camp Leyeune in honor of Capt Michaelj Stokes, USMC:

Capt Stokes was a member of SupportBattalion, Marine Corps Base, CampLejeune, when he was tragically killed on27 December 1987 in an automobilecrash.

Throughout his Marine Corps career,Capt Stokes contributed unselfishly toyouth sports programs, and devoted manyhours of volunteer service to enhance thesports program at Camp Lejeune. "Hisdedication enhanced the Camp LejeuneYouth Sports Program to a degree ofprofessionalism that was frequently sin-gled out as one of the best. Capt Stokeswas a genuine leader and constantly main-tained that our youth of today are ourleaders of tomorrow."

From the Commanding Officer NavalHospital, Camp Lejeune: To name arecreational area at the hospital in honorof Senior Chief Hosp tal Corpsman RobertD. Roed USN:

HMCS Roed died on active duty on 4July 1987 while assigned to the NavalHospital, Camp Lejeune. Throughout hiseighteen-year military service, HMCS Roedunselfishly devoted many hours of off-dutytime to community activities, and was es-pecially involved in the Special OlympicsProgram, the Boy Scouts of America, andother youth programs. "He dedicated hislife to instilling the importance of per-severance, integrity, and sportsmanship inthe youth of both the military and civiliancommunities." L111775L11

Research Highlights Marine Role in 1813 Lake Erie Battle

by Richard A. LongCurator of Special Projects

Q ne of our older Museum historicalfiles contains an 8x10-inch photo-

graphic negative which is labeled "LakeErie, Battle of, Burial of Dead, after 1813."Its envelope is stamped "MAR 16 1934,"presumably the date that it was copied byan unknown Marine Corps photographer.It was obviously a reproduction of a paint-ing, but nothing was known of its history,a mystery of some years' standing.

Sixteen black warships at anchor are sil-houetted against a heavily wooded islandin the background. From them in a curv-ing line to a cleared inlet in the fore-ground are 14 ship's boats occupied bysteersmen and oarsmen. The third nearestthe shore bears three American flag-draped coffins, and the fourth containsthree coffins covered with British colors.Awaiting them on shore are a number ofsailors, some sitting and others standingbeside freshly dug graves. To their rightat attention are 13 impeccably uniformedand armed American soldiers.

During on-going research for the divi-sion's forthcoming official history, Marines

in the Frigate Navy, 1794-1835, an excel-lent one-volume work on our second warwith Great Britain has repeatedly beenconsulted: BensonJ. Lossing's The PictorialField-Book of the IVar of 1812, publishedby Harper & Brothers, New York, in 1868.

Lossing not only intimately describedfrom primary documentation the majorityof the principal engagements of that war,but also during the years immediately pri-or to the American Civil War, visited thesites, interviewed surviving participants,and faithfully reported his findings inprint and in descriptive sketches.

One reads of his frustrated attempts tovisit Put-In Bay, a harbor and small vil-lage on South Bass Island, off the north-ern shores of Ohio in September 1860, tosee for himself the base of Commo OliverH. Perry's operations in 1813 against theBritish squadron on Lake Erie. The excur-sion steamboat had ceased sailing for theseason, and the windchopped waters weretoo rough for a small boat.

He turned instead to seeking out local

citizens who were familiar with the BassIslands. Fortunately, he was directed to aMiss Caroline L. Ormes Ransom, a portraitand landscape painter, who at that timeresided in Sandusky, Ohio.

Miss Ransom had explored these is-lands, and from her studies had madepaintings of at least two contemporaryscenes there. One was of "Perry's Look-out," on Gibralter Island, a limestone riseat the water's edge where Perry is said tohave watched British movements out ofMaiden on the Canadian shore throughhis spyglass. In copying Miss Ransom'sview, with her permission, Lossing gave itmoonlight for dramatic effect.

A second landscape by Miss Ransomwas of the burial place on South Bass

Island of three American and three Brit-ish officers slain in the Battle of Lake Erie.They were interred there by the crews ofboth squadrons on 12 September 1813,two days after the decisive American vic-tory. Lossing depicted the site in a groveof willow, hickory, and maple trees.

Photograph in the envelope stamped "1934" inspired search for the painting's artist and the Corps'part in the ceremony shown.

16

In consulting by telephone with theRegistrar of the Directory to the Bicenten-nial Inventory of Paintings Executed Be-fore 1914, in the National Collection ofFine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, it wasfound that 13 paintings were credited toMiss Ransom. By a title entry, the burialpainting was believed to be in the collec-tions of Western Reserve University,Cleveland, Ohio.

T he university was visited in January1987 and the accession files of the Al-

len Memorial Library, the Mather Gallery,and the University Archives were searched,to no avail. A chance suggestion by the ar-chivist sent me to the Western ReserveHistorical Society, just off campus, where,to much satisfaction, an oil on canvaspainting entitled "Burial of the OfficersSlain at the Battle of Lake Erie," was foundon permanent exhibit in its gallery. It wasalso discovered that its artist was LewisBennett Chevalier, not Miss Ransom.

Lewis Bennett Chevalier (182 3-1889) wasborn in Plattsburg, New York. His studiesfor the profession of a painter, if any, arenot known, and the Directory mentionedabove lists only the one painting to hiscredit. One source of information assertsthat he painted this work between 1838and 1845, and he advertised in theCleveland Business Directory of 1845-1846as a partner to Sebastian Heine, a painterof scenes of Cleveland. This writer holdsthe opinion that the painting was execut-ed at a later date.

Evidence to support this theory is basedon three letters found in September 1982in the William L. Clements Library ofAmericana, at the University of Michigan,Ann Arbor. The significance of these let-ters was not apparent at that time.

In all three letters, Stephen Champlinof Buffalo, New York, wrote to Mr.

Chevalier at Erie, Pennsylvania, on thesubject of the physical characteristics of theBritish warship Queen Charlotte, whichhad been designated by Commo Perry asthe opponent in the battle of the brigNiagara commanded by Master Comman-dant Jesse D. Elliott, USN.

As a sailing master, Champlin had com-manded the schooner Scorpion, firing thefirst shot and the last in the engagementof 10 September 1813. On 15 February1860, he wrote Chevalier "I think the en-closed representation you sent me of thesquadron at the close of the Battle is per-

fect . . . if you are not in a hurry aboutyour painting I would like to submit it toDr. Parsons who I shall see either here orin Providence next spring."

In a second letter the following 27 Au-gust, he dwelt on the matter of the rig-ging of the Queen Charlotte, citing thetestimony of a Capt Miles, who had raisedand reoutfitted the former British shipsDetroit and Queen Charlotte in 1836.

Chevalier may have objected to her rig-ging in a letter to Champlin on 28 Au-gust 1860 (copy not present), for on thefollowing day Champlin replied, "theQueen Charlotte was I know a full riggedship and I have good reasons to know, forI towed her into Put-in Bay the next dayafter the Battle . . . the day after, she lostboth her Masts in a gale of wind, whichwere replaced by jury masts the followingspring by me under whose command shewith the Detroit had been through thewinter of 1813-1814 at Put-In Bay . . . Af-ter rigging the jury masts into her, I

brought her down to Erie in May 1814, soyou will perceive that I ought to know."

With this testimony, the painting canbe said to have been completed some timeafter 1860.

Dr. Usher Parsons, to whom Champlinreferred above, was the assistant surgeonof Perry's flagship Lzwrence, which vesselbore the brunt of the majority of Britishshot and shell and suffered the largestnumber of casualties. On 10 September1858, during a 45th anniversary com-memoration of the battle, Dr. Parsonsdescribed the scene later depicted inChevalier's painting:

The procession of boats, withtwo bands of music, the slow andregular motion of the oars, strik-ing in exact time with the notesof the solemn dirge, the mourn-ful waving of flags and sound ofminute guns firing from theshztm, presented a striking con-trast to the scene presented twodays before, when both the livingand the dead now forming inthis fraternal train, were engagedin fierce and bloody strife,hurling at each other the thun-derbolts of war

The Marine Corps Historical Founda-tion, in support of the historical program,purchased from the Western ReserveHistorical Society a color photographic

17

transparency of this oil painting. A black-and-white print of it is hereby publishedwith our thanks.

Q ne of the officers thus interred onSouth Bass Island, Put-In Bay, was

IstLt John Brooks, Jr., USMC, who com-manded the Marines on board Perry's flag-ship Lzwrence. In the midst of the battle,Brooks was conferring with Commo Perrywhen a cannonball shattered his hip anddashed him across the quarterdeck. Mor-tally wounded, he alternately called for hispistols and pleaded with Perry to put himout of his misery. He died within an hour.

Four years later, on 31 October 1817,officers of the 5th U.S. Army InfantryRegiment, stationed in Detroit, exhumedBrooks' remains and reinterred him withfull military honors in a new militarycemetery on the glacis of Fort Shelby inthe city. In 1826, the U.S. Governmentdeeded Detroit's Military Reserve, includ-ing the fort, to the city for domestic de-velopment. The remains of severalhundred U.S. Army enlisted men whodied iii the winter of 1813-1814 of acholera-like disease, and presumablyothers, were removed in 1817 to a newburying ground within Michigan,Lafayette, Wayne, and First Streets. Therewere further reburials as the city grew; few-er records were kept. A recent andprolonged search for the present locationof the remains of Lt Brooks, together withthe memorial his Army friends were saidto have erected, has been in vain.

A search continues for a sword he waswearing at the time of his death, said bythe biographer of his father, Revolution-ary War general and later governor of Mas-sachusetts, John Brooks, Sr., to have beenpresented toJohn,Jr., by the Marquis deLafayette. The sword was returned to hisfather shortly after the battle by a mer-chant in Erie, Pennsylvania.

In 1824, a silver medal, authorized byCongress, and patterned after the goldmedal presented to Commo Perry, waspresented posthumously to his father. Thisis also being sought.

On 11 September 1913, the InterstateBoard of the Perry's Victory CentennialCommission reinterred Lt Brooks' fivecompanions in death in the crypt of thePerry's Victory and International PeaceMemorial, tended by the U.S. NationalPark Service at Put-In-Bay, Ohio. LI11 775L11

New Books

Book Gathers Past Decade's War College journal Essays

T he library of the Marine CorpsHistorical Center searches out re-

cently published books of professional in-terest to Marines. These books areavailable from local bookstores or libraries:

Brown Water, Black Berets. LCdr ThomasJ. Cutler. Naval Institute Press. 426 pp.1988. The author, drawing on his own ex-periences and those of his fellow "RiverRats," focuses on the small-boat war foughton the rivers of South Vietnam. Cutlerprovides a detailed account of the develop-ment and operation of the Navy's brown-water fleet up to the Vietnamization pro-grams in effect at the time of U.S. troopwithdrawals from Southeast Asia. $21.95.

The Brevet Medal. John E. Lelle. QuestPublishing Co., P.O. Box 2081, Spring-field, Virginia 22152. 175 Pp. 1988. A his-tory of the Marine Corps' Brevet Medal,which has been one of the few distinctiveMarine Corps decorations to date. Also in-cludes biographical sketches of MarineCorps recipients of brevet promotions inthe Civil War, Formosa, Spanish-AmericanWar, Philippine Insurrection, and BoxerRebellion. Black-and-white illustrations.$18.00.

by Evelyn A. EnglanderHistorical Center Librarian

The Parameters of War: Military Historyfrom the Journal of the US. Army WarCollege. Lloyd J. Mathews and Dale E.Brown, eds. Pergamon, Brassey's Interna-tional Defense Publishers. 320 pp. 1987.A carefully selected, comprehensive collec-tion of essays on military history publishedby Parameters in the past decade. Includes"Dien Bien Phu Campaign," by JamesRadvany; "Robert McNamara and the Pen-tagon," by Douglas Kinnard; "Napoleonon the Art of Command," by Jay Luvaas;and "Jackson's Valley Campaign and theOperational Art of War," by Walter P.Lang, et al. $35.00

George B. McClellan: The YoungNapoleon. Stephen W. Sears. Ticknor &Fields. 482 pp. 1988. By the author of TheLandscape TurnedRed The Battle ofAn-tietam. Writing from primary sources,Sears has presented a full picture ofMcClellan, who at 35 was commander ofall the Northern Armies, fighting the lon-gest campaign of the time and the singlebloodiest one-day battle in the nation'shistory. At age 37, he was presidential can-didate of the Democratic Party only to bedefeated by Abraham Lincoln. Through-

18

out all this, he apparently believed him-self God's chosen instrument to save theUnion. $24.95.

Military Effectiveness. Vol. 1. First WorldUr. Vol. 2. Interwar Period Vol 3. SecondWorld War. Allan R. Millett and William-son Murray, eds. Allen & Unwin. 3 vol-umes. 1988. The three-volume study exa-mines the performances of military insti-tutions of France, Germany, Russia, theU.S., Great Britain,Japan, and Italy in theperiod from 1914 to 1945 at the tactical,operational, strategic, and political levels.$150.00.

In the same government-sponsored series,"7 5th Year of Naval Aviation," as MajGenJohn P. Condon's US. Marine Corps Avi-ation (Fortitudine, Vol. XVII, No. 3,

Winter 1987-1988), are: Pistons to Jets byCaptain Rosario Rausa. $2.75; Kite Bal-loons to Airships by Roy A. Grossnick.$5.00; NavalAviation Training. $3.75; andUS. Naval Air Reserves by Cdr PeterMersky. $2.25. All volumes are availablefrom Superintendent of Documents, U.S.Government Printing Office, Washington,D.C. 20402. L11775E

Answers to Historical Quiz

Prominent Marines in World War I(Questions on page 14)

1. MajGen George Barnett, the Twelfth Commandant of theMarine Corps, served in that position from 25 February 1914to 30 June 1920.2. Then-GySgt Daniel "Dan" Daly reportedly said this dur-

ing the bloody fighting at Belleau Wood in June 1918.3. MajGen John A. Lejeune commanded the 2d Division

from July 1918 to August 1919.4. LtCol Alfred A. Cunningham received the Navy Cross

for his services with the Northern Bombing Group.5. In 1939, GySgt Fred W. Stockham was posthumously

awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (Army) for ac-tion in Belleau Wood, where he exposed himself to mustardgas in order to give his gas mask to a wounded comrade.6. LtCol Earl H. Ellis prepared the plan for the assault on

Blanc Mont, and earned four decorations, including theFrench Croix de Guerre and the Navy Cross, for excellencein his staff duties.7. MajGen Wendell C. Neville later served as Commandant

of the Marine Corps from 5 March 1929 to 8 July 1930.8. 2dLt Ralph Talbot and GySgt Robert G. Robinson were

awarded the medals for heroism in combat on the Europeanfront during October 1918.9. BGen Charles A. Doyen was later placed in command

of the 4th Brigade upon the arrival of the 6th Regiment inFrance in October 1917.10. Gen Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., the Twentieth Comman-dant of the Marine Corps, served with the 5th Regiment andwas twice wounded in action at Belleau Wood.

Flight Lines

Sikorsky HRS-1 Transport Helicopter

T he atomic bomb tests at Bikini La-goon in September of 1946 were the

impetus for the Marine Corps' decision touse helicopters for future amphibious as-saults opposed by modern-day weapons.Tactical dispersion, it was felt, was the an-swer to nuclear weaponry which seemed tomake the massive naval concentrations ofprevious amphibious operations obsolete.This dispersion could be gained by meansof vertical envelopment and aerial supply.Although the helicopter had seen limit-ed experimental use in World War II, it

by May Arthur I? Elzy, USMCAviation Historian

was not until 1947 that the Marine Corpscommissioned its first rotary-wing squad-ron, Marine Helicopter Squadron 1

(HMX-1), and not until the outbreak ofhostilities in Korea in 1950 that the Corpssought rapid development and employ-ment of the helicopter.

On 2 August 1950, Sikorsky Aircraftreceived an order for production of theHRS-1, which was similar to the HO4S-1except for its troop seating capacity andthe self-sealing fuel tanks. Intendedprimarily for troop transport, a total of 60

of these were built, and deliveries were firstmade to HMX-i on 2 April 1951.

The HRS-1 first saw combat action inKorea with Marine Helicopter TransportSquadron 161 (HMR-161) when the squa-dron's 15 helicopters, embarked on boardthe escort carrier USS Sitlioh Bay(CVE-86), arrived in Pusan on 2 Septem-ber 1951. There had already been an acuteneed for helicopter support in the war, andit had been decided that this need couldbe met, at least in part, while the testingand evaluation of tactical concepts was be-ing completed in the combat theater.

Under operational control of the 1stMarine Division, which had recentlymounted an offensive in the Punchbowlarea, HMR-161 indoctrinated troops of the1st Shore Party Battalion on loading andlanding techniques on 12 September andat 1600 the following day, initiated thefirst mass helicopter resupply operation inhistory, Operation Windmill I. It consist-ed of lifting one day's supplies for the 2dBattalion, 1st Marines a distance of sevenmiles. Shore party personnel, equippedwith picks and shovels to clear an area forthe cargo dumps, accompanied the firstfour aircraft, and 78 casualties were evacu-ated on return flights. For this operation,14 helicopters flew 28 sorties and trans-ported 18,800 pounds of cargo in 14 hoursof flight time. On 19 September, Opera-tion Windmill II was successfully conduct-ed in similar fashion for the 5th Marines.

Operation Summit, underway on 20September, tasked HMR-161 with solvinga tactical problem with their HRS-ls. Theoperation's purpose was to relieve a Repub-lic of Korea frontline unit from Hill 884and insert a reinforced reconnaissancecompany. An assault squad was landedfirst, followed by 15 shore party person-nel who were assigned to clear a landingzone (LZ) as quickly as possible. The as-sault squad disembarked from thehelicopters as they hovered, using 30-footknotted ropes, and covered the shore partywhile the LZ was being prepared. The firsttroops landed one hour later, and 20

(Continued on page 20)

The HRS-1, Bu. No. 127828, on display at the Air-Ground Musem at Quantico previ-ously saw service with Marine Helicopter Squadrons 161, 162, 163, 362, and 363.

Technical Data

Manufacturer: Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Aircraft Corporation, Strat-ford, Connecticut.Type: Transport Helicopter.

Accommodation*: Pilot, crew member, and four to six combat-equipped troops or

up to 1,500 pounds of cargo, or three to five casualties in litters.Power Plant: One 600 h.p. Pratt and Whitney R-1340-57.Dimensions: Rotor diameter, 53 ft.; Length, 42 ft., 2 in.; Height, 13 ft., 4 in.;Rotor disc area, 2,210 sq. ft.Weights: Empty, 4,590 lbs.; gross, 7,900 lbs.Performance: Max speed, 101 mph. at sea level; Cruising speed, 90 m.p.h. at1,000 ft.; Initial climb, 700 ft/mm; Service ceiling, 10,500 ft.; Range, 370 st/miles.

Armaments: None.*ad capabilities varied with altitude, temperature, and fuel load.

19

(Continued from page 19)minutes after that, a second LZ was ready.Over a four-hour period, some 220 fullyequipped Marines, and more than 17,700pounds of cargo were lifted to Hill 884,which was later known as "Mount Helicop-ter." After that, eight miles of communi-cation wire was laid in 15 minutes by theI-IRS-is to connect the reconnaissance com-pany with the command post of the 1st

Marines. Operation Summit receivedfront-page headlines in the United Statesand brought before the public the MarineCorps' integration and utilization of thehelicopter in combat.

Throughout most of 1952, the HRS-1was used for various missions, includingmedical evacuation and the validation ofthe Marine Corps' concept of vertical en-velopment in conjunction with amphibi-

ous operations. A total of nine squadronsflew the HRS-1, building a foundationwhich has made the helicopter an integralcomponent of the Marine Corps' air-ground team.

The HRS-l at Quantico is Bu. No.127828. Its history card indicates servicewith HMX-1, 0 & R Bauer H & S, 0 & RBauer FA, and Marine Helicopter Squad-rons 161, 162, 163, 362, and 363.LIJ1775LI

On Invitations, Mother Stressed Words 'Naval Aviator'(Continued from page 24)

Very early the next Sunday morning,the phone rang. It was 2dLt Quilter po-litely inquiring if I would like to go horse-back riding around the perimeters ofCoronado. I had had a long evening ofdancing at the Saturday night 0-Club af-fair. I was still stunned by my introduc-tion to a lethal drink called a Cuba Librethe night before. I accepted the invitationweakly.

When we returned to the stables, I

offered to pay for my share of the ride. Ihad no idea what a second lieutenant waspaid, but at the moment it seemed likea nice gesture on my part. Much to my sur-prise and disgust, the second lieutenanttook me up on my generosity. I think thatwas the first time I took a long, hard lookat the guy.

W e were married four months later.Much had happened during the

courtship. First off, I discovered that Chickwas an ardent Irish Catholic. I hadn't evenbeen baptized. So as soon as Chick wentoff on maneuvers on San Clemente Island,I stepped into a Protestant church andemerged 15 minutes later a Presbyterian.I felt that the impediment to our marri-age no longer existed. It turned out hewould rather have had me remain a pa-gan. And so, despite dire predictions frommy family, I embraced the "Faith," withJohn Dobbin acting as my godfather. Johnhas kept a watchful eye on me ever since.

Another cross to bear was Mother's af-finity for the Navy. She referred to Marinesas those men who wore those vulgar bluetrousers with the red stripes. When writ-ing out the wedding invitations, shestressed the words Naval Aviator, and wasapt to use Navy titles instead of Marineranks. I had to watch her carefully.

The groom and the ushers wore blue trou-sers with red stripes for the California wed-ding of Elizabeth and Charles Quilter

Another tiny cross . . . the Naval Avia-tors were getting a big kick out of Mother'sname. She and my father were divorced.Thus, according to the day's custom, sheused her maiden name and my father's lastname in formal correspondence. Thereforeit developed that Mrs. E. Cooley Howe wasextending the invitations. The Marinesimmediately picked up on it, and Mother

20

was now o-kole-hau after the popular, po-tent Hawaiian drink.

My father, on the other hand, gave themarriage six months when he heard myhope chest contained sheets for a doublebed. At the wedding ceremony, hedeclared he had never gotten up, satdown, or knelt, so much in his life. At thereception at the 0-Club, he was stunnedby the capacity Marines had for alcohol.When the wedding cake appeared, Mothernearly fainted. It was a large, two-tieredcupcake. The bakers had goofed, but it wasfairly easy to cut with a sword.

In addition to Chick, the best man andushers all wore those vulgar blue trous-

ers with the red stripes. They were JohnStage, Charlie Endweiss, "Fuzz" Ferris,"Willy" Williams, Eddie Johnston, and"Rats" Boyington.

My bridesmaids had been severelyreprimanded at rehearsal by the crusty oldpriest for conducting themselves likemembers of the Roxy chorus. They wereIsobel Davis, Shirley Endweiss, HeleneBoyington, and BSC. The Boyingtons hadremained nervously sober throughout theday.

The Connecticut swain sent a scathingtelegram of congratulations in which heaccused me of being brass-button crazy,and hoped that the termites would eat myrosary. His message ended with the hopethat the red stripes on the Marine's trous-ers would turn yellow.

So now I was the wife of a Marine avia-tor. My experience with cuisine was in-

deed nouvelle. This was borne out by thepained expression on my husband's faceas he watched me trying to perk coffee ina dripolator pot. My experience with avi-ation was even less. My first taste was a

20-minute, $5 ride in some biplane flownby an itinerant barnstorming type, circa1926. I recall he did a loop-the-loop. I

didn't care for it, but my brothers were ec-static.

Many years later, Mother ordered thechauffeur not to take her to PennsylvaniaStation in New York City to catch thetrain, but instead to drive to Newark,where a Ford Trimotor plane in corrugat-ed metal would fly us to Washington, D.C.Flying through the upchuck corridor ofthe USA, Mother soon succumbed, withthe copilot holding her head. I studious-ly avoided the horizon out the plane win-dow and hoped the sudden ascents anddescents would not similarly affect me.

Oh yes, I had one ride in a Goodyearblimp during my cub reporter days in thelate 30s. The blimp shot straight up,leveled off, and turned corners like a rul-er. I don't think, however, that it countedas real aviation. Three years ago, I wentaloft in a hot-air balloon, a ride which Iloathed, and I prefer not to think of thatas real aviation, either. I liked neither thesudden explosions of butane and subse-quent sizzling of my head, nor the sightof fleeing animals below, nor the immi-nent spires and hedgerows.

So now suddenly in 1940 I was sup-posed to know all about SOCs, a

scouting biplane which Chick flew in thesquadron known as VMS-2. It was for-tunate that a lenient flight surgeon loppeda half-inch from Quilter's height in orderto qualify as a pilot. Even so, he still hadto opt for either sticking his head out ofthe cockpit, or scrunching.

"Willy" Williams flew something calledan F3F2, a fighter biplane whose landinggear was cranked up and down by hand.Woe betide the pilot who forgot to lowerhis wheels upon landing. He was given ateapot covered with a cloth helmet to in-dicate that it and he were jugheads. Hecould not rid himself of this bit of mock-ery until another pilot forgot.

Other squadrons had SBDs, SB2Us, andR2Ds, a version of the DC-2, equally out-dated as the rest. Came the day when theNavy foisted off on the Marines the dread-ed Brewsters, which always seemed to berunning into things, like mountains. Ma-rine aviation was in those days divided intotwo group-sized units. Aircraft One wasstationed at Quantico, Aircraft Two atCoronado.

Settling into a rigidly structured MarineCorps and Catholic life had its ups anddowns, but rarely a dull moment. Amongthe things I learned was never to have afight with your husband before he flew.Also, to never let him out of the housewithout a good breakfast. This was to en-sure that his mind would always be on thebusiness at hand.

As a Catholic I was never to think anevil thought after midnight, although,oddly enough, it was okay to finish one'sdrink until twenty minutes aftermidnight.

Hats and gloves and calling cards forofficial visits, and don't ever leave beforetwenty minutes had passed. What was itwith all those twenty minutes?

W e carpooled. We picked up ourglamorous pilots after work in their

cloth helmets, silk scarves, and flight suits.We ate often at EAvenida's, where they

Lt Quilter flew biplanes in the squadronknown as VMS-2; a lenient Jlzght surgeonhad lopped a half inch from his height.

21

specialized in some ambrosial Caesar'ssalad. We crossed the bridge leading toNorth Island for the weekly Saturday nightdance at the 0-Club. Each lady wore anevening gown and had two or three morehanging in her closet. BSC spent only $30per month on food and her husbandseemed very well fed. But it was a

challenge to the rest of us even thougheggs were 25 a dozen. Bar bills often ex-ceeded the rent we paid for our homes.Our first house on Adella Lane was an ex-travagant $65 a month. Later we renteda larger one for $55 a month. Our landla-dy almost threw us out for failing to waterthe lawn.

The rumor mills could predict with ex-actitude the return of the Group frommaneuvers. The skies of Coronado thun-dered with the orderly approach of divebombers, scout planes, and fighter planes,the latter throttling back to keep fromoverrunning the slower planes. Theylooked and sounded like angry bees. Backhome, the pilots enthralled us with end-less tales of derring-do and narrow escapes,all accompanied by hand gestures. Wecalled it living-room flying.

W onderful friends were made. SallyandJerryJerome were our leading

stars. I later learned that each had had ahand in promoting our marriage. OtherCoronado neighbors were the Ralph Rot-tets, the Paul Fontanas, the Joe Bauers, thePaul Putnams, the Jens Aggerbecks, theVern Megees, the Bob Burns— and "Duke"Davis, whose genteel mother was amazedat however she "could have borne him."Memory includes the Bill Gises, the StanRidderhofs, the Dick Hughes', the TexRogers', the Verne McCauls, the JohnCareys, and a host of others.

And then—Pearl Harbor. Life as weknew it before would never be the same.Everything changed. We lost cherishedfriends. And over the years as we foughtthe wars in the Pacific, in Korea, and inVietnam, the arrival of jets and helicop-ters changed us, too. We had babies, wemoved a lot, and pilots flew desk jobs. Butwe wives, whether barefoot or pregnant,or both, were always there to keep thehome fires burning and the prayers on thewing for safe homecomings.

S emper Fi . . . to those who haveslipped off this mortal coil and to

those who still abide on earth. Eli 775 LI

T he Chemin des Dames offensive launched by the GermanHigh Command in late May of 1918 rolled back the French

43d Division and opened a four-kilometer gap in the Allied lines.The German troops drove virtually unchecked to Chateau-Thierryon the Marne River east of Paris. The Allied Commander-in-Chief, Gen Ferdinand Foch, had no reserve troops left to stemthe German onslaught, except the newly arrived American forces,in whom he reposed little confidence. The stubborn Gallic gener-al had no choice, however, and the fate of the French capital,and to a large degree, the Allied cause, was left in the untestedhands of the 2d U.S. Division, including the 4th Marine Brigade.

On 30 May 1918, the 2d Division deployed along either sideof the Paris-Metz highway northwest of Chateau-Thierry. As theMarines of the 4th Brigade took up their positions in theChateau-Thierry sector, they encountered thousands of Frenchrefugees and soldiers fleeing from the onrushing German jug-gernaut. At the suggestion of a dejected French officer that theAmericans would be advised to join the general retreat, MarineCapt Lloyd W. Williams is said to have coolly replied, 'Retreathell, we just got here!" Orders to the units comprising the 4thMarine Brigade were simple and direct: "No retirement will bethought of on any pretext whatsoever."

The German troops began their advance toward American linesat dawn on 2 June, and soon received a lesson in rifle marks-manship from the entrenched Marines that the Germans wouldnot forget. As the heads of the German columns came into rangeat approximately 800 yards, they were raked by fire from Ma-

The barbed-wire through which German soldiers and Ameri-can Marines fought still marked a trench line at the end of bloody

rine infantry and machine-gunfire. By .5 June the German ad-vance had stalled and their drive on Paris was halted.Unaccustomed to retreating during four years of fighting on theWestern Front, the stubborn German troops adopted a defen-sive position in a dark patch of woods and tumbled boulderscalled the Bois de Belleau—Belleau Wood—situated in front ofthe villages of Torcy, Belleau, and Bouresches.

A t 4 a.m. on 6 June, the 4th Marine Brigade began its ad-vance on the German positions. The ensuing 20-day ac-

tion witnessed some of the most intense fighting of the war, cost-ing the brigade 55 percent casualties, which translated into nearly5,000 Marines killed and wounded. The battle soon became abloody business of reducing German machine-gun nests withgrenades, rifles, and bayonets. While the 1st Battalion, 5th Ma-rines took Hill 142 west of the Wood, the 2d Battalion, 5th Ma-rines, along with the 2d and 3d Battalions, 6th Marines assaultedBelleau Wood itself.

Individual heroism was common among the thousands of Ma-rines who participated in the capture of Belleau Wood. TheAmerican war correspondent, Floyd Gibbons, before fallingwounded, heard the imperious voice of GySgt Dan Daly shout-ing to his hesitant platoon, "Come on, you sons of bitches! Doyou want to live forever?" Although the Germans brought freshdivisions to the front, nothing could turn back the determinedMarines. On 26June, American Expeditionary Force Headquart-ers received the message: "Belleau Wood now U.S. Marine Corps

combat at Belleau Wood The battle cost the 4th Marine Brigade112 officers and 4,590 enlisted men killed and wounded

Part II of a Chronology, June-July 1918

'Over There:' The Marine Experience in World War IBy Robert V Aquiina

Assistant Head, Reference Section

Riding at the head of his troops, the 2dBattalion, 6th Marines,near Montreuil, France, is Maj Thomas C. Ho/comb, second from

entirely." The operation had cost the 4th Marine Brigade 112officers and 4,590 enlisted men killed and wounded in action.The fighting ability displayed by the Marines at Belleau Woodearned them a nickname from their German opponents—"Teufelhunden," or "Devil Dogs."

Four days later, the Sixth French Army issued an order offi-cially redesignating Belleau Wood as the "Bois de Ia Brigade deMarine," and the entire 4th Marine Brigade was cited by theFrench Army command.

B y mid-July the 2d Division was attached to the French XXCorps for an attack on the Germans' Marne salient, along

the Soissoris-Chateau-Thierry highway. The commanding generalof the 2d Division was Army MajGen James G. Harbord, whileCol Wendell C. Neville led the 4th Marine Brigade.

On the morning of 18 July, the 2d Division, along with the1st American Division and the 1st Moroccan Division, assaulted

Men of the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, who earned the name"Teufelhunden '— Devil Dogs —from their German opponents,

right, later Commandant of the Marine Corps. On l7June 1918the battalion was returning from 16 days on the front lines.

the German positions. The 5th Marines led the initial assault,and was followed by the 6th Marines. In a bitter two-day battle,they broke the German grip on the Marne salient, while suffer-ing 1,972 casualties.

On the night of 19 July, a fresh division arrived and the 4thMarine Brigade, along with the rest of the 2d Division, was with-drawn from the fighting. While newspaper headlines at homeproclaimed the valor of Marine arms, the 4th Brigade reassem-bled near Paris, then moved on to Nancy, where American divi-sions were being organized into an American army. The MarineBrigade was visited by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Frank-lin D. Roosevelt, who lauded the "splendid work of the MarineBrigade" at Belleau Wood and at Soissons.

The Marine Corps had passed with flying colors its baptismof fire on the Western Front, and now awaited its role in theanticipated Allied offensive that would hopefully bring the warto an end. L111775L11

proudly display an enemy trench mortar and ammunition cap-tured during 20 days of ferocious fighting at Belleau W7ood

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVYHEADQUARTERS US. MARINE CORPS

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20380

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

24

BULK RATE

POSTAGE AND FEES PAID

USMC

PERMIT NO. G-63

Those Vulgar Blue Trousers With The Red Stripesby Elizabeth H. Quilter

I n the Connecticut spring of 1940, Ibreathed a sad a bientôt to my

cherished beau. Mother and I were offto California in her sincere little blackFord coupe. I had taken leave from myjob on the local newspaper where Iworked seven days a week and was in-sulted with a stipend of $25 a week—minus all those deductions, of course.We were on our way across the USA tovisit my boarding school chum who hadbeen crazy enough to marry a Marineaviator, whatever that was! Once across

had one baby and another on the way.My boarding school chum, hereafter

referred to as "BSC," greeted Motherand me warmly, and promptly trottedout all the eligible bachelors for my in-spection. Although I had left my heartin Connecticut, absence was beginningto dim its ardor. Little did I know thenI would never a bientôt my beau again.

My first date was with Eddie John-ston. We went to the movies. On theway home he confessed he was engagedto Marian. I also confessed. I went outwith another foxy type. No sparks. ThenGordy Knott and Al Follmar.

the Mississippi, we discovered some-thing brand-new called an auto court,for which we paid $4 a night. We con-tinued to overnight in these immaculatelittle cubicles until we arrived inCoronado. My chum's husband was sta-tioned on nearby North Island in afighter squadron.

We arrived the day after the flam-boyant "Rats" Boyington had tried toswim the Hellespont between San Die-go and Coronado. He had missed thelast ferry. Twice bested by the tides, hehad returned to shore and removed hisclothes to give it one more fruitless try.Sans attire, he took refuge with theShore Patrol. Later, a married ladyfriend came to his rescue, shroudinghim in a blanket and driving him home."Rats," by the way, had ignored theNavy-Marine ruling that no newly com-missioned officer should marry for twoyears following. He and his wife, He-lene, who had the face of a Botticelli an-gel and the voice of a fishwife, already

Elizabeth H. Quilter is the widow ofMayGen CharlesJ. Quilter, USMC, andthe mother of Col CharlesJ. Quilter II,USMCR, the author of an appreciationof Col Gregory "Pappy" Boyzngton inthe Winter 1987-1988 issue of Fortitu-dine. Col Quilter cited his mother's per-sonal recollections of an importantperiod in Marine Corps history. In thisarticle Mrs. Quilter further describes herexperience of that time.

Q ne afternoon a long, yellowPhaeton Pontiac convertible drove

up to BSC's house. Out of it emergedone of the lankiest, tallest men I hadever seen. He was atrociously garbed ina broad-striped T-shirt and his trouserswere tan with tiny white checks. Hisname was 2dLt Chick Quilter.

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