Through the Wheat: The U.S. Marines in World War I"The U.S. Marines entered World War I as a small force of seagoing light infantry that had rarely faced a well-armed enemy. On a single faced day, in their initial assault "through the wheat" on Belleau Wood against German machine guns and poison gas shells, the Marines suffered more casualties than they had experienced in all their previous 142 years. Yet at Belleau Wood, Soissons, Blanc Mont, St. Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne the Marines proved themselves to be hard-nosed diehards with an affinity for close combat. Nearly a century later Belleau Wood still resonates as a touchstone battle of the Corps." "Two retired Marines, well known for their achievements both in uniform and with the pen, have recorded this rich history in a way that only insiders can. Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Simmons and Col. Joseph H. Alexander recount events and colorful personalities in telling detail, capturing the spirit that earned the 4th Marine Brigade three awards of the French Croix de Guerre and launched the first pioneering detachments of "Flying Leathernecks." Here, hand-to-hand combat seen through the lenses of a gas mask is accompanied by thought-provoking assessments of the war's impact on the Marine Corps."--Jacket. |
Contents
The War to End All Wars | 1 |
Fivefold Expansion | 18 |
New Frontiers | 37 |
Copyright | |
16 other sections not shown
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Through the Wheat: The U.S. Marines in World War I Edwin H. Simmons,Joseph H. Alexander No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
1st Battalion 1st Marine 23d Infantry 2d Battalion 2d Division 3d Brigade 4th Brigade 55th Company 5th Marines 6th Regiment 9th Infantry advance American arrived artillery assault attack Barnett barrage battle Belleau Wood biographic file Blanc Mont Bouresches British Capt Captain Cates Catlin Chauchat Colonel combat command crossing Cunningham Farm fighting fire forward France French front line German Gulberg gunners Harbord headquarters Holcomb Infantry John Lejeune July June kilometers left flank Lejeune Lejeune's lieutenant Logan Feland Machine Gun Battalion Major Marine Aviation Marine brigade Marine Corps Meuse Mihiel moved Naval Navy Neville night officers oral history orders Pershing platoon Poague position Quantico rear recruits Reference Section reserve rifle Sergeant shells Sibley Sibley's Simmons Soissons squadron Thomason took troops Turrill Turrill's U.S. Army U.S. Marine U.S. Marine Corps USMC Ret USMCR Vierzy western front Wise's wounded wrote XXI Corps