To be able to say when this war is finished, "I belonged to the 2d
Division; I fought with it at the battle of Blanc Mont Ridge," will be
the highest honor that can come to any man.
John A. Lejeune.
Major-General, United States Marine Corps, Commanding.
Thus it is that the United States marines have fulfilled the glorious
traditions of their corps in this their latest duty as the "soldiers who
go to sea." Their sharpshooting--and in one regiment 93 per cent of the
men wear the medal of a marksman, a sharpshooter, or an expert
rifle-man--has amazed soldiers of European armies, accustomed merely to
shooting in the general direction of the enemy. Under the fiercest fire
they have calmly adjusted their sights, aimed for their man, and killed
him, and in bayonet attacks their advance on machine-gun nests has been
irresistible.
In the official citation lists more than one American marine is credited
with taking an enemy machine-gun single-handed, bayoneting its crew, and
then turning the gun against the foe. In one battle alone, that of
Belleau Wood, the citation lists bear the names of fully 500 United
States marines who so distinguished themselves in battle as to call
forth the official commendation of their superior officers.
More than faithful in every emergency, accepting hardships with
admirable morale, proud of the honor of taking their place as shock
troops for the American legions, they have fulfilled every glorious
tradition of their corps, and they have given to the world a list of
heroes whose names will go down to all history.
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