Many Classic Phrases Attributed To Marines: Some Date Many Decades

Many Classic Phrases Attributed To Marines: Some Date Many Decades
Honolulu Star Bulletin: Thursday, November 8, 1945.

“This is where we separate the men from the boys.”

“You won’t get any Purple Hearts in a foxhole.”

If you want to win this war, let’s get the hell up that ridge.”

These are some of the classic phrases you are likely to hear these days as the Marine Corps observes its 170th anniversary Saturday.

Products of World War II, these words uttered in the heat of battle have taken their place in Marine Corps legend along with other famous sayings such as:

“Tell it to the Marines!” “The Marines have landed and have the situation well in hand,” and, “Retreat, hell! We just got here!”

Few people, including Marines, can agree on the origin of most of these utterances, but no less a literary figure than Samuel Pepys is credited as authority for the origin of “Tell it to the Marines!”

The general public’s conception of the term Leatherneck as standing for the toughness of the service is not objected to by the Marines, but a more definite origin exists.

Leatherneck is a title that came to be applied to the Marines in the revolutionary days of wooden ships, when our soldiers of the sea wore leather collars reaching from collar bone to ear for the quite practical purpose of protecting the neck and jugular vein from the boarding pike and cutlass.

A semblance of the early precaution is still retained in the high, tight fitting collar of the Marines blue dress uniform.

The Marines’ other appellation best known to the public –Devil Dogs- is said to have originated in the first world war when German newspapers reported that American Devil Dogs were holding up their progress in Bellau Wood.

The term was well applied for the Devil Dogs not only held up progress, but launched an offensive of their own.

Capt. Lloyd Williams uttered a remark which ranks high among the favorites of the Marines themselves.

French troops were in full retreat when the scanty, untried Marines of the 4th brigade began digging in for a stay at BellauWood.

French officers informed Capt. Williams that the situation was hopeless and ordered the Marines to join in the general retreat.

Capt. Williams stood surprised for a moment, then calmly replied, “Retreat hell! We just got here,:

Several “firsts” are claimed for the report. “The Marines have landed and have the situation well in hand.”

One story dates it to a landing at Panama in 1885 as reported by a British consul.

Semper Fidelis, a Latin motto mean “always faithful” was officially adopted by the Marine Corps in 1926, though it had been associated with the Marines long before. It is above the eagle on the Marine flag and on all printed emblems.

First to fight, often found in references to the Leathernecks, begins the fifth line of the Marines’ hymns –First for right and freedom.

The Marines, since they often are already on foreign soil when trouble breaks, and since they are first ashore to seize and hold enemy bases during a naval offensive, usually make the initial contact with hostile ground forces.

The warning, Don’t Tread on Me, has been lettered on the drums of Marine bands since the first fife and drum corps paraded the streets of Philadelphia in 1775.

The motto is not an exclusive Marine possession, but Marines helped John Paul Jones, who flew the rattlesnake flag on his ships, win all his major victories.

The expression “a Marine never surrenders” is credited to Capt. Gilbert D. Hatfield, who refused an enemy general’s demand to give up with those words.

U.S. Bungling in China Said Dangerous: Wedemeyer On Spot

U.S. Bungling in China Said Dangerous: Wedemeyer On Spot
Honolulu Advertiser: November 11, 1945, page 9.

By Louis F. Keemle (United Press Staff Correspondent)

The situation in China has become so explosive that united States policy –whaever it is- appears due for revision or a clear statement of aims.

Whether the United States is “intervening” or “interfering” in China’s internal affairs is a subject of controversy. The Chinese Communists and their supporters insist that it is a military intervention. United States military and diplomatic authorities contend that the sole purpose is to facilitate the disarmament of 2,000,000 Japanese troops in China and the deportation of the troops and another 2,000,000 Japanese civilians.

U.S. Public Not Fooled
That explanation is given to account for the presence of United States Marines in North China and the movement of the Ghungking government troops northward to the Communist-dominated area by United States airplanes and ships. The explanation is too simple and has not been accepted by the American public as telling the whole story.

Much confusion has arisen because of conflicting statements by American authorities in China and Washington, and by the Communist and Kuomintang factions in China. Recent developments include the following:

Lt. Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer, U.S. commander in China, told the press in Washington three weeks ago that the Marine strength in China would be built up by more than 50,000 by the end of the year. Yesterday he said on Peiping that evacuation of American forces from North china may begin in about a week. Secretary of States James F. Byrnes said the same thing in Washington.

Wedemeyer “Explains”
Previously Wedemeyer had said that if any really serious trouble started between the Communist and Central government forces, American forces would be withdrawn. He denied emphatically that American forces had aided the Chinese Nationalists in actual fighting. Nevertheless, American Marines have been wounded in rifle exchanges with the Chinese Communists. That does not belie Wedemeyer’s statement, although it shows the potential danger of a grave clash.

The Communists have just reported that Nationalist forces below the Great Wall have opened an attack to break through the Shanhaikwan pass into Southern Manchuria. The official Central News Agency reported almost simultaneously from Chungking that peace negotiations have been resumed.

The Communists also cited three specific examples of alleged American intervention. They charged that American forces have occupied the Communist office in Peiping and disarmed and questioned the personnel. An apology was demanded of Wedemeyer.

The Nationalist newspaper Tu Kung Pao said in Chingking that the 3,000 American airplanes now in China are being turned over to the central government. A State Department spokesman in Washington said a five-year military mission would be set up in China to reorganize and train the central government’s armies.

New Year Wishes and Perspectives: 1946

As 1945 concluded the prospect of real peace loomed brightly. As the year came to close news spread that American soldiers were coming home. They were returning from far-flung places around the globe –from Africa, Italy, Germany, and small islands in the Pacific such as Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Philippines, Japan, and China. They answered the call to duty, leaving families and neighborhoods as naïve, adolescent youths and returned as mature young adults, sobered and steady by the reality of wartime service.

There were also many who were not returning home for the first peacetime New Year. My father was among those who were called to extended duty in China. Besides being separated from loved ones and familiar surroundings they had personally borne witness to immense changes in the world they inhabited and in themselves. My Dad faced dangers few if any of us could imagine. He like his fellow Marines and those of the other services faced danger, death and severe combat.

December 27 brought news that Chinese Communists had presented to the national government under Chiang Kai-shek a proposal for an unconditional truce on all sides. Gen. Chou En Lai of the communists was a luncheon guest of Gen. George C. Marshall, the new American envoy where views were exchanged. The Chinese News Service, an agency of the central government said in an editorial that, “We must keep pace with the times and solve our own problems so that the blood of our patriots which made victory possible will not have been shed in vain.” On December 31 the Nationalist government announced that it had accepted the Communist-proposed “”cease fire.” Yet Lt. Gen. Albert c. Wedemeyer, commander of American forces in China, indicated that American military support for the Nationalist government was increasing. “The trend of American policy in China is enough reason for asking just what we intend to do in the Far East,” stated an editorial in the December 31, 1945 edition of the Honolulu Star Bulletin. “Granted that our interest prohibits our complete withdrawal. But a token representation is quite different from becoming the policeman of eastern Asia.”

The possibility of peace between both sides of the Chinese Civil War must have brought kindling in the hearts of many U.S. soldiers, my father included. And yet continued civil strife in the near future would necessitate that he and many other soldier from the United States would be staying longer. “The morale of marine occupation troops in north China is quite high,” said Maj. Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., formerly the commanding general of the 6th Marine Division. At the time there were an estimated 50,000 Marines controlling several vital centers of north China. My father was one of them.

In Connecticut my father’s family greeted the New Year in Greenwich, Connecticut with cold temperatures and light snow flurries. They, my father, his fellow China Marines and countless millions around the world greeted the New Year with a sense of hope tempered by anxious concerns about the future. The surrender of Japan and the defeat of Nazi Germany did not automatically bring peace to the world. There were misunderstandings and festering antagonisms simmering with the victors courageous looking for resolutions without resorting to renewed armed conflict. Wishing for peace and achieving it in the New Year would be elusive, and as history has shown, was not achieved as many had hoped.

And yet the will to simply give up did not materialize. That still holds true in the 21st century. History reminds us that “the will-to-do and the purpose-to-perform” by individuals represents some of the best traits of our military, their families -and all who work tirelessly for the cause of freedom and the journey of bringing about a safer world.

Happy New Year

Wishing all a Merry Christmas