Marine Corps, United States

MARINE CORPS, UNITED STATES

MARINE CORPS, UNITED STATES, one of the four armed services of the U.S. military. Originally, its function was to supply guards to warships. Over the twentieth century, however, the corps transformed into a multi-function organization that combines ground and air combat units into a maritime force, trained to come from the sea to fight on land (littoral warfare).

The history of the Marine Corps traditionally dates from 10 November 1775, when the Continental Congress authorized the raising of "two Battalions of marines." These first marines executed a successful amphibious raid into the Bahamas in March 1776; joined George Washington at Princeton, New Jersey, in January 1777; wintered at Morristown, New Jersey; participated in the defense of the Delaware River and Philadelphia in the autumn of 1777; and joined the unsuccessful Penobscot expedition in the summer of 1779. At sea, marines—Continental, state, or privateer—served on virtually all armed ships of the embattled colonies. Both the Continental navy and the marines disbanded at the war's end.

Congress resurrected both the marines and the navy before the century's end. In 1794, spurred by the depredations of algerian pirates, Congress authorized the building of six frigates, the complements of which included marine quotas. On 11 July 1798, concomitant with the separation of the navy from the War Department, Congress authorized "a Marine Corps." In the Quasi-War with France (1798–1800), the new U.S. Marines fought in virtually all sea actions and performed some minor landings, including those in Santo Domingo in 1800. Next came operations against the Barbary pirates (1801– 1815), including the celebrated march of eight marines "to the shores of Tripoli" as part of the polyglot "army" that moved 600 miles across the Libyan desert from Alexandria to Derna (1805).

In the War of 1812, the chief service of the U.S. Marines continued to be at sea, notably in the great frigate duels and in the Essex 's cruise to the Pacific (1812–1814). A provisional battalion fought well at Bladensburg, Maryland (1814), as did another battalion at New Orleans (1815), but neither resources nor opportunities justified significant amphibious employment. The next three decades saw operations against the pirates in the Caribbean (1822 to the 1830s), landings in such diverse places as the Falkland Islands (1832) and Sumatra (1831–1832), and patrolling off West Africa to suppress the slave trade (1820–1861). An improvised marine regiment participated in the Seminole War of 1836–1842.

In the Mexican-American War (1846–1848), marines conducted many amphibious operations on both the Gulf and Pacific coasts. A marine battalion drawn from the Gulf Squadron executed raids against Frontera, Tampico, and Alvarado (1846–1847) and landed with Gen. Winfield Scott at Veracruz (9 March 1847). A second marine battalion joined Scott at Puebla and marched with him to the "halls of Montezuma" in Mexico City (13 September 1847). In the West, marine landing parties from the Pacific Squadron participated in the conquest of California (1846) and in raids on Mexico's west coast ports (1847).

In the Civil War (1861–1865), a marine battalion fought at the first Battle of Bull Run (1861), but primarily served with the navy. Overshadowed by the larger scope and drama of the land campaigns, the series of amphibious operations in which marines participated—beginning with the capture of Fort Clark on Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, on 28 August 1861 and ending with the assault of Fort Fisher, a guardian of Wilmington, North Carolina, on 15 January 1865—has been largely overlooked.

The U.S. Marines were in China with the East India Squadron as early as 1844 and accompanied Commodore Matthew C. Perry when he forced open the doors of Japan to foreign commerce in 1853. In the last third of the nineteenth century, marine involvement in the Orient and in the Caribbean increased. From 1865 until 1898, marines participated in some thirty-two landings, including Formosa (1867), Japan (1867 and 1868), Mexico (1870), Korea (1871, 1888, and 1894), Colombia (1873), Hawaii (1874 and 1889), Egypt (1882), Panama (1885 and 1895), Samoa (1888), Haiti (1888), China (1894 and 1895), and Nicaragua (1894 and 1896). In the Spanish-American War (1898), a marine battalion seized an advanced base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in support of the American blockade of the Spanish squadron at Santiago de Cuba, and a regiment formed for service in the Philippine Insurrection (1899–1904). Between the turn of the century and World War I, the corps continued to participate in landings and expeditions in Central America, Africa, and China.

In World War I, the Fifth Marine Regiment was in the first convoy to sail for France (14 June 1917). Along with the Sixth Marine Regiment, it became the Fourth Brigade, Second U.S. Division, which fought at Belleau Wood (June 1918), Soissons (July 1918), Saint-Mihiel (September 1918), Blanc Mont (October 1918), and in the final Meuse-Argonne offensive (November 1918). Four marine squadrons, forming the day wing of the navy's northern bombing group, operated primarily over Belgium in support of the British. Marine involvement in the occupation of Haiti and Santo Domingo continued through these war years. The marines served along the Mexican border, participated in the sugar intervention in Cuba (1917–1919), and conducted minor expeditions to Siberia (1918–1920). After the war, they renewed large-scale involvement in Nicaragua (1926–1933) and China (1926– 1941).

When the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the U.S. Marines were there helping defend the islands. The marines were also in the Philippines and at Guam, Wake, and Midway islands. Beginning with Guadalcanal (August 1942), marine divisions or corps conducted amphibious assaults at Bougainville (November 1942), Tarawa (November 1942), New Britain (December 1943), Kwajalein (January 1944), Eniwetok (February 1944), Saipan (June 1944), Guam (July 1944), Tinian (July 1944), Peleliu (September 1944), Iwo Jima (February 1945), and Okinawa (April 1945). Marine aviation, in addition to providing air defense and close air support incident to these and other operations, contributed to the neutralization of bypassed Japanese-held islands. During World War II the Marine Corps reached a peak strength of 485,113; almost 87,000 were killed or wounded.

Marine units took part briefly in the occupation of Japan (1945–1946) and for a longer term in the occupation of Northern China (1945–1949). Immediately after the outbreak of the Korean War (June 1950), a marine brigade moved to reinforce the Pusan perimeter. Joined by the remainder of the First Marine Division and supported by the First Marine Aircraft Wing, these marines executed the assault at Inchon and the subsequent recapture of Seoul (September 1950). The marines also joined the United Nations forces in the counter offensives of spring and summer 1951 until reaching the truce line. Two years of trench warfare followed. More then 25,000 marines were killed or wounded during the Korean conflict.

Involvement in Vietnam began with the assignment of U.S. Marine advisers to the Vietnamese Marine Corps in 1954. Marine transport helicopter units arrived in 1962 and, in 1965, the landing of the Ninth Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Da Nang marked the first significant introduction of U.S. ground forces. Marine ground operations concentrated in the First Corps Tactical Zone, the northern five provinces of South Vietnam. By the summer of 1968, Marine Corps strength reached a peak of more than 85,000, more than the number who fought at Iwo Jima or Okinawa during World War II. This force completely left Vietnam by June 1971. In reaction to the North Vietnamese Easter offensive of 1972, two marine aircraft groups returned to Vietnam but without any marine ground forces. They helped evacuate embassy staff, U.S. citizens, and refugees from Saigon and Phnom Penh in 1975.

During the 1980s, the Marine Corps participated in several efforts to restore stability in countries threatened by war or by political disintegration. Lebanon presented a particularly difficult situation. In August 1982, marine security guards went to Beruit, Lebanon, as part of a multi-national peacekeeping force to oversee evacuation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) guerillas under

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Israeli siege. They remained in Lebanon after the PLO evacuation to train Lebanese soldiers and prevent the outbreak of war. On 23 September 1983, a suicide truck bomber destroyed the Marine Corps barracks, killing 241 and wounding 70. The marines and American civilians evacuated Beruit in February 1984. For the rest of the decade, marines remained stationed on ships in the Mediterranean.

The August 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait lead to the largest mobilization of marine forces since World War II. More than 92,000 marines, including more than 1,000 women, were deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990– 1991. Since the end of Desert Storm, the Marine Corps has increasingly been involved in "military operations other than war." These operations include providing relief after a devastating cyclone in Bangladesh (1991); safeguarding humanitarian relief efforts in Somalia (1993– 1994); evacuating embassy staff and civilians from countries torn by civil strife; helping residents of Dade County, Florida, who were displaced by Hurricane Andrew (1992); providing relief at Guantanomo Bay to Haitians fleeing political upheaval (1992), and to Cubans fleeing economic hardship (1993–1994); assisting with drug interdiction efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border; and supporting the efforts of civilian authorities to combat forest fires. But the marines began the twenty-first century in a familiar role as the forward deployed units in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Gulf War was a watershed event in terms of the participation of enlisted women in an armed conflict. However, women had been offering to serve in the marines for many years before that conflict. According to legend, the first woman marine was Lucy Brewer, who donned men's clothing, took on the name of George Baker, and saw action on the USS Constitution during the War of 1812. Officially, Opha Mae Johnson was the first woman marine. She and some 300 other women enlisted in 1918 to take over stateside clerical duties from battle-ready male marines. After the war was over, the Marine Corps separated all women from the service. During World War II, women came back to "free a man to fight" when the corps formed the Women Marine Corps Reserve on 13 February 1943. During the war, women not only handled clerical duties, but also worked as map makers, mechanics, parachute riggers, radio operators, and welders. A total of 23,145 women served as reserves in the corps during World War II.

After Japan surrendered, the Marine Corps demobilized the Women's Reserve. However, some women returned to the service as regulars under the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act. At the height of the Vietnam War, there were about 2,700 women marines on active duty. During this period, the Marine Corps began to expand training and opportunities for women within the service. It took some time, however, for the training of women to closely resemble that of men. Firing rifles became part of training for all marine women in 1980; testing on combat rifles began in 1985. By the year 2000, training and testing standards for women were almost identical to that of men. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, women made up six percent of marine Corps ranks. Ground combat was still off limits, but women were near the heat of battle—flying planes in combat and serving on combat ships during the war in Afghanistan. In January 2002, Sgt. Jeannette L. Winters became the first woman marine killed in a hostile-fire zone when a tanker plane crashed in Pakistan.

Hidden within this combat history is another story—that of the Marine Corps's institutional changes and its changing role in U.S. military and foreign policy. During the nineteenth century, the main function of the corps was to supply ships guards for naval warships. These guards provided internal security aboard ships and infantry for ship battles or landing operations. At the end of the nineteenth century, the corps became a colonial infantry force for use in prolonged interventions in the Pacific and Latin America. Between the turn of the century and World War I, the Marine Corps expanded gradually and became structured more permanently into companies, regiments, and brigades for this expeditionary service, which ended in the 1940s. At the same time, the corps acquired an amphibious assault function as it began to provide forces to defend advanced naval bases. This mission led to the creation of the Fleet Marine Force in 1933 and the development of ship-to-shore movement tactics and equipment used in the amphibious campaigns in the Pacific during World War II. Since the end of World War II, the Marine Corps has expanded its mission even further as development of air support technology allowed the corps to acquire rapid intervention capabilities that made it the nation's principal "force in readiness" for the twenty-first century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alexander, Joseph H., Don Horan, and Norman C. Stahl. A Fellowship of Valor: The Battle History of the United States Marines. New York: Harper Collins, 1997.

Heinl, Robert D., Jr. Soldiers of the Sea: The United States Marine Corps, 1775–1962. Annapolis, Md.: U.S. Naval Institute, 1962.

Millett, Allan Reed. Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps. New York: Macmillan, 1980; New York: Free Press; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, 1991.

Moskin, J. Robert. The U.S. Marine Corps Story. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1977; 1987; Boston: Little, Brown, 1992.

Sherrod, Robert. History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II. Washington: Combat Forces Press, 1952; 1979; San Rafael, Calif: Presidio Press, 1980; Baltimore: Nautical and Aviation Publishing Co. of america, 1987.

Simmons, Edwin H. The United States Marines: A History. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1998.

Simmons, Edwin H., and J. Robert Moskin, eds. The Marines. Quantico, Va.: Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, 1998.

Stremlow, Mary V. A History of the Women Marines, 1946–1977. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Marine Corps, 1986.

Edwin H. Simmons / c. w.; c. p.

See also Barbary Wars ; Lebanon, U.S. Landing in ; Navy, United States ; Perry's Expedition to Japan ; Persian Gulf War ; Philippine Insurrection ; Seminole Wars ; Spanish-American War ; Vietnam War ; Women in Military Service .