FORTITIJD IiBULLETIN OF THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL PROG1.HIS1DRICAL BULLETIN VOLUME XXIV SUMMER 1994 NUMBER

EWE NEW PACIFIC WAR Th1ES ADDED 'JO 5oTh ANNWERSARY CoMMEMoRATIVE SERIES. . . WORLD WAR

II WAR CORRESPONDENT AND HIS1ORIAN BOB SHERROD REMEMBERED.. . i9Th-CENTURY MAiur NCOSwORD RESIORED 'JO FORMER LUSTER.. . IMA DETACHMENT FORMED. . . FUGHT LINES: OKHA SUICIDE BOMB

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FORTITUDINTEMotto of the United States Marine Corps in the 1812 eraHistorical Bulletin Volume XXIV Summer 1994 No. 1

This quarterly bulletin of the Marine Corps historical program is published for Marines, atthe rate of one copy for every nine on active duty, to provide education and training in theuses of military and Marine Corps history. Other interested readers may purchase single co-pies or four-issue subscriptions from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HISTORYAND MUSEUMSDIVISION

Marine Corps Historica CenterBuilding 58, Washington Navy Yard

901 M Street, SoutheastWashington, D.C. 20374-5040

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

DIRECTOR

BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)Secreta,y to the Director Mrs. Patricia E. Morgan.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Col William J. Davis, USMC

HISTORICAL BRANCH

Head: LtCol Thomas A. Richards, USMC. Hcttories Section:Mr. Benis M. Frank, Chief Historian: Dr. Jack Shulimson;Mr. Charles R. Smith: Capt John T Quinn 11, USMC. OralHistory Unit: Mr. Richard A. Long. Reference Section: Mr.Danny J. Crawford: Mr. Robert V. Aquilina; Mrs. Ann A.Ferrante: Miss Lena M. Kaljot: Mrs. Shelia Gramblin. Ar-chives: Mr. FrederickJ. Graboske; Miss AmyJ. Cantin, Per-sonal Papers: Mrs. Joyce C. Hudson, Cpl Darian E. Hines,USMC, Official Papers.

MUSEUMS BRANCH

Head/Officer-in-Charge, Air-Ground Museum, Quantico:Col Alfred J. Ponnwitz, USMC. Operations Officer CaptChristopher L. French, USMC. Museums Section: Mr.

Charles A. Wood, Chief Curator, Mr. Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas, Material History: Mr. John G. Griffiths, Ord-nance: Mr. Joseph E. Payton, SSgt Mitch Garringer, USMC,Restoration: Mr. Michael E. Starn, Aeronautics: Mr. Ronald

J. Perkins, Mt. Ronnie D. Alexander, Exhibits: Mrs. NancyF. King, Uniforms: Mrs. Jennifer L Castro, Registrar Mrs.Kathryn R. Trout, Programs Assistant. Security: SSgt HurelJ.Ward, USMC: Sgt Daryl L. Clark, USMC: Sgt Vincent L.Wright, USMC: Sgt Pete Basabe. USMC: Cpl Duward Mas-sey, USMC: CplJose Rodriguez, USMC: CplJeffreyJ. Weins,USMC: LCpl Kanaya Easley, USMC.

MARINE CORPS MUSEUM UNIT, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Exhibits: Mr. James A. Faiifax: Mr. Gordon I-kim: LLpl An-thony R. Hicks, USMC. Marine Corps Art Collection: Mr.

John T Dyer, Jr.

SUPPORT BRANCH

Head/Division Executive Officer LtCol Dave Beasley, Jr.,USMC. Editing and Design Section: Mr. Robert E. Stnjder:Mr. William S. Hill: Mrs. Catherine A. Kerns. Library: MissEvelyn A. Englander. Administration: lstLzJohn T Simpson,USMC: SSgt John Hudson, USMC; Sgt Exkchart Rat-tanachai, USMC, CplJean P. Duckett, USMC: LCpl Michael

J. Miksovsky, USMC: I.Cpl Todd M. Halacy, USMC. Securi-ty Unit: SSgt Ricardo E. Harding, USMC.

Mr. Robert E. StruderSenior Editor/Editor Fortitudine

Memorandum from the Director: Remembering Bob SherrodBGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret) 3

Historical Quiz: World War II Medal of Honor RecipientsLenaM.Kaljot: 7

Readers Always Write: Careful Readers Scrutinize World War II Pamphlets 8

Five New Titles Enlarge World War II Anniversary SeriesBenis M. Frank 9

New Detachment for Reservists Aids Historical ProgramCol Dennis I? Mmczkowski USMCR 10

Acquisitions: Museum Acquires and Restores Rare Marine NCO SwordKenneth L. Smith-Christmas and LtCol Charles H. Cureton, USMCR 11

Answers to the Historical Quiz: World War II Medal of Honor Recipients 12

Museum Gets Nihart Body Armor Collection for StudyKenneth L Smith-Christmas 13

Current Chronology of the Marine Corps: Corps Grappled withComplex Somalia Relief Effort

Ann A. Pen-ante 15

New Books: World War H Predominant in Marine-Interest Book ListEvelyn A. Englander 17

WWH Bibliography UpdatedEvelyn A. Eng/ander 17

Personal Papers Describe the Marine at 'Teapot Dome'Frederick J. Graboske 18

Flight Lines: The Okha Suicide Flying BombKenneth L Smith-Christmas and Michael E. Starn 19

World War H Chronology, 1941-1945: April-June 1945Robert V Aquilina 20

Students Given Shepherd, Gridley Memorial FellowshipsCharles R. Smith 24

THE COVER

Combat artist Lt Mitchell Jamieson, USNR, produced this watercolor and crayon work,"Wounds in the Rain," during one of many visits with Marines in the World War II battlefor Okinawa. Of this 1945 piece he wrote, "A sudden shower is falling although the sunis still out. The rain sparkles in the light and the vegetation seems to steam in the heat

- stretcher bearers put down their load to rest for a spell while their casualty is mademore comfortable. For the painfully wounded, this is the beginning of a seemingly endlessjourney. Down the trail. . . through pine forests, little clearings, and cultivated bits of earth,into deep ravines, then up again over hills, following the thin ribbon of communicationswire as ii it were the thread life depended on. Then from the regimental CP the trip inambulance or stretcher-equipped jeep to the division hospital along the coast road, a jolt-ing, dusty journey." Reference historian Robert V. Aquilina details the hard-won Okinawacampaign in this issue's "World War II Chronology: 1941-1945:' beginning on page 20.

Fortitudine is produced in the Editing and Design Section of the History and Museums Division. 'Ihetext for Fortitudine is set in 10-point and 8-point Garamond typeface. Headlines are in 18-point or24-point Garamond. The bulletin is printed on 70-pound, matte-coated paper by offset lithography.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, shington, D.C. 20402.

2 Fortitudine, Summer 1994

Memorandum from the Director

Remembering Bob SherrodBGen Simmons

ST. ALBAN'S Episcopal Church sharesthe grounds of the National Ca-

thedral at Wisconsin and MassachusettsAvenues in Northwest Washington, but Iam told that the parish is quite separatefrom the cathedral. The little church hasa heavy, buttressed Gothic look. On this,the afternoon of 3 March, it was taken for"a service in Thanksgiving for the Life ofRobert Lee Sherrod, February 8, 1909-February 13, 1994." Outside the church theweather was bleak, gray, and rainy, thetrees and grass smudged with dirty, melt-ing snow. Inside was warm and elegantwith dark fumed oak, dark red carpeting,and much polished brass railing and can-delabra. The winter light came throughthe reds and blues of narrow, sharplyarched stained glass windows. There wasa churchly smell of furniture polish andcandlewax.

This was a memorial service rather thana funeral. The funeral had been earlier,restricted to the family, with burial inSewickley, Pennsylvania. The order of wor-ship for the memorial service neverthelessfollowed the Episcopal ritual, "The Buri-al of the Dead: Rite One." The officiantwas a woman priest, the Reverend Mar-garet McNaughton.

The Marine Corps' presence waspronounced. There was a color guard ofvery tall Marines in blues, and, in scarletjackets, organist Norman Scribner and thebrass quintet from the Marine Band. Mus-ic played included the National Anthem,the funereal Marines' Hymn Apotheosis,the Navy Hymn Eternal Father, and Hen-ry Purcell's Voluntary on Old 100th.

F IVE OF US GAVE REMEMBRANCES from

the lectern which is elaborately carvedinto a huge eagle. Maxine Pineau, thewidow of Capt Roger Pineau, USNR(Ret)—the naval historian who, himself,just recently died—spoke first, sketchingin Bob's life from his first years.

"Bob Sherrod was born and raised inThomasville, Georgia, a lovely southerntown with excellent schools, where life was

Famed American portraitist Joseph C.Chase painted Sherrod in his war cor-respondent's uniform in 1945. The portraithas been loaned to the Historical Center

pleasant," said Maxine. "The eldest of fivechildren, he is survived by his sister, LouiseBassett, of Tallahassee. He never forgot hisroots

A great deal of South Georgia remainedwith Bob Sherrod, including his courtlyway of speaking. He liked to say that hecame from an old line of Confederates.Three of his four great-grandfathers werekilled in what he had learned to call the"Civil War." The fourth great-grandfatherlived until Bob was about eight years oldand Bob never forgot the stories he toldhim. One was that the old Confederatehad been wounded twice, once in the headand once in the heel, and the one in theheel had hurt the most.

That great-grandfather served in the61st Georgia Infantry, the Wiregrass Regi-ment. We had a staff ride for Marine Corpsgeneral officers at Antietam in the springof 1988 and Bob went along. It was a role-playing war game and Bob played the partof war correspondent George W. Smalleyof the New York Tribune. I rememberstanding with Bob near the bridge whichBurnside tried to cross with the IX Corps.The bridge was successfully defended by

Georgia troops and Bob supposed that hisgreat-grandfather must have stood justabout where we were standing.

" OB WAS EDUCATED at the Univers-

ity of Georgia," continued MaxinePineau in her remembrance. "In 1929, atthe age of 20, he received the degree ofBachelor ofJournalism. While a student,he began his career as the campus cor-respondent for the Atlanta Constitution."

These were the years of the GreatDepression. There was no great amountof money in the Sherrod family and he wasits first member to go to college. He likedto say that one of his professors said tohim, "You write a pretty good sentence.Why don't you think about writing as acareer?"

For a time he eked out a living report-ing part-time for the Palm Beach News,and then, as Maxine told the congrega-tion, "With little money but a lot ofcourage, he worked his way to New Yorkon a ship. His timing was poor—he land-ed there the day the New York JVorldwentout of business — and unemployed report-ers were numerous."

A FTER DRIFTING FROM job to job forseveral years, he was taken on by For-

tune in 1935 for a six-month stint of writ-ing about Miami and Palm Beach. Hethen switched over to Life. After a spellin Chicago, from where he covered thewhole midwest, he was transferred toWashington, where he and two otherreporters constituted what later becamethe Washington Bureau of Time and Life.

Bob Sherrod loved politics and he wasessentially a political reporter until he wassent to the famous 1941 maneuvers inLouisiana. During these maneuvers he metcertain Army officers including Col Eisen-hower, Maj Guenther, BGen Mark Clark,and MajGen George Patton. But, as helater said, "none of whom I saw during thewar because I went to the Pacific and theywent to Europe."

On his return to his Washington beat,

Fortitudine, Summer 1994 3

squad to which Bob had been attached.Consider this an instance where a goodshot of bourbon saved a good man's life."

his conversion from political to militarycorrespondent continued. He got to knowthe military persons at the top: Adm Lea-hy, Adm King, Gen Marshall, and so on.He could tell you about them all. He hada story about Gen Marshall which also car-ried a whiff of the skepticism he had forthe generalship of Gen MacArthur.

() N 15 NOVEMBER 1941, on the vir-tual eve of Pearl Harbor, Gen Mar-

shall, then the Chief of Staff of the Army,called in seven of the top correspondentsin Washington, Bob amongst them, for avery confidential interview. The UnitedStates, said Marshall, was on the brink ofwar withJapan. The Japanese were expect-ed to strike at the Philippines. Under con-ditions of great secrecy, the defenses of thePhilippines were being greatly strength-ened. Already in place was the largest con-centration in the world of B-17 bombers.Marshall was very optimistic as to the out-come. Asked about how the Navy cameinto the picture, he answered, "The grandstrategy does not include the use of muchnaval force."

After Pearl Harbor, Bob was one ofTime's first correspondents to be sent tothe Pacific. He arrived in Australia inMarch 1942 and this is when he first metDouglas MacArthur. The MacArthur per-sona fascinated him and thisfascination — a cynical fascination I shouldsay— remained with him for the rest of hislife.

SYEARS AGO, Bob and I worked

with a Canadian TV company that wasproducing a documentary based on Wil-liam Manchester's American Caesar. Dur-ing the course of this video interview Bobwas asked to suggest an epitaph for Doug-las MacArthur. Bob's suggestion was "Herelies the world's greatest actor."

Bob's own first combat experience waswith the Army in the Aleutians during thebattle for Attu in May 1942. Jerry Hanifin,a Time correspondent now semi-retiredand living in Florida, remembered Bobfrom that time.

"In a dispatch from Attu to Time maga-zine," said Hannifin, "retrieved from thearchives by Marylois Purdy, our belovedChief of Research, Bob wrote that thewinds of Attu were worse than theJapanese bullets whistling overhead.Fortunately for us all Bob dodged all thoseslugs, sometimes under extraordinary cir-cumstances. On one occasion on Attu, ayoung Navy lieutenant coaxed Bob out ofhis rain-drenched foxhole in the rocks tocome out to his destroyer overnight for ahot shower, a meal, and promised touchof bootleg bourbon — booze being a no. 1no-no aboard ship. Bob yielded to theyoung officer's invitation, with the under-standing that he would return to thebeachhead at first light. Overnight aJapanese banzai charge to the death —including suicide—swept down on the[soldiers] in the foxholes, and in a fero-cious firefight killed every man in the

A N ARMY GENERAL wrote to Hen.ry Luce, the publisher of Time and

Life, after Attu that "Sherrod is not onlya splendid reporter but he is a fine fellowand a good companion." The general alsotold Luce that Sherrod "obtained his factsby going into the thick of things where hesaw the action from the viewpoint of thefighting soldier."

After the Aleutians, Bob spent sometime at sea with the Pacific Fleet. Thenaval strength that he saw convinced himthat something big was about to happenin the Central Pacific. That somethingwould be lirawa. More than anything else,Tarawa established his reputation as a warcorrespondent. It also did something tohim internally that forever afterward con-ditioned his way of looking at war.

Thrawa: The Story of a Battle, a recog-nized masterpiece of battlefield reportage,appeared in 1944. It was an immediatesuccess and it is still in print. After the war,Tarawa was translated into Japanese andit is said that the Japanese edition outsoldthe English editions five to one.

Tarawa was followed by On to the West-ward in which Bob moved with the Ma-rines through the battles for Saipan andIwoJima. Of On to the Westward, also stillin print, Orville Prescott of the New YorkTimes wrote: "It is a good book, clear, sim-ple, vivid, and as horrible as any accountof slaughter and sacrifice should be. Mr.Sherrod has no particular mannerisms, noparticular interest in exploiting his ownpersonality."

O F THESE WARTIME BOOKS, Bob later

wrote: "The function of a war cor-respondent, as I see it, is not to write com-plete stories. He cannot write with theperspective which time alone can furnish.Leave that to the historians and theirmountains of official records. At best, thewar correspondent can write what he seesand hears and feels; he can perhaps reflectthe mood of men in battle, as those menappear and talk and fight."

After the war when he was covering thePentagon, the Marine Corps asked him towrite the official history of Marine Corpsaviation in World War II. This he took onas an evening and weekend venture, whilestill working full time for Time-Life. It is

4 Fortitudine, Summer 1994

A nattily-dressed 22-year-old reporter Robert Sherivd sits at his desk at the Westhamp-ton Beach, New York, Hampton Chronicle with Muriel King, daughter ofJohn L. King,the editor and publisber Sherrod brought his journalism degree up from Georgia.

getting monotonous to keep repeatingthis, but the History of Marine Corps Avi-ation in JVorld War II is also still in print.

Bob wrote the major portion of the textfor Life's Picture History of World War II.The book sold 600,000 copies and madea reputed $1.5 million for Time-Life. Bobliked to say that, for this, Time-Life gavehim a generous bonus of $5,000.

Bob left Time in 1952 to join the Satur-day Evening Post. He became successivelyFar East correspondent, managing editor,editor-in-chief, and editor-at-large. Oneof his great experiences was to go aroundthe world in company with Norman Rock-well, the artist, and Ollie Atkins, the pho-tographer, interviewing such world leadersas Nehru of India, Ben Gurion of Israel,Nasser of Egypt, and Tito of Yugoslavia.He had some charming stories to tell ofRockwell as a traveling companion.

In 1966 he went back to Life magazineas a contract writer. He wrote a remarka-bly prescient article, "Notes on a Mons-trous War," which appeared in the 27th ofJanuary 1967 issue. In it he said, "Afternearly two months in Vietnam I find thisthe most hateful war we have ever fought

" OB WAS THE DEVOTED father oftwo sons, John and Robert, the

proud grandfather of Amy, Bill, Sonia,and Marcia, and doting great-grandfatherof three-year-old Jeremy and one-year-oldAbig.il," said Maxine Pineau. "Family con-nections of all kinds were important toBob . . . . It was the tragedy of his lifethat he survived two beloved wives, but thelast decade of his life was enhanced by hislove for Bernice Jacobsen. . . . And friend-ships were important to Bob. The sharedinterests and mutual admiration betweenmy late husband, Roger, and Bob were thefoundations of a 50-year friendship ofenormous importance to them both."

I remembered a Christmas seasonbreakfast at the Pineau house about 10years ago. Word processors and microcom-puters were still quite new. I was consider-ing buying one. Roger at that time waswriting a book with John Costello, and hehad a new computer of which he was veryproud. He gave us a demonstration in-cluding the use of the modem to talk toCostello in New York. I was impressed.Capt Edward L. "Ned" Beach, the Navysubmariner and writer, was there, and hesaid that he had a bottom-of-the-line

computer which he said wasn't much butit got the job done. Bob had watched thedemonstration with mild amusement.

"My word processor is 25 years old," hesaid, "and she also makes coffee.'

I never met his word processor, but I amquite certain that in addition to being anefficient typist, she was also an attractiveyoung lady. Bob appreciated attractive la-dies and he knew how to turn a compli-ment. Foster Hailey of the New YorkTimes described him as "The sort of manwhose tie women are always eitherstraightening, or wanting to."

Bob was unfailingly helpful to otherjournalists, historians, and authors," saidMaxine. "He was generous with his time,making his voluminous files available andreviewing manuscripts and books. Hismemory of World War II and subsequentevents was encyclopedic

O NE OF THOSE SHARING his memories

of Bob at the service was YoshihisaKomori, chief of the Washington bureauof the Sankei Shimbun.

"The very last time I spoke to Bob Sher-rod was just a week before his passing,"said Mr. Komori. "On the phone, I askedhim some questions for my newspaper ar-ticles for readers in Japan, as I had donecountless times in the prior 15-year peri-od, this time about the Ernie Pyle Theat-er in Tokyo that the American forces usednearly 50 years ago. Of course, Bob hadbeen there. Of course, he remembered itall. He told me how the theater hadlooked and how it had been used and soon, in his usual concise yet very illustra-tive fashion.

'Then Bob went on to tell me about hisinvolvement with this World War II cor-respondent, Ernie Pyle himself, afterwhom the theater was named. 'You see,Yoshi, I stayed one night with Ernie in thesame living quarters in Okinawa, just a fewdays before he died. He was killed whilecovering [an action] on a small island nearOkinawa. That was April 18, 1945, and theisland is called lejima.' Then, Bob kindlytold me how to spell Ic Jima. So typicalof Bob, precise, thorough, and profes-sional."

B OB WAS NOT a great public speaker.He did not do well in front of a large

audience. But he was a great conversation-alist and a great raconteur. He was at hisbest at a luncheon table with two or threefriends. He was superb at small dinnerparties.

"In more recent years, my wife Susanand I have had the great joy and privilegeof seeing Bob frequently, sometimes asoften as every other week for weekendlunches," remembered Yoshi Komori."These lunches were lively affairs, includ-ing a wide variety of old and new friends.As the discussions would proceed, Bobpreferred not to focus on the past, butwould express his always informed and in-sightful views on current national andworld affairs. Bob was always accompaniedby his beloved companion Bernice Jacob-sen, with whom he had many years of hap-piness, and with whom he took his lasttrips—the very last one was to Texas, toparticipate in a symposium on the PacificWar."

Fortitudine, Summer 1994 5

In the late 1940s, Mr and Mrs. Sherrod, at left, entertained Medal of Honor holderCol David M. Shoup, USMC, and a friend at New York City's famous Stork Club.A popular war hem, Shoup became Commandant of the Marine Corps j5vm 1960-1963.

politicians and the homebodieswhat they had done when they sentthose boys to the butcher, to tellthem that war is not a TV show, isnot a Hollywood film, that it trulyis an earthly hell.

One could hope, vainly no doubt,that the politicians and tub-thumpers of our own time, as wellas those among this generation ofjournalists who dream of "glory"and professional profit, would studyhis work and learn from it.

R ICHARD HARWOOD, the now-retireddeputy managing editor of the

Washington Post and a World War II en-listed Marine, had similar memories.

"He was, as we all know, a modest man.He was not given to boasting or embel-lishment of his career. He was also verytough and courageous, never whiningabout the series of painful disabilities thatafflicted him in recent years and made thenormal rituals of life a chore. I admiredhim for that and for his good spirits. Hehad true grit. He also had good taste.Chris [Herbert C.] Merillat and I lunchedwith him at a little restaurant in Geor-getown where, like many old goats, we sa-vored the martinis, the gossip, tales of thePacific, and horror stories about our vari-ous disabilities, from hangnails to flutter-ing hearts."

Dick Harwood had not known Bob inthe war and "only became aware that heexisted midway through the Iwo Jimacampaign.

"Someone had gotten a copy of an ab-breviated version of Time magazine, pub-lished as I recall, as a public service fortroops overseas. The magazine was passedaround and it contained a long and veryunderstanding account of the Iwo battle,written, of course, by Bob. We were all im-pressed and I never forgot that story."

That abbreviated version of Time wascalled the "pony edition" and there wereothers of us at the service with reason toremember it.

D ICK HARWOOD HAD written a mov-ing tribute after Bob's death for the

Washington Post (February 28, 1994) un-der the headline, "He Told Truth AboutWar." In part it said:

Bob Sherrod was a war correspon-dent, a label that has various con-notations. Many "war correspond-ents" cover their wars from a greatdistance, writing heated prose de-rived from communiques, after-action reports, briefings and pressreleases. Others experience directlythe carnage, terror, cruelty andtragedy of battle . . . . As a Timecorrespondent, Sherrod was its ex-emplar in the Pacific in the 1940s,writing some of the most vivid ac-counts of men at war ever producedby an American journalist .

He was not, as some may have be-lieved, a war lover, nor was hea pacifist. He loved and wept forthose who fought, but hated theagony they endured. The purpose ofall his writings was to remind the

D ICK WAS MOVED to write his piece bythe paucity of accounts marking the

death of Bob Sherrod."Time magazine:' he wrote, "noted his

passing with a single paragraph, illustrat-ing the truth that journalistic fame has thehalf-life of cotton candy."

I would have to say, "Not quite so."If the journalist's writings go into books,

then that writer gains a special kind of im-mortality, particularly if his books stay inprint and are read by successive gener-

I thought of all the lunches and din-ners and good conversations I had hadwith Bob. His stories always had a pointand they were always well told. If you ad-mired his walking stick with the inlaidmother of pearl, he could tell you that itwas given to him by President Magsaysayof the Philippines. Mention of the Philip-pines would inevitably lead to some pointto be made about Douglas MacArthur. Abiography of MacArthur was to have beenhis last great work. Among other things,it was to have been the story of MacAr-thur's relations with the press. Bob, as agood reporter, met deadlines, but thedeadline for this biography was one thathe would not meet. Work on the book wasinterrupted by the devoted care he gavehis third wife, Mary Gay, in her last fewyears — care that Bob gave with typical un-selfish gallantry. Her memorial service wasalso in St. Alban's.

After her death, Bob never really gotback to the book. There have been bitsand pieces of his thoughts on MacArthurin book reviews that he did and in othershort pieces, but no book, and that is ourloss.

T HERE IS AN ORGANIZATION called the

Military Order of the Carabao, ofwhith Bob was a member— and there were

6 Fortitudine, Summer 1994

In an August 1943 photograph taken at Adak in the Aleutians are, from left an uniden-tified officer; Capt Harold Rosenthal, MC, USA]?; Lt Sheldon Luce, brother of Time-L1fe founder and publisher Henry Luce; and Time magazine war correspondent Sherrod

ations.

many members at the memorial service.The organization was founded in 1901 byofficers who took part in the liberation ofthe Philippines, which is another way ofsaying the Philippine Insurrection. It wasrejuvenated after World War II by the ad-mission of members who took part in thesecond liberation of the Philippines. Bobwas an Associate Carabao, a special classof membership for war correspondents.There are luncheons and other kinds ofmeetings, but the chief function of theMilitary Order of the Carabao is its annu-al Carabao Wallow, a grand, old-fashionedkind of banquet evening, unabashedlypatriotic and bombastic. The Marine Bandand Drum and Bugle Corps play largeparts in the evening which features a sa-tirical musical revue, the humor consist-ing of pokes at the current politico-military scene. Bob enjoyed these eveningstremendously. We always sat at the sametable, a table incidentally named in honorof the late Col Robert D. Heinl, Jr. Bobattended until just these past few yearswhen his emphysema made it impossible.

I had become Director of Marine CorpsHistory late in 1971 and a year later, actu-ally at the Carabao Wallow in February1973, I asked Bob if he would serve on theCommandant's Advisory Committee onMarine Corps History. He accepted and heserved a three-year term. His advice wasalways pointed, trenchant, and useful.During these years, down to the virtualpresent, he was also frequently consultedby the Commandant of the Marine Corps,whomever it happened to be, and therewere several, on matters of public relationsaffecting the Corps.

IT GOES ALMOST WITHOUT SAYING, that

when we formed the Marine CorpsHistorical Foundation in 1978 that he, BobSherrod, would be one of the seven found-ing members. He then would serve for sixyears on the Foundation's Board ofDirectors.

In 1987 he was awarded the Founda-tion's Distinguished Service Award for hislifetime accomplishments in Marine Corpshistory and his services to the Foundation.This was only the second time this awardhad been made. As his citation states,

his direct and pungent advice hasdone much to shape" the programs of theFoundation.

"Direct" and "pungent" are good wordsto describe advice given by Bob Sherrod.

He was demanding of himself and othersand he was impatient of careless work.Almost every successive edition of thosebooks of his would contain changes: smallcorrections of fact that he wished to make.When his History of Marine Corps Avia-tion was reissued by Presidio Press in 1980,he insisted on an "Addenda and Corrigen-da" correcting some of the errors, nonemajor, that had been made inevitably inthe original edition. He also added somenew material, most significantly, his "Sup-plement on Aces:' fretting occasionally, ashe wrote, "over the issue of claims versusrealities." When the next edition cameout, this time by Nautical and AviationPublishing Company in 1986, there wasmore fine-tuning.

I N ADDITION io his passion for accura-cy, he was also a stickler as to construc-

tion and grammar and a compulsiveproofreader. He had a passion for "gettingit right." As an old-time editor, he likedto write in the margins of articles andmanuscripts. I remember that in one ofmy pieces he disagreed with my use of theword "whom" in place of "who." He put

a circle around it and in the margin hewrote, "Wrong." There were other gram-matical errors in the piece and he had cir-cled these and had written in the margin,'Wrong, wrong, wrong." But at the end ofthe manuscript, there was a compliment.He had added, "You finally got it right."

Over a 20-plus-year period I had a greatdeal of correspondence with Bob Sherrod.I kept it all and it occupies a file that is,by actual measurement, four inches thick.Much of it consists of notes appended tomarked-up copy. Amongst his varieties ofimpatience was his impatience with themodern-day U.S. Postal Service. He couldnever understand why it took five days fora letter to get from his aparment in North-west Washington to my office in SoutheastWashington. Generally, I would get a callon about the third day asking if I hadreceived his note and, if it were an actionitem, what was I doing about it?

We learned of his final act of generosi-ty to the Marine Corps after his death. Inhis will he had bequeathed his extensivelibrary to the Marine Corps HistoricalCenter. El 775E

Fortitudine, Summer 1994 7

Sherrod left shortly to join the Advisory Committee on Marine Corps History, went onboard ship in August 1972 for a talk with naval historian RAdm Samuel Eliot Morison.

Historical Quiz

World War II Medal of Honor Recipientsby Lena M. Kaljot, Reference Historian

Match the following World War II Medal of Honor recipients with the campaignsfor which they were awarded their medals.1. Sgt John Basilone a. Okinawa2. LtCol AquillaJ. Dyess b. Wake Island3. Capt Henry T Elrod c. Makin

4. Capt Joseph J. Foss d. Guadalcanal

5. Cpl Louis J. Hauge, Jr. e. Guamf. Guadalcanal

6. PlSgt Mitchell Paige g. Iwo Jima7. Col David M. Shoup h. Kwajalein8. Cpl Tony Stein i. Tarawa9. Sgt Clyde Thomason j. Solomon Islands10. Capt Louis J. Wilson, Jr. (Answers on page 12)

Readers Always JVrite

Careful Readers Scrutinize World War II PamphletsTHE CONFUSION OF BAITLE

I have no desire to damn with faintpraise or nit-pick over minor errors becauseI feel you. . . have done a wonderful jobin publishing the Commemorative Seriesand creating a lot of interest in the histo-ry of WWII.

I served with the 1st Battalion, 6th Ma-rines the entire time I was in the Pacific.We were fortunate to serve under Wm. K.Jones as our battalion CO. I was a platoonleader on Tarawa, then went to Saipan asexec officer of "C" Company. The CO wasKIA shortly after we landed and attackedinland, so I received one of those unwant-ed battlefield promotions. I continued toserve as acting CO of "C" Company forSaipan and Tinian.

On page 30 [of Breaching the Marianas:The Battle for Saipan], citing the Medalof Honor recipients, [PFC Harold G.] Ep-person is shown as being KIA on July25th. The island was secure on July 9th,so this is an obvious error.

Epperson was serving in the machinegun platoon of "C" Company at that time.Jones had sent up a 37mm gun to coveran avenue of approach and of course thisattracted the attention of the japs and theytried to knock out the gun in the middleof the night. A machine gun section wasemplaced around the gun. They threwgrenades or charges in the area with littlesuccess, but unfortunately Epperson wasKIA and a few more wounded. . . . Theplatoon leader. . . reported it and the in-cident was included in the daily report ofcasualties. We moved out the next day andit was. . . one of those things we put be-hind us . . . . Months later I was calledup to explain why [Epperson] had notbeen recommended for a medal and toverify the facts. I'm sure I heard the rack-et and put the company on an alert statusfor a possible night attack. Since I did notpersonally observe the action I didn't knowif he was trying to throw back the grenade,or get away from it, or deliberately coveredit with his body. Only God really knowsthe answer to that question. I found it allbut impossible to pick and choose amongthese men for medals. They were all heroesin my book and all those KIA deserved a

medal. But of course it doesn't work thatway.

[Concerning the incidents of) falling ongrenades, if you check the list of thoseawarded the Medal of Honor in 1943-45you will note a number in this category.In fact, as I recall, it just got out of hand.If one received it, then all should receiveit, and the facts were so difficult to verify.I'm sure it was done. . . with no formalorder, but the practice just came to a haltfor whatever reason after a certain cut-offdate. This is all based on rumor, I suppose,but the record would tend to bear out thisconclusion.

I would appreciate it if you would tryto correct the date on Epperson's citation

for the record. It seems to be true thatonce a mistake creeps into an article orbook it becomes "gospel" and is all butimpossible to correct .

LtCol Peter F Lake, USMCR (Ret)Austin, Texas

EDITOR'S NOTE: Series general editorBenis M. Frank responds: "The inaccuratedate in PFC Epperson's Medal of Honorcitation occurred as a result of a typo-graphical error since he was indeed award-edthe medalposthumouslyforactions on25 June, vice July. You are correct in not-ing that a number of Medal of Honorawards were made to individuals whothrew themselves on enemy grenades tosave their buddies. I feel certain that thosewho were reported to have done so werenot acting because they wanted a Medalof Honor especially a posthumous one."

CHURCH AND SHINTO SHRINERecently I sent you an inquiry regard-

ing the publication Breaching the Man-anas: The Battle for Saipan. Today Ireceived the copy . . . There is one thingabout that publication that may drawsome letters. The caption for the coverphotograph reads: A Marine enters theoutskirts of Garapan, Saipan, through thetori gate of a Shinto shrine. Departmentof Defense Photo (USMC) 92993. I havehad enough experience in publishing toknow that one must believe what is saidin the captions that accompany photo-graphs one intends to use. However, this

shrine is not in Garapan. Therein lies aninteresting story.

Under Japanese rule there were twopopulation centers. One was Garapan.The other was built around the sugarrefinery at what the records show as Cha-ran Kanoa. This is a phonetic spellingfrom the Japanese pronunciation. The na-tives call it Chalan Kanoa. They managethe Es better than did the Japanese. Thatarea was blown away during the pre-invasion bombardment and the refinerywas left in ruins. Nearby, U.S. forces soonestablished a camp for civilians. When itwas safe to do so, the camp was closed andthe natives were free to resettle. One of thefirst things they did was build a church.The location they chose was the ruins ofthe sugar refinery. The church was builtentirely by hand labor and Americansjoined in to assist the natives in the ven-ture. Today the church is designated as thecathedral. Alongside the church structureis a Catholic school complex. One of thebuildings is from the old refinery, the onlystructure to survive. Next to the school isa cemetery. That toni gate and shrine canbe seen today—smack dab in the middleof a Catholic cemetery.

Dr. Damon G. NaltySan Jose, California

EDITOR'S NOTE. A photograph of thepamphlet cover appears on page 9.

FIRST ARCTIC MARINESJust finished reading the monograph,

Outpost in the North Atlantic: Marines inthe Defense of Iceland Pass on a well doneto Col Donovan. Not only was his bookan interesting read, but his style was ex-cellent, as he was able to detach himselffrom the story. The sidebars on GensHermle and Marston were also excellent.

This publication is of some interest tous in the 2d Marines, currently the divi-sion's "cold weather" regiment and freshfrom a two-month deployment to Bridge-port and Fort Wainwright, Mash. Perhapsthe Iceland Marines were the first to doan extended deployment in an Arcticclimate!

LtCol John D. McGuire, USMCExecutive Officer, 2d Marines

8 Fortitudine, Summer 1994

Five New Titles Enlarge World War II Anniversary Seriesby Benis M. Frank

Chief Historian

F IvE NEW TITLES have been addedto the History and Museums Divi-

sion's "Marines in World War II" 50th an-niversary pamphlet series. Two of them,Breaking the Outer Ring: Marine Land-ings in the Marsha/is and Breaching theMarianas: The Battie for Saipan, were writ-ten by a veteran of both of those cam-paigns, Capt John C. Chapin, USMCR(Ret). The Marshalls combat narrative tellsthe story of MajGen Harry Schmidt's 4thMarine Division, which was formed atCamp Pendleton and steamed from SanDiego to begin the longest shore-to-shoreamphibious operation in the history ofwarfare—4,300 miles! In this pamphlet isthe story of the landings in the Marshallsin January-February 1944: on Roi-Namurby the 4th Division; the landing on Eniwe-tok by BGen Thomas E. Watson's brigad-ed 22d Marines and the 106th Infantry ofthe Army 7th Infantry Division; the land-ing on Majuro by the Marine V Amphibi-ous Corps Reconnaissance Company andthe Army 2d Battalion, 106th Infantry;and the attack on Kwajalein itself by the32d and the 164th Infantry. The successof these operations did indeed breach theouter barrier of Japanese-held islandswhich guarded the Home Islands.

Capt Chapin's second pamphlet tellsthe story of the terrible battle for Saipan,the length of which forced a delay in theGuam landing. The 2d and 4th Marine

Divisions, recently blooded in the Tarawaand Marshall Islands landings, respectively,forced heavily defended beachheadsagainst deadly Japanese fire directed byobservers looking straight down on thebeaches from the heights of MountTapotchau and Mount Tipo Pale. A fea-ture of the Saipan operation not met inearlier Marine landings was a large num-ber of island natives, many of whom com-mitted suicide by diving from the cliffs atthe northern end of the island. They didthis rather than endure "suffering" at thehands of the American "devils," as theywere warned by the Japanese military onSaipan. As the author points out, ". . . thehard experiences on Saipan led to a varie-ty of changes [in amphibious landings]which paid valuable dividends in savingAmerican lives in future Pacific cam-paigns. And the loss of the island was astrategic strike from which the Japanesenever recovered

American Embassy, London, where helearned first hand of what he discusses inthis pamphlet. LtCol Edwards deals withthe missions of Marines assigned to theOffice of Strategic Services (OSS) in Eu-rope and North Africa; the Marine Bar-racks in Londonderry, Northern Ireland;and the individual senior Marines servingon the staffs of the commands heading upthe North African, Italian, and Norman-dy landings. The author also tells of theMarine detachments on U.S. Navy capitalships in European waters and of the bag-pipe band formed at Londonderry.

Liberation: Marines in the Recapture ofGuam, written by Cyril J. O'Brien, anewspaper reporter who enlisted in theMarine Corps and fought as a riflemanwith the 3d Marine Division on Bougain-ville, is the fourth new title. O'Brien wasgiven Marine Corps Combat Correspon-dent status prior to the Guam landings,and as such, he covered and wrote dis-patches about the fighting on the island.Taking part in the liberation of Guam wasthe 3d Marine Division, which assaultedBougainville in November 1943. Also partof the III Amphibious Corps in the Guamlanding was the 1st Provisional MarineBrigade, consisting of the 22d Marines,which first fought in the Marshalls, andthe reconstituted 4th Marines, comprisedof former Marine Raider battalions. Theliberation of Guam represented the recap-

T HE THIRD NEW BOOK in the series isA Different War: Marines in Europe

and North Africa. This pamphlet shouldanswer the many questions about whatMarines did in the European and NorthAfrican theaters of war. After the author,LtCol Harry W. Edwards, USMC (Ret),finished his war tour in the Pacific, par-ticipating with the 3d Marines in the Bou-gainville assault, in 1944-1946 hecommanded the Marine Detachment,

Fortitudine, Summer 1994 9

Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, andfrom airfields on other islands up the Solo-mons chain, to challenge experiencedJapanese fighter and bomber pilots withsuccess. From the two years of the Solo-mons campaigns, beginning with the 7August 1942 landing of the 1st Marine Di-vision on Guadalcanal, emerged morethan 70 Marine aces — pilots who had shotdown at least five enemy planes—il ofwhom were awarded the Medal of Honor.

ture of the first piece of American territo-ry lost to the Japanese in the war.

Cdr Peter B. Mersky, USNR (Ret), awidely published writer on military aircraftprepared the fifth new pamphlet. As thetitle, Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots inthe Solomons, 1 942-1 944, suggests, this isthe story of Marine airmen who rose from

All of the pamphlets in the Marines inWorld War II Commemorative Series, in-cluding the newest five, are available tomembers of the Armed Forces and vete-rans of World War II at no cost exceptpostage and handling ($1.50 each) fromthe Marine Corps Historical Foundation,P.O. Box 420, Quantico, Virginia 22134-0420. Others may order the individualpamphlets from the Superintendent ofDocuments, U.S. Government PrintingOffice, Washington, D.C. 20402. Thestock numbers for ordering are: Breakingthe Outer Ring: Marine Landings in the

Marshall Islands, No. 008-055-00-191-9;Breaching the Marianas: The Battle forSaipan, No. 008-055-00-190-1; A Differ-ent War: Marines in Europe and NorthAfrica, No. 008-055-00-192-7; Liberation:Marines in the Recapture of Guam, No.008-055-00-193-5; and Time of the Aces,No. 008-055-00-188-9. L111775E1

New Detachment for Reservists Aids Historical Program

Commandingby Col Dennis P Mroczkowski, USMCR

Officer Individual Mobilization Augmentee Detachment

I N THE PAST FOUR YEARS, the MarineCorps Historical Center has been able

to respond effectively to a number of oper-ations around the world because of theMarine reservists who were rapidlydeployed as historians and combat artists.These reservists have been "on the scene"to record Marine Corps and joint opera-tions and activities in Saudi Arabia,Kuwait, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Somalia,and Italy.

While the performance of these reser-vists attests to their individual prepared-ness, as BGen Edwin H. Simmons, USMC(Ret), Director of Marine Corps Historyand Museums, said at a recent conference,"There was a little bit of luck involved."Gen Simmons said, "We are very lucky;but we are lucky because we are well pre-pared." In order to ensure that such "luck"continues, the Center has established anew reserve organization, an IndividualMobilization Augmentee (IMA) detach-ment. The detachment currently has fiveauthorized members all historians. Four of

these officers (Col Dennis Mroczkowski;LtCols Charles Cureton and Nicholas Rey-nolds; and Major Jon Hoffman) weremembers of Mobilization Training Unit(History) DC-7. This unit will continue tosupport the Historical Center and will pro-vide a pooi of qualified members for theIMA detachment.

A new IMA member is Maj JeffreyAcosta, who in civilian life is the curatorof the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk,Virginia. The reservists will drill at theCenter during one weekend each month,the same as members of any Select MarineCorps Reserve unit. However, their activeduty for training will be devoted to histor-ical writing or artistic projects, and work-ing with Marine Corps organizationsduring major exercises.

T HE MISSION OF the new detachmentis to "assist the Director of Marine

Corps History and Museums to record,preserve, and disseminate the cumulative

operational and institutional experience ofthe Marine Corps. . . by providing trainedand capable combat historians and com-bat artists for deployment with operatingMarine Corps forces and joint service com-mands; by performing research and writ-ing on historical subjects [and] by creatingartworks reflective of Marine Corps oper-ations and historical subjects To

fulfill this mission, a training schedule hasbeen established to address the require-ments of historians and artists in theirprofessional roles and as Marine officers.

In keeping with the need for possiblerapid deployment, the detachment is

preparing a new Standing OperatingProcedure (SOP) that is expected to bepublished at the end of 1994. This SOPwill address those administrative proce-dures needed to bring a historian or artistonto active duty and to prepare him or herfor deployment, and will define the dutiesof historians and artists while recordingMarine Corps or joint operations in thefield. E]1775E]

10 Fortitudine, Summer 1994

Acquisitions

Museum Acquires and Restores Rare Marine NCO Swordby Kenneth L. Smith- Christmas andLtCol Charles H. Cureton, USMCR

T HE RESIORArION is now complete of arare noncommissioned officer's sword

which the Marine Corps Museum acquiredthis year through the Museum AcquisitionFund of the Marine Corps Historical Foun-dation. The sword is the type carried byMarines from the late 1820s up to the CivilWar and was bought from a collector inthe Philadelphia area. According to theformer owner, the sword had been disco-vered in an attic in Norfolk, Virginia, butthere are no further clues as to itsprovenance.

When the sword arrived at the Muse-um, it was in rough, but restorable, con-dition. GySgt William Lightel, USMC(Ret), a longtime museum volunteer andantique weapons expert, was contracted torestore the sword. Last year, GySgt Light-ci had restored Gen Gerald C. Thomas'sword prior to its being mounted in theThomas Room at the Marine CorpsResearch Center (see Fortitudine, Summer1993, "Museum Exhibits Adorn NewQuantico Research Center"). In additionto restoring the sword, GySgt Lightel alsoreconstructed a brass drag for the leatherscabbard, using photographs of an extantexample. The photographs were suppliedby Clarence F. Runtsch, a former Marineand sculptor, who has both a noncommis-sioned officer's sword and a musician'ssword in his extensive collection of swords.

' HE PROCUREMENT and issue of this1. type of sword are detailed in research

conducted by LtCol Charles H. Cureton,USMCR, over the past 10 years for aplanned publication on the Marine Corpsuniform from 1829 to the Civil War. Inthe correspondence of the Quartermasterof the Marine Corps, which now residesin Record Group 127 of the National Ar-chives and Records Administration, LtColCureton found that the Quartermaster ob-tained swords for noncommissionedofficers and musicians from the WidmanCompany, a respected firm in Philadel-phia. The company was founded byFrederick W. Widman, who had emigrat-

ed from Germany in 1816 and opened hisown business as a swordmaker in 1825. Forthe next 23 years he produced a variety ofhigh-quality swords, using steel bladeswhich he imported from the city of Solin-gen in his native Germany. The well-known firm of William H. Horstmann ac-quired the company upon Widman'sdeath in 1848, but aside from marking theblade with his firm's name, Horstmannmade no alterations to either the noncom-

missioned officer's or the musician's sword.The sword purchased by the Museum hasthe post-1848 Horstmann marking.

These Widman swords follow the styleof the eagle's-head "family" of swordswhich were popular in America during theFederal period, from about 1805 to theMexican War. The differences between thenoncommissioned officer's and musician'sswords ordered for the Marine Corps arein the configuration of the hilt and thelength and finish of the blade. The non-commissioned officer's sword has a blackleather-covered wooden grip which is

wrapped with twisted brass wire. It has abrass "P'shaped guard, eagle's-head pom-mel with a back strap, and langets.

The musician's sword is slightly short-er, has a solid brass hilt and grip, with astylized eagle's-head pommel. While thenoncommissioned officer's sword has ablued finish and gold-filled engraving onthe upper half of the blade, the musician'ssword has a bright steel blade.

T HE BLADE OF THE noncommissionedofficer's sword is 33 inches long and

the blades of surviving such swords con-form to measurements given in the cor-respondence in the Quartermaster files.The black leather sword scabbards have abrass drag and throat, with a stud mount-ed on the throat, since both swords wereintended to be worn from shoulder belts.

The lack of any specific Marine Corps

Fortitzidine, Summer 1994 11

The NCO sword, an 1820 design, was complete but in need of conservation measureswhen purchased by the Foundation. The eagle 's-head grip is of wood covered withblack leather and decorated with twisted brass wire. The blade has a blued finish.

Photo by GySgt William Lightel, USMC (Ret)

The musician's sword was carried by bands-men and all fifers and drummers in theMarine Corps. Musicians carried theirswords in the same shoulder belts used bynoncommissioned officers.

markings on the sword blades is attributa-ble to the fact that these swords were notprocured solely by the Marine Corps,although there are indications that theMarine Corps was one of Widman's firstcustomers for these swords. Unlike otherQuartermaster purchases, these swordswere not contracted for under a bid sys-tem. The Quartermaster purchased theseswords directly from the dealer as theywere required in order to maintain sup-plies. Although the correspondence overthe first order apparently has not survived,the Marine Corps' early use of this swordis evident in contemporaneous art: thesword is illustrated in E. C. Young's water-color of a Marine orderly sergeant, whichis dated 1827. (At this same time, the Ma-rine Corps also adopted the familiarMameluke-hilt sword for its officers.)

Apparently Widman also sold swords of

In its mottled, unrestored state, the swordreveals the initials "EW7' thought to referto the supplier the W'idman Company.

the same two types to militia officers, assome swords with possible militia associa-tions have surfaced in other collections.There is nothing unusual about this, assword makers who supplied arms to theU.S. Army also routinely sold official-pattern swords to militiamen. The attri-bution of the Widman pattern sword asbeing Marine Corps is confirmed in a pre-Civil War (c. 1856) Horstmann catalogwhich illustrated both types of swords un-der the heading "Marine Corps." Accord-ing to official correspondence, the cost ofthe noncommissioned officer's and musi-cian's swords remained constant through-out this period. The noncommissionedofficer's sword cost $7, the musician'ssword cost $5, and a shortened, "boy's"version of the musician's sword sold for$3.75.

The noncommissioned officer's swordwas authorized for all sergeants, orderlysergeants, the Quartermaster Sergeant ofthe Marine Corps, and the Sergeant Majorof the Marine Corps. Sergeants carried thesword in addition to their other equip-ment: typically musket, cartridge box, andbayonet. The sword was suspended froma double-frogged shoulder belt, holdingboth the sword and the bayonet. Orderlysergeants and staff noncommissionedofficers, who were not equipped with amusket, wore it by itself from the shoul-der belt. As a staff noncommissionedofficer, the principal musician of the Ma-rine Band also carried the NCO sword.

U NTIL RECENTLY, research had beenconfined solely to the existing uni-

form regulations (which offered little help)and supposition. There are no knownpaintings or drawings extant from thisperiod which depict a Marine noncommis-sioned officer in sufficient detail to deter-mine the design of the sword from the artalone. Accordingly, articles and bookswritten in the 1950s and 1960s inferredthat the swords which Marines had carriedin the War of 1812 were used until theysupposedly were replaced by the M1840U.S. Army noncommissioned officerssword. Subsequent research, again byLtCol Cureton, reveals that this assump-tion is also in error. Instead, we now knowthat Marine noncommissioned officershave carried basically the same sword since1859, and the only Marines who carriedthe M1840 Army noncommissionedofficer's sword were bandsmen who worea modified version in the late 19th century.

Thanks to further primary sourceresearch and the opportunity to acquirethis sword, we now know the exact patternof the sword worn by Marine noncommis-sioned officers from 1827 through 1859.Even better, as a result of the restorationwork funded by the Marine Corps Histor-ical Foundation, we now have a displaya-ble example for exhibit and study in thefuture. E1775L1

12 Fortitudine, Summer 1994

Photo by GySgt William Lightel, USMC (Ret)After restoration by retired GySgt William Lightel the grip has more of its originalcolors and polish, including the glint of the twisted brass wire decoration against thedark leather wrapping. Conservation techniques also prolong the life of the sword

Answers to the Historical Quiz

World War IIMedal of Honor Recipients

(Quiz on page 7)

1. d2. h3. b4. f5. a

6.7.8. g

9. c

10. e