For some reason, I feel the desire to post about the Battle of Belleau Wood today. It is one of the most famous battles involving the Marine Corps and the most famous Marine battle of the Great War. Occurring in June, 1918, it was part of the Allied efforts to halt the final German offensives. The Marines were tasked with capturing a forest that was defended by numerous machine guns. The Marines met demoralized French forces on their way in. When the French poilus warned the fresh, young Americans to turn around, Capt. Lloyd Williams famously responded: “Retreat? Hell, we just got here!” It took the Devil Dogs (as the Germans named them after encountering their ferocious spirit) three weeks to capture the woods. The fighting was so hellaciously relentless that many of the Marines did not change their clothes for the 21 days. Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand. Some of it was done in clouds of mustard gas. At one point, with some of his men considering pulling back, Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daley said: “C’mon you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” The Marines suffered 1,000 dead and 4,000 wounded (some of them by tree splinters due to German artillery fire). That was an astounding 55% casualty rate. Some might call them “suckers” and “losers”, but the Germans saw the handwriting on the wall as these Devil Dogs just kept coming. The good guys went on to win World War I, in case you weren’t sure of the outcome.
https://warontherocks.com/2018/06/the-importance-of-the-battle-of-belleau-wood/
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