Acknowledgments

Assembling the artifacts and stories for this celebration of the U.S. Marine Corps’ 250th birthday required decades of work by countless professionals. All museums are a combination of past, present, and future staffs working together to ensure the preservation of artifacts and history in perpetuity. Without each generation of employees, none of what we do would be possible.

Prior to the opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC) in 2006, there were many military and civilian employees who worked tirelessly in earlier incarnations of the Marine Corps’ museum system. From the Marine Corps History and Museums Division at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, DC, to Little and Butler Halls and the Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, these people were the original caretakers and champions of the collection we preserve today. These men and women deserve full recognition for their efforts. Colonel F. Brooke Nihart, Colonel John Magruder, Major John “Jack” Elliott, Richard “Dick” Long, Master Gunnery Sergeant Walter “Fritz” Gemeinhardt, Brigadier General Edwin H. Simmons, Major General Donald R. Gardner, Lieutenant General George “Ron” Christmas, John McGarry, Charles A. “Tim” Wood, John Griffiths, Nancy King, J. Michael Miller, Glen Hyatt, James Fairfax, Major John T. “Jack” Dyer, and Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas are but a few. Retired curator Kenneth Smith-Christmas began his career with the Marine Corps as the museum registrar in 1976. From there, he served as a dedicated and passionate civil servant, working as the curator of material history for the Marine Corps Museums Branch and later as the supervisory curator of the Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum until 2005. Even after he left Marine Corps service, Smith-Christmas remains a dedicated steward of its history and a mentor to many members of the NMMC staff today.

When the NMMC opened its doors in 2006, a new generation of museum professionals, historians, and curators followed. This team was led by curator emeritus and retired director Lin Ezell. Ms. Ezell’s tireless efforts brought the NMMC into the modern era, ensuring the highest standards of care and professionalism in the organization. Her dedicated team was highlighted by  the inclusion of Cornelius Abelsma, Alfred V. Houde, Stefan Rohal, Benjamin Kristy, Master Gunnery Sergeant Michael Ressler, Beth Crumley, Charles Grow, and many others.

Today, the NMMC honors the past while working toward the future, with an exceptional staff led by the former directors, Anna Pardo and David Vickers, and current director, Colonel Keil Gentry (Ret). Many curators contributed artifacts and chapters to this book that highlight their knowledge of their collections and subject matter expertise. These curators include Jonathan Bernstein, Dr. Laurence Burke, Jennifer Castro, Kater Miller, Joan Thomas, and Gretchen Winterer. The curatorial team was greatly aided in their efforts by museum collection professionals led by registrar Alexis Rager and her team of Carolyn Bowers, Bruce Allen, Tara Spada, and countless interns and special assistants. The design and creation of the physical exhibit for the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday would not have been possible without the passion and professionalism of museum exhibit specialist Jennifer Jackson. The production of this book has been made possible by Marine Corps University Press, led by director Angela Anderson (designer) and her amazing staff, Christopher N. Blaker (editor) and Jose Esquilin (photographer). All of these individuals deserve my sincerest thanks and gratitude.

Finally, this entire project would not be possible without the extraordinary generosity and support of artifact donors, individual Marine Corps units, veterans organizations, and the fundraising efforts of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. Individual artifact donors thanked here include Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Sweeney, USAF (Ret); Ms. Susan Stohlman Salazar; Mrs. Julian C. Smith; Dr. Orlo J. Robinson; Mrs. Elizabeth J. Carleson; Colonel J. K. Young, USMC (Ret); General Merrill B. Twining, USMC (Ret); Captain Tim R. Lavier, USCG; Mr. Charles Reardon; Sergeant Stephen Carnilla, USMC; Mrs. Jane Brown; Mrs. Edith M. Williams; Karen L. Ciampa; Ms. Betty Jane Johnson Gerber and Mr. Nelson Johnson; David Catlin Pierce; the Machold family; the estate of Thomas R. Butler; Mrs. Martha Puller Downs; Sergeant Major Justin LeHew, USMC (Ret); Mrs. Jean M. Ortiz; Mr. Calvin C. Shepherd; Mr. Clark Adams; Lieutenant Colonel Dan Hall, USMC (Ret); and Mrs. Shizu Fukatsu. Donor organizations thanked include Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR); the U.S. Marine Raider Association; Southwest Asia Collection Team, Mobilization Training Unit (History) DC-7; and History Flight, Inc. These individuals and organizations represent the true spirit of “Gung Ho”—working together in harmony—that unites us all in preserving the history and heritage of the United States Marine Corps.

Introduction

As museum curators, one of our primary duties is determining what separates something that just happens to be “old” from an “artifact” that belongs in a museum. This task may seem arbitrary or at least open to broad interpretation. However, there are set standards and professional processes that are followed. This is particularly true at a national museum. An old military uniform found on the shelf at a local antique store could rise to the level of a museum artifact, but this is rare and not guaranteed. It takes hours of research and years of specific acquired skill sets to unravel the history behind an object to determine its true historical value.

As the chief curator of the National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC), I often cite the donation of uniforms as an analogy for how “old stuff” transforms into museum artifacts. Our most frequent donation offers are from families of Marines who want to donate their loved ones’ uniforms. Most often, the uniform is an ambiguous “green coat and blue coat.”

Regardless of era served, these U.S. Marine Corps service and dress uniforms are common to all Marines. Regardless of time and place, they are the artifacts that unite Marines of all generations. The vehicles, weapons, aircraft, and equipment all change, but the pride in the wearer of a Marine uniform remains constant.

These uniforms are representative of the Marine Corps as a whole as well as the service of the individual. When adorned with ribbons, qualification badges, and insignia, these same uniforms become specific to a Marine. It is the job of the museum curator to decipher and learn this history, because behind each artifact is a unique story.

Using the analogy of the “green coat,” one begins to see the specific value of an artifact. A Marine Raider may have worn this World War II-era winter service uniform (the correct nomenclature of the era), or perhaps it was owned by a survivor of the Battle of Iwo Jima or a decorated veteran who fought on Guadalcanal. Sometimes the history may be less obvious; the Marine might have served in a lesser-known occupational series or was one of the relatively small number of Women Reservists who volunteered to “free a Marine to fight” in the battlefields of the Pacific. Inevitably, it is the specific history of an artifact that begins to determine its historical value to a museum collection.

Often referred to as an artifact’s provenance (originating from the French word provenir), this is the information that curators research and collect, through photographs, letters, documents, and other correlating historical documentation. It is the provenance of a historical artifact that truly makes it come to life.

Guiding curators’ choices are thoughtful collection rationales or collecting plans. Each specific section of the NMMC has carefully created its own plans. These plans detail the current size and scope of the museum’s collections and are created by careful evaluation of artifacts already in possession, by the ability to safely house and store new collections, and by the curators’ predetermined needs to grow in a manner that will best capture the total and true history of the Marine Corps.

Whether the artifact is a tank or a rifle (Arms and Armor), a Marine’s portrait or a combat artist’s creation (Art), a specific type of aircraft (Aviation), a souvenir or a keepsake (Cultural and Material), or a unit flag or an individual’s medal (Uniforms and Heraldry), each of these curatorial sections give preference to artifacts with associated history or provenance. It is most often this history that makes an object an artifact for the museum. This history is also where so many incredible stories reside. These stories are the concept and focus of this book as well as the NMMC’s exhibit dedicated to the 250th birthday of the Marine Corps.

This book is organized into six parts: Arms and Armor; Art and Culture; Aviation; Awards and Citations; Marines and Units; and Uniforms, Flags, and Heraldry. The corresponding chapters are loosely arranged under a specific NMMC section’s purview. Regardless of whether the artifact is a weapon, a relic, a personal or uniform item, or something else entirely, the stories presented here have one thing in common: they all represent the remarkable history of 250 years of the United States Marine Corps and are cared for in perpetuity by the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

 

Conclusion

In the fall of 2024, the National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC) opened two major galleries. Known officially as galleries 13 and 14, these new additions nearly complete the museum’s circular layout, providing chronologically consecutive galleries and exhibits from 1775 to the present day. Due to several years of delays, NMMC staff members began to refer to galleries 13 and 14 as the museum’s “final phase.” This was based mostly on the physical completion of the museum’s original architectural plans, but it also became a point of historical reflection for the museum’s curators. What comes next? For the first time in the history of the museum, the Marine Corps story was “nearly complete.”

The reality, however, is that history never stops. There is no final project date for the NMMC. This is because history is alive and being made, or rediscovered, every day. In countless attics, garages, and closets, Marines and their families still have stories to tell and artifacts to share. There will regrettably be new wars. There will be more missions and operations for the Marine Corps. Correspondingly, there will be new stories and artifacts to document and preserve outside of these first 250 years.

The NMMC can never truly complete its mission without the American people. The Marines and donors who support the museum make this all possible. The museum is forever diligent and looking forward to preserving the history of the Marine Corps and the United States. As a reader of this book, we encourage readers and visitors to never hesitate to reach out to us to share or preserve your Marine Corps history. The Marines of today march forward in the shadows of the Marines of the past, but they are all united in one motto—Semper Fidelis, “Always Faithful”—to our history and to each other.

For more information, please visit the NMMC website at https://www.usmcmuseum.com/.

 

Appendix A

Map of the National Museum of the Marine Corps

First deck

Second deck

 

Appendix B

A Brief History of the National Museum of the Marine Corps

 

Introduction

The National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC) collects objects in support of its mission, which is to preserve and exhibit the material history of the U.S. Marine Corps. It is important to understand the distinction between museum and archives to fully understand the museum’s mission to honor the commitment, accomplishments, and sacrifices of Marines; support recruitment, training, education, and retention of Marines; and provide the public with a venue for the exploration of Marine Corps history. An archive refers to an organization that collects and preserves historical records and documents for research purposes. A museum, conversely, is a heritage institution designed to cultivate, preserve, and display artifacts to the public. Museums present a single, expansive body of knowledge and the context necessary for audiences to interpret and navigate a specific time and place in history. The 65,000+ uniforms, weapons, vehicles, medals, flags, aircraft, works of art, and other artifacts in the NMMC’s collections present the long history of the Marine Corps from its creation in 1775 to the present.

The road to establishing the NMMC as it now stands in Triangle, Virginia, was long but deliberate; one that was sustained by Marines, civilians, and the American public who believed that it was essential to collect, restore, and maintain the history of the Marine Corps within the fabric of American culture. The NMMC’s artifact collection precedes any formally established museum, resulting from the combination of the Marine Corps Historical Center at the Washington Navy Yard and the Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum in Quantico, Virginia.

 

Chronology

1933: The Commandant of the Marine Corps, MajGen Ben H. Fuller, directs the commanding general of Marine Barracks Quantico to establish a trophy room to exhibit historical objects and photographs. The commanding officer of Marine Barracks Washington, DC, borrows artifacts from the Historical Branch, Headquarters Marine Corps, to exhibit in the Sousa Band Hall.^[1]

1940: The Commandant of the Marine Corps, MajGen Thomas Holcomb, directs the establishment of a museum at Marine Corps Base Quantico on the second floor of the new Quantico Recreation Center (now Little Hall). The museum houses a series of built-in wall cases containing mannequins clad with historical uniforms, as well as flags, weapons, trophies, and medals.^[2]

Early 1950s: The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., orders Marine Corps Reserve Col John H. Magruder III to return to active duty to oversee the Marine Corps Museum at Quantico.^[3]

1960: Col Magruder and a staff of five move the Marine Corps Museum to Building 1019, next to Little Hall. During his tenure as museum director, Magruder procures additional buildings that allow the museum to create exhibits focused on Marine Corps aviation history.^[4]

1973: The Marine Corps Museum moves its collections and staff offices into Building 2014, the 1920s-era brig at Quantico.

1976: The Quantico-based Marine Corps Museum (Building 1019) closes. The art, artifacts, and some staff offices are moved to the Washington Navy Yard into a new Marine Corps Museum.^[5]

1978: The Marine Corps Aviation Museum opens at Quantico; it is located at Brown Field near the present-day Officer Candidates School. Exhibits focus on the role of World War II Marine aviation.^[6]

1979: The Marine Corps Historical Foundation is established as a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and maintaining the official history of the Marine Corps, including that of the History and Museums Division.^[7]

1985: BGen Edwin H. Simmons orders that the Marine Corps Aviation Museum be renamed the Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum. Exhibits are updated to include air-ground combat operations.^[8]

Late 1980s: The U.S. Congress authorizes each military Service to develop its own national museum to house, preserve, and interpret its history for the American public. Congress’s authorization allows for the creation of the partnership between the Historical Foundation and the Marine Corps.^[9]

1990: A third hangar is added to the Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum.

1995: The Historical Foundation discusses building a new heritage center at Quantico instead of expanding the Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum.

1998: The Historical Foundation changes its name to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation (MCHF). The MCHF’s efforts broaden support for the museum and its educational endeavors. The Marine Corps funds the design, exhibitions, artifact conservation, and federal staff salaries, while the MCHF raises the funds to build the 120,000-square-foot structure to be executed in two phases: phase I includes the concept and initial build and phase II expands the NMMC’s total area by another 117,000 square feet.

1999: The MCHF launches a capital campaign to build a heritage center at Quantico.

2000s: Congress authorizes a joint venture between the Marine Corps and the MCHF for the design and construction of a multipurpose facility to be used for historical displays for public viewing, curation, and storage of artifacts, research facilities, classrooms, offices, and associated activities that will be known as the Marine Corps Heritage Center.^[10]

July 2001: Following a national competition, Fentress Bradburn Architects of Denver, CO, is selected as the winner of the design for the NMMC.

2002: Prince William County, VA, deeds 135 acres of land from Locust Shade Park to the Marine Corps.^[11]

15 November 2002: The Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum closes in preparation for the opening of the NMMC.^[12]

2003: General contractor Centex Corporation leads the NMMC’s groundbreaking. The Marine Corps contracted with exhibit designers Christopher Chadbourne and Associates of Boston, MA, as well as Design and Production of Lorton, VA.

31 August 2005: The Marine Corps Museum at the Navy Yard closes in preparation for the opening of the NMMC. The art, artifacts, and staff are relocated to Quantico. The Museums Branch becomes a division of Marine Corps University.

10 November 2006: The NMMC opens in Triangle, VA, on the 231st birthday of the Marine Corps. Along with the Leatherneck Gallery, Making Marines, and the Legacy Walk, the museum opens galleries covering World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.^[13]

6 June 2010: The NMMC opens historical galleries covering the 1775 birth of the Marine Corps through World War I.

27 March 2015: The NMMC and MCHF beak ground for a 70,000-square-foot expansion to house a large format theater, a children’s gallery, an extension of the Legacy Walk, and new galleries to tell the history of the Marine Corps from 1976 to 2016.^[14]

9 July 2017: The NMMC opens the Combat Art Gallery, featuring 100 works and 22 artists.^[15]

23 July 2017: The NMMC opens the Medal of Honor Theater featuring the film We, the Marines.^[16]

November 2017:  The NMMC opens the expanded Education Suite and Children’s Gallery.

Fall 2024: Historical galleries covering the history of the Marine Corps from 1976 to the present are opened to the public.

 

Endnotes

 

Select Bibliography

 

Primary Source Collections

Artifact Accession Reports, National Museum of the Marine Corps, Triangle, VA.

Award Citations Files, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA.

Biographical Files, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA.

Catalog Files, National Museum of the Marine Corps, Triangle, VA.

Curatorial Files, National Museum of the Marine Corps, Triangle, VA.

Makin Island Raid File, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA.

Muster Rolls of Officers and Enlisted Men of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1798–1958. Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA.

Personal Papers Collection, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA.

Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Record Group 127, Iwo Jima, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.

U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor Biographies, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA.

War of 1812 Collection, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD.

 

Books and Monographs

Alexander, Col Joseph H., USMC (Ret). Battle of the Barricades: U.S. Marines in the Recapture of Seoul. Marines in the Korean War Commemorative Series. Washington, DC: Marine Corps Historical Center, 2000.

Altobello, Brian. Into the Shadows Furious: The Brutal Battle for New Georgia. New York: Presidio Press, 2000.

Amerman, Annette D. United States Marine Corps in the First World War: Anthology, Selected Bibliography, and Annotated Order of Battle. Quantico, VA: Marine Corps History Division, 2016.

Anthony, Irvin. Decatur. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1931.

Appleman, Roy E. South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu, June–November 1950. United States Army in the Korean War. Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1992.

Beck, George W. T. Beckoning Frontiers: The Memoir of a Wyoming Entrepreneur. Edited by Lynn J. House and Jeremy M. Johnston. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2020.

Berger, Gen David H. Force Design 2030. Washington, DC: Headquarters Marine Corps, 2020.

Biggs, Chester M., Jr. Behind the Barbed Wire: Memoir of a World War II U.S. Marine Captured in North China in 1941 and Imprisoned by the Japanese until 1945. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2011.

———. The United States Marines in North China, 1894–1942. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003.

Brown, Lt David Tucker Jr., USMCR. Letters of a Combat Marine. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1947.

Buell, Hal. Uncommon Valor, Common Virtue: Iwo Jima and the Photograph that Captured America. New York: Berkley Publishing, 2006.

Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II: History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps, 1940–1946. Vol. 2. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1947.

Butler, MajGen Smedley D., USMC (Ret). War Is a Racket. New York: Round Table Press, 1935.

Carano, Paul, and Pedro C. Sanchez. A Compete History of Guam. Rutland, VT: C. E. Tuttle, 1964.

Catlin, BGen Albertus W., and Walter A. Dyer. With the Help of God and a Few Marines. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1919.

Chittenden, William Howard. From China Marine to Jap POW: My 1,364 Day Journey through Hell. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing, 1995.

Churchill, Winston S. The Grand Alliance. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1950.

Clark, George B. Treading Softly: U.S. Marines in China, 1819–1949. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001.

Cureton, LtCol Charles H., USMCR (Ret), and David M. Sullivan. The Civil War Uniforms of the United States Marine Corps: The Regulations of 1859. San Jose, CA: R. James Bender Publishing, 2009.

Drury, Bob, and Tom Clavin. The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2009.

Durkota, Alan E. Medal of Honor, vol. 1, Aviators of World War One. Stratford, CT: Flying Machines Press, 1998.

Finney, Charles G. The Old China Hands. New York: Doubleday, 1961.

Frank, Richard B. Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War, July 1937–May 1942. New York: W. W. Norton, 2020.

French, Paul. City of Devils: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai. New York: Picador, 2018.

Heinl, LtCol Robert D., Jr. The Defense of Wake. Washington, DC: Historical Section, Division of Public Information, Headquarters Marine Corps, 1947.

Hoffman, Col Jon T., USMCR. Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC. New York: Random House, 2001.

Hoffman, Maj Jon T., USMCR. From Makin to Bougainville: Marine Raiders in the Pacific War. Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. Washington, DC: Marine Corps Historical Center, 1995.

Johnson, LtCol Edward C. Marine Corps Aviation: The Early Years, 1912–1940. Washington, DC: History and Museums Division, Headquarters Marine Corps, 1977.

Katz, Jonathan M. Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empire. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2022.

Kinney, BGen John F. Wake Island Pilot: A World War II Memoir. Sterling, VA: Potomac Books, 2005.

Kinsman, MSgt Robert S. “Official U.S. Marine Corps Release no. 9-62.” Quantico, VA: Informational Services Office, Marine Corps Schools, n.d.

Koginos, Manny T. The Panay Incident: Prelude to War. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Studies, 1967.

Leckie, Robert. Helmet for My Pillow. New York: Random House, 1957.

Lelle, John E. The Brevet Medal. Springfield, VA: Quest Publishing, 1988.

The Marines. Quantico, VA: Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, 1998.

Marling, Karal Ann, and John Wetenhall. Iwo Jima: Monuments, Memories, and the American Hero. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991.

Mattingly, Maj Robert E. Herringbone Cloak—GI Dagger: Marines of the OSS. Washington, DC: History and Museums Division, Headquarters Marine Corps, 1989.

Mears, Dwight S. The Medal of Honor: The Evolution of America’s Highest Military Decoration. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2018.

Message of the President of the United States and Accompanying Documents, to the Two Houses of Congress at the Commencement of the Second Session of the Fortieth Congress, pt. 1, 1867–1868. Washington, DC: Department of State, 1868.

Millett, Allan R. Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps. New York: Free Press, 1991.

———. Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps. New York: Macmillan, 1980.

Mitter, Rana. Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937–1945. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

Montross, Lynn, and Capt Nicholas A. Canzona. U.S. Marine Operations in Korea, 1950–1953, vol. 3, The Chosin Reservoir Campaign. Washington, DC: Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters Marine Corps, 1957.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 3, The Rising Sun in the Pacific, 1931–April 1942. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1948.

Moser, Michael J., and Yeone Wei-Chih Moser. Foreigners within the Gates: The Legations at Peking. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Mroczkowski, LtCol Dennis P., USMCR. U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf, 1990–1991: With the 2d Marine Division in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Washington, DC: History and Museums Division, Headquarters Marine Corps, 1993.

Nalty, Bernard C., and Danny J. Crawford. The United States Marines on Iwo Jima: The Battle and the Flag Raisings. Washington, DC: History and Museums Division, Headquarters Marine Corps, 1995.

No. 138 Squadron: Operations Record Book, 1941–1945. National Archives, Kew, Richmond, UK.

Nofi, Albert A. Marine Corps Book of Lists: A Definitive Compendium of Marine Corps Facts, Feats and Traditions. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1997.

O’Brien, Cyril J. Liberation: Marines in the Recapture of Guam. Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. Washington, DC: Marine Corps Historical Center, 1994.

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, ser. 1, vol. 25, Operations: Naval Forces on Western Waters, May 18, 1863–February 29, 1864. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1912.

Puller, Lewis B., Jr. Fortunate Son: The Healing of a Vietnam Vet. New York: Grove Press, 1991.

Rankin, Col Robert H. Uniforms of the Sea Services. Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute, 1962.

Registers of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy, U.S. Naval Reserve Force and Marine Corps. Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, 1923–40.

Regulations for the Uniform and Dress of the Marine Corps of the United States, October 1859. Philadelphia, PA: Charles DeSilver, 1859.

Reynolds, Clark G. The Fast Carriers: The Forging of an Air Navy. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1968.

Ricks, Thomas E. “O. P. Smith: The Most Underrated General in American History?” Foreign Policy, 21 September 2010.

Robertson, Breanne, ed. Investigating Iwo: The Flag Raisings in Myth, Memory, and Esprit de Corps. Quantico, VA: Marine Corps History Division, 2019.

Roosevelt, James, and Bill Libby. My Parents: A Differing View. Chicago, IL: Playboy Press, 1976.

Rottman, Gordon L. Carlson’s Marine Raiders: Makin Island, 1942. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2014.

———. U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939–1945. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.

Santelli, James S. A Brief History of the 4th Marines. Washington, DC: Historical Division, Headquarters Marine Corps, 1970.

Schmidt, Hans. Maverick Marine: General Smedley D. Butler and the Contradictions of American Military History. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1998.

Shaw, Henry I., Jr., First Offensive: The Marine Campaign for Guadalcanal. Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. Washington, DC: Marine Corps Historical Center, 1992.

Sherrod, Robert. History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II. Washington, DC: Combat Forces Press, 1952.

Simmons, BGen Edwin H., USMC (Ret). Frozen Chosin: U.S. Marines at the Changjin Reservoir. Marines in the Korean War Commemorative Series. Washington, DC: Marine Corps Historical Center, 2002.

———. Over the Seawall: U.S. Marines at Inchon. Marines in the Korean War Commemorative Series. Washington, DC: Marine Corps Historical Center, 2000.

Simmons, BGen Edwin H., USMC (Ret), and J. Robert Moskin, eds. The Marines. Quantico, VA: Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, 1998.

Smith, S. E., ed. The United States Marine Corps in World War II. New York: Random House, 1969.

Strandberg, John E., and Roger James Bender. The Call of Duty: Military Awards and Decorations of the United States of America. 2d ed. San Diego, CA: R. James Bender Publishing, 2004.

Strecker, Mark. Smedley Butler, USMC: A Biography. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2011.

Telfer, Maj Gary L., LtCol Lane Rodgers, and V. Keith Fleming Jr. U.S. Marines in Vietnam: Fighting the North Vietnamese, 1967. Washington, DC: History and Museums Division, Headquarters Marine Corps, 1984.

Thomas, Lowell. Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of Smedley D. Butler. New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1933.

Tulkoff, Alec S. Equipping the Corps 1892–1937. San Jose, CA: R. James Bender Publishing, 2010.

———. Grunt Gear: USMC Combat Infantry Equipment of World War II. Mountain View, CA: R. James Bender, 2003.

Tyson, Carolyn A. Marine Amphibious Landing in Korea, 1871. Washington, DC: Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters Marine Corps, 1966.

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Journal, Newspaper, and Web Articles

“11th Foreign Infantry Regiment.” French Foreign Legion Information, 7 November 2019.

Adams, Sgt Sheena. “Female Engagement Teams.” Leatherneck, 27 May 2013.

“American Samoa.” Nevington War Museum, accessed 7 May 2024.

“American Samoa.” U.S. Department of the Interior, accessed 7 May 2024.

Athey, Philip. “A Sikh Marine Is Now Allowed to Wear a Turban in Uniform.” Marine Corps Times, 5 October 2021.

Bartlett, Cmdr Owen, USN (Ret). “Destruction of S.M.S. ‘Cormoran’.” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 57, no. 8 (August 1931).

Bickers, Robert. “The Shanghai Volunteer Corps,” Robert Bickers (blog), 19 April 2013.

Block, William. “Barefoot Marines.” Trading Post (American Society of Military Insignia Collectors) 53, no. 3 (July–September 1994): 2.

“Brigadier General James Roosevelt.” Marine Corps History Division, accessed 13 May 2024.

“British Withdraw Troops from China; U.S. Forces Remain.” New York Times, 10 August 1940.

Brown, Walter. “Japanese Bombard Civilians in Shanghai’s Chapei.” United Press International Archives, 2 February 1932.

Burgess, Lisa. “ ‘This Is How Custer Must Have Felt’: Gunnery Sgt. Justin D. LeHew, Navy Cross.” Stars and Stripes, 14 June 2005.

“Butler, Thomas Stalker, 1855–1928.” United States Congress Bioguide, accessed 14 May 2024.

Camp, Richard D., Jr. “The ‘George Medal’ and Guadalcanal.” Military Heritage 6, no. 5 (April 2005).

“Camp Roosevelt Vignettes.” Leatherneck 19, no. 1 (January 1936): 7, 50–51.

“China: Tough Taipan.” Time, 28 April 1941.

Collins, Craig. “Semper Fi: Women in the Marine Corps.” Defense Media Network, 23 May 2018.

“Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Archibald Henderson, USMC.” Marine Corps History Division, accessed 13 May 2024.

“Colonel John Harris, USMC.” Marine Corps History Division, accessed 13 May 2024.

Conner, Owen L., and Charles Grow. “World War II and the Origins of Diversity.” Leatherneck 95, no. 2 (February 2012): 56.

“End Strengths, 1795–2015.” Marine Corps History Division, accessed 14 May 2024.

“Envoy to China Is Bicycle Fan.” Charlotte Observer, 16 June 1935.

“Faith of American Diplomats.” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 14 August 1928.

“Famous Quotes.” Marine Corps History Division, accessed 13 May 2024.

“Female Engagement Teams–FETS.” National Museum of the Marine Corps, accessed 7 May 2024.

Field, Andrew David. “The Fate of Jack Riley, Shanghai’s Notorious Slot Machine King.” Shanghai Sojourns (blog), 29 June 2018.

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Gilliam, Cpl Gregory S. “Standing Alone.” Marines, September 1997.

Guidetti, L. “Fourth Marines, Shanghai, China.” Leatherneck 20, no. 10 (October 1937): 20.

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“It Happened in Michigan: Eyewitness to War.” Detroit Free Press, 26 December 1937.

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Karig, Capt Walter, USNR, and Cdr Eric Purdon, USNR. “The Makin Island Raid.” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 72, no. 10 (October 1946).

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Dissertations and Unpublished Papers

Burke, Laurence M., II. “ ‘What to Do with the Airplane?’: Determining the Role of the Airplane in the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, 1908–1925.” PhD diss., Carnegie Mellon University, 2014.

Smith-Christmas, Kenneth L. “Why Things Are the Way They Are at the Marine Corps Museum.” Unpublished paper, Marine Corps Museum, Quantico, VA, n.d.

 

Film

Sands of Iwo Jima. Directed by Allan Dwan. Los Angeles, CA: Republic Pictures, 1949.

With the Marines at Tarawa. Directed by Louis Hayward. Los Angeles, CA: Universal Pictures, 1944.

 

About the Authors

 

Jonathan Bernstein is the arms and armor curator for the NMMC, arriving aboard the museum in July 2020 after nine years as the director of the U.S. Army’s Air Defense Artillery Museum. His published works include six books on aviation history and numerous articles in Leatherneck and other magazines. In 2005, Mr. Bernstein left the history PhD program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock to attend U.S. Army flight school and served as a Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter pilot with the 1st Battalion, 104th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard from 2007 to 2012. He holds a bachelor of arts in history from Purchase College, State University of New York, and a master of arts in museum studies from Texas Tech University.

 

Laurence M. Burke II is the aviation curator for the NMMC. He is the author of At the Dawn of Airpower: The U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps’ Approach to the Airplane, 1907–1917 (2022). After receiving his PhD in history and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014, he taught in the history department of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, as a postdoctoral fellow. He then served as the curator of U.S. naval aviation at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, for nearly five years before joining the NMMC in 2021. In addition to his PhD, he possesses a bachelor’s degree in science and technology studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, and a master’s degree in museum studies from the George Washington University.

 

Jennifer Castro was appointed the curator of the cultural and material history collection at the NMMC in January 2009. She is an original plank holder of the museum and previously served more than 23 years as the museum’s collections manager and registrar, joining the staff of the Marine Corps History and Museum Division at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, DC, in 1987 after working on the staff at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Museum Studies. A native of Maryland, she is a graduate of Mary Washington College (now the University of Mary Washington) in Fredericksburg, VA, with bachelor of arts degrees in historic preservation and art history. She is responsible for two ever-changing temporary exhibits at the NMMC, one that features new acquisitions to the collection and another that documents artifacts with unusual stories and represents the diversity of the museum’s collection.

 

Owen Linlithgow Conner is the chief curator of the National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC). He began his career at the museum as an intern and special assistant in 2005. He was hired as the museum’s assistant uniforms and heraldry curator in 2006 and promoted to senior uniform curator in 2012. He has served as the curatorial section chief since 2022. As a plank holder of the NMMC, Mr. Conner has been involved with nearly every major exhibit of the museum since its opening in 2006. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in history from George Mason University.

 

Kater Miller is the outreach curator at the NMMC. He began working at the museum in 2010 as the assistant ordnance curator. He served in the Marine Corps from 2001 to 2005 as an aviation ordnanceman. After his time in the Marine Corps, he used the GI Bill to earn a bachelor’s degree in history from Valdosta State University, GA, and a master’s degree in history from George Mason University.

 

Gretchen Winterer is the assistant uniforms and heraldry curator for the NMMC. She began her career with the Office of Historic Alexandria in Virginia and then spent two years working in the Collection Care Department of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. She joined the NMMC in 2008. She holds a bachelor of arts in history from Roanoke College, VA, a master of arts in early American history from the George Washington University (GWU), and a master’s certificate in museum collections management and care from GWU.

 

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