Good morning Leathernecks, and on this the 30th and final day of June in the history of our beloved Corps:
In 1815, A treaty of peace is concluded with Algiers.
The strength of the Marine Corps on active duty is 8 officers and 680 enlisted
In 1847, Marines and sailors from the Tabasco launch a spoiling attack against Mexican forces at nearby Tamultay and drive off the enemy.
In 1918, By order of the French Army, Belleau Wood is officially renamed “Bois de la Brigade de Marine.”
In 1920, The Secretary of the Navy, Joseph Daniels relieves Barnett as Commandant and transfers him to be commanding General of the new Department of the Pacific in San Francisco.
Major General John Lejeune succeeds him as Commandant.
Lejeune is the thirteenth Commandant of the Marine Corps.
In 1943, the amphibious transports attempting to land an Army force at Viru Harbor are turned back by shore batteries.
Army units secure Rendova Island, and the 9th Defense Battalion establishes positions there to support the pending assault against Munda Airfield on New Georgia.
AirSols aircraft drive off heavy enemy air attacks against U.S. ships off Rendova.
Marine fighter planes claim 58 of the 101 reported kills, with 1st Lieutenant Wilbur J. Jones of VMF-213 getting four Zeros.
Companies N and Q of the 4th Raider Battalion land unopposed on Vangunu Island in the Central Solomons as the vanguard for the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 103rd Infantry.
The two units succeed in defeating Japanese forces on the island over the next three days.
In 1945, The mop up of southern Okinawa is completed.
Marine casualties during the campaign are 3,443 dead and 16,017 wounded.
Losses among Navy personnel serving with Marine units are 118 killed and 442 wounded.
At sea, the Navy loses nearly 10,000 personnel killed and wounded, almost entirely due to kamikaze attacks.
In 1946, the Marine Corps’ participation in the Navy’s V-12 officer program comes to an end.
In 1947, President Truman signs special legislation posthumously promoting Lieutenant General Roy Geiger to four-star rank.
In 1950, the strength of the Marine Corps on active duty is 7,524 officers and 67,025 enlisted.
Truman authorizes the use of U.S. ground forces in South Korea and air attacks on North Korea.
Congress also approves the call-up of reserve forces for up to 21 months of active duty.
In 1951, A Marine F7F Tigercat of VMF-513 achieves the Corps’ first kill by this aircraft, shooting down an enemy biplane making night nuisance raids against U.N. forces near Seoul.
HMR-162 is activated at Santa Ana, California.
In 1952, VMF-211 and 323 are redesignated as VMA-211 and 323.
The 11th Marines publishes a standard operating procedure for using artillery to suppress anti-aircraft fire while planes conduct close air support missions.
These tactics result in an immediate and significant decrease in losses of aircraft.
The procedure later will become known as SEAD (suppression of enemy air defenses).
President Truman signs the Douglas-Mansfield Act.
It authorizes a three-division, three-wing structure for the Corps (enshrining what Truman already had approved in practice), sets a 400,000-man peacetime ceiling (to quiet fears of the Corps becoming a second land army), and gives the Commandant the right to attend JCS meetings and vote on any issue he deems of interest to the Corps.
The law also clearly states the Marine Corps is a separate service within the Navy Department.
In 1959, HMR(L)-264 is commissioned.
In 1960, The Department of the Pacific headquarters, in San Francisco, is deactivated.
The Marine Barracks for the Naval Ammunition Depot in Bremerton, Washington, is disestablished.
In 1965, There are 18,156 Marines in Vietnam, with a total U.S. deployment there in excess of 50,000.
In 1969, during the period 30 June through 3 July, the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines (1/5), 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines (2/5), and the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines (1/7) participated in OPERATION FORSYTHE GROVE, a clear and search operation in the Quang Nam Province.
the strength of the Marine Corps on active duty is 25,698 officers and 284,073 enlisted.
This is the highest manpower total for the Corps since 1945. Of these, over 82,000 are in Vietnam.
The reenlistment rate reaches its lowest level since before the Vietnam War, with 12 percent of first-term volunteers and only one percent of draftees signing on for another contract.
In 1970, The 1st Marine Division has had few major contacts in the first six months of the year.
During the period it has killed 3,955 enemy at a cost of 283 Marines dead and 2,537 wounded.
VMFA-542 is deactivated at El Toro, while the 3rd Anti-tank Battalion is deactivated at Camp Pendleton.
In 1974, The Marine Security Guard unit at the Saigon embassy is reduced from 174 to 57.
The Naval Disciplinary Command, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is deactivated.
Marines serving long sentences are transferred to the Army Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
In 1975, General Cushman retires and is replaced by General Louis H. Wilson, Jr., the 26th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
In 1977, The Office of the Director of Women Marines ceases to exist as female Marines are no longer categorized as a separate entity within the Corps.
Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas!
Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever!
-Richard W. Pettengill, Corporal USMC
And damn proud of it!