Good morning Leathernecks, and on this the 3rd day of October in the history of our beloved Corps:
In 1855, after the king of Viti Levu in the Fiji Islands fails to abide by the agreement, the John Adams’s Marines and sailors defeat a native force and burn a village on the island.
In 1899, more than a hundred Marines support an army attack on rebel forces near Cavite in the Philippines.
In 1900, the Marines depart Peking and an Army force assumes the role of guarding the U.S. Legation.
In 1903, Major General Heywood retires. Colonel George F. Elliot is promoted to Brigadier General and becomes the 10th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
In 1912, On the 3rd and 4th days of October Butler’s battalion shells Nicaraguan rebels entrenched on the adjoining hills of Coyotepe and Barranca outside Masaya for one day.
The next morning, reinforced by additional Marines and sailors brought up by Pendleton, the Americans assault the hills.
At a cost of 18 Marine casualties, the rebels lose 60 dead (including their commander), and their force disintegrates.
In 1918, the 4th Marine Brigade attacks and seizes the Blanc Mont ridge.
Corporal J. H. Pruitt and Private John J. Kelly later receive the Medal of Honor for separately destroying German machine-gun nests.
In 1939, The Declaration of Panama establishes the Western Hemisphere below Canada as a neutral zone.
In 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Harold W. Bauer of VMF-212 shoots down four enemy planes and becomes an ace while making an inspection visit to Guadalcanal.
The U.S. Marines occupy Funafuti in the Ellice Islands.
In 1944, the 7th Marines seizes Walt’s Ridge and Boyd Ridge, further compressing the Umurbrogol Pocket on Peleliu.
In 1946, Chinese Communist forces make a night raid on the 1st Marine Division’s main ammunition supply point at Hsin Ho.
The guard force drives them off without losing a man.
In 1968, the DOD announces that the Marine Corps will receive 2,500 of the 17,500 men drafted in December.
This marks the first time since May that the Corps needed to resort to the draft.
Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas!
Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever!
-Richard W. Pettengill, Corporal USMC
And damn proud of it!