Originally Posted December 26, 2024
Good morning Leathernecks, and on this the 26th day of December in the history of our beloved Corps:
In 1776, a portion of Washington’s army crosses the Delaware River at night and defeats the Hessian forces at Princeton, New Jersey.
Brigadier General John Cadwalader’s division, which includes Samuel Nicholas’s Marine Battalion, gets across the river too late and misses the battle.
The victory temporarily ends the British threat to Philadelphia, the seat of the Continental Congress.
In 1861, Marines from the Dale skirmish with Confederate troops at the mouth of the Edisto River in South Carolina.
In 1918, the battleship force and embarked Marine detachments, deployed in the British Isles for the war, return to New York harbor.
In 1932, Puller and six other Marines volunteer to lead a patrol of 64 Guardias to secure the new rail line between Leon and El Sauce.
Their train is ambushed.
At a cost of three Guardias killed and three wounded, the government force inflicts the largest confirmed loss (31 dead) on the Sandanistas since the battle of Ocotal in 1927.
In 1943, the 1st Marine Division launches its amphibious assault on Cape Gloucester at the northwestern end of New Britain.
The 7th and 1st Marines (less 2/1) go ashore near the Japanese airfields at the cape, while 2/1 lands on the western coast to block trails.
The heaviest ground fighting comes when a Japanese battalion counterattacks the lines of the 7th Marines that night.
Marine aircraft of VMF-214, 216, 222, 223, and 321 provide cover for the operation.
In 1944, Sixth Army declares Leyte secured.
In 1957, HMR(L)-162 is temporarily diverted from Indonesia on board the Princeton (CV-37) to assist flood victims in Ceylon over the next few weeks.
In 1967, , during the period 26 December 1967 through 2 January 1968, the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines (3/1) participated in OPERATION BADGER TOOTH, a search and destroy operation in the Quang Tri and Thua Thien Provinces.
During OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER, Marine jets attack targets near Hanoi and Dong-Hoi.
In 1971, President Nixon orders a temporary resumption of bombing of North Vietnam as peace talks stall.
VMA(AW)-224 participates in these aerial raids.
There are 156,800 troops in South Vietnam.
Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas!
Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever!
-Richard W. Pettengill, Corporal USMC
And damn proud of it!