Good morning Leathernecks, and on this the 26th day of October in the history of our beloved Corps:
In 1898, Marines establish a barracks at the naval station at San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In 1917, the 4th Marine Brigade is joined with Army units to form the 2nd Division.
In 1931, Colonel Thomas C. Turner, the director of Marine aviation, is severely injured by a turning propeller in Haiti and dies two days later.
In 1940, Volunteers, already serving in the Corps, report to Lakehurst to form the first class of trainees for eventual Marine parachute units.
In 1945, the 26th Marines arrives on Peleliu and relieves the Army’s 111th Infantry of garrison duties.
The Marines will oversee repatriation of Japanese troops located throughout the Palaus and the Western Carolines.
In 1950, following two weeks of mine clearing offshore by the Navy, the 1st Marine Division makes an administrative landing at Wonsan.
The mission of X Corps is now to assist ROK forces in clearing northeast Korea, while Eighth Army does the same in northwest Korea.
In 1952, following an extremely heavy bombardment, Chinese troops attack the Hook and nearby Outposts Ronson and Warsaw.
They take all three.
The 1st Marine Division receives unusually heavy air support, much of it from 1st MAW, and makes determined counterattacks throughout the27th and 28th that finally succeed in regaining all the lost ground.
Chinese attacks on other outposts along the division line are repulsed.
The enemy is estimated to have fired as many as 34,000 shells during this battle, a level far exceeding anything the Marines faced in World War II.
Marine losses over the two days total 118 killed or missing and 435 wounded.
The outpost war quiets down hereafter as winter settles in.
The division uses the respite to alter its defensive tactics, moving defensive positions from the military crest to the topographical crest, digging deeper, and employing better barbed wire obstacles.
In 1955, following elections, Ngo Dinh Diem proclaims the Republic of Vietnam in the south and becomes its first president.
In 1962, 5th MEB sails from San Diego.
Most of the 2nd Marine Division and major elements of MAG-14, 24, 26, 31, and 32 are deployed to Key West and the Caribbean for a possible invasion of Cuba.
In 1965, Exercise “Steel Pike I” begins in Spain with 22,000 Marines, 33,000 sailors, and 2,000 Spanish Marines.
In 1983, the Corps takes delivery of its first wheeled light armored vehicle, designated LAV-25.
Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas!
Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever!
-Richard W. Pettengill, Corporal USMC
And damn proud of it!