History of the Marine Corps— World War I: The Battle of Belleau Wood

Marines had to cross 350 meters of open wheat field to reach the Germans, and many who witnessed the battlefield compared it to Confederate General Robert E. Lee's failed Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg. We break down the position and strength of Marine and German forces at Belleau Wood and many of the challenges US forces faced during their engagement. We end the episode by reviewing a few statistics and address the elephant in the room about the Marine's famed Devil Dog nickname.

La Crosse Tribune - April 27, 1918

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References:

Antrim, R. P. (2016). Where the Marines Fought in France. Wentworth Press.
Clark, G. B. (2015). The Fourth Marine Brigade in World War I: Battalion Histories Based on Official Documents. United States: McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.
Cowing, K. F. (2021). Dear Folks at Home: The Glorious Story of the United States Marine in France as Told By Their Letters from the Battlefield (First Edition). Houghton Mifflin.
Cunningham, A. A. USMC. "Value of Aviation to the Corps." 4rine Corps Gazette, y. 5, no. 3 (Sep 1920), pp. 221-233.
Curtis, L. C. T. J. (1993). History of the Sixth Machine Gun Battalion, Fourth Brigade, U.S. Marines Second Division and its participation in the Great War. (Second Edition). Brass Hat, 1993.
Dyer, W. A., Catlin, A. W. (1919). "With the Help of God and a Few Marines,". United States: Doubleday, Page.
Flagg, J. M. (2021). Roses and buckshot (3rd ed.). G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Gibbons, F. P. (2021). And They Thought We Wouldn’t Fight: Wounded - How it Feels to Be Shot (in First World War Centenary Prose Collection Vol. I ). IDB Productions.
Marines., U. S. (2021). With the United States Marines at Paris Island Training Station: A Pictorial Souvenir. N.P., c. 2000.
Roger M. Emmons. "The First Marine Aviation Force." Cross and Cockade Journal, y. 6, no. 2 (summer 1965)
Simmons, E. H. (2014). Through the Wheat: The U.S. Marines in World War I. United States: Naval Institute Press.
Tuchman, B. W. (2021). The Guns of August: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Classic About the Outbreak of World War I by Barbara W. Tuchman (2004–08-03). Presidio Press.
Wilson, H. B. (2016). An Account of the Operations of the American Navy in France During the War with Germany. United States: Bibliolife DBA of Bibilio Bazaar II LLC.