When the winds of unrest stirred the American
colonies to spawn revolution against the tyranny of King
George of England it fell upon the militia, a loose knit
army of farmers and settlers under the leadership of George
Washington, to defeat the British Red Coats and create a new
nation. Armed ships set sail to fight the British fleet at
sea. There arose a need for a fighting force separate from
the crews who sailed the ships and manned the cannons.
The Continental Congress, addressing the
problem, authorized the formation of a military force to
fill the need. An so, the word went out: "FIND A FEW GOOD
MEN AND CALL THEM MARINES!" Thus on 10 November 1775, the
Continental Marines became the first military organization
authorized by congregational action. In those days of wooden
sailing ships, the Continental Marines kept order at sea and
maintained internal security on board ship. In combat they
manned the fighting tops, sniping at gun crews on enemy
ships. On deck they led boarding parties in close action and
repelled enemy boarding parties. These Marines earned the
nickname "Leatherneck." The time honored sobriquet was
derived from the thick leather stock worn around the neck to
protect the Marine from the decapitating slash of an enemy's
cutlass.
The emblem of the Marine Corps, the Eagle,
Globe and Anchor, defines the mission of the Corps--As the
words of the Marine Corps Hymn declare--"First to fight our
Country's battles on land, sea and in the air." So it has
been throughout the long history of the Fourth Regiment of
Marines. In 1914 an upheaval in Mexico brought swift action
by Marine Corps Headquarters. Colonel Joseph H. Pendleton
was ordered to report to San Francisco to organize the
Fourth Regiment for temporary foreign tropical shore
service. The newly formed regiment sailed from San Diego
aboard Navy cruisers to positions off Mexico's western
shores and harbors.
After the emergency passed, they were
returned to San Diego and North Island. As the result of the
Navy Department's decision to establish a combat ready unit
on the West Coast, the Fourth Marines became the nucleus of
advance forces on the west coast. The road to hell for the
Fourth Marine regiment began on North Island where they were
bivouacked at Camp Howard. Camp Pendleton, the huge West
Coast Training base for today's Marines is named after
Colonel Pendleton, the first commander of the Fourth Marine
Regiment. In 1915 the regiment moved to a model camp in what
is now Balboa Park to take part in the Panama-California
Exposition celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal.
Based in San Diego the regiment remained in striking
distance of possible disturbances in Latin America.
On three occasions in 1915 the regiment was
dispatched to the western shores of Mexico when revolution
again threatened American interests. The rapid response to
the danger area did not result in combat action, but the
Marine presence was effective in motivating the Mexican
Government to take action against the rebels. On 3 February
1916 the regiment returned to San Diego. The new Fourth
Regiment had been in existence for over two years, but had
not seen action on the three excursions in Mexican waters
for which they received commendations for their rapid
response.
Four months later, on 4 June 1916 Colonel
Pendelton received orders for the regiment to embark for the
Republic of Santo Domingo in the Caribbean. Two days later
the regiment departed San Diego for New Orleans to board
transports. Rebels, unhappy with the economic distress in
the country wanted to overthrow the government of the tiny
island republic. The United States was fearful that an
unfriendly foreign nation might try to take advantage of the
unrest to gain control of the island and threaten the
security of the Panama Canal. In keeping with the Monroe
Doctrine, to keep foreign influence out of the Caribbean,
the Marines were dispatched to Santo Domingo to quell the
rebel uprising and bring order to the island nation.
The arrival of the Fourth Marine regiment in
Santo Domingo marked the beginning of an eight-year campaign
to put an end to the rebel uprising and to administer a
military government until order was restored. On 11 December
1916, Colonel Pendelton was promoted to Brigadier General
and on 1 January 1917, Colonel Theodore P. Kane assumed
command of the Regiment. In August of 1924 the Navy
transport Henderson sailed from Santo Domingo City, with the
Fourth regiment aboard, bound for San Diego. In the
regiment's eight year absence, the Marine Corps Recruit
Depot in San Diego had been constructed and was ready for
occupation by the Fourth Marines, "San Diego's Own." During
the next two years, due to the economic conditions of the
time; reductions in military spending and a world at peace,
the regiment's strength was depleted. On 29 June 1925, they
were called upon to lend assistance to local authorities
when a severe earthquake struck Santa Barbara, California.
Active throughout July the Marines won the
grateful appreciation of the citizens of Santa Barbara for
their help. Another emergency once again called the Fourth
regiment to respond to the needs of the nation. In 1926
following a rash of mail robberies across the country, the
Postmaster General petitioned the Secretary of the Navy for
help in quelling the disruption of mail service.
On 18 October, Major General John A. Lejeune,
Commandant of the Marine Corps, ordered elements of the
Fourth regiment to be designated as the Western area Mail
Guards. In three days, the Marines were en route to their
assigned duty on trains, mail trucks, post offices and
railroad depots. Once the Marines were posted, there were no
more mail robberies.
On 28 January 1927 the Fourth regiment
received orders to proceed to China. Five days later, the
regiment boarded the Naval transport Chaumont for duty in
the international settlement in Shanghai China. As time
passed, the word spread throughout the Corps that the choice
duty was with the "China Marines." But duty in Shanghai was
not without danger. On 12 December 1937 Japanese naval
aircraft strafed and sank the U.S. Navy's Yangtze River
patrol boat, Panay. In February 1938 the Japanese tried to
provoke an "incident" by attempting to enter the American
sector with armed patrols. The Marines stopped the attempts
without incident.
In the waning months of 1941, with world
tensions growing, other foreign governments ordered their
troops out of the international settlement in Shanghai. The
last bit of protection left for American and U.S. interests
in China was the small U. S. 7th Fleet, the Fourth Marine
Regiment and the Yangtze River patrol boats that inspired
the book and the movie, "THE SAND PEBBLES." The final
elements of the Fourth Regiment left Shanghai on 28 November
1941. They were the last foreign troops to leave the
international settlement. The Regimental band led the
Marines down East Nanking Road toward the Whangpoo River and
the waiting evacuation ships. It was an end of an era--the
final day of one of the most desired duty stations in the
history of the Corps.
The China Marines had been there 14 years.
Their arrival in the Philippines opened a new era for the
Fourth Marines--a time of jungle warfare, starvation and
deprivation. These "Leathernecks" may have been surrendered
by Army command, but they refused to accept defeat.
The China Marines lived up to the proud
heritage of the Corps, despite the horrors, the deprivation
and barbaric treatment they were subjected to in Japanese
Prisoner of War Slave labor camps. As prisoners, the marines
continued the battle from behind barbed wire through
sabotage and other activities designed to discomfit their
captors.
The experiences related on this web pages
are the stories of the men of the Fourth Regiment of
Marines, as told to devotees of war stories, Marine Corps
Historians and in letters from the men who were there. When
the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on 8 December, (Philippine
time), 1941, the men who were known as the China Marines
were forever changed. After a half a century or more, one
would think memories of war and POW life would fade, some do
but others are like visions as vivid and horrible as when
they occurred; stark, real events--horrible and
humorous--etched indelibly into the memory banks of the
brain.
They found themselves in an environment
where all the rules of propriety they had been taught as a
child had been erased and it was necessary to violate every
rule just to stay alive. It is impossible for a man to
remember every day of nearly six months on on the bulls eye
that was the Alamo of the Pacific. Nor can they recall every
day, lived in the shadow of death for nearly four years.
However, certain events are like scenes from a movie seen
over and over again.
There are visions of atrocities that
exemplify the adage, "Of man's inhumanity to his fellow
man," as Japanese guards viciously beat and tortured
American Prisoners, scenes so inhuman that they could not be
visualized by one who was not there. The quotation, "War is
Hell," can not adequately symbolize the events of World War
Two. Combat and life as a Prisoner of War just can not be
described as "Hell." Even to call it, "A Living Hell," can
only hint at the reality of what the Battling Bastards of
Bataan endured.
Some Japanese guards, veterans of China,
remembering the China Marines in Shanghai, took exceptional
pleasure in singling out Marine prisoners for harsh
treatment. Here are the stories of how the men of the Fourth
Regiment of United States Marines, continued the battle from
behind barbed wire through sabotage and antics designed to
befuddle their captors. But in the memories of the men, no
longer on combat alert, there, hidden in the dark reaches of
the mind, are the memories of bloody combat in the Jungles
of Bataan and Corregidor. In the tropics dead bodies bloat
quickly, the odor of body excrement, released by death, lies
heavy in the air mingled with the smell of blood and the
odor of corpses rotting in the heat. This is the reality of
war--memories that can not be erased by time; of boys who
became men in combat--memories carried to the grave.
Lest we forget what these men did for their
country--their number grows smaller each year.
Special thanks to China
Marine Otis H. (Karl) King 3rd Bn, "L" Co. for contributing
this page.
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