The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-07-07
MARINES % 4 GREAT
MANY THINGS CAPABlY
When Anything Happens That Needs
Immediate Attention, just Send
For Soldiers OF Sea.
FIGHT AND WORK EQUALLY
When They Were Rushed to Cha
teau-Thicrry, They Did Acts Many
Armies Could Not Have Done at AL.

salient menacing Paris--a job they
performed with a neatness and dis-
patch that sent thrill OF admiration
throughout the civilized world---one
thing was known by the Allied com .
manders. That was that nobody couid
know just what the Marines wouia
be called upon to do.
Fight Yea, of course. But, In al
dition to fighting, IL was situation
which might call for every other
form of human activity from bridge
building to bridge destruction. and
from mule wrangiing to refugee res
cues But whatever 1t might Cali TOT.
there had to be men on hand VINO
were qualified for 1t, not merely by
their training, but also by naturai
aptitude and oftentimes earlier expe-
rience.
Now the u. 8. Marines certainly do
get all around training, by sea, land
and air. But there is another factor
IN the all around proficiency for
which they are famed which makes
them precisely the service corps need
ed for any and every emergency OF
strife that may present itself 80
far as the Individual units composing
any command can be adjusted In the
practical application of the principle,
every man in the T. &. Marine corps.
tremendously stimulated by its opera :
tions at the front in France, is an
example of American individuatism
American initiative. American tech .
Ytcal skill raised TO the limit of de-
velopment by system OF selection
that begins with the very rookie him
self
The recruit who enlists In the L, s.
Marines may or may not bring to the
f-s ~ n
ular kind OF work there: or he may
be skilled In some trade or profess
sion which can be directly utilized in
the work of the corps. IT he does
present a definite skill or aptness. his
officers are on the lookout for the
class of work in which his abilities
will prove most effective. II he does
not, an equally careful watch Is kept
for the earliest manifestation ne gives
OF being adapted to some one kind OF
usefulness And while his own In
clination cannot, Of course be always
the determining factor--sooner of
later, but usually sooner, the Y. s.
Marine by the time he Is full -fiedged.
has been assigned to the particular
function for which he Ia best fitted
and also 10 that function which hest
affords him opportunities for advance
ment In the corps.
This liz inside marine corps informs-
ton which explains the outside In
formation known TO the world at large
and commonly. seen only in the ef-
fects OF the corps system Of selee-
ton. Many a reader Of kipling's
widely quoted verses has wondered
what miracles of training lay behind
the miracles of adaptsbility so lauded
by the poet: but anyone. who has in
mind the corps' careful selection and
assignment OF its men. can appreciate
the full force OF those admiring lines
of Kipiing:
An after met I'm all over the world,
ADDING all kinds OF things.
Like landing ITSELF with a gatl.ng
gun, to talk to them 'eathcn
kings.
II sleeps in an 'au1mock instead OF
cot. and e drills with the deck
on slew.
For there isn't job on the top O.
the earth the Marine don't know
and do.
Congress has recently authorized
the increase OF the u. s. marine corps
to $4,000 officers and men. Among
the L, s marines engaged in carry
ing out this i'm portant undertaking
are two who are conspicuous exem-
piars of the corps system OF using
the highest measure and quality OF
service every marine can render.
In 1898 Edwin DENLY was n gun
ner's mate on the r.. s. s. Yosemite.
which conveyed the Panther 10 Guam
tanamo bay and helped land 800
marines--tha the first United States
troops to set foot on the soil OF Cuba
during the war with Spain when
that same Edwin DENLY recently re-
signed his scat In congress to enlist
n nriy To fy h.
matter who you are you enlist simply
A. private when IL comes to the L. s.
marines-tt would have been natural
to expect that his previous experience
In the navy would land him some
where in corps artillery work
But Private DENLY, during the
years Intervening. had become I'm in
spring speaker, an orator of the type
capable of filling men with ardor
and ideals. That special gift of his
made him too valuable. at time
when the L. S. marine corps was be-
ing more than doubled in it's strength.
TO be assigned to any duty other than
that of !nstilling the spirit of tho
corps in the minds of the hundreds
Of new recruits
Thinking harder. working harder.
than ever before In his career. the
former gunner's mate and former cor J.
kiGSShdU mas risen TO the rank OF
first lieutenant, and his days and
nights are still filled with the duties
Of the Job for which he is best quail |
ified--that OF teaching recruits at one
OF the great training camps the tradi- |
lions of the corps, and OF making |
every man Of them realize thoroughly |
what 1t means to be a u. s. marine.
In New York city. at the marine |
corps publicity headquarters. there Il |
q captain OF marines. Thomas G. Ster- |
rett. who edits It's Recruiters Bulie- |
tin and does huge daily stint OF the |
publicity work which lets the Ameri- |
can people know what sort Of all |
around fighters the u. &. marines I
really are. He was n reporter In Erie,
Pa. when new city editor de cided !
the paper had to have new stuff and |
assigned him to the task OF getting 1t |
among other features being one |
that should answer the question:
why do men enlist?" The marines
had a recruiting office in Erie; so thu
city editor told Sterrett the answer
lay there.
When Sterrett put his question TO
the recruiting sergeant. that person
replied: "damflno." with trimmings
that convinced the inquirer Of the
of further investigation.
fhe world was at peace: probably
there wasn't any answer. He 50 re-