The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-02

70 celebrate any one battle or
tho performance of any one unit as
the late wars classic of American
hsroism would be wholesale in
justfce. However, what our marines
did near Chateau Thierry in June,
when Paris and with it the entire
cause of Freedom were in the most
dire peril of all the war, will always
have special hold upon our ma
tionaI Imagination. The French
expressed their opinion of it by
remaining BeIIeau Wood in the ma
TineS honor. No one could be bet
ter qualified to tell the story than
Gen. Catlin. His account will be
continued in THE SUN Magazine
Section next Sunday.
BY Brig Gen. A. w. CATLIN,
Whe commanded the Sixth Regi-
ment of the Marines.
CHAPTER I.
TO TRANCE
w YHEN the United States de-
A/ clared war on Germany a
thrill went through the
Marine Corps, for we were lighting
men all and we learned that marines
were to be rushed over to France to
take their stand on the frontier Of
liberty beside the battle SCARED
Z veterans OF France and Great Britain
War time recruiting began at once
and hundreds OF promising applicants
thronged our doors. We weeded them
out-sifted them down numerically
and the best of them we packed Off
to Paris Island. S. c., and Mare
Island, Cal, to be made into marines.
An overseas training camp was
established at Quantico. Va, and l
went down to take charge. There we
received the graduates from the regu-
lar training stations as fast as they
could be turned out, and through the
summer and fall of 1917 we drilled EN-
and we drilled 'em. until they were fit
to go UP against any foe on earth
We filled them full to bursting with
the spirit of the corps and then we
shipped them across to France to
fight.
The marine is additionally proud,
and cannot truthfully say that we
take any drastic measures to sup
press that pride. He is proud of his
record OF being ready first and first on
the Job. But he knows his equal
when he sees him.
Two months after war was declared
the marines were ready. In June, 1917,
Col. C. A. Doyen, in command of the
Fifth Regiment of Marines, landed in
France at St. Nazaire, near Brest, at
the northern extremity of the Bay of
Biscay. or this first regiment to go
to France, two battalions were from
philadelphia and one was made up OF
our Quantico boys.
Sent Base Battalion in July.
In July we sent over base bat
TALON for the Fifth. In September the
Sixth was ready. We sent over one
battalion in September and l followed
with the supply. Headquarters Com
pany. and machine gun company in
October. Doyen was made Brigadier.
General and took over the Fifth and
sixth as a brigade, Col. Neville going
over In December to take command
OF the Fifth.
must tell something about thi,
Sixth Regiment of mine. In the frs
place X NV be borne In mind tina
Il was an aggregation as new and un
tried as any regiment of the Nationa
Army, but what stuff we had in It
The officers from captain up and fifty
or so of the commissioned officers
were old time marines. but the junior
officers and all of the privates wer'
new mon.
But they were not like most rockies
They were of superior quality through
out, and they had been through thu
intensive training OF the Marin
Corps. BY the time they wer,
through with the training on Frencl
soil they acted and thought like vet
Grams,
II we had had time and opportunlt,
20 pick our men individually from tn
whole OF the United States l doub
whether we should have done nue.
better. They We're as fine a bunch o
outstanding American athletes as yo
would care 10 meet. Sixty per cent
Of them were college men.
More than that, We had the pick Q
the men from the military college,
because we were the first to pich
OF our young lieutenants a larg,
number were college athletes. Their
was Legore of Yale; Bastien OF Min
nesota, an All-Amerlcan end; Moor
|, and Murphy Of Princeton; Magyar
OF the University OF Washington
Overton. the Yale runner, who wa
Killed In the offensive last summe
NJ and a dozen others who had wo
fame on the gridiron, track an
diamond.
/, The Turk will tight like fiend; III
Moro's tRfe Is staying; II was Fuzz
wursy 20 broke q British square