Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-19
OCOTAL MARINES
VETERANS IN WAR
Fifth Regiment Detachment
Fought in France; Others
in Tropics.
We've fought for life In many a
CT

We've fought for life In many a
strife
And we've never lost our nerve"
SO goes one of the verses OF the
Marines Hymn which applies so aptly
| to the two officers and So enlisted men
OF the corps, aided by handful of
native Constabulary, who held the
bloody field Of Ocotal against 500
attacking rebels under the Liberal,
Gen. SANDING.
Only the most meager sort OF dis.
patch from the Marine base in Nicara.
qua, received at Marine headquarters
early today, gave the units of the
Marines engaged in what is character
lied here as the hardest engagement"
fought by the corps in any Latin
American country.
Dispatches here did not mention the
name OF either Of the two officers and
headquarters has nothing more to go
on other than press reports, which
carried the names of Capt. Gilbert D..
Hatfield and Lieut.. Grover Cleveland
Darnall. Press reports gave the num-
Der of Marines engaged as 80 men,
but today's dispatch stated the num-
Der of enlisted men as So.
Detachment of 5th Regiment.
These comprised a detachment Of
the 8th Machine Gun Company, 3D.
Battalion of the 5th Regiment, con-
sisting OF one officer and eight men,
and a platoon of the End Company.
LIST Battalion, 18th Regiment, COM
posed of one officer and so men.
Both the 5th and 18th Regiments
are veteran units of the Marine Corps,
the former composed of the first Ma
rines to land in France during the
World War. The 8th Machine Gun
Company engaged in all the combats
Of the End Division. The 18th Regi-
ment has seen much active service
in the tropics.
The American forces at Ocotol were
picked from the main body, conse.
quently headquarters here has no
way of identifying, at this time. the
officers or men who fought In the en-
gagement.
Capt. Hatfield, reported enormously
in press dispatches as being a major,
is in command. Prior to being enlist
ed in the corps he served five years
and 10 months as an enlisted man. He
was appointed a second lieutenant
April 5, 1921, from New Mexico and
has been a captain since October II,
1928.
Saw Service in Haiti.
Capt. Hatfield served conspicuously
with the 1st Provisional Brigade in
Haiti from December, 1917, to August,
1919. and with the End Provisional
Brigade in Santo Domingo from 1922
to 1924.
Lieut.. Darnall, who was in COM
mand of the detachment Of native
constabulary. was appointed second
lieutenant while serving with the 73d
Company, 9Th Regiment, in France.
He was detached from the Army of
Occupation to duty with the Army of
France. Other foreign service con-
sists of duty with the LIST Provisional
Brigade in Haiti from October, 1919,
to May, 1921, and with the list Bril-
gade in Haiti from December, 1925,
to January, 1925. He is a graduate OF
the Army Tank School and was put
in command of constabulary forces in
Nicaragua last May. His home Is in
Illinois.
Pvt. Michael A. Obleski, the only
Marine reported killed in the fighting,
enlisted November II, 1924, at Cleve.
land. Ohio. his next next Of kin being
Michael Obleski, believed to be his
father, of Roulette, Pa. The other
Marine casualty, Pvt. Charles E. Gar
rison, wounded in the shoulder and
cheek, enlisted June 8, 1926, at Char
lotte, N. c. His next of kin is Carl
Garrison, brother, who lives in West
Asheville, N. c.
Garrison May Recover.
According to the latest dispatch re-
ceived at headquarters, Pvt. Garrison
was in a coma, but Is expected to re-
cover.
So far as information here Is con.
cerned, only one machine gun can
be accounted for among the Marine
forces. That was the gun taken from
the Sth Company. 1t was explained
that each infantry squad is equipped
most as effective as a machine gun
at close quarters.