World War II Chronicle: August 30, 1942
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On today’s front page is a first-hand account from a Marine officer telling the story of the Marine Corps on Guadalcanal… Page two mentions a Marine colonel who reportedly issued this order to his men as they were about to land at Guadalcanal:
From: Commanding officer combat group “A”
To: Combat group “A”
Subject: The coming offensive action in Guadalcanal area
- On the eve of our first contact with the enemy it is my desire to express myself regarding a few pertinent points in connection therewith.
- The coming action in the Guadalcanal area marks the first offensive of the war against the enemy, involving ground forces of the United States. The Marines have been selected to initiate this action which will prove to be the forerunner of successive offensive actions that will end in ultimate victory for our cause. The Marine Corps is on the spot. Our country expects nothing but victory from us and it shall have just that. The word failure shall not even be considered in our vocabulary.
- We have worked hard and trained faithfully for this action and I have every confidence in our ability and desire to force our will upon the enemy. We are meeting a tough and wily opponent, but he is not sufficiently tough or wily to overcome us because we are Marines.
- Our commanding general and staff are counting upon us and will, give us whole-hearted support and assistance. Our contemporaries of the other task organizations are red-blooded Marines like ourselves and are ably led. They too will be there at the final downfall of the enemy.
- Each of us has his assigned task. Let each vow to perform it to the utmost of his ability with added effort for good measure. Good luck and God bless you and to Hell with the Japs.
LEROY P. HUNT.
Hunt was commissioned a second lieutenant of Marines just prior to America’s entry into World War I, and led 17th Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. After mountain warfare training with the elite French chasseur alpin, he and his men fought at Belleau Wood, Soissons, and Saint-Mihiel. Gassed and wounded twice, Hunt still led his company when Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune ordered the capture of the heavily fortified German strongpoint at Blanc Mont. When a French element failed to capture a German trench line, 17th Company assaulted the position and drove off the Germans. The Marines handed Essen Trench to the French, who managed to lose it to a German counterattack. 17th Company took it back and this time it stayed in Allied hands and the Battle at Mont Blanc was over. Field Marshal Philippe Pétain, then known as “Lion of Verdun” and now the head of Vichy France, called the taking of Blanc Mont Ridge “the greatest single achievement in the 1918 campaign.”
After service in China, Nicaragua, and most recently Iceland, Hunt is back with his 5th Marines, now as their skipper… On the same page is a mention that Winston Churchill’s globetrotting aircraft is currently in Montreal. Of interest is that the British prime minister does his traveling on a converted bomber, called Commando, flown by American pilots and a Canadian crew…
Page five reports that Marine Lt. Evard J. Snell has raised the first American flag over conquered Japanese ground. He carried his six-by-eight-inch flag with him on deployments around the world over his 22- year career. Snell, Col. Hunt, and several other Marine officers are featured on page six. One of those mentioned is Lt. Col. Harold E. Rosecrans, who 24 years ago was a corporal serving with Hunt in the 5th Marines. Rosecrans succeeded fellow Bellau Wood veteran William J. Whaling (see Sept. 13’s Chronicle) as commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. A Marine officer mentioned in dispatches is Vandegrift’s assistant division commander William H. Rupertus. Just after Pearl Harbor, while serving as commander of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, he wrote the now-famous Marine Corps Rifleman’s Creed…
War’s 156th week summarized on page 28… “District Fighting Men” on page 32… Sports begin on page 36 and features another Grantland Rice column on the Army Western All-Stars game against the Washington Redskins in Los Angeles.
St. Louis hurler Mort Cooper has won his 17th game of the year (see page 32) and so has Boston’s Tex Hughson, who shows how he grips the screwball and knuckleball. Both will lead their respective leagues in victories this year. Hughson spends the 1945 season playing baseball in the Pacific with the Army Air Forces and returns to win 20 games for Boston in 1946… Pictured on page 38 is Washington Redskins’ two-time All Pro back Dick Todd, now serving in the Navy.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 30 August 1942. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-08-30/ed-1/