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: March History Lesson the Marine Corps Way: March
1 March 1960: The Beaufort (South Carolina) Auxiliary Air Station was redesignated a Marine Corps Air Station. 2 March 1776: Raid on New Providence, Bahamas. 2 March 1867: Colonel Jacob Zeilin, 7th Commandant of the Marine Corps, became the first Commandant promoted to Brigadier General. 2-4 March 1943: Allied land-based planes inflicted decisive defeat on Japanese attempt to reinforce New Guinea, sinking entire convoy in Battle of the Bismarck Sea. 3 March 1809: Five-year enlistments in the Corps replaced the previous three-year terms. 3 March 1871: Navy Medical Corps established. 3 March 1931: Star Spangled Banner made U. S. National Anthem. 4 March 1801: The Marine Band performed at a Presidential Inauguration for the first time. 5 March 1942: U. S. Navy Construction Battalions (Seabees) formed. 5 March 1947: The 7th Marine Regiment disbanded at Camp Pendleton following their return from China. Personnel and equipment were transferred to the 3rd Marine Brigade. 6 March 1932: Marine Band leader John Philip Sousa died at age 79 in Reading, Pennsylvania. 6 March 1944: Marines assault Talasea on New Britain (secured 8 March 1944). 6 March 1965: Beginning of Vietnam Defense Campaign. 7 March 1945: U.S. troops took Remagen Bridge and crossed the Rhine. 7 March 1951: The 1st, 7th, and 11th Marine Regiments commenced operations against enemy forces at Hongchon, Korea. 8 March 1942: Japan invaded New Guinea (Lae, Salamaua, Finschhafen). 8 March 1944: Japanese launched counteroffensive on Bougainville, smashed by Marines 24 March. 8 March 1965: First ground forces (3/9) landed at Red Beach, Da Nang, Vietnam. 9 March 1782: Marines served with General Clark. 9 March 1847: Expeditionary Marines landed and seized Vera Cruz, Mexico, during the Mexican War. 9 March 1942: Java fell to Japan concluding Netherlands Indies Campaign. 9-10 March 1945: U.S. B-29s fire-bombed Tokyo at night in the most savage air raid in history (including later atomic bombings). 10 March 1783: Marines in fighting tops of the USS Alliance helped defeat HMS Sibyll. 10 March 1945: Mindanao in Southern Philippines invaded. 11 March 1853: Marines from the USS Cyane landed at San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua. 12 March 1824: Marines of the Boston Barracks quelled a Massachusettes State Prison riot. 13 March 1911: Atlantic Landing Force of 688 Marines landed at Guantanamo Bay. 13 March 1945: The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 9th Marine Regiment attacked through "Cushman's Pocket," Iwo Jima. This was the last strongpoint of enemy resistance on the island. 14 March 1905: The first Marine military attachι was appointed to Legation at Peking, China. 15 March 1944: Marine medium bombers struck Japanese positions at Rabaul. 16 March 1922: Marines guarded the U.S. mail during a national crime wave. 16 March 1945: Iwo Jima secured. 17 March 1918: The 5th Marine Regiment was the first Marine unit to move into WW I front-line trenches. 18 March 1945: MAG-14 flew air support for U.S. Army landings at Panay, Philippines. 19 March 1928: Marine planes bombed a bandit group at Nueve Segovia, Nicaragua. This was the first use of close air support. 20 March 1943: Marine "Avengers" conducted the first aerial mine-laying mission. 20 March 1944: Marines seized Emirau Island in Bismarck Archipelago. 21 March 1945: General A. A. Vandergrift, 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps, became the first Marine four-star general on active duty. 22 March 1952: Six new Marine battalions and Marine air groups were activated on the West Coast, giving the Corps the full authorized limit of three divisions and three wings. 23 March 1815: Marines assisted the USS Hornet's capture of the HMS Penguin off Tristan de Cunha. 24 March 1944: The 22nd Marine Regiment captured Ebon and Namu Atolls in the Marshall Islands. 25 March 1804: The Secretary of the Navy approved the first formal uniform of the Marine Corps. 25 March 1863: Marines with Farragut's squadron engaged Confederates at the Battle of Vicksburg in Mississippi. 26 March 1943: Battle of Komandorski Island, Aleutians. 26 March 1944: WW II, Marines of 1stProMarBrig landed on Kili island and Namorik Atoll, Marshall Islands. 27 March 1953: The 1stMarDiv defeated communist Chinese in the Battle for "Vegas" Hill in Korea. 28 March 1870: 129 Marines seized and destroyed illicit distilleries in "Irishtown" (Brooklyn), New York. 28 March 1918: Marines were placed under the command of French Marshall Foch in WW I. 29 March 1917: Marines garrisoned St. Croix to deny harbor to German submarines. 30 March 1966: The 7th Marine Regiment terminated Operation Indiana in Vietnam. 31 March 1801: LtCol W. W. Burrows, 2nd Commandand of the Marine Corps, and President Thomas Jefferson selected the site of Marine Barracks, 8th& I, Washington, DC. ____________________________________________________________________________
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