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Analysis of First To Fight Essay

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First To Fight begins with Krulak engaged in a conversation with a Gunnery Sergeant who was asked how the Marine Corps got the reputation of having one of the world’s greatest fighting formations. The GySgt replies “Well lieutenant they started telling everybody how great they were and pretty soon they started believing it”. The story goes on to talk about how there nearly wasn’t a Marine Corps. starts out with Marine Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith on the bridge of the command ship Mt. Olympus, off Iwo Jima on the morning of 23 February 1945 with Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal who said that the raising of our flag atop Mt. Suribachi means there will be an Marine Corps for the next five hundred years. Smith commented “When …show more content…

Preparing to return to the mainland, the four Marine officers paid their parting respects to the division commander, Major General J.L. Collins and his chief of staff, Colonel William P. Bledsoe. To their surprise General Collins chose to speak to his staff on how the Army was resolved to eliminate forever its deficiencies in amphibious matters and its dependency on Marines for amphibious expertise. The second incident closely related to the first. It took place in Noumea, New Caledonia, about a month later. General Collins was passing through on his way to Guadalcanal with his division. He was with a group of senior Army officers. After dinner, Brigadier General Nathan launched into a condemnation of the Operations of the Navy and Marines at Guadalcanal. He denied the appropriateness of the Marines being there at all and declared that organizational steps were under way to preclude the Marines from further preempting the functions of other services. The third incident took place in Washington in December 1943. Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall presented to the Joint Chiefs of Staff his concept of a reorganization proposal which became the foundation for several War Department-generated hearings. In this proposal there was no mention of the Marine Corps. Continued struggle for the right to belong resulted in General Order No. 5 of 20 November 1954 which stated: The Commandant of the Marine Corps is the senior officer of the

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