Twenty-Second Marines, Reinforced, Tactical Group One, Fifth Amphibious
Corps
consisting of
Twenty-second Marines; Second Separate Pack Howitzer Company;
Second Separate Tank Company; Second Separate Engineer Company;
Second Separate Medical Company; Second Separate Motor Transport
Company; Fifth Amphibious Corps Reconnaissance Company; Company
D, Fourth Tank Battalion, Fourth Marine Division; 104th Field
Artillery Battalion, U.S. Army; Company C, 766th Tank Battalion,
U.S. Army; Company A, 708th Amphibian Tank Battalion, U.S. Army;
Company D, 708th Provisional Amphibian Tractor Battalion, U.S.
Army; and the Provisional DUKW Battery, Seventh Infantry Division,
U.S. Army.
for service as follows:
“For outstanding heroism in action against enemy Japanese forces
during the assault and capture of Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall
Islands, from February 17 to 22, 1944. As a unit of a Task Force,
assembled only two days prior to departure for Eniwetok Atoll, the
Twenty-second Marines, Reinforced, landed in whole or in part on
Engebi, Eniwetok and Parry Islands in rapid succession and launched
aggressive attacks in the face of heavy machine-gun and mortar fire
from well camouflaged enemy dugouts and foxholes. With simultaneous
landings and reconnaissance missions on numerous other small
islands, they overcame all resistance within six days, destroying
a known 2,665 of the Japanese and capturing 66 prisoners. By their
courage and determination, despite the difficulties and hardships
involved in repeated reembarkations and landing from day to day,
these gallant officers and men made available to our forces in the
Pacific Area an advanced base with large anchorage facilities and
an established airfield, thereby contributing materially to the
successful conduct of the war. Their sustained endurance, fortitude
and fighting spirit throughout this operation reflect the highest
credit on the Twenty-second Marines, Reinforced, and on the United
States Naval Service.”
All personnel attached to and serving with any of the above units
during the period February 17 to 22, 1944, are authorized to wear the
Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon.
]
_Sources_
All of the basic Marine histories for World War II contain detailed
accounts of the Marshalls operation. This monograph represents a
summary, supplemented by individual experiences drawn from the Personal
Papers and Oral Histories Collections in the Marine Corps Historical
Center, Washington, D.C.
Among the most useful were: 1stLt John C. Chapin, USMCR, _The 4th
Marine Division in World War II_ (Washington: Historical Division,
HQMC, 1945); LtCol Robert D. Heinl, Jr., USMC, and LtCol John A. Crown,
USMC, _The Marshalls: Increasing the Tempo_ (Washington: Historical
Branch, G-3 Division, HQMC, 1954); Historical Division, HQMC. “The
Marshall Islands Operations.” Unpublished draft, n.d. World War
II--Marshall Islands Records File. Marine Corps Historical Center,
Washington, D.C.; LtCol S. L. A. Marshall, AUS, _Island Victory_
(Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1944); Carl W. Proehl, ed.,
_The Fourth Marine Division in World War II_ (Washington: Infantry
Journal Press, 1946); Henry I. Shaw, Jr., Bernard C. Nalty, and Edwin
T. Turnbladh, _Central Pacific Drive--History of U.S. Marine Corps
Operations in World War II_, vol 3 (Washington: Historical Branch, G-3
Division, HQMC, 1966).
In the Personal Papers Collection Unit, Marine Corps Historical
Center, Washington, D.C., the following files have been useful: First
Lieutenant John C. Chapin (PC 671); Master Sergeant Roger M. Emmons
(PC 304); Private First Class Robert F. Graf (PC 1946); Princeton
University Collection (PC 2216).
Transcripts of interviews in Oral History Collection, Marine Corps
Historical Center, Washington, D.C.: BGen William W. Buchanan; BGen
Melvin L. Krulewitch; Col William P. McCahill; MajGen William W.
Rogers; LtGen James L. Underhill.
_Other Titles_
The following pamphlets in the Marines in World War II Commemorative
Series are now in print: _Opening Moves: Marines Gear Up For War_;
_Infamous Day: Marines at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941_; _First
Offensive: The Marine Campaign for Guadalcanal_; _Outpost in the North
Atlantic: Marines in the Defense of Iceland_; _A Magnificent Fight:
Marines in the Battle for Wake Island_; _Across the Reef: The Marine
Assault of Tarawa_; _Up the Slot: Marines in the Central Solomons_;
_Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942-1944_.
_About the Author_
[Illustration]
Captain John C. Chapin earned a bachelor of arts degree with honors in
history from Yale University in 1942 and was commissioned later that
year. He served as a rifle-platoon leader in the 24th Marines, 4th
Marine Division, and was wounded in action during assault landings on
Roi-Namur and Saipan.
Transferred to duty at the Historical Division, Headquarters Marine
Corps, he wrote the first official histories of the 4th and 5th Marine
Divisions. Moving to Reserve status at the end of World War II, he
earned a master’s degree in history at George Washington University
with a thesis on “The Marine Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1922.”
Now a captain in retired status, he has been a volunteer at the Marine
Corps Historical Center for 10 years. During that time, he wrote
_History of Marine Fighter-Attack (VMFA) Squadron 115_. With support
from the Historical Center and the Marine Corps Historical Foundation,
he then spent some years researching and interviewing for the writing
of a new book. _Uncommon Men--The Sergeants Major of the Marine Corps_.
This was published in 1992 by the White Mane Publishing Company.
[Illustration]
THIS PAMPHLET HISTORY, one in a series devoted to U.S. Marines in
the World War II era, is published for the education and training of
Marines by the History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine
Corps, Washington, D.C., as a part of the U.S. Department of Defense
observance of the 50th anniversary of victory in that war.
Editorial costs of preparing this pamphlet have been defrayed in part
by a bequest from the estate of Emilie H. Watts, in memory of her late
husband, Thomas M. Watts, who served as a Marine and was the recipient
of a Purple Heart.