Combat Record of the First Battalion,
29th Marines.
_NUMBER 129 1944_
1. The article, “BATTALION ON SAIPAN” by War Correspondent Robert
Sherrod, appearing in the October 1944 issue of the MARINE CORPS GAZETTE
describes the splendid part played in the conquest of Saipan during June
and July 1944, by the battalions of the Sixth Marine Regiment. However,
in addition to his description of the fighting done by the battalions of
the Sixth Marine Regiment, Mr. Sherrod includes the following reference
to the magnificent achievements of the First Battalion, Twenty-ninth
Marines:
“And none of them (battalions of the Sixth Marine Regiment)
approached the rather appalling losses incurred by an extra
battalion formed of detachments from each of the nine regular
battalions of the Second Division. This heroic battalion, the First
Battalion, Twenty-ninth Marine Regiment, commanded first by
Lieutenant Colonel Guy E. Tannyhill and later by Lieutenant Colonel
Rathvon McC. Tompkins (until he was also wounded near the end of the
battle), faced the fearsome task of taking the 1,554-foot peak of
Mount Tapotchau, the highest point on Saipan. Like good Marines,
Colonel Tompkins’ men never faltered in their assignment, but there
were only about 200 left in the battalion when the battle ended. The
United States can thank its lucky stars for such picked men who are
not afraid to die; without them it is difficult to see how the
Pacific war would even now be advanced as far as Tarawa, which is
2,000 miles to the rear.”
2. The officers and men of the 29th Marines are very proud of the
splendid reputation already established by our First Battalion.
VICTOR F. BLEASDALE,
Colonel, U. S. Marine Corps
Commanding