Devil Dog is a nickname for a United States Marine coined during World War I. [1] [2]
Devil Dog is a nickname for a United States Marine coined during World War I. [1] [2]
Multiple publications of the United States Marine Corps claim that the nickname "Teufel Hunden" [lower-alpha 1] —"Devil Dogs" in English—was bestowed upon the Marines by German soldiers at the Battle of Belleau Wood in June 1918. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] However, on April 14, 1918, six weeks before that battle began, hundreds of U.S. newspapers ran a fanciful, unsigned wire service report that stated:
That time-honored nickname, borne by the United States marines for generations—"leathernecks"—is no more! At least, the Germans have abandoned it, according to reports from France. In its place the Teutons have handed the sea soldiers one with far more meaning. They call the American scrappers "teufel hunden," which, in English, means "devil dogs." [10] [11] [12] [13]
The American press immediately seized upon the new term, and it was used on a Marine Corps recruiting poster by Charles Buckles Falls in July 1918, showing an American bulldog chasing a German dachshund wearing a pickelhaube . [14] [15] [16]
The veracity of the German origin of the term, however, was questioned as early as 1921 when journalist H. L. Mencken wrote that the term was the invention of an American war correspondent. [17] In modern scholarship, Robert V. Aquilina of the United States Marine Corps History Division stated that the term was likely first used by the Marines themselves and that there is no evidence of German use or origin of the term. [18] Similarly, Patrick Mooney of the National Museum of the Marine Corps wrote that "We have no proof that it came from German troops...There is no written document in German that says that the Marines are Devil Dogs or any correct spelling or language component of 'Devil Dog' in German." [4] Further, when asked about the term by Stars and Stripes, Lt. Col. Heiner Bröckermann of the German Military History Research Institute said that he had "never heard anyone using the word 'Teufelshund' or 'Teufelshunde' in Germany." [4] Nevertheless, "Devil Dog" has become firmly entrenched in the lore of the United States Marine Corps. [18]
The Battle of Belleau Wood was a major battle that occurred during the German spring offensive in World War I, near the Marne River in France. The battle was fought by the U.S. 2nd and 3rd Divisions along with French and British forces against an assortment of German units including elements from the 237th, 10th, 197th, 87th, and 28th Divisions. The battle has become a key component of United States Marine Corps lore.
USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3), nicknamed "Devil Dog", was an amphibious assault ship and the second ship named after the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood. Her keel was laid down on 5 March 1973 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by Ingalls Shipbuilding. She was launched on 11 April 1977, and commissioned on 23 September 1978.
The Battle of Château-Thierry was fought on July 18, 1918 and was one of the first actions of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) under General John J. Pershing. It was a battle in World War I as part of the Second Battle of the Marne, initially prompted by a German Spring Offensive. German and local actions at Château-Thierry recommenced on May 31 to July 22, 1918, against the AEF, an American Expeditionary Force, consisting of troops from both the United States Army and Marine Corps units. These units were the newest troops on the front in France and just barely out of training.
Lemuel Cornick Shepherd Jr. was a General in the United States Marine Corps, 20th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Navy Cross recipient, veteran of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.
Daniel Joseph Daly was a United States Marine and one of nineteen U.S. servicemen to have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice. Daly and Major General Smedley Butler are the only Marines who earned two Medals of Honor for two separate acts of valor.
Iron Mike is the de facto name of various monuments commemorating servicemen of the United States military. The term "Iron Mike" is uniquely American slang used to refer to men who are especially tough, brave, and inspiring; it was originally a nautical term for a gyrocompass, used to keep a ship on an unwavering course. Because the use of the slang term was popular in the first half of the 20th century, many statues from that period acquired the Iron Mike nickname, and over the generations the artists' titles were largely forgotten. Even official military publications and classroom texts tend to prefer the nickname to the original titles.
Oorah is a battle cry common in the United States Marine Corps since the mid-20th century.
Raymond Willis "Rock" Hanson was an American military officer and college sports coach and administrator. He was a United States Marine Corps colonel and highly decorated veteran of World War I and World War II. Hanson served as the head football coach at Western Illinois State Teachers College—now known as Western Illinois University—in Macomb, Illinois, from 1926 to 1941.
3rd Battalion, 5th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps. The battalion is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and consists of approximately 1,000 Marines and Fleet Marine Force Navy personnel. The 3rd Battalion falls under the command of the 5th Marine Regiment which falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division.
The Marine Corps League is the only congressionally chartered United States Marine Corps-related veterans organization in the United States. Its congressional charter was approved by the 75th U.S. Congress and signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 4, 1937. The organization credits Major General John A. Lejeune, the 13th Marine Corps commandant, as one of its founding members.
Major General Logan Feland was a United States Marine Corps general who last served as commanding general of the Department of the Pacific. Feland served during the Spanish–American War, the occupation of Veracruz (1914) and in World War I, where he was in command of all troops during the Battle of Belleau Wood.
Joseph V. Medina is a retired U.S. Marine Brigadier General whose career has taken him from an initial posting leading a rifle platoon to head of the contingency plans branch overseeing NATO's Kosovo operation. In November 2003, Medina took command of Expeditionary Strike Group Three. This event marked the first time in history that a United States Marine Corps officer took command of a Naval flotilla. In April 2007, BGen Medina took command of the 3rd Marine Division.
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combined arms, implementing its own infantry, artillery, aerial, and special operations forces. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States.
The culture of the United States Marine Corps is widely varied but unique amongst the branches of the United States Armed Forces. Because members of the Marine Corps are drawn from across the United States, it is as varied as each individual Marine but tied together with core values and traditions passed from generation to generation of Marines. As in any military organization, the official and unofficial traditions of the Marine Corps serve to reinforce camaraderie and set the service apart from others. The Corps' embracement of its rich culture and history is cited as a reason for its high esprit de corps.
Lewie Griffith Merritt was a Major General and early aviator in the United States Marine Corps. Merritt served over 30 years in the Marine Corps, including service in World War I at Belleau Wood and as an aviator during World War II in both the European and Pacific Theaters. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Merritt practiced law in South Carolina.
The 6th Machine Gun Battalion was a battalion of the United States Marine Corps which served during World War I. Along with the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments, the battalion was part of the 4th Marine Brigade. After being formed in 1917, the battalion supported the Marine regiments by detaching machine gun companies to operate with the regimental battalions along the Western Front and to provide fire support to them during the fighting. In addition to this role, the battalion was sometimes employed as a complete unit with all its companies being concentrated together to ensure that maximum firepower was applied to various points along the front line in support of Allied attacks and also to defend against German assaults. The battalion also supported the operations of the 2nd Infantry Division. After the war, the unit undertook occupation duties in Germany before returning to the United States in mid-1919 where it was subsequently deactivated.
Maurice Edwin Shearer was a highly decorated Brigadier General in the United States Marine Corps. In 1918, Major Shearer of the 5th Marine Regiment, led Marines in the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood in France, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, French Legion of Honor (Chevalier) and Croix de Guerre.
John Groff was a brigadier general in the United States Marine Corps whose military career spanned from 1912 to 1946. Groff was a highly decorated veteran of World War I, earning the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, and Purple Heart medals. He also participated in the Banana Wars, and World War II. At the time of his death in 1990 at age 100, BG Groff was the oldest surviving general officer in the Marine Corps.
Jiggs II, also known as Silent White Richard, was the second of a number of English Bulldogs to serve as mascots of the United States Marine Corps. He succeeded the original mascot, Jiggs, following that dog's death in 1927. A champion of the Westminster Dog Show, Jiggs II was a generally well-behaved dog with a sensitive disposition – a contrast to his disagreeable friend Private Pagett. He served as Marine Corps mascot for ten years and, after death, was buried with full military honors at Marine Corps Base Quantico.
Little wonder that from the time of this fierce battle to the present day, Marines are still known by the nickname given them by the awed Germans they vanquished at Belleau Wood: "Teufelhunden," which means "Hounds from Hell," or "Devil Dogs."
In 1918, during the battle of Belleau Wood, France, the Marines were given the nickname "teufelhunden," or "Devil Dog," by the Germans for their fierce fighting ability.
'Teufel Hund'...is the leading display line on the new Marine recruiting placards and posters...the Marine bulldog is showing chasing the German Daschsund. The last line...is 'Devil Dog Recruiting Station'...
The term very likely was first used by Marines themselves and appeared in print before the Battle for Belleau Wood," Bob Aquilina of the Marine Corps History Division told Schogol at the time. "It gained notoriety in the decades following World War I and has since become a part of Marine Corps tradition.
| Leadership |
|  | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major commands | |||||
| Auxiliary | |||||
| Structure | |||||
| Personnel and training |
| ||||
| Uniforms and equipment | |||||
| History and traditions |
| ||||
