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thedrifter
06-14-05, 09:18 PM
A sharp salute to Quantico
June 14, 2005 7:31 am
IF THERE IS a Marine in your family--or if you find your- self in need of a Father's Day gift--let me offer a suggestion.

It is a book published last year and titled "Quantico: Semper Progredi, Always Forward." The authors are Bradley E. Gernand and Michelle A. Krowl, two historical researchers who excel at their craft.

With a thorough and well-written text and hundreds of interesting photographs, this 272-page coffee-table book hits the bull's-eye.

The early chapters offer details of the first Indian tribes who lived in the Quantico area, take readers through the region's Colonial and Civil War-era history, and paint a picture of Quantico as a popular resort town at the end of the 19th century.

But the town's tale took a historic turn in 1917 when the federal government leased 5,300 acres of land adjacent to Quantico for a new East Coast training site for the Marine Corps as America prepared to enter World War I.

Congress declared war on Germany on April 6, and the first Marine recruits arrived in Quantico on May 18. They were housed in tents until barracks could be built. It is estimated that 1,000 officers and 40,000 Marines ultimately passed through Quantico on their way to other duty stations between May 1917 and November 1918.

The book quotes a Washington Post story from July 1917: "From a lazy Virginia town to a military center of first-rate importance has been the transformation of Quantico."

And that transformation continues even today.

The titles of the book's final chapters speak for themselves: Growing Pains (1920-1940); World War II (1941-1945); Into the Atomic Age (1946-1965); and The Future Is Now (1966-2004).

The book also deals with the hardships endured by families from Stafford, Prince William and Fauquier counties when they were forced to move as the military base expanded.

The many photographs that help make this book special include legendary leaders such as Gens. John A. Lejeune and Smedley D. Butler, visiting celebrities such as Kate Smith and Mickey Rooney, and even Sgt. Maj. Jiggs, the first of the English bulldog mascots that have inspired Marines since the 1920s.

And then there are the group shots--from recruits arriving on Quantico's train platform, to eager reservists answering mail call, to Marine officer candidates charging up a hill in the 3.2-mile log race.

The FBI, which began using Quantico's shooting ranges in the late 1930s and opened classes at its new academy in 1940, also gets thorough treatment. The bureau's ties with Quantico are addressed from the days of J. Edgar Hoover to the opening of the new FBI Laboratory in 2003.

The book is sold by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation at its gift shop on Fuller Heights Road just outside the base's main gate and also can be purchased online at marineheritage.org. The gift shop's hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The book costs $49.95, and proceeds will help support the new National Museum of the Marine Corps and Heritage Center. That state-of-the-art facility is scheduled to open in November 2006 south of the main gate off U.S. 1.

"I think the book would appeal to anyone who has been in the Marine Corps and been stationed at Quantico at any point in time," said Mary Beth King of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation when I spoke with her on the phone.

"Also, anyone who has ever lived in Quantico town and might be interested in its early history would find the book interesting."

I agree.

* * *

Here are two other books relating to regional history that you might want to consider for summer reading:

"Quantico"--This is a soft-cover picture book by Mark Blumenthal, released by Arcadia Publishing in 2003 as part of the "Images of America" series.

The 128-page book contains many previously unpublished photographs that help explore the unique relationship between the town of Quantico and the Marine Corps base.

Blumenthal is a veteran of more than 20 years of active service in the Corps. This book also is available at the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation gift shop.


"Fitz Lee"--This is a military biography of Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee. It was written by Edward G. Longacre, a Civil War historian who lives in Newport News, and published by Da Capo Press earlier this year.

Fitz Lee was the nephew of Gen. Robert E. Lee and a colorful cavalry officer with the Army of Northern Virginia. He engineered the Southern victory at the Battle of Hartwood Church, the only Civil War battle fought entirely on Stafford soil.

After the war, Lee live at Richland farm in Widewater and remains the only Stafford County resident to be elected governor of Virginia (in 1885).

The book is not without flaws, but it does include interesting details of Lee's military career--from fighting Comanches in Texas in the late 1850s to commanding U.S. volunteers in the Spanish-American War in the late 1890s.



To reach LEE WOOLF: 540/720-5470 lwoolf@freelancestar.com

Ellie