This Month's History Lesson, the Marine Corps Way: March
1 March 1960:The Beaufort (South Carolina) Auxiliary Air Station was redesignated a Marine Corps Air Station.
2 March 1776:Raid on New Providence, Bahamas.
2 March 1867:Colonel Jacob Zeilin, 7th Commandant of the Marine Corps, became the first Commandant promoted to Brigadier General.
2-4 March 1943:Allied land-based planes inflicted decisive defeat on Japanese attempt to reinforce New Guinea, sinking entire convoy in Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
3 March 1809:Five-year enlistments in the Corps replaced the previous three-year terms.
3 March 1871:Navy Medical Corps established.
3 March 1931:Star Spangled Banner made U. S. National Anthem.
4 March 1801:The Marine Band performed at a Presidential Inauguration for the first time.
5 March 1942:U. S. Navy Construction Battalions (Seabees) formed.
5 March 1947:The 7th Marine Regiment disbanded at Camp Pendleton following their return from China. Personnel and equipment were transferred to the 3rd Marine Brigade.
6 March 1932:Marine Band leader John Philip Sousa died at age 79 in Reading, Pennsylvania.
6 March 1944:Marines assault Talasea on New Britain (secured 8 March 1944).
6 March 1965:Beginning of Vietnam Defense Campaign.
7 March 1945:U.S. troops took Remagen Bridge and crossed the Rhine.
7 March 1951:The 1st, 7th, and 11th Marine Regiments commenced operations against enemy forces at Hongchon, Korea.
8 March 1942:Japan invaded New Guinea (Lae, Salamaua, Finschhafen).
8 March 1944:Japanese launched counteroffensive on Bougainville, smashed by Marines 24 March.
8 March 1965:First ground forces (3/9) landed at Red Beach, Da Nang, Vietnam.
9 March 1782:Marines served with General Clark.
9 March 1847:Expeditionary Marines landed and seized Vera Cruz, Mexico, during the Mexican War.
9 March 1942:Java fell to Japan concluding Netherlands Indies Campaign.
9-10 March 1945:U.S. B-29s fire-bombed Tokyo at night in the most savage air raid in history (including later atomic bombings).
10 March 1783:Marines in fighting tops of the USS Alliance helped defeat HMS Sibyll.
10 March 1945:Mindanao in Southern Philippines invaded.
11 March 1853:Marines from the USS Cyane landed at San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua.
12 March 1824:Marines of the Boston Barracks quelled a Massachusettes State Prison riot.
13 March 1911:Atlantic Landing Force of 688 Marines landed at Guantanamo Bay.
13 March 1945:The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 9th Marine Regiment attacked through "Cushman's Pocket," Iwo Jima. This was the last strongpoint of enemy resistance on the island.
14 March 1905:The first Marine military attaché was appointed to Legation at Peking, China.
15 March 1944:Marine medium bombers struck Japanese positions at Rabaul.
16 March 1922:Marines guarded the U.S. mail during a national crime wave.
16 March 1945:Iwo Jima secured.
17 March 1918:The 5th Marine Regiment was the first Marine unit to move into WW I front-line trenches.
18 March 1945:MAG-14 flew air support for U.S. Army landings at Panay, Philippines.
19 March 1928:Marine planes bombed a bandit group at Nueve Segovia, Nicaragua. This was the first use of close air support.
20 March 1943:Marine "Avengers" conducted the first aerial mine-laying mission.
20 March 1944:Marines seized Emirau Island in Bismarck Archipelago.
21 March 1945:General A. A. Vandergrift, 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps, became the first Marine four-star general on active duty.
22 March 1952:Six new Marine battalions and Marine air groups were activated on the West Coast, giving the Corps the full authorized limit of three divisions and three wings.
23 March 1815:Marines assisted the USS Hornet's capture of the HMS Penguin off Tristan de Cunha.
24 March 1944:The 22nd Marine Regiment captured Ebon and Namu Atolls in the Marshall Islands.
25 March 1804:The Secretary of the Navy approved the first formal uniform of the Marine Corps.
25 March 1863:Marines with Farragut's squadron engaged Confederates at the Battle of Vicksburg in Mississippi.
26 March 1943:Battle of Komandorski Island, Aleutians.
26 March 1944:WW II, Marines of 1stProMarBrig landed on Kili island and Namorik Atoll, Marshall Islands.
27 March 1953:The 1stMarDiv defeated communist Chinese in the Battle for "Vegas" Hill in Korea.
28 March 1870:129 Marines seized and destroyed illicit distilleries in "Irishtown" (Brooklyn), New York.
28 March 1918:Marines were placed under the command of French Marshall Foch in WW I.
29 March 1917:Marines garrisoned St. Croix to deny harbor to German submarines.
30 March 1966:The 7th Marine Regiment terminated Operation Indiana in Vietnam.
31 March 1801:LtCol W. W. Burrows, 2nd Commandand of the Marine Corps, and President Thomas Jefferson selected the site of Marine Barracks, 8th& I, Washington, DC.