Fredericksburg.com - WWI MARINES GET THEIR DUE FREDERICKSBURG'S ARTIST: Exhibit of John Adams Elder's art, Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center, 907 Princess Anne St., Fredericksburg, through Sept. 7. For the first time since 1947, a retrospective of the works of John Adams Elder is on exhibit. See portraits, landscapes and genre paintings of the Civil War and Southern life. 540/371-3037.

THE UNITED STATES Marine Corps has occupied a distinguished position in the national military arsenal throughout the memory of most living Americans. Ninety years ago, though, that glowing cachet did not yet exist. World War I, especially the famous engagement at Belleau Wood in June 1918, thrust the Marines under a dazzling spotlight and gave the Corps national recognition that has grown steadily since.

Despite the importance of "the Great War" (as contemporaries called it) in the emergence of the Corps, no definitive study of the Marines' role in France had appeared until the recent release of this important work.

The late Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Simmons went from a distinguished field career, including a Silver Star awarded for service at Seoul in 1950, to serve as director of Marine Corps history for a quarter-century. Under his devoted leadership, that program became a model of its kind.

After his retirement, Simmons worked on this World War I book, stimulated to the task by his recollections of Marine veterans he had listened to in his youth. Late in life Simmons bequeathed the completion of the job to Col. Joseph H. Alexander, who stands well clear of the field as the leading living historian of the Corps.

The book that flowed from their collaboration is a masterpiece, based on exhaustive research in obscure sources, and unveiled in deft prose.

Flamboyant war correspondent Floyd Gibbons of the Chicago Tribune played a key role in splashing Marine achievements across American headlines. Gibbons wrote in a vivid dispatch, "I am up front and entering Belleau Wood with the U. S. Marines." The daring front-line coverage nearly killed him. A German bullet plucked out an eye, smashed one cheek and tore out through his forehead.

His vivid account of the Marines reached the censors together with word that Gibbons had succumbed to his dreadful wounds (he actually recovered). As a tribute to his friend, the censor let the dispatch through untouched, ignoring the protocol that dictated removal of unit identities. As a result, the Marines' achievements made Americans proud, while details of sturdy fighting by other units remained shrouded in censorship.

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THROUGH THE WHEAT: THE U.S. MARINES IN WORLD WAR I

By Col. Joseph H. Alexander and Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Simmons (Naval Institute Press, 296 pages, photos, maps, $34.95)

Date published: 8/2/2008

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