Ken The Kanuck
04-25-2018, 10:26
Macron Bringing Tribute to Belleau Wood Marines to White House
Military.com 23 Apr 2018 By Richard Sisk
French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that he is bringing a living tribute to "Devil Dog" Marines who fell in the World War I battle of Belleau Wood to the White House this week as a symbol of the two nations' enduring ties.
The oak sapling from the battle site will be presented to President Donald Trump in hopes that it will be planted in the White House garden, Macron said in an interview on the "Fox News Sunday" program from the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Macron arrives in the U.S. Monday on a three-day visit that is expected to focus on the way forward in Syria following the April 13 missile strikes, and on France's concern that Trump next month may pull the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to halt Iran's nuclear programs.
"Retreat? Hell, We Just Got Here"
The battle of Bois de Belleau, or Belleau Wood, about 60 miles north of Paris near the Marne River in the Champagne region, has entered Marine Corps lore. It’s best known among Marines as the place where they were first called "Devil Dogs" for their fierce defense in June 1918 that blunted the German spring offensive.
A dispatch from the German front lines to higher headquarters described the Americans blocking their way and mounting counter-offensives as fighting like "Teufel Hunden," or "Hounds of Hell."
At one point, French forces moving to the rear to regroup urged the Marines to join them. The response from a Marine, attributed to either Capt. Lloyd W. Williams of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, or Maj. Frederic Wise, was, "Retreat? Hell, we just got here."
Once they consolidated their positions, the Marines would attack six times through mustard gas and withering machine-gun fire before the Germans were driven from the wood. An estimated 2,000 Marines were killed.
An official German report later described the Marines as "vigorous, self-confident, and remarkable marksmen."
Army Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, marveled at the tenacity of the "Devil Dogs" of Belleau Wood in a quote that has also become part of the Marine legend.
"The deadliest weapon in the world is a United States Marine and his rifle," Pershing said.
He added that, "the battle of Belleau Wood was for the U.S. the biggest battle since Appomattox and the most considerable engagement American troops had ever had with a foreign enemy" to that time.
The oak sapling Macron will give to Trump was taken from a site near the so-called "Devil Dog Fountain," where U.S. troops gathered after the battle of Belleau Wood. The fountain's spout is in the shape of the head of a bull mastiff.
The gift of the sapling is not the first time Macron has sought to firm up relations with a world leader by playing to their affections for the armed forces and military pageantry......
Military.com 23 Apr 2018 By Richard Sisk
French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that he is bringing a living tribute to "Devil Dog" Marines who fell in the World War I battle of Belleau Wood to the White House this week as a symbol of the two nations' enduring ties.
The oak sapling from the battle site will be presented to President Donald Trump in hopes that it will be planted in the White House garden, Macron said in an interview on the "Fox News Sunday" program from the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Macron arrives in the U.S. Monday on a three-day visit that is expected to focus on the way forward in Syria following the April 13 missile strikes, and on France's concern that Trump next month may pull the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to halt Iran's nuclear programs.
"Retreat? Hell, We Just Got Here"
The battle of Bois de Belleau, or Belleau Wood, about 60 miles north of Paris near the Marne River in the Champagne region, has entered Marine Corps lore. It’s best known among Marines as the place where they were first called "Devil Dogs" for their fierce defense in June 1918 that blunted the German spring offensive.
A dispatch from the German front lines to higher headquarters described the Americans blocking their way and mounting counter-offensives as fighting like "Teufel Hunden," or "Hounds of Hell."
At one point, French forces moving to the rear to regroup urged the Marines to join them. The response from a Marine, attributed to either Capt. Lloyd W. Williams of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, or Maj. Frederic Wise, was, "Retreat? Hell, we just got here."
Once they consolidated their positions, the Marines would attack six times through mustard gas and withering machine-gun fire before the Germans were driven from the wood. An estimated 2,000 Marines were killed.
An official German report later described the Marines as "vigorous, self-confident, and remarkable marksmen."
Army Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, marveled at the tenacity of the "Devil Dogs" of Belleau Wood in a quote that has also become part of the Marine legend.
"The deadliest weapon in the world is a United States Marine and his rifle," Pershing said.
He added that, "the battle of Belleau Wood was for the U.S. the biggest battle since Appomattox and the most considerable engagement American troops had ever had with a foreign enemy" to that time.
The oak sapling Macron will give to Trump was taken from a site near the so-called "Devil Dog Fountain," where U.S. troops gathered after the battle of Belleau Wood. The fountain's spout is in the shape of the head of a bull mastiff.
The gift of the sapling is not the first time Macron has sought to firm up relations with a world leader by playing to their affections for the armed forces and military pageantry......