The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

Famous Marine Corps Unit: 1st Marine Raider Battalion

Famous Marine Corps Unit: 1st Marine Raider Battalion

"Always Faithful, Always Forward" The Early History of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion The year was 1942, and a new type of unit was born in the US Marine Corps. Edson's 1st Raider Battalion was designated, and several days later, Carlson's 2d Raider Battalion was named. Later in the year, Liversedge's 3rd Raider Battalion and Roosevelt's 4th Raider Battalion were created. One hundred seventy-five members of Marines TWS are part of the United States Marine Raiders Association as members of one...

read more
Vietnam War – The Battle of Hue

Vietnam War – The Battle of Hue

Another Leatherneck, a black-bearded machine gunner, led a charge up a mountain of rubble that had once been a stately tower, shouting: "We're Marines, let's go!". These episodes illustrate the battle of the Hue Citadel - a grim, struggle through the courtyards and battlements of the old imperial fort. The fight pits U.S. and Vietnamese Marines, determined to take the Citadel, against North Vietnamese soldiers equally determined to hold it. John Olson, a photographer with the Pacific edition...

read more
Service Reflections of CPL James Foster,  U.S. Marine Corps (1973-1977)

Service Reflections of CPL James Foster, U.S. Marine Corps (1973-1977)

I guess it started back when I was around 9 or 10. My dad showed me pics of him when he was in the army, stationed in the Azores. He told me about his experiences, and I was like, “Wow!”. I started playing with these little, plastic army men on the front lawn in the grass, acting out battles and everything. I even began drawing pics of bombs exploding and things like that. One time in class, a teacher caught me…but I won’t go into that.

read more
Make Peace or Die by Charles Daly

Make Peace or Die by Charles Daly

As many readers of the Dispatches Newsletter might be aware, "Make Peace or Die" is the motto of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. For Charles Daly, it became a regular choice he would have to make, time and again, over the course of his entire life.  "Make Peace or Die: A Life of Service, Leadership, and Nightmares" is everything the name promises it to be. At times terrifying, the book is always engrossing and descriptive. It’s one of the finest personal recollections of the Korean War...

read more
PO3 Robert Eugene Bush, U.S. Navy (1944–1945)

PO3 Robert Eugene Bush, U.S. Navy (1944–1945)

Robert Eugene Bush wasn't old enough to join the Navy when the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. He was still in high school. His neighbor in his hometown of Raymond, Washington, was a Fireman aboard the USS Arizona. "He's still on board the Arizona," Bush said in a Veterans History Project Interview. Bush could barely stand the wait to join the war. He wouldn't be old enough until his 17th birthday in the Fall of 1943. He and a friend from school dropped out and enlisted...

read more
Famous Marine Corps Units: George Company (G Co), 3rd Bn, 1st Marine Regiment

Famous Marine Corps Units: George Company (G Co), 3rd Bn, 1st Marine Regiment

The 1st Marine Division, the oldest and largest active duty division of the United States Marines is perhaps best known by the nickname coined following World War II, “The Old Breed”.  With a long and distinguished history, no subordinate unit better reflects the honor and best traditions of the Marine Corp than the 3rd Battalion, G Company during the Korean War.  George Company served gallantly spanning Incheon, Seoul, Wonsan landings and Chosin Reservoir, pushing the limits of...

read more
Korean War – Sacrifice And Survival at Chosin Reservoir (1950)

Korean War – Sacrifice And Survival at Chosin Reservoir (1950)

For 19-year-old Pat Finn, a Minnesota Marine with Item Co, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, the night seemed colder and darker than any of the others he'd experienced since landing in Korea. His Battalion had just arrived at a desolate, frozen lake he would remember for the rest of his life: the Chosin Reservoir. As the sun went down on November 27, 1950, and temperatures sank to 20 degrees below zero, Marines at Yudam-ni, a small village on the west side of the Chosin Reservoir, hunkered down for...

read more