| Marines in World War II Commemorative Series |
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FROM SHANGHAI TO CORREGIDOR: Marines in the Defense of the Philippines by J. Michael Miller Sources The capture and subsequent loss in 1942 of the original 4th Marines' records prove at first daunting to any researcher of the period. The search for source material must begin with part IV of LtCol Frank O. Hough, Maj Verle E. Ludwig, and Henry I. Shaw, Jr.'s History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, vol I, Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal (Washington: HistBr, G-3 Div, HQMC, 1958). This work proved to be the single best account of the regiment in the fall of the Philippines. Other works of value include Hanson W. Baldwin's "The Fourth Marines on Corregidor," Marine Corps Gazette, Nov46-Feb47; Louis Morton, The Fall of the Philippines, The War in the Pacific: United States Army in World War II (Washington: Office of the Chief of Military History, 1953). Also useful were James H. and William M. Belote, Corregidor: The Saga of a Fortress (NY: Harper and Row, 1967); Reports of General MacArthur, vols I and II (Washington: GPO, 1966); Carl M. Holloway, Happy, the POW, (Brandon, Mississippi: Quail Ridge Press, 1981); Donald Versaw, The Last China Band (Lakewood, California: Peppertree Publications, 1990); and William R. Evans, Soochow and the 4th Marines (Rogue River, Oregon: Atwood Publications, 1987). The 4th Marines records which were brought out from Corregidor by submarine or retrieved from the prison camps after the war are found in the geographical and subject files in the Archives Section, Marine Corps Historical Center. The Personal Papers Collection proved to contain valuable items, including the Thomas R. Hicks journals, which contain a daily record of events of the regiment. Also of use were the Reginald H. Ridgely papers, Curtis T. Beecher memoir, Floyd O. Schilling papers, Cecil J. Peart papers, James B. Shimel papers, Carter B. Simpson memoir, Wilbur Marrs memoir, and the Charles R. Jackson manuscript. Many other articles written by Marine participants or about the 4th Marines in the defense of the Philippines were consulted for this work.
The best sources, by far, for the 4th Marines experience in the fall of the Philippines are the survivors themselves. Capt Elmer E. Long, Jr., USMC (Ret) and CWO Gerald A. Turner, USMC (Ret), provided assistance in locating the surviving members of the "Old" 4th. More than 100 Marines have been interviewed as well as men from other services.
J. Michael Miller is Senior Archivist at the Marine Corps Research Center at the Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. Formerly a member of the History and Museums Division, he earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Alabama in 1978 and a master of arts degree from Virginia Tech, both in the field of history. He has authored articles in such publications as Civil War History, American History Illustrated, Gettysburg Magazine, and Civil War Times Illustrated, and has written Even to Hell Itself: The North Anna River Campaign (1990) and edited John H. Russell, 1872-1947: A Register of his Personal Papers (1987). Richard A. Long, author of the sidebars accompanying the text of this pamphlet, has been an historian in the History and Museums Division for the past 40 years, following similar duties with both the Army and Air Force in Japan from 1954-1958, service with the Navy during World War II, and as an Army ordnance officer and historian during the Korean War. In his four decades with the Corps he has been Curator of the Commandant's House and Head of the Oral History Unit.
THIS PAMPHLET HISTORY, one in a series devoted to U.S. Marines in the World War II era, is published for the education and training of Marines by the History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., as a part of the U.S. Department of Defense observance of the 50th anniversary of victory in that war.
DIRECTOR OF MARINE CORPS HISTORY AND MUSEUMS GENERAL EDITOR, CARTOGRAPHIC CONSULTANT EDITING AND DESIGN SECTION, HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISION Marine Corps Historical Center 1997 PCN 190 003140 00
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