The Greatest Marine In History
Is John Glenn! Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of his Mercury space flight and he is only 90 years young. Link below to some video of that great day.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...st=0&FORM=LKVR
Glenn has no love for the present USA leadership and their ant-American view of the Space program and he expressed it very clearly at the celebrations at NASA. I am quoting from the Sunday edition of my local newspaper.
"I REALLY MISS MY CITIZENSHIP THAT WAS ONCE IN A CAN DO NATION!!!!!!!"
Gods Speed John Glenn for what you did and for having the courage to speak the truth to those left over Commie bastards running the country that destroyed the USA Space program!
I felt sure this was going to be a thread about Smedley Butler
but Colonel Glenn makes sense, too. :)
I nominate Presley O'Bannon
His bravery is reflected in a line in the Marine Hymn and the reason for the Marines' choice of officer sword.
The Wikipedia bio link has more details and some other links for info follow:
http://www.centerhouse.org/v-bannon.html
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...e=gr&GRid=2339
http://www.thewildgeese.com/pages/obannonp.html
To the Shores of Derna ...
where the Eaton-O'Bannon expedition was stopped in its tracks by the "success" of the Jefferson-Lear diplomatic mission. Lear then engaged in Adventures in Basha Sitting for the next decade - at an aggregate cost north of $500K to the USG in blackmail paid to the said Basha. The cost of the Eaton-O'Bannon expedition was less than 1-10th of that. Was the said Basha a "friend, partner and ally" ? Yeh, right !
Perhaps, I'm over-influenced by Zacks, The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 (2006); and by current events involving our "friends, partners and allies" whose rental charges have been considerable higher than our 1805 Basha. I don't think so.
Zachs gave an interview to CorpsStories, which gets down to my nomination:
Quote:
...The flawed hero is clearly Jefferson's secret agent, William Eaton but the largely unsung heroes are the EIGHT Marines who accompanied him on that near-miraculous mission. Let's record their names: Lt. Presley N. O'Bannon, Sgt. Arthur Campbell, Privates: Bernard O'Brian, David Thomas (Wounded), James Owens, John Wilton (Killed in Action), Edward Steward (Died of Wounds). One name is still lost.
While the military conditions were difficult, the political conditions became impossible. That is a situation in Corps history that has not been limited to Derna. Those 8 Marines are simply shorthand for ALL Marines who have served honorably in the Corps. That is my answer to Slap's question.
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On a lighter note, Zacks looked briefly at Presley O'Bannon's post-Marine life (pp.378-379 book; snip from interview):
Quote:
I wish I had more details about the individual eight Marines. O'Bannon is the only one we know much about. He was fun-loving, fiddle-playing, courageous sort of officer but he got so disgusted with lack of promotion in the Marines that after the war, he joined the Army, before going on to distill whiskey, make a fortune in real estate and eventually get elected to office in Kentucky.
I've meant to look at the O'Bannons more closely (the Wild Geese article cited by wm is a good start) especially the "Old Pepper" distillery. This post provided the push needed. The family has an extensive Root'sWeb genealogy (all links below are to individual pages with more history).
Presley Neville O'Bannon was 1 of 13 surviving children of William O'Bannon and Nancy Anne Neville.
William appointed sons Thomas (a Rev War vet and bootlegger), Joseph (moved West to Missouri) and Presley N. O'Bannon as executors with a special charge to Presley Neville O'Bannon to "Pay every possible attention to his mother and see her righted in every instance."
The "Old Pepper" connection to Presley was via his eldest brother John (a USG surveyor of the Northwest Territory; Capt., Maj., Col.) and their brother in law Elijah Pepper:
Quote:
Elijah and Sarah moved to the area near Versailles, Woodford County, KY about 1790. Elijah Pepper and his brother in law, John O'Bannon built a distillery in Versailles which was at a spring gushing behind the court house ... "a spring emanating from a cave behind behind the Versailles courthouse'. This partnership continued for several years or until Elijah Pepper bought a large tract of land seven miles below the spring on Glenn's Creek, when the partnership was dissolved.
Glenn Creek, with clear water flowing from a limestone plat, meanders behind the complex. Its presence is the main reason this site was picked by the original distillery owner, Elijah Pepper, in 1812. Limestone water proved not only the best for distilling, but is credited for the area's horses being stronger and faster than the competition. There, Elijah erected 'log house possibly stockaded on an elevated slope above the creek facing Versailles and the Millville Road'.
John O'Bannon continued the distillation of whiskey at Versailles having bought that distillery and Elijah established his own distillery on Glenn's Creek, where he distilled his "Old Pepper". Elijah was a well-known as a superior local farmer-distiller. When the Whiskey Rebellion arose in 1794, Elijah was one of the few distillers with pockets deep enough to pay the demanded excise taxes. Many other local farmer-distillers were forced to give up distilling due to the high taxes and sold their grains to Elijah, which he, in turn, distilled. Elijah ran a successful distillation operation until he died, leaving the distillery to his son and successor, Oscar.
Elijah erected on his farm at Glenn's Creek a comfortable log house on an elevated slope above the creek that faces the Versailles and Millville road, and in the creek below he erected the distillery plant where he continued to manufacture the "Old Pepper". The residence was still standing but had been weatherboarded. Its design indicates that it was built at a very early date to guard against attacks from roving bands of Indians that infested the country for some years after they were driven westward from Virginia. The home was built on a rise overlooking Grasy Springs Branch of Glenn's Creek. The distillery was small and only a few evidences remain of its existence and they are within a short distance of the Labrot and Graham distillary (founded in 1878), that succeeded the Pepper plant some years after the Civil War. On his farm Pepper raised the grain that entered into the manufacture of his liquid product. After his death, Elijah's son Oscar continued the business until about 1865.
Ach, 'Tis said: Give a Mick a comfortable chair, overlooking an expanse of lush grass; provide a lifetime supply of good booze; and you will have a long-lived, peaceful Mick. :) Presley O'Bannon lived until 1850.
Regards
Mike
Who went Where and When ?
From the March Across Samar (Wiki article) [Weller and his officers (on to Basey) in bold; Porter and Williams (back to Lanang) in italics]:
Quote:
The detachment started from Lanang on the morning of December 28, 1901, and was composed of the following personnel: Major Littleton W. T. Waller, Captain David D. Porter, Captain Hirim I. Bearss, First Lieutenant A. S. Williams, Second Lieutenant A. C. DeW. Lyles, U. S. Army (Aid sent by General Smith), Second Lieutenant Frank Halford, 50 enlisted U. S. Marines, 2 native scouts and 33 native carriers.
...
After a conference with his officers, Major Waller decided to take Lieutenant Halford and thirteen of the men who were in the best condition and push forward as rapidly as possible and send back a relief party for the main column, which was placed under the command of Captain Porter with instructions to go slowly and follow Major Waller's trail. The advance column was afterwards joined by Captain Bearss and a corporal ...
...
Near this point the party came upon the camp which Captain Dunlap had established to await their arrival. Major Waller's party went aboard Captain Dunlap's cutter and started for Basey, where they arrived on January 6, 1902...
... Immediately after the arrival of the detachment at Basey, a relief party was sent back to locate Captain Porter's party. The following day Major Waller joined this relief party, and remained out nine days searching for signs of Captain Porter without success. ... Upon returning to Basey, Major Waller was taken sick with fever. ...
...
Meanwhile Captain Porter had decided to retrace the trail to Lanang and ask for a relief party to be sent out for his men, the most of whom were unable to march. He chose seven marines who were in the best condition and with six natives, set out January 3 for Lanang. He left Lieutenant Williams in charge of the remainder of the detachment with orders to follow as the condition of the men would permit. ...
...
On January 11, Captain Porter reached Lanang and reported the situation to Captain Pickering, the Army Commander at that place. A relief expedition was organized to go for the remainder of the marines but it was unable to start for several days because of the swollen Lanang River. ...
....
Lieutenant Williams and his men slowly followed Captain Porter's trail, leaving men behind one by one to die beside the trail when it was no longer possible for them to continue. One man went insane; the native carriers became mutinous and some of them attacked and wounded Lieutenant Williams with bolos. Williams later testified that their mutinous behavior left the Marines in daily fear of their lives; the porters were hiding food and supplies from the Marines and keeping themselves nourished from the jungle while the Marines starved. The 11 porters were placed under arrest when Williams' command reached Lanang. ... After having left ten marines to die along the trail, Lieutenant Williams was finally met by the relief party on the morning of January 18 and taken back to Lanang.
So, no great mystery about why the relief party from Basey could not find Porter and Williams - they were going back to Lanang.
What happened to 2nd Lt. Lyles, U. S. Army (not mentioned in Wiki past the 1st paragraph) ? He was eaten by hungry Marines, of course.
The Charge and Specification vs Waller read (emphasis added):
Quote:
CHARGE: Murder, in violation of the 58th Article of War. SPECIFICATION: In that Major Littleton W.T. Waller, United States Marine Corps, being then and there detached for service with the United States Army by authority of the President of the United States, did, in time of war, willfully and feloniously and with malice aforethought, murder and kill eleven men, names unknown, natives of the Philippine Islands, by ordering and causing his subordinate officer under his command, John Horace Arthur Day, 1st Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, and a firing detail of enlisted men under his said command, to take out said eleven men and shoot them to death, which said order was then and there carried into execution and said eleven natives, and each of them, were shot with rifles, from the effects of which they then and there died. This at Basey, Island of Samar, Philippine Islands, on or about the 20th day of January, 1902.
I don't know if the time line is credible. Williams reaches Lanang on 18 Jan, with the 11 porters being arrested there. The porters are in Basey on 20 Jan, to be executed there. Dayuhan: how long would it take to get from Lanang to Basey - by quickest means of 1902 travel ?
BTW: The Porter lineage is interesting:
Regards
Mike
PS: In truth, Dewitt Lyles testified at Waller's court-martial (called by Waller) - ATROCITY ON TRIAL: THE COURT-MARTIAL OF LITTLETON WALLER (by Christopher Thomas Dean, 2009; pp. 69-70 pdf), which found Waller Not Guilty (11-2). A separate jury found Lt. Day (who commanded the firing squad) also Not Guilty.
Marching 12 to move three
There are many accounts of the Waller Samar Campaign. My favorite is:
http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/waller-samar-part-i
http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/waller-samar-part-ii
I always thought that Robert B. Asprey was a good historian/writer. Waller definitely bit off more then he could chew...but orders are orders. Rations back in those days were canned bacon, biscuits and crewing tabaco. There was an expectation of living off the land with the help of the native porters. What is interesting is that after the march and when Waller ordered the executions, the Marines were down to 45 effectives. In addition, most of the 300+ Marines were bare foot...Waller had walked his Marines out of their boots from the insurgence patrols. There is also rumors of another pending bolo swarm attack on their base that was playing on Marine's mind.
Timeline & Communications
The prosecution botched the timeline, which led to inconsistencies as to who did what and when. If the time don't fit, you must acquit ! ;)
From Dean's monograph on the court-martial, the 11 arrested porters (guarded by Gy.Sgt. Quick and other Marines) were shipped by USN gunboat from Lanang to Basay, arriving sometime on 20 Jan.
Asprey's MG article (pt II) adds some important detail to the timeline and communications that Waller had:
Quote:
At this critical juncture-about noon of 18 January -the Army relief party came onto the survivors. Williams and his men were crawling towards them. They reached Lanang that night and by 20 January all hands were in the Army hospital at Tacloban, Leyte.
Capt Porter at once telephoned the terrible story to Maj Waller at Basey. Porter had arrested 11 of the natives and was sending them to Basey under GySgt Quick. Porter believed they should be shot; so did Williams; so did the troops.
Waller knew exactly what Porter was talking about. On 5 January he had been personally threatened by a carrier named Victor and throughout the march his scouts, Slim and Smoke, had failed to report to him when ordered. Victor, who had not gotten through to Porter because the area was full of insurrectos, was discovered to have lied and to have told another guide, "As the Americans will not return to the other party, it will be a good time for us to kill them and flee to the mountains."
After Porter's telephone call and GySgt Quick's personal report, Waller called in the 11 prisoners, who only trembled silently during interrogation. Convinced of their treachery, Waller was also mindful of his overall mission. He was still out of action; the populations of Basey and Balangiga were openly hostile; he had 95 prisoners, and only 45 effective Marines for duty.
His orders to execute the 11 people were carried out that afternoon. The next day he telegraphed BGen Smith on Leyte that he had "expended" 11 natives.
Where did Asprey find this information ?
Some reports by Army participants are said (by Google) to be in the Report of the War Department for 1902; and by Marine participants in the Report of the Secretary of the Navy for 1902.
On the other hand, I could spend some time on a matter closer to the theme of Slap's OP - Sigourney Weaver, the Space Marines and Alien. :D
Regards
Mike