Brothers,
In U.S. military history this week, Brigadier General James G. Harbord, the Commanding General of the 4th Marine Brigade, notified American Expeditionary Force Headquarters on 26 JUN 1918 that Belleau Wood was "now U.S. Marine Corps entirely." After 20 days of combat, and at a cost of over 4,000 casualties, the 4th Brigade of Marines had proven its fighting heart. The grateful Commander of the French Sixth Army would soon decree that in all official correspondence, Belleau Wood would henceforth bear the name, "Bois de la Brigade de Marine." The Battle of Belleau Wood is also where the moniker “Devil Dogs” was used by German soldiers to describe U.S. Marines who fought so ferociously during the battle.
Anyone know how many SigEps served at Belleau Wood? The SigEp Patriots Project believes this is an important question, and we continue to strive to answer it.
This Week in SigEp Patriot History:
26 JUN 1953
On this day, U.S. Army WWI Veteran, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, and U.S. Senator (North Carolina) NC Gamma Brother Willis Smith died while serving in the U.S. Congress.
Willis was born 19 DEC 1887 in Norfolk, VA, and became a SigEp at Trinity College (now Duke University). After graduating in 1910, he attended law school, was admitted to the bar in 1912, and during World War he served in the Army in Virginia during World War I.
From 1927-32, Brother Smith was a member of the North Carolina state House of Representatives, the last two years as Speaker. Twice he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
At the Nuremburg Trials in 1946 he was an observer, and after serving as a U.S. delegate to the Interparliamentary Union (1951) he was selected as the chairman of the American delegation to the Union’s meeting in Bern, Switzerland in 1952.
Simultaneously, Brother Smith was serving in the U.S. Congress. In 1950, he was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of J. Melville Broughton, and he until his death in the naval hospital at Bethesda, MD.
Respect can be paid to Brother Smith at Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina. He is gone but will never be forgotten.
01 JUL 1957
On this day, U.S. Army World War II Veteran and VA Zeta Brother Robert Jefferson Wood was assigned as the Army's Deputy Chief of Research and Development, working on a variety of projects including antimissile weapons and germ and gas warfare systems.
In the early 50s, Brother Wood was involved with the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s military system, and he would go on to be a U.S. Army four-star general before retiring in 1986 and also earn the SigEp Citation.
