Private Charles T. A. McCormick, Jr.

 If you're interested in Marines in World War I (I totally am), you will know the famous saying "Retreat, Hell! We just got here!" uttered when the French tried to turn the Marines back from going into the Chateau-Thierry area (and then into Belleau Wood) in June 1918.  Two men are attributed as defiant speaker; Fritz Wise (see earlier posting) and Lloyd Williams.  

Williams cut quite the figure--tall, handsome, mustached.  Williams came from a prominent family in Clarke County, Virginia, in the town of Berryville.  I've had the pleasure of speaking at his graveside and at the local church on the 100th anniversary of his death.  

A lesser known member of the family was Charles Treadwell Ayres McCormick, Jr.   Charles too, like his cousin, joined the Marines.  So let me introduce you to the lesser known cousin of Lloyd Williams.

On 5 August 1917, 21-year old Charles T. A. McCormick, Jr. enlisted in the Marine Corps and was shipped to the recruit depot at Parris Island.  Summer in South Carolina does not sound like fun, but I'm sure the heat of the south was a test for the heat of France in summer--soon enough McCormick would experience it as well.  

In January 1918, McCormick was transferred to the 134th Company, 2d Replacement Battalion at Marine Barracks Quantico--no sooner had he arrived, he was assigned to the 80th Company, 2d Battalion, 6th Marines and on a ship bound for France. 

McCormick and his fellow members of the 80th Company were thrust into battle at Belleau Wood in June 1918.  If you'd like to read about this battalion, I recommend Pete Owen's To the Limit of Endurance: A Battalion of Marines in the Great War.  Unfortunately, the muster rolls for 80th Company for June 1918 fail to list McCormick, more likely due to the fact that they were rewritten in the 1930s by the Muster Roll Section of HQMC (Mr. Joel D. Thacker was one of the researchers--but that story is for another day).

However, we know McCormick survived Belleau Wood for he appears on the muster roll for the company in July--Soissons.  The 19th of July proved to be every bit as bloody and hellish as the three weeks of June for the 6th Regiment.  Many good Marines fell that day--2dLt Johnny Overton and Private Charles T. A. McCormick, Jr. 

The muster rolls record that both men were in the attack near Vierzy and were killed by enemy shellfire.

 

 

McCormick was returned home to Berryville to be memorialized in the same church as his cousin Lloyd Williams who had been killed at Belleau Wood the month before.  From a family website it is said that McCormick was remembered by one of his Lieutenant's: “Your son early showed the qualities of a good soldier and in every case has proven himself to be a quick and alert companion.  Never hesitating in the advance, he set an example which showed his fine character…Charles has not given his life in vain for, although he is gone, his spirit still lives among us and makes us more determined to drive this menace from the earth.”

 

To be quite honest, these words could have been about any number of Marines who did not return home.  The bravery exhibited by them continues to astound me and I will forever hold them close to my heart.

 

Today, both Marines are honored by plaques in the local church in Berryville.  It was here I first learned of him, while honoring his famous cousin.  Many young Marines, many old Marines, fought bravely at Belleau Wood, Soissons, Mont Blanc, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne.  Some came home, many did not.

  
Private McCormick, you and your sacrifice--and that of your family--are remembered.