Passing it Down

While trying to get an outline together for my book (maybe one day it will be a book) Devil Dogs in Any Clime and Place: Marines in Polar Exploration 1840-1956, I had to decide which Marines, and which expeditions/operation to include/exclude, particularly those of the 20th century.  Some were too limited (in scope or participation) and yet they seemed to beg to be included.  Should I just do the Byrd expeditions to the South Pole? Should I include every single one? I decided to step back and look at it from afar for a bit to help me decide.

As a Marine historian for 19 years, I learned quickly that one of the hallmarks of the Corps is the tradition and practice of "passing it down."

Maj Jack Elliott USMC (Ret) (93 y.o.) handed cake to 1stLt Dupree (24 y.o.) during History Division's 2017 USMC birthday cake ceremony

Whether it be a piece of birthday cake from the oldest Marine to the youngest, or traditions from the Sergeant Major to the Private, it is a fine example of passing on what you've learned.

With this in mind, I realized (as I looked from afar), there was a pattern that could guide me to deciding what expeditions/operations/Marines to include/exclude.  It was there, all the time, repeating itself.  The Marines themselves!

The chart above demonstrates that from Byrd's expedition to fly over the North Pole in 1926, to Operation DEEP FREEZE I in 1956, there was at least one Marine connecting each operation/expedition in between the two.  As you can see, there is a clear connection between these two operations, 30 years apart.  The "repeat customer" award goes to Boyd, who participated in at least 6 expeditions to both poles, followed by Green with three trips. 

 

I'm still digging, still doing research and know that several of the Marines of the earlier Byrd expeditions remained in touch with one another and with Byrd until his death.  However, I have yet to find any documents demonstrating that they passed their experiences on to their fellow Marines; time will tell.  I'm sure there were stories told as they floated their way south to Antarctica in 1928, or north during Operation NANOOK. But, alas, no smoking gun in the form of a letter or diary entry--yet.

What I am finding out about the Marines who participated in these operations is something that I found out about the earliest Marine aviators that I researched years ago.  It's something that makes them great Marines.  They each have the willingness to go into dangerous situations, often they are adventure seekers--today we might even call them adrenaline junkies.  Some are rascals, scamps, mischievous.  The overwhelming majority of them are career Marines who retire.  There is only one who, so far, seems to have received the "Big Chicken Dinner" and told (using Jack Elliott's phrasing) "out bum!"

I plan to compile statistical information on the entire list and include it in my concluding chapter.  Officers? Enlisted? Mustangs? Retirees? MOS? and the like.  It is already proving quite interesting and I'm not done going through the records--there are more than 150 Marines thus far, and going through the muster rolls one by one is slow.  But in COVID times, it's not like I can go to NARA.

Back to my point about passing it down...

Since 1798, one Marine has always passed down what they've learned to the next.  Often is it is valuable and sage advice, sometimes it is bad habits and poor examples of 'leadership.'  However, there is no refuting that it is in the fabric of the Marine Corps to do this and even with the faults, one that I (as a historian) am quite fond of and like the most.