These men are not soldiers, sailors, or airmen.
These men are Marines!
Many have trained here at the largest Marine base on the East Coast.
This vital military base in North Carolina was named for a French Creole gentleman-soldier
known as the greatest U.S. Marine all time!
This is the incredible story of Major General John A. Lejeune.
Next on Marking History!
This is the historical marker for General John Archer Lejeune,
located here in Lacour, Louisiana, in Pointe Coupee Parish, close to his birthplace.
Lejeune served for nearly 40 years in the military, commanding the U.S. Army's 2nd Division in World War I
and serving as the highest- ranking officer in the Marine Corps from 1920 to 1929.
General, what do you call this building back here?
This is Lejeune Hall.
You know, down in North Carolina everybody says Lejune. Why do you say Lejeune?
We say Lejeune because that was the man's name.
Although his name is continuously mispronounced,
there is irrefutable proof on how to say his French-Creole name correctly.
I know this personally because I was the TV news photographer behind the camera
when WRAL-TV news anchor Charlie Gaddy interviewed the General's daughter, Laura Lejeune in 1983.
Laura Lejeune.
Has anyone ever told you that you mispronounce your own name?
No, because I don't.
When folks argue that Lejeune (luh jern) has no “r” in the word,
remind them that neither does the rank of “Colonel.”!
Now let's learn more about the man behind the marker!
The United States Marine Corps was established on November 10, 1775,
to strengthen naval forces in the Revolutionary War.
They performed offensive and defensive fighting during naval boarding actions, that is ship to ship combat.
During the American Revolution, Marines also defended the ship's naval officers from mutiny!
Marine quarters on the ship were often strategically positioned between the officers' quarters and the rest of the vessel.
Over the decades, the mission of the Marines changed
due in part to a man from Louisiana - John Archer Lejeune.
As you will see, General Lejeune will lead the Marine corps from the old defensive mission of acting as colonial infantry
to a new offensive mission of amphibious assaults to support the Navy.
In 1884, Seventeen-year-old John Lejeune secured an appointment as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy
in Annapolis, Maryland.
During his four years there, John learned navigation and command skills,
astronomy, ordnance and gunnery, seamanship, shipbuilding and naval techniques.
After two more years aboard a Navy ship, Lejeune could apply for a commission, either in the Navy or the Marines.
It was an international crisis in Samoa that would lead Lejeune to his final decision.
In early 1889, naval midshipman Lejeune received urgent orders
to report to the USS Vandalia, and sail for Samoa because of the German threat to American interests there.
During the Pacific voyage Lejeune became impressed with the Marines.
He admired their spirit and camaraderie during their daily drills aboard the Navy ship.
By March, three American warships joined three German warships, and one British warship,
in a watchful standoff in Apia harbor, Samoa.
When it seemed certain that there would be trouble, here came the great cyclone of 1889!
At 3:30 a.m. a giant wave crashed over the bow of the Vandalia and hurled everyone across the deck
including Lejeune, who was virtually overboard when he grasped out and caught the last rope of the starboard rigging.
Regardless of the pain, the exhausted midshipman fell asleep standing on the Jacob's ladder,
until a seaman woke him and lashed them both to the rigging.
This action probably saved Lejeune's life and ultimately the future of the Marine Corps.
In the aftermath, the USS Trenton, USS Vandalia, and USS Nipsic were all wrecked,
resulting in the deaths of 51 sailors and Marines.
All three German warships also sank, killing 150.
When Midshipman Lejeune returned to the Naval Academy, they gave him an ensign commission in the Navy,
because they felt he would waste his talents as a Marine.
But in his heart, Lejeune felt he should be a Marine!
So, he lobbied his way all the way to the Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Tracy,
thanks to his aide who happened to be a survivor of the great Samoan cyclone.
Lejuene made his case and got his wish to be a Marine, due to a quality that triumphs over all
determination.
In 1903, President Teddy Roosevelt was ready to build a canal in Panama connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
This waterway shortcut would save ships 8,000 nautical miles
because they wouldn't have to sail all around the southern tip of South America and Cape Horn.
Because Panama was a territory of Colombia at the time,
the US offered an agreement with the sovereign government of Colombia for canal rights.
However, the Colombian government rejected the treaty
because they wanted more money and full authority over the canal.
After the treaty was rejected, Panama started a revolt to split with Colombia.
On November 3, 1903 Panama simultaneously declared independence from Colombia
and negotiated a treaty granting the U.S. the right to build the canal.
In support of the new republic, the US Navy sent the USS Nashville gunboat to Panama City of Colón
to prevent Colombian troops from using the Panama railway.
Navy Commander John Hubbard landed a small party of sailors there.
Unfortunately, Colombian army leader Colonel Eliseo Torres and his force outnumbered Hubbard's sailors ten-to-one.
Torres maneuvered his regiment into firing position and threatened to kill every Yankee in Colón.
This is where our Cajun hero enters the story.
The USS Dixie arrived at this juncture at 7:25 p.m. on November 5
with Major John Lejeune and his Marine Battalion aboard.
Dixie received a signal from the USS Nashville requesting that the Marine battalion land quickly.
By 7:40 p.m., Major Lejeune had over two hundred Marines over the side in full combat paraphernalia.
By 8:15, he had landed the Marines on the Colón wharf despite a driving rain.
Colombian Colonel Torres had no stomach for a fight, however.
He accepted money from the Panamanian revolutionists and retreated back to Colombia.
Panama was a transitional step in Lejeune's career and for the future of amphibious operations.
For the first time, Major Lejeune was strategically placed during a major historical event on a national stage,
securing that important strip of land for the canal builders and winning recognition from top military and civilian leaders.
Most important for Lejeune and the Marine Corps was that the acquisition of the Canal Zone by the United States
was a joint Navy and Marine Corps venture, a sea-to-shore amphibious operation
that provided momentum towards a new mission for the Corps.
After America's outrage over the Zimmermann Telegram,
which was that secret diplomatic communication that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico
AND the sinking of merchant ships by Germany's U-boats, the United States entered World War One in April 1917.
General Lejeune arrived at Brest, France in June 1918 ready for battle.
On July 28, 1918, Major General Lejeune was given command of the entire U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division.
It was the first time that a Marine commanded a division in combat.
Thanks to General of the Armies John Pershing who knew him as an extraordinary warrior and best man for the job.
On the French battlefields, he put the needs of his men over his own.
As an example, he became the first Marine commander to go to the end of the chow line.
- a lasting Marine Corps tradition.
Lejeune was an incredible military tactician, who stressed extensive rehearsal and disciplined artillery gunnery.
This discipline enabled our ground troops to follow closely behind friendly artillery bombardment
that would otherwise be far too risky.
This "leaning on the artillery" meant that the enemy faced direct attack from our soldiers
while still recovering from the shock from Allied shells.
Under the leadership of General Lejeune, the deeds of the 2nd Infantry Division became famous throughout France
and its fighting qualities were recorded in stunned words in more than one German diary.
Lejeune stated his Marine philosophy:
French Marshal Philippe Pétain praised Lejeune as "a military genius
who could and did do what the other commander said couldn't be done."
Since Major General Lejeune was fluent in French, I am sure the compliment did not lose anything in the translation!
The French government honored Lejeune with the Legion of Honor, and the Croix de Guerre.
Commander in Chief General John Pershing awarded Lejeune the U.S. Army's Distinguished Service Medal.
The U.S. Navy's Distinguished Service Medal was conferred upon him
when he returned to the United States following the occupation of Germany.
On September 10, 1919 General Lejeune and his famed 2nd Infantry Division
were honored to thunderous acclaim during a victory parade in New York City. He was a national hero.
Miss Laura remembers.
Major General John Lejeune was named Commandant in 1920 - the highest-ranking officer of the U.S Marine Corps.
The Commandant reports directly to the Secretary of the Navy
and is responsible for ensuring the organization, policy, plans, and programs for the Marine Corps.
Keep in mind - this was a time of tremendous challenges for the Armed Forces of the United States
following the aftermath of World War One.
Public opinion was anti-war, anti-military, and in the throngs of disarmament fever.
General Lejeune used his skills as an expert administrator, diplomat and gentle persuader
to keep the Corps funded while protecting the Marines from political plans for absorption into the Navy or Army.
During his service as Commandant, Lejeune presided over what is known as the first enlightenment
of the Marine Corps.
Lejeune directed intelligence gathering operations in the Pacific in the early 1920s,
and drove changes in the organization, training, education, and equipping of Marines
thus transforming them from 19th century colonial naval infantry
into a combined arms amphibious force needed to prevail in World War Two.
General Lejeune understood that the very life of the Corps
depended upon the favor and public opinion of the American people.
When mail robberies aboard trains became a national problem in 1921,
General Lejeune suggested that his Marines could stop these events.
The Marines did stop the train robberies and won the admiration of the American people.
In 1925 Commandant Lejeune appointed Major Joseph Fegan to promote all Corps activities.
Lejeune and Fegan fine-tuned the public relations program to such a degree
that it regularly placed Marine Corps achievements and news before the public to the envy of the Army and Navy.
When the motion-picture industry revealed an interest in the Marine Corps,
Lejeune signed a contract in 1926 with MGM to produce two Marine Corps movies =
“The Fighting Marine”, starring former Marine and boxer Gene Tunney and "Tell It to the Marines” with actor Lon Chaney.
After nine years as commandant, General Lejeune retired from the Marine Corps in 1929.
That same year, Lejeune accepted the position of superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute,
where he served from 1929 to 1937.
During that time, he brought VMI from the brink of bankruptcy during the Great Depression to a thriving military school.
All the time, he supported his Marines.
General Lejeune inspired his successors to continue work in the 1930s to refine the new Marine mission.
Consequently, the corps was fundamentally prepared for war when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
General Lejeune died at the age of seventy-five on November 20, 1942,
and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
One month after his death, that Marine base in North Carolina was renamed Camp Lejeune in his honor.
His sense of honor, exemplary good character, and love of country and the corps
contributed to the modernization of a vital branch of the US Armed Forces.
For many, General John Archer Lejeune is THE greatest Marine of all time.
If history can be taught with stories
they can never be forgotten.
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