Saipan: Because Marines Never Forget (20)
Shrines and monuments to the dead recall the final horror of Saipan that took place at Marpi Point. The remaining Japanese troops, along with hundreds of civilians, had fled to the very northern edges of the island. Prodded by Japanese rifles and bayonets, many families jumped from the cliffs to their death. Suicide Cliff is hauntingly beautiful. A precipice rising approximately 820 feet, it overlooks what was once Marpi Field and Banzai Cliff. Today Suicide Cliff affords a view of the lush grazing fields of a cattle farm and waste management plant. Flying overhead and riding thermals below are red-tailed tropicbirds. A poignant, but mythical story says the birds came only after the suicides.
Related Content
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- Guy Gabaldon--Do You Remember? (Magazine Page)
- World War II: 50 Years Ago: Amphibious Blitzkrieg at Tinian (Magazine Page)
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"We've Fought In Every Clime And Place": Stamping out the Caco Insurrection in the Republic d' Haiti.
"From Dawn To Setting Sun": Marine Occupation in Defense of Shanghai, March, 1927.
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"On The Land As On The Sea": The "Bon Homme Richard" encounters the "Serapis," September 23, 1779.
"We Fight Our Country's Battles": The fall of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in 1865.
"First To Fight For Right And Freedom": The Marine expedition in Cuba in June, 1898.
“To The Shores Of Tripoli”: Storming the fortifications at Derne, Tripoli, 1805.
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Marine patrol fired on while fording the Coco River.
“To The Shores Of Tripoli”: Storming the fortifications at Derne, Tripoli, 1805.
"From The Halls Of Montezuma": The assault on Chapultepec Castle--Mexico City, 1847
Marine patrol fired on while fording the Coco River.
January 2002: The Marines engraved another mark in the rich history of the Corps when they came from more than 400 miles offshore to establish a forward operating base south of Kandahar in the war on terrorism. The Marine CH-46 helicopter on the cover, photographed by PH1(AW/SW) Greg Messier, USN, fought in the desert sand to land and resupply Marines such as the ones (inset) photographed by Sgt Joseph R. Chenelly.
January 2001: This firefight during the Frozen Chosin Reservoir Campaign of 1950 was painted by “Chosin Few” veteran Jack Cannon, who served with Company B, 1st Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment and resides in the warmer climes of New Mexico. The cover was part of Leatherneck’s 50th anniversary salute to the Korean War veterans.
January 1992: This cover photograph of runners during Marine Corps Marathon XVI in Washington, D.C., was photographed by Sgt Deirdre Hallett.
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Today in USMC History
1900 - Marines landed at Taku, China, to establish Legation Guard at Peking.
Related Article: The Marines In China By LtCol C. H. Metcalf Marine Corps Gazette (Sept 1938)
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