Sgt Grit Marine Forums

1 July 1920: Major General John A. Lejeune became the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps.

2 July 1891: Marines began protecting seal herds against poachers in the Bering Sea.

3 July 1864: Marines participated in a skirmish near White Point, South Carolina, during the Civil War.

3 July 1899: Battle of Santiago.

3 July 1918: 13th Regiment organized under LtCol Smedley D. Butler at Marine Base Quantico for duty in France.

4 July: Independence Day.

4 July 1800: The Marine Band played at Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, in their first public appearance.

4 July 1801: President Thomas Jefferson reviewed the Marines, led by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, LtCol William W. Burrows and the Marine Band, on the White House grounds. The smartly uniformed Marines performed drills and fired various salutes in observance of the new nation's 25th anniversary.

4 July 1834: President Andrew Jackson ordered green and buff as the Corps' uniform colors.

5 July 1943: The 1st Raider Regiment landed against the Japanese on New Georgia Island.

5 July 1966: 1st full day of operation "MACON", Vietnam (4 July - 28 October).

6 July 1905: Marines escorted the body of John Paul Jones from France to Annapolis.

6 July 1990: One of the oldest and most versatile attack aircraft in Marine Corps history, the A-4 Skyhawk, retired from the Corps' active aviation structure after over 30 years of service. The last two Skyhawks from MAG-32 flew their final flight from Cherry Point to NAS Patuxent River on this date.

7 July 1941: The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing was activated at Quantico, Virginia. Within a year of activation, the Wing would participate in the Marine Corps offensive at Guadalcanal. That bitter campaign would be the first in a series of legendary battles in which the Wing would add luster to its reputation. The 1stMAW would earn five Presidential Unit Citations for gallantry in campaigns spanning World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

7 July 1966: Largest multi-Battalion operation of Vietnamese war to date - "Hastings".

8 July 1930: Major General Wendell C. Neville, 14th Commandant of the Marine Corps died in office.
8 July 1953: 7th Marines, 1st MarDiv "retook" outpost EAST BERLIN, Korea.

9 July 1846: Marines and Sailors occupied Sonoma, California, after proclaiming California part of the United States during the Mexican War.

9 July 1900: Marines helped in the capture of Tientsin Arsenal.

9 July 1943: Allies Landed in Sicily.

10 July 1919: A submarine chaser was turned over to the Corps with the first all-Marine crew.

10 July 1941: The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing as commissioned in San Diego.

10 July 1942: MCAS El Centro, California activated.

11 July 1798: President John Adams approved "An Act for Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps", and it became law. The following day, the President appointed William Ward Burrows the Major Commandant of the new Corps. In August, Major Burrows opened his headquarters in Philadelphia, at that time still the capital of the new nation.

12 July 1798: Major William W. Burrows was appointed the 2nd Commandant of the Marine Corps by President John Adams.

13 July 1954: The 3dMarDiv was placed on 48-hour alert in preparation to move in support of the French in Indochina. The alert was later cancelled.

14 July 1853: Commodore Matthew C. Perry, escorted by Marines and Sailors, Landed at Urage, Japan.  Marine Major Jacob Zeilin was the second man to go ashore.

14 July 1945: U. S. began the first surface fleet bombardment of Japan.

14 July 1993: The USS IWO JIMA was decommissioned after over 30 years of service in a ceremony at Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia. The ship was named for the World War II battle during which three Marine divisions ousted 20,000 entrenched Japanese troops. The Iwo Jima was commissioned 26 August 1961, and it was the first ship specifically designed as an amphibious assault ship from the keel up.

15 July 1958: BLT 2/2 landed at Khalde Beach, Beirut, Lebanon, in operation "Blue Bat".

16 July 1861: Major J. G. Reynolds commanded 350 Marines in the first Battle of Bull Run in Virginia.

16 July 1942: Marine Barracks, Auckland, N.Z., established.

17 July 1990: 200 members of the Marine Barracks, Subic Bay, Philippines, helped rescue survivors in Cabanatuan after the island was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale. More than 300 civilians were killed.

18 July 1779: Continental Marines attacked British forces in Maine.

18 July 1918: The 4th Brigade of Marines began an attack near Soissons, France, as part of a three-division counterattack against the Germans. In the first two days of battle, the brigade sustained 1,972 casualties.

18 July 1966 - Two Marines in Kilo 3/4 were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during Operation Hastings on this date.  Capt Modrejewski was Kilo skipper, and SSgt J.J. McGinty was a platoon commander.

19 July 1779: 300 Continental Marines attacked the British at Fort George, Penobscot Bay.

20 July 1942: 23rd Marines activated at New River.

20 July 1950: An organized Marine Corps Reserve mobilized for duty in Korea.

21 July 1861: First Battle of Bull Run.

21 July 1944: The 3dMarDiv, 1st Provisional Marine Brigade and Marine Aircraft Group 21 landed to recapture Guam (secured 10 August).

22 July 1823: Marines attack Pirates near Cape Cruz, Cuba.

22 July 1919: Two companies of Quantico Marines helped civil authorities restore order after race riots in Washington, DC.

23 July 1944: Elements of the 3dMarDiv completed the occupation of Cabras Island, Tinian, Marianas

24 July 1944: The V Amphibious Corps, commanded by Major General Harry Schmidt, landed on Tinian, in the Mariana Islands. The following morning, the 2d and 4th Marine Divisions began a shoulder-to-shoulder southward sweep of the island. Organized enemy resistance faded within a week, and on 1 August, MajGen Schmidt declared the island secure.