Smedley Darlington Butler Term paper
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Smedley Darlington ButlerOn July 30, 1881, a man was born that would bring into this country courage and leadership as it has never seen before. He was one of only two men to ever win the Congressional Medal of Honor twice, as well as being the most decorated soldier to ever wear an American uniform. He fought in every American conflict from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to the guerrilla Wars in Central America that followed World War I as an officer in the Marine Corps. He also protected domestic disputes by organizing a force from the 4th Marine Regiment in October of 1926 to protect the mailing system, which would become known as the Western Mail Guards. After his tour with the Marines, he was very popular with rank-and-file soldiers and veterans. He strongly defended the Bonus Marchers in 1932, who were later attacked by US troops under General Douglas MacArthur in Washington DC. In an incident whose history is surpressed today, he was approached by representatives of the Morgan Bank who wished him to lead a fascist military coup d etat against the Roosevelt government in 1932, which he refused. Yet through all of these conflicts, he still maintained that American armed intervention into the affairs of sovereign nations was not in our best interest. In his 34 year career with the Marine Corps, he would demonstrate that true patriotism does not mean blind allegiance to government policies with which one does not agree. His name was Smedley Darlington Butler. Smedley Butler played a big role in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. In the Yellow Sea, the USS Solance sailed with 106 Marines including two extra that snuck aboard the night before it s departure. These men, along with eight officers, were the first American reinforcements which could be sent from the Philippines; they had been mounting out for Guam, under the command of Major Waller, when the emergency diverted them to China. Smedley Butler, who was only a first lieutenant at the time, was counted as saying, Major Waller came ashore at 4:45 PM and told me that Company A was the one chosen for the expedition and that I was to go in command of it. He told me that I was to get the company ready by 8:45 that same night. For a while I seemed dazed and then it dawned on me and we all began preparations. Another officer and myself first went out to the quarters and set all the men wild by the news and in my short but eventful life I had never seen such a howling mob. We then went back and packed ourselves and at 8:15 PM I started for the quarters to bring the company down to the boat. That was pretty quick work when you consider that I took out half an hour for dinner. (Davison, 1947) The ship sailed for Taku on June 14. hours later, the US Minister in Peking got word through to Washington that the foreigners in Peking had been completely besieged within the compounds with the entire city in the possession of a rioting, murdering mob, with no visible effort being made by the government in any way to restrain it. On June 19, at 0330, Waller s Marines debarked, reinforced by 30 more Marines from the USS Nashville, armed with a 3-inch landing gun and a Colt machine gun. With the help of machinist s mates and water tenors from the Civil War gunboat Monocacy, Waller coaxed a Chinese train back to life, loaded it with spare ties, rails and Marines, and traveled from Tangku towards Tientsin. Repairing tracks as they advanced, the Marines joined forces with a battalion of 440 Russian infantry halted 12 miles from Tientsin. At 0200 on June 20, the Marines and Russians resumed the advance. By 0700, they were on the outskirts of Tientsin, under heavy fire and counter-attacked by more than 1500 Boxers and Imperial troops. Outnumbered, the Marines and Russians disengaged. The withdrawal was signalized by the rescue of a wounded Marine, inadvertently left behind, by a rear guard consisting of Lieutenants Butler A.B. Harding and other enlisted Marines. Under continual Chinese pursuit and fire, by cavalry and artillery, the six Marines carried the wounded man seven miles without a stretcher. All four of the enlisted Marines received the Medal of Honor. Since officers were not eligible to receive the Medal of Honor in those days, Butler and Harding were both brevetted captain for gallantry. This would not be the only time that Smedley Butler would be awarded highest honors for acts of great courage and bravery. In 1914, Butler, who by then had achieved the rank of Major, was awarded the Congressional Medal of honor for his role in the seizing of Vera Cruz in order to prevent Huerta from receiving an alleged shipment of arms from Germany. His citation read the following:For distinguished conduct in battle, engagement of Vera Cruz, April 22,1914, was eminent and conspicuous in command of his battalion. Heexhibited courage and skill in leading his men through the action of the22nd and in the final occupation of the city. (Marine Corps)A little more than one year later, Butler would do the unprecedented and receive yet another Congressional Medal of Honor for the Haitian Campaign of 1915 where US troops were sent to restore order to a rebellious mob who were revolting against a bankrupt Haitian government:As Commanding Officer of detachments from the 5th, 13th, 23d Companiesand the marine and sailor detachment from the U.S.S. Connecticut, MajorButler led the attack on Fort Riviere, Haiti, 17 November 1915. Following aconcentrated drive, several different detachments of marines gradually closedin on the old French bastion fort in an effort to cut off all avenues of retreatfor the Caco bandits. Reaching the fort on the southern side where there wasa small opening in the wall, Major Butler gave the signal to attack and marinesfrom the 15th Company poured through the breach, engaged the Cacos inhand-to-hand combat, took the bastion and crushed the Caco resistance. Throughout the perilous action, Major Butler was conspicuous for his braveryand forceful leadership. (Marine Corps)Butler demonstrated a new kind of leadership as has never been seen before. He put himself and his men through peril and yet achieved his mission. As a marine, he would not have it any other way. Following the Haitian campaign, he saw little action in World War II as he was declared a General by the wars outbreak in America. However, his assistance as a soldier and planner was needed again in 1926 when violence and robbery brought a new and entirely different role for the 4th Marines. In Elizabeth, New Jersey, on 14 October 1926, the brutal robbery and killing of a US Mail truck driver forced President Calvin Coolidge to turn to the Marine Corps for assistance in the civil community. By Presidential order, 2,500 Marines proceeded on duty to guard the mail. The Commandant, anticipating the Presidential Order, on 18 October had directed the Commanding General, Headquarters, located in San Francisco to organize a force from the 4th Regiment, to be know as the Western Mail Guards, under the command of Brigadier-General Smedley D. Butler. Butler, who was known as Ol Gimlet Eye by his fellow Marines, brought with him a long record of leadership and his cold, methodical approach to the task given to the Marines. As the...
- Butler, Smedley D. - In Time of Peace : The ArmyCommons Sense Amgazine, November 1935 pp. 8-12- Congress, Library of Congress - Offical Doctrine of War- Davison, Eugene - US Armed Forces and the Boxer RebellionNew York, 1947- Makis, John M. - Roles of the US Military in the 20th CenturyNew York, 1973- Marine Corps - taken directly from copies of Congressional Medalof Honor citations.MLA Style
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