This Month in History

Selected December Dates of Marine Corps Historical Significance

4 December 1950: LtCol Raymond G. Davis led his battalion into Hagaru-Ri, Korea after four days of intense fighting in the mountain passes against a numerically superior hostile force. His battalion, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, helped clear the way for the 5th and 7th Marines, and LtCol Davis was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism.

6 December 1928: A small detail of Marines under Captain Maurice G. Holmes defeated Nicaraguan bandits near Chuyelite. GySgt Charles Williams was mortally wounded during the fighting. Capt Holmes was later awarded the Navy Cross for gallantry, and a posthumous award was given to GySgt Williams.

8 December 1941: Japanese aircraft attacked Wake Island within hours of the fateful attack on Pearl Harbor. Marines of the 1st Defense Battalion and Marine Fighting Squadron 211 resisted Japanese invasion attempts for over two weeks before finally succumbing to an overwhelming force.

9 December 1992: Marines of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations capable) landed in Somalia kicking off Operation Restore Hope, the largest humanitarian relief operation of its kind.

10 December 1995: In Bosnia, 22 Marines from Marine Corps Security Force Company, Naples, Italy were among the first American troops to arrive. They provided the security for Allied Forces Southern Europe headquartered at Sarajevo. About 2,500 NATO troops would be in place by 19 December taking on the task of peace enforcement in former Yugoslavia from the U.N.

15 December 1948: The Secretary of the Navy signed a "Memorandum of Agreement" with the State Department which laid the basis for the modern Marine Security Guard program at U.S. embassies throughout the world.

19 December 1972: The Marine detachment of the USS Ticonderoga provided shipboard security for three U.S. astronauts, Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, Harrison Schmitt, and their Apollo-17 space capsule. The astronauts had successfully completed a (then) record lunar stay of more than 75 hours.

20 December 1989: Operation Just Cause was launched in Panama to protect American lives, restore the democratic process, preserve the integrity of the Panama Canal Treaty, and apprehend dictator General Manuel Antonio Noriega. One Marine, Corporal Garreth C. Isaak, was killed and three other were wounded during the operation.

23 December 1941: Japanese forces launched a predawn landing on Wake Island and Wilkes Island, while their carriers launched air strikes against Wilkes, Wake, and Peale islands in support of the landing force. After nearly 12 hours of desperate fighting, the three islands were surrendered.

26 December 1957: Twenty helicopters from Marine Light Helicopter Squadron 162, were rushed to Ceylon onboard the USS Princeton where Marines participated in the rescue and evacuation of flood victims.