Have the U.S. Marines ever lost a battle?

Question

I'm a Marine Corps history expert so I was just wondering because me and my freind was talkin about this and he keeps bringing up something about "Wake"??? Whats it all about? And also are there any Marines/Recruiters around here I can get into contact with?

SEMPER FI DO OR DIE!
i cant wait to join your corps...

Answer 1

Sure everyone looses battles. You are thinking of Wake Island (actually an atoll) it was attacked the same day as pearl harbor, way out numbered they were overcome. The Marines took it back at the end of the war.

Anyone can loose a battle it just matters how you loose. A force of pu$$ies like DTB they would surrender quicker than the french. Fighting to the last man, or the objective is reached... thats the US Marines. The only time that the US Marines have lost battles is when they were severely outnumbered.
Be proud to serve. Being a soldier is one of the original professions, and the most honorable.
Any decent sized city will have a recruiter for you to talk to, go Infantry, or at least combat arms. Remmeber any fighting force is Infantry... the rest is support.

Answer 2

The Marines may have lost several battles, possibly the most famous of which was the Battle for Wake Island.

Contrary to the posters who answered Viet Nam, the Marines and the Army did not lose a single major conflict in Viet Nam, and in fact, the North Vietnamese givernment sued the US for peace, which means we technically won the war. When the military pulled out of Viet Nam, the borders were where we said they would be and North Viet Nam had signed an agreement to leave the south alone. The politicians lost the peace by refusing to go back into Viet Nam when the North broke the treaty a couple years later by invading South Viet Nam and conquered them, due strictly to the politicians not letting the military go back in.

If you study Marine Corps history, one of the most famous of their attitudes towards battles can be seen from a quote attributed to MG O.P. Smith in the Korean War. When the Marine 1st Division was completely surrounded at the Chosin Reservior, MG Smith was ordered to conduct a fighting withdrawal. When asked by reporters about the retreat, he explained that the fighting withdrawal was not a retreat. This was later misquoted and he is now attributed with saying "Retreat Hell, I am just attacking in a different direction!" I am most interested in this battle since my father landed at Inchon with the First Marines and was at the Frozen Chosin. There are many other like incidents in their over 200 year history.

Good luck going into the Marine Corps. They are a tough outfit with a great history of which they can be truly proud.

Answer 3

Wake Island is really a remarkable battle and even though it did end in defeat, the Marines and Civilian workers who defended that island held off a vastly superior Japanese force.

Had the promised Navy support arrived instead of turning around and going back to Pearl, it is entirely possible that Wake Island would have been remembered as the first significant American victory over the Japanese.

I still remember reading my first book about Wake Island as elementary school kid. Yeah I was 8 year geek more interested in Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, Wake Island and every other book written by Robert Leckie and John Toland. Yeah Henry Huggins was cool...but reading about the US Marines on Wake was way better.

My in-laws are both former Marines (met in the Corps), so the Marines are held in high esteem in this household.

Answer 4

Something about Wake? Oh,boy...........

Wake Island, The Alamo of the Pacific. Wake is a small atol owned by the US in the mid Pacfic. It was used by Pan Am as a refueling stop for their Clippers. In 1941 the Navy started building a base there for subs, seaplanes, and a airstrip. It a garission of Marines, Navy & civilian contractors. After Pearl Harbor they fought the japanese for days without support. They surendered on Dec. 22, 1941

Of the 449 Marines (1st Defense Battalion and VMF-211 detachments) who manned Wake's defenses, 49 were killed, 32 were wounded, and the remainder became prisoners of war.[1] Of the 68 Navy officers and men, three were killed, five wounded, and the rest taken prisoner. The small, five-man Army communications detachment suffered no fatalities; they were all taken prisoner. Of the 1,146 civilians involved in construction programs on Wake Island, 70 were killed and 12 were wounded. Five of Wake's defenders were executed by the Japanese on board Nitta Maru, With the exception of nearly 100 contractors who remained on Wake Island, all the rest of the civilians joined Wake's Marines, sailors, and soldiers in prisoner of war (POW) camps. The Japanese transported the wounded military men and civilians from the island as their wounds healed and they were deemed well enough to travel. They, too, were placed in POW camps until their liberation in 1945.


Look it up...... The History channel did a special on this last year

Answer 5

The question isn't, "Have the U.S. Marines ever lost a battle?"

Every organization has lost a battle.

The question is, "Has the U.S. Marines ever fall coward in the face of battle?"

To which, the answer is "NO."

Wake Island is what your are refering to. The Marines at Wake stood their ground and fought heroicly. Any research will tell you this. The toll on the Japaneze was profoundly higher via ratio than the loss of Marines. Only 400 Marines held off what is estimated at 2200 Japaneze for 15 days. Quite a feat!

Gunny.

Answer 6

Lost? Hell no. Been hurt? Many times. As a matter of fact, here is some stuff on terrorist activity from 1983 people need to remember as a reason why we still fight.

In 1982, at the request of the Lebanese government, the United States established a peacekeeping force between Muslims and Christians in Beirut. The Muslim forces however viewed the soldiers as their enemies and frequently attacked them with artillery and mortar. On October 23, 1983 a large Islamic Jihad truck loaded with 2,500 pounds of TNT crashed through the main gate of the U.S. Marine Headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon killing 241 USA Army, Marine and Navy servicemen and wounding 81. Two minutes later another Islamic Jihad truck packed with explosives crashed into a French base two miles away killing 58 soldiers.The attacks were carried out by Hizballah with the help of Syrian intelligence and financed by Iran. (Marine barracks bombing picture; National Archives.) The murdered American soldiers who died on that atrocious day include the following:

Answer 7

The Marines don't take the glory of the Army. Marines are always the first in last out. They have taken the hardest hit in iraq yet you hear more about the army on the news then the marines.

Marines are one of a kind. I will always respect them with all my heart.

But a military branch in the US is all the same to me and all 5 branches have my respsect equally.


Good luck in the marines!

Its something im considering possibly. Dont expect it to be easy though!

Answer 8

Wake Island , WW2
The japs needed a couple weeks , 5000 men and a Naval Task Force to take 1 small island away from the Marines .
The japs paid a very high cost for it .
Look it up !

Answer 9

Wake Island, South Pacific, Second World War. Good luck and thank you for wanting to join up and serve the marines and the greatest nation on earth. :)

Answer 10

The choice to join the Marines is a good one. When my son made that choice a few years ago, I was so proud of him. They are definitley THE FEW, AND THE PROUD.

If you would like an email friend, contact me and I will send you my address.