18+ DAYS in AEF's Footsteps, DAY 6: Aisne-Marne Cemetary, Belleau Wood, France

U.S. Government photo, public domain
(disputed locale: either Belleau Wood or in the Argonne)

The battle of Belleau Wood, June 1-26, 1918 along the Marne River northeast of Paris was the battle that the US Marine Corps marks as one of its most honorable.

Pursuing Germans across an open wheat field toward a dense woodland heavily defended by the enemy, the Marines suffered as many casualties in these woods in a few days as they had previously lost in all former engagements since their founding in 1775. Here they encountered Germans heavily armed with machine guns and well entrenched in foxholes and dug-outs in the slippery muddy hillside. They also encountered gas attacks, escaping the woods only by forming a long line and placing one hand on the shoulder of the man in front so that they could march out of the battle zone.

Gas Attack Victims in line of evacuation; this is a British unit, 1918.

A nurse administers eye drops to gas attack victim.

Aerial view of chlorine gas attack, WWI.

1920 Picture of various types of gas masks used during WWI.

At left, we see one picture of that devastated forest as the Marines fire at the enemy.

Second Battle of Marne, Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry

The Marines fought so vigorously to gain and retain their hold of the woods that the Germans dubbed them Devil Dogs, or Teufel Hunden. To this day, the Marines honor the valor of the men who fought there by using it as their own nickname.

A US Marine Corps Recruiting Poster

The Aisne-Marne Cemetery, known to many as Belleau Wood Cemetery, lies five miles east of Chateau Thierry. The Battle of Belleau Wood and Chateau Thierry are part of the larger campaign, known as the Second Battle of the Marne.  Driving in this area, you can readily see the importance of maintaining control of the wide, easily navigable Marne River. Along the same parallel as the city of Meaux, where La Musee de la Grande Guerre is, these two battle sites are significant in that they were disputed territory between Germans and French for many years of the war until the American AEF forces took up positions along these lines and held them, then advanced them in the Spring Offensive of 1918.

In this cemetery, 15% of the men buried here are Marines who lost their lives in this Second Battle for the Marne. All others buried here are US Army and National Guard. No nurses are buried here.

Like other American cemeteries, the land is meticulously landscaped. Beneath pristine white marble crosses are the remains of 2,289 American servicemen. Another 1,060 men who are missing in action are commemorated in the chapel where their names are inscribed on the walls.

The cemetery is on the slope of a hill adjacent to Belleau Wood. Here in close-up you note the detail on the outside, including the sculpture of a nurse, 3rd from left.

   In graceful arcs, the graves mark the slope of the hill. On the half hour, the chimes in the chapel ring out. As in other American cemeteries, the songs played bring tears to your eyes. They include The Battle Hymn of the Republic, God Bless America, Saving Grace and The National Anthem.

18+ Days in AEF's Footsteps, Day 6: Belleau Wood battleground, Retreat? Hell, we just got here!

Memorial Plaque in center of Belleau Wood display of captured German armaments

"Retreat? Hell, we just got here!"

This famous American  response to an order to fall back was offered up at Belleau Wood by a Marine leading his men through this dense forest. Defended by combat-hardened Germans armed with machine guns, the terrain rolls and pitches.

While it is never my intent to recount military battles as I leave that to the experts on strategy, I will tell you that to go to Belleau Wood is to once again see landscape that clarifies a battle's necessity and to understand why so many soldiers...or in this case, Marines and Germans died in this particular battle.

We entered the woods through the entrance to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, often called Belleau Wood Cemetery. (The Aisne-Marne Campaign, so named for the rivers the AEF sought to capture control of, comprises a number of battles including that for Chateau-Thierry, a town a few miles away.)

Captured armaments

Here in this clearing with this memorial are a number of armaments, all German, all captured by the Americans, Marines and Army soldiers. The array of cannon and more is impressive. Other elements of the woods explain much of the battle.

The woods, I will tell you, are very dense. Even on the sunny and humid spring day that we were there, we could not see through the foliage. To fight here must have been an enormously difficult task for both armies.

We walked the pathways into the forest and at every step, you see foxholes, machine gun dugouts and trenches. One hundred years later it is and you marvel that men fought in these conditions.

Bullets remain in the trees.

Today, flowers bloom in the forest. They did before the battle, too. Many men note that in their memoirs. So do nurses. All contrast the beauty of the flowers with the devastation that occurred among the blossoms.

Along this hillside beneath the blue wild lilies, you see the remains of a trench.

At the edge of the forest, you come to a large wheat field. Here, in knee-high growth, the Marines and the Army soldiers advanced with only barrage for cover. The enormous courage a man must have summoned to to charge this field is much beyond my ability to imagine.

Looking toward Lucy Bocage from where the Americans advanced into the wood where this picture was taken.

Do return for the next post, a look at the Aisne-Marne Cemetery in Belleau Wood.

Finally, for those of you who prefer a video with solid historical synopsis and terrific original film footage, I recommend you go here to the Military Channel: http://military.discovery.com/battles-history/videos/world-war-1-videos.htm There are quite a few short films here, but one on the Battle for Belleau Wood.

(I will say one element of this monologue I did take issue with: The moderator claims this is the first battle of which the Germans remarked on Americans' tenacity. Hence the German name for the Marines who captured this wood: Teufel Hunden. Devil Dogs. Actually, it was the battle of Cantigny in which the First Division took that village where the Germans realized that the Americans might truly have the right stuff to wage significant warfare.)