Lou
Diamond Photos gallery
United States Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sergeant Leland
"Lou" Diamond (May 30, 1890 – September
20, 1951) is famous within the Corps as the classic
example of "Old Breed" fighting Leathernecks.
Diamond was born May 30, 1890, at Bedford, Ohio. He
enlisted at age 27, older than most recruits, the difference
never was noticeable. Because of the incredible voice,
which matched his 5-foot, 11-inch, 200-pound frame,
Diamond was once dubbed "The Honker". Many
of his comrades at Guadalcanal considered him "a
human air-raid warning system."
Diamond lived informally, going hatless
and wearing dungarees practically everywhere. He even
accepted one of his decorations in dungarees. Self-confidence,
even cockiness, was one of the sergeant's outstanding
characteristics. He considered anybody with less than
ten years in the Corps a "boot". While he
bawled out recruits who sometimes instinctively saluted
him, he frequently failed, himself, to salute less
than a field grade officer.
Diamond rejected opportunities to
apply for a commission – that is, become an
officer – saying "nobody can make a gentleman
out of me."
Diamond enlisted in the Marine Corps
at Detroit, Michigan, 25 July 1917, listing as his
former occupation "railroad switchman."
As a corporal in January 1918, he shipped out from
Philadelphia aboard the USS Von Stuben bound for Brest,
France. He saw action with the famous 6th Marines
in the battles at Chateau Thierry, Belleau Wood, the
Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne. Promoted
to the grade of sergeant, he marched to the Rhine
with the Army of Occupation. At war's end, "Mr.
Leatherneck" returned to America, and received
an honorable discharge.
Railroading and civilian life in general
did not suit his fancy, and on 23 September 1921,
Diamond re-enlisted.
"Mr. Marine" itched for
more action and he soon got it in Shanghai, with Company
M, 3d Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. But the Sino-Japanese
controversy, in Diamond's opinion, was "not much
of a war," and on 10 June 1933, he returned to
the United States, disembarking from the USS Henderson
at Mare Island, California. By then he was a gunnery
sergeant.
Diamond returned to Shanghai with
his old outfit, the 4th Marines, ten months later;
was transferred to the 2d Marines in December, 1934;
and returned to the States February, 1937. Two years
after his promotion to Master Gunnery Sergeant, 10
July 1939, he was assigned to the Depot of Supplies
at Philadelphia to help design a new infantry pack.
Following the Japanese attack at Pearl
Harbor, Diamond shipped out to Guadalcanal with Company
H, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division,
arriving at the beaches 7 August 1942. He was then
52 years old. Among the many fables concerning his
"Canal" service is the tale that he lobbed
a mortar shell down the smoke stack of an off-shore
Japanese cruiser. It is considered a fact, however,
that he drove the cruiser from the bay with his harassing
"near-misses".
General A.A. Vandegrift, Commander
of the 1st Marine Division, and later Commandant of
the Marine Corps, wrote a letter of commendation that
states in part:
To every man in your company you were
a counselor, an arbiter of disputes, and an ideal
Marine. Your matchless loyalty and love of the Marine
Corps and all it stands for, are known to hundreds
of officers and men of this Division, and will serve
as an inspiration to them on all the battlefields
on which this Division may in the future be engaged.
After two months on Guadalcanal, physical disabilities
dictated his evacuation by air against his wishes.
He was moved to the New Hebrides and later to a hospital
in New Zealand, where he somehow acquired orders to
board a supply ship for New Caledonia. There a friend
ordered him back to Guadalcanal – the supposed
location of his old outfit. Upon his arrival, however,
Diamond discovered that the 1st Marine Division had
shipped out to Australia, a distance of over 1,500
miles. Diamond made the trip, without orders, by bumming
rides on planes, ships and trains.
But Diamond was destined to see no
more combat. On 1 July 1943, he disembarked from the
USS Hermitage at San Pedro, California, and twelve
days later was made an instructor at the Recruit Depot,
Parris Island, South Carolina. He was transferred
to Camp Lejeune on 15 June 1945, and joined the 5th
Training Battalion with the same duties.
Diamond retired on 23 November 1945,
and returned to his home in Toledo, Ohio. His death
at the Great Lakes, Illinois, Naval Training Center
Hospital, September 20, 1951, was followed by a funeral,
with full military honors, at Sylvania, Ohio.
The Philippine-American actor
Lou Diamond Phillips was named after him by his father,
a Marine.
source from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
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