Scuttlebutt & Small Chow USMC History List
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On this date, May 4, in the year...
1898: A Naval Appropriation Act provided for the
additional enlistment of 473 men for permanent service
to bring the Marine Crops up to its authorized strength
of 3,073 men; for 43 lieutenants, 80 corporals, and
1,500 men for service during the Spanish-American War;
and, that the rank of the Commandant be raised to
brigadier general.
1927: The 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, the 3rd
Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, the 1st Battalion, 10th
Marine Regiment, a light tank platoon, the 5th Engineer
Company, and the remainder of the 3rd Marine Brigade's
aviation units arrived at Olongapo, Philippine Islands,
aboard the USS President Grant.
1942: The Battle of the Coral Sea ~ planes from Task
Force 17 struck the new Japanese garrison at Tulagi,
Solomon Islands, and Japanese ships still in the area.
1944: On New Britain, the last elements of the 1st
Marine Division departed, leaving one Marine unit, the
12th Defense Battalion, at Cape Gloucester.
1951: The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill to
raise the maximum strength of the Marine Corps to
400,000, doubling its size. The bill also made the
Commandant of the Marine Corps a consultant to the
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
1959: Two Marine Corps A4D-2 "Skyhawk" jet attack
bombers of 2nd MAW flew non-stop 2270 miles from
Argentina, Newfoundland, to Rota, Spain. The flight was
the first of single-engine jets to cross the ocean
using the "buddy system" of in-flight refueling.
1963: BLT 1/3 served as the Special Landing Force,
Seventh Fleet, 4 May to 24 July, making one surface
assault and two helicopter assaults in the Philippines
area during the period. The unit was teamed with
HMM-361.
BLT 2/2 was positioned off the coast of Haiti for
five days when trouble developed in that country.
1968: Operation ALLEN BROOK was launched by the 2nd
Battalion, 7th Marines, when it moved onto Go Noi
Island. Three days later the Marines made contact with
the enemy, killing 30 North Vietnamese.
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