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The Battle of Belleau Wood: The United States Marine Corps and Mythmaking in World War I
Wilkinson, Luke
Wilkinson, Luke
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Abstract
This study examines the experiences of the United States Marine Corps during the First World War, with particular attention to how the Corps adapted to the demands of a global conflict. Drawing on government records, military correspondence, and contemporaneous accounts, the project analyzes the organizational, operational, and cultural challenges that shaped Marine Corps identity and performance. The research highlights the Corps’ role on both the Western Front and the American home front, situating Marine operations within the broader framework of U.S. military mobilization.
The paper investigates how training practices, institutional traditions, and evolving combat requirements intersected during the war years. It also explores the ways in which the Marine Corps sought to preserve its distinctive esprit de corps amid the pressures of expansion and integration into joint operations with other branches of the armed services. By focusing on the Marine Corps as both a fighting force and an institution, this study underscores the dual significance of battlefield performance and organizational adaptation.
Ultimately, the analysis contributes to scholarship on military institutions by demonstrating how the Marine Corps negotiated continuity and change during one of the most transformative periods in American military history. In doing so, it situates the Corps’ World War I experience within larger narratives of military professionalization, interservice cooperation, and the shaping of modern U.S. armed forces.
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Date
2023-10-24
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Department of History, University of Kansas
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Keywords
United States Marine Corps, World War I military history, Military training and organization, Battle of Belleau Wood, Morale and psychology