With the Old Corps in Nicaragua / George B. Clark.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clark, George B., 1926-2016.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Marine Corps.

Americans.

History.

Nicaragua--History--1909-1937.

Nicaragua.

United States. Marine Corps--History--20th century.

United States.

Americans--Nicaragua--History--20th century.

Sandino, Augusto César, 1895-1934.

Sandino, Augusto César.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 206 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, plans ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Novato, CA : Presidio Press, [2001]

Summary:

A primary preoccupation of the United States Marine Corps between the world wars were the socalled "Banana Wars" in Nicaragua during the 20s and 30s. Over the years the Corps presence ebbed and flowed as varied Nicaraguan political factions came to control the local government.

The Marines' most formidable opponent was the now legendary guerrilla leader Augusto Sandino. Although his was a patriotic/nationalistic movement, this did not prevent him from encouraging his followers to commit crimes against persons and property. Rapine, murder, and other assorted mayhem, tending to be antithetical to American business interests within Nicaragua, put the original Sandinistas on the wrong side of U.S. foreign policy and perforce the Marine Corps.

In addition to the combat history of American Marines in Nicaragua, author Clark provides the historical background of this Central American nation and the numerous U.S. interventions into Nicaraguan domestic affairs. This gives the reader the necessary context to be able to understand the "why" of the marines' presence.

The heart of the text remains the combat history. A generation of Marine Corps leaders such as Red Mike Edson and Chesty Puller "cut their teeth" in Nicaragua. The experience the Marines of the Old Corps gained fighting Sandino in the jungles of Nicaragua would bear fruit in World War II on the distant battlefields of the Pacific.

Clark's account of this almost forgotten and little understood war is history at its best: exciting, informative, and enlightening.

Contents:

1 The 1912 Intervention 1

2 Marking Time 16

3 The 1926 Intervention 25

4 Sandino and Ocotal 36

5 Marine Patrols 48

6 Into the Eastern Region 68

7 The Coco River Patrol 89

8 The Marines and the Guardia Nacional 105

9 Sandino Returns 119

10 The Guardia Nacional 134.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 188-191) and index.

ISBN:

0891417370

OCLC:

45422081