"The 1st Marine Division, fighting its way back from the
Chosin Reservoir in December 1950, was embattled amid the
snows from the moment the column struck its camp at Hagaru.
By midnight, after heavy loss through the day, it had bivou-
acked at Kotori, still surrounded, still far from the sea." The
commanding general was alone in his tent. It was his worst
moment. "The task ahead seemed hopeless. Suddenly he heard
music." Outside, some Marines, on their way to a warming
tent, were softly singing the Marines' Hymn. " 'All doubt left
me,' " said the general. " 'I knew then we had it made.' "
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For more than 200 years, the steady performance of the Ma-
rine Corps has elevated it to the epitome of military excellence.
It is an elite fighting force renowned for its success in combat,
esprit de corps, and readiness always to be "first to fight."
"More than anything else, Marines have fought and . . . won
because of a commitment—to a leader and to a small brother-
hood where the ties that bind are mutual respect and confi-
dence, shared privation, shared hazard, shared triumph, a
willingness to obey, and determination to follow."
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"The man who will go where his colors go, without ask-
ing, who will fight a phantom foe in jungle and mountain
range, without counting, and who will suffer and die in the
midst of incredible hardship, without complaint, is still what
he has always been, from Imperial Rome to sceptered Brit-
ain to democratic America. He is the stuff of which legions
are made.
Leading Marines
FMFM 1-0
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