Leatherneck Magazine

Left: Leathernecks of the 6thMarDiv, minus the 4th Marines still in Japan, march up Tsingtao’s Pacific Road 25 Oct. 1945 en route to the Tsingtao racetrack and the Japanese surrender ceremony.

Inset: MajGen Keller E. Rockey, CG, III AC, previously had accepted the surrender of Japanese forces in the Tientsin area 6 Oct.

USMC

went with the relief force, driving at “ reckless speed.” The regimental executive officer took up an observation position of his own in a reconnaissance flight with Marine Observation Squadron (VMO) 3.

By the time reinforcements arrived, Flanagan and his Marines had forced the communist attackers to retreat into the woods, and the convoy continued its journey on the historic road to the ancient Chinese city of Peiping. The Marine victory did not come without loss of life. Four Marines, including 2dLt Cowin, were killed in the ambush, while 10 others were wounded in action. The ambush was not the only skirmish between Chinese communists and Marines. A larger, more deadly attack was still to come.

the growing popularity of communist ide- ology. Radical policies enacted during and after the war by Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek created violent divisions between the nationalist and communist factions at large throughout China. These divisions were growing quickly into an all-out Chinese civil war, and the Marines were caught in the crossfire.

Marines managed to escape the firefight without a scratch, but in their haste they flipped the vehicle farther down the road. Although two of the Marines were wounded, they commandeered a Chinese civilian vehicle and headed toward Tientsin.

The shaken Marines rushed to report the ambush to the commanding officer of 11th Marines, Colonel Wilburt S. “Big Foot” Brown. He immediately assembled a reaction force of 400 Marines and recruited five Corsairs from Marine Aircraft Group 24 to aid the stranded convoy. Not satisfied with sitting around, Col Brown

The New China Marines

Occupation duty in North China after the close of World War II was far different from that of the “China Marines” days. Before the war, China duty was the most coveted and respected experience for Marines of the old Corps. Between 1905 and 1941, Marines in China took advantage of a cheap and comfortable lifestyle, where even a rear-rank private could enjoy the “good life.”

The war, however, brought an extreme change in the stability of the Chinese nation. Six years of Japanese control throughout most of North China wreaked havoc on local governments across the nation, leading many of the Chinese people to accept

At War’s End

The Japanese surrender on 2 Sept. 1945 to General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander, aboard “Mighty Mo,” USS Missouri (BB- 63), was a historic moment and collective sigh of relief for the entire world, yet the document signed that day was not the only surrender of Japanese forces that was needed to assure peace.

Throughout the war, Japan maintained millions of soldiers in China, not only occupying the mainland, but also preventing a Soviet invasion during the war. On 8 Aug. 1945, the same week the atomic bombs were dropped, the Japanese Kwantung Army was crushed, and the Soviet Union took control of Manchuria. The surrender of Japanese forces south of Manchuria was left to the United States Marine Corps.