The Controversy At Chateau-Thierry In World War I

In 1918, because of a lapse in censorship, the 8,000story as well, the trickling of Feldgrauentowards
United States Marines in the American ExpeditionaryChâteau-Thierry on one side, the olive green of
Force (AEF) and fighting in France were given creditAmerica and the coalgiants [from France's colonies]
for the accomplishments of 250,000 Americanon the other. How would it all end? It was a
infantry and a million French infantry aroundbrand-new kind of war, the campaign of maneuver.
Château-Thierry, holding the Marne River line inWe arrived at French headquarters and went beyond
May and June and later counterattacking after theto the château in which the
last German offensive in July in the action known asAnglo-American correspondents lived. This story was
the Second Battle of the Marne. The word "Marines"under our hats. There hadnot been another American
was used in the early dispatches and so much wasor even British correspondent within twenty miles
made of it at home as to give the impression thatofthe Marne. The story was ours exclusively. We
the United States Marine Corps was fighting thissettled down to our typewriters andwrote
entire series of battles alone.throughout the night.
The Marines who formed a part of the U.S. 2ndEarly the next morning we appeared at headquarters
Division, did fight a very gallant, local action in nearbywith a carefully worded copy.
Belleau Wood, but it seems in the news reports ofIt was necessary to get the O.K. of the field censor
the day that they were given credit for most ofbefore the copy could proceedby wire to the Paris
what was accomplished during those 72 days aroundBourse, and then from Paris to the cable head at
Château-Thierry and in the Second Battle of theBrest. But ourprize story only got to headquarters.
Marne. The big mistake occurred whrn the YanksHere it was killed by the censor. An Americanmajor
first joined the battle.assisted in the execution. He was attached to French
Censors carefully deleted the designation of any unitheadquarters as pressliaison officer. I have forgotten
that fought in this sector at the time. Early in thehis name, but I hope he reads this and repents
fighting, though, the censors permitted the wordbeforeit is too late.
"Marine" to be used in connection with theThree days after the Seventh Machine Gun Battalion
engagement in Belleau Wood. It was quite naturalentered Château-Thierry, the
that the United States Marine Corps wouldUnited States Marines took up their positions in
subsequently use this engagement for recruiting andBelleau Wood, barring the road to
publicity, but the general impression was created thatParis. Most of the American correspondents were
the Marines were rushed to fill a gap in the line atconcentrating on this event. Whencensorial authorities
Château-Thierry and alone saved Paris. But thesought to delete all mention of the Marines, there
Marine Brigade did not fight in Château-Thierry.was a concertedprotest which raised the roof and
On June 6 they attacked the Germans who wereshook the morale of the censor.
entrenched in Belleau Wood west of the town. ThisDemands were made by the American
was a brigade-level affair in which the Marines foughtcorrespondents in the name of the Americanpeople
superbly, clearing the wood of Germans in 20 daysto set aside a rule of censorship which forbade
of savage and continuous fighting. But it was neitheridentity of troops which theenemy had every reason
the key fight at Château-Thierry nor the first.to know were opposite him. The Germans had no
Wilbur Forrest, an accredited correspondent with theillusionsabout the Marines. Those doughty fighters had
AEF in 1918, wrote a book in 1924 entitled, Behindbegun to do what their Regular Armybrothers of the
the Front Page. In his book, Forrest presents anThird Division had been doing in Château-Thierry
explanation of how the Marines garnered the largerfor three days,unknown to everybody but the
share of the credit for having fought at or inGermans, the censor (especially the censor at
Château-Thierry:Frenchheadquarters), Mowrer and me.
"Paul Scott Mower of the Chicago Daily News and ISuddenly under heavy persuasion the American
were newspapercensor department, after consultationwith our own
Observers [at the Marne]. Our minds were not onand the other staffs, agreed that the magic word
Americans at all..."Marines" might be used.
Late in the afternoon of May 31st, [we] twoConsequently the exploits of this brave brigade
correspondents were sittingin a camouflaged positionswept across the cables in such forcewhat within
with French artillery men on the south bankof thetwenty-four hours all America was thrilled to the
Marne near Dormans watching the Germansmarrow.
maneuver down thishistoric stream towardsBelleau Wood is near Château-Thierry. In the
Château-Thierry. Advance German elementsconfusion which resulted from that fact,the latter
hadalready filtered through the town from the northbecame a magic name associated with the Marine
and held the houses onthat side of the stream. TwoBrigade, yet not a single
bridges over the Marne linkedMarine fought in the battle of Château-Thierry.
Château-Thierry,north and south, and it wasIt was our Seventh Machine Gun
imperative to prevent the Germans from crossing.Battalion that was at the moment fighting the
When Mowrer and I had gathered sufficient materialdesperate battle of Château-Thierry.
for a cover story, westarted back to headquartersBecause of censorship rules the whole story of the
itching to get our fingers on a typewriter. OurSeventh Machine Gun Battalion at
Renault had carried us only a short distance when weChâteau-Thierry was smothered, or rather,
met the wholly unexpected.overshadowed by the equally thrilling storyof the
It was a dusty flivver containing four men who hadMarine Brigade. Thus was the news of the arrival of
either much reason or none atall to be in that locality.the first Americans on the
They wore the brimmed felt hat of the UnitedMarne and their success virtually killed, one of the
Statesgreatest single exploits of theuntrained, untried
Army...They were the vanguard of the Seventhsoldiers of the nation." 1
Machine Gun Battalion of theThe U.S. Army never forgot this slight, even though
Third Division--General Dickman's force, which hadit was somewhat self-administered. The legacy of
arrived in France q fewweeks before.this momentary lapse in the rules of censorship
Eventually we picked up the Seventh Battalion, aadopted by the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
motorized unit which had beenon the road more thanresounded throughout the 20th Century whenever
eighteen hours, dusty and tired but fired with thethe Marine Corps was deployed together with the
desire toArmy. It underlay the Marine vs. Army controversy
"mix it" with the enemy. Mowrer and I chaperonedat Saipan during WWII and the General Douglas
this battalion into Château-MacArthur-Marine snipping that carried over
Thierry on the evening of May 31, 1918. Shortly afterthroughout World War II and Korea. It certainly
we left the battalion thatnight, it had planted its gunsinfluenced the decision by the Army to keep the
in the houses along the south bank of the riverMarines out of Europe during WWII.
tocommand the two big bridges. Here it fought withIn today's American military, however, the emphasis
great bravery for many days.is on joint operations and inter-service rivalry is
Naturally, my companions and I lost little time infrowned upon. The mistakes of those censors in
returning to French headquarters.1918 seem to be at last forgotten.
We had a story that would thrill America. It had aNOTES
kick in it for every Americanheart, that tale of these1. Forrest, Wilbur. Behind the Front Page: Stories of
superbly green youngsters and their baptism of fireNewspaper Stories in the Making. NY: D.
on thatfamous river, the Marne. It was a pictureAppleton-Century Co., 1934, pp. 114 to 122.