David Josar / Stars and Stripes
Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Mark Freed and his son Joshua, 5, walk between the rows of
markers at Aisne Marne Cemetery before a Memorial Day ceremony on Sunday. Fried is based
in Stuttgart, Germany.
Marines honor fallen comrades
at memorial to Belleau Wood battle
By David Josar,
Stuttgart bureau
David Josar / Stars and Stripes
Marine Corps assistant commandant Gen. Michael J. Williams drinks from the Belleau Wood
fountain following a Memorial Day ceremony on Sunday. Legend has that a Marine who drinks
from the fountain, whose bull mastiff shape led to the Marines adopting the bulldog as a
mascot, will live an extra 20 years. |
BELLEAU WOOD, France — Quietly walking between the white grave markers that mark
the Aisne Marne Cemetery, Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Mark Freed paused Sunday to see the
inscriptions.
His 5-year-old son, Joshua, walked by his side.
As he moved grave to grave, Freed paused to read the name, hometown and date of death
for the fallen Marines and soldiers.
"This is something as a Marine you always hear about," said Freed, referring
to the 1918 battle here that first tested the Marine Corps as a military unit.
Freed said that on Saturday night he and fellow Marines climbed to the memorial above
the cemetery and drank a port wine toast to their fallen comrades.
On Sunday, about 300 Marines joined other U.S. servicemembers, their French
counterparts, veterans and family members to honor the men who died in Belleau Wood and
the others buried in this cemetery 50 miles east of Paris in the French countryside.
"We are here today to do one simple thing: to remember," said Marine Gen.
Michael J. Williams, assistant commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. "Almost all of
the brave men who fought here are gone. We owe them a debt that we can never repay."
The cemetery holds the graves of 2,289 Americans who died during World War I. In the
chapel above the cemetery are the names of 1,060 Americans whose remains were never
recovered or identified.
A separate nearby cemetery holds the graves of more than 8,000 German soldiers.
In his address, Williams recounted the battle of Belleau Wood, where the Marines
suffered more casualties in one day than any other date in their history.
"What we can do is promise them that we will never forget. We will never forget
their sacrifice, their heroism, their selfless courage," he said.
The battle was pivotal in World War I because it prevented the Germans from advancing
to the Atlantic Coast.
The color guard from the 6th Marine Regiment from Camp Lejeune, N.C., whose members
were part of the famed Belleau Wood battle, took part in the ceremony. On Saturday,
members had toured the battlefields.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Myrka was here a month ago when he took 20 oak saplings
from Belleau Wood back to Camp Lejeune where they will be planted in a memorial to the
regiment’s role in the battle.
"We want something that will help us remember what happened here," said
Myrak, who added it will be two years before the saplings can be planted due to an ongoing
U.S. Department of Agriculture quarantine.
Other U.S. Marine contingents attended from locations including Spain, Iceland, Germany
and England.
After the 45-minute ceremony, about 200 Marines, French soldiers, veterans and their
families made the 15-minute hike down the hill to the famed Belleau Wood Fountain.
The Marines, starting with Williams, lined up to rest a hand on the bull-mastiff shaped
fountain and then cup their hands to catch the water for a drink as it fell from the
dog’s mouth.
Legend has it that taking a drink from the fountain will add 20 years to a
Marine’s life. This fountain was the inspiration for the U.S. Marine Corps bulldog
mascot.
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