History of the 67th Company/1st Battalion
5th Regiment of Marines
2nd Division
AEF
 

The 67th (D) Company was part of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and since not much information exists specifically about the 67th in the available sources, references to the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, or Marine Brigade include the 67th Company unless otherwise stated.  The Battalion was organized as follows:

             Battalion Headquarters
         17th Company (A)             66th Company (C)

           49th Company (B)             67th Company (D)
              Medical Unit

 

    The Battalion was formed in May 1917, at Quantico, Virginia, under command of Major Julius S. Turrill, USMC.  The 67th Company itself was formed from prospective battleship guards at the Norfolk Navy Yard barracks.  On June 9, 1917, the Battalion entrained for Philadelphia and the League Island Navy Yard, from which it embarked for France aboard the USS DeKalb (formerly the German ship Prinz Eitel Friedrich) a short three days later.  During the crossing, the DeKalb was unsuccessfully attacked by two U-Boats.  The DeKalb's gun crews (partially composed of 1st Battalion Marines) fired a salvo at the submarines, but no hits were scored.The DeKalb arrived in St. Nazaire, France, on June 26, 1917, and the Battalion disembarked as part of the Army 1st Infantry Division.  Sent to Naix and Menacourt for intensive summer training, the Battalion was supervised by the 30th Battalion, French Alpine Chausseurs (Blue Devils).

     The 67th Company was temporarily detached in September 1917 for duty in England, at the American Rest Camps in Southampton, Winchester, and Romsey.  It rejoined the Battalion on March 7, 1918, at Breauvannes, France.  It was at this time that the 5th Regiment was reassigned to the 2nd Infantry Division.  The Battalion remained at Breauvannes and completed its training there, where each rifle company was reinforced to a final combat strength of  250 men.  During its stay in this area, the 5th Regiment was reviewed twice by General Pershing, who stated that the Regiment was "the finest body of men under [his] command."

     On March 17, 1918, the Battalion entrained for Verdun and began occupying reserve positions in a quiet sector of the line.  A week later, the Battalion hiked to a sector called the Meuse Heights and relieved the French troops there.  During the following six weeks, the only contact made with the enemy resulted from patrol activity and a successful trench raid made by a combined French-Marine force.  The 5th Regiment was relieved on May 14, 1918, and the 1st Battalion transferred to Boury, northwest of Paris, to await further orders.

 

Battle Star:  Aisne Defensive (Paris-Metz Highway/Hill 142/Belleau Wood)

     On May 27, 1918, fifteen German divisions launched a massive attack against the French Sixth Army which forced the French into a general retreat and created a huge salient in the line which placed the German forces a scant forty miles northeast of Paris.  The tip of the German thrust was located near Chateau-Thierry, on the Marne River.  Into this vacuum were rushed the U.S. 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions, and by June 1, the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments were positioned north of the Paris-Metz Highway in time  to repulse further German advances.  On June 6, the counterattack on Belleau Wood commenced with an attack by the 1st Battalion / 5th Regiment on Hill 142, situated west of the Wood.  The 67th Company, under command of 1st Lt Orlando C. Crowther (KIA), and the 49th Company were the lead assault units, with the 17th and 66th Companies in support.  Belleau Wood was taken after twenty days of savagery, costing the Marine Brigade over 56% casualties.  Note:  The Hill 142 and Belleau Wood assaults were considered "local engagements" rather than major operations by General Headquarters AEF.

 

Battle Star:  Aisne-Marne Offensive (Soissons)

    On July 15, 1918, the German Army began its final offensive of the war with an assault whose goal was the capture of Reims and then Paris.  The resulting salient was checked by the French XX Corps, composed of Foreign Legion, Senegalese, and Moroccan troops, and for this operation, the detached U.S. 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions.  At 3:45 AM on July 18, the 1st Battalion / 5th Regiment advanced through the Forest of Retz with the town of Vierzy as its objective.  With the 17th, 49th, and 66th Companies in the lead and supported by the 67th Company, Vierzy was taken by sunset the same day with relatively light casualties.

 

Battle Star:  St. Mihiel Offensive

    On September 12, 1918, the German salient at St. Mihiel became the objective of the first all-American offensive of the war.  In this operation, the Marine Brigade acted as support, with the 9th and 23rd Infantry Regiments in lead assault for the 2nd Division.  On September 13, the Marine Brigade took over the assault, and by September 15, the 67th and other companies of the 5th Regiment had taken their objectives and stood off repeated German counterattacks launched from the Hindenburg Line.  No advances were undertaken after September 16, and the Marine Brigade was moved to Mont-le-Vignoble, south of Toul.

 Battle Star:  Champagne Offensive (Blanc Mont Ridge/St. Etienne)

     With the opening of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive on September 26, the 2nd Division was detached for duty with the French Fourth Army, which had become stalled in achieving its objective: a key piece of the Hindenburg Line called Blanc Mont Ridge.  On October 3, 1918, the 2nd Division attacked.  The 1st Battalion's objective was a heavily-fortified complex of machine guns known as the "Essen Hook."  All four companies of the Battalion assaulted and by end of day had achieved objectives.  October 4 saw continued advances by the Marines and counterattacks by the Germans, and was recorded in the unit history of the 5th Regiment as "the bitterest single day of fighting...experienced during the whole war," due to difficult terrain and the densest artillery and machine gun fire ever experienced.  By October 9, the Battalion had consolidated its gains as far as St. Etienne; the effect of this was to free the city of Reims from the Germans and to force them to evacuate an area between that city and the Argonne Forest, retreating to the Aisne River, a distance of 30 kilometers.  The Marine Brigade received its third citation for gallantry from the French for this action, entitling them to wear the fourragere cord over the left shoulder.

Battle Star:  Meuse-Argonne Offensive

     On November 1, 1918, the 2nd Division rejoined the AEF in its thrust into the Argonne.  The 5th Regiment relieved the 42nd Division and began an advance at Bois L'Epasse, led by the 49th and 66th Companies, with the 67th and 17th in support.  The objective was to capture Barricourt and force the Germans across the Meuse River, thus destroying the final stronghold of the Hindenburg Line.  This nine-kilometer dash was accomplished by mid-afternoon along with a bag of 1,700 prisoners.  During the following week, a series of rapid advances positioned the  1st Battalion at the Meuse River on November 9.  On the night of November 10, the Battalion crossed the Meuse River on a pontoon bridge, under heavy German shell fire.  The attack was resumed the next morning, and a few minutes before 11:00 AM, "there were tremendous bursts of fire...and then--suddenly--there was complete silence."

 

Occupation of Germany

    The Marine Brigade marched through Belgium and Luxembourg on its journey to the German border, which was reached by December 1.  On December 13, 1918, the 67th Company crossed the Rhine River at Remagen and reached its final destination of Niederbreitbach on December 15.  As part of the Third Army, the 67th Company remained in Niederbreitbach until July 17, 1919, when it departed for the French port of Brest, arriving in the United States aboard the USS George Washington. 

     The 67th Company marched in the August 8 victory parade in New York City and again in Washington, D.C., on August 12, when it was part of a grand review for President Woodrow Wilson and Major General George Barnett, Commandant of the Marine Corps.  On August 13, 1919, following its return to the jurisdiction of the Navy, the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment of Marines was officially demobilized.

 Total Killed, 67th Company:  100 (approximate; officer casualties uncertain)

 Navy Cross / DSC:      5 (approximate; officer awards uncertain)

 Silver Star:        29 (approximate;officer awards uncertain)