The Marines kept fighting, however, and by June 26 they had secured Belleau Wood. The combined casualty count for U.S. Marine and Army units committed to the battle totaled 1,811 dead and 7,966 ...

By the battle's end, 1,811 U.S. Marines had been killed, and another 7,966 were wounded. Who were these men who fought so bravely and ferociously in Belleau Wood?

The two Marines waited to join the attack until the third wave was launched, when they marched side-by-side into the German machine-gun fire.

The event also marked the centennial of the Battle of Belleau Wood, where Marines and Army troops fought a bloody battle against German forces during World War I.

In the spring of 1918, the wooded area known as Belleau Wood, about 30 miles northest of Paris, was a quiet sanctuary of graceful old-growth trees, a hunting preserve for well-off Parisians ...

Col. Albertus W. Catlin stood on a rise in the ground with his field glasses and watched his Marines advance through the waist-high wheat toward the woods 400 yards away. He was closer to the ...

Williams succumbed to his wounds the next day. By June 26 the Marines finally secured Belleau Wood, significantly undermining the momentum of the German offensive — albeit at a heavy price.

The Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918 has since achieved near mythic status in U.S. military history, particularly for the U.S. Marines.

At Belleau Wood, where the Germans had paused, the brigade of Marines, with elements of the Army, was ordered to counterattack.

The Battle of Belleau Wood was brutal, deadly and forgotten. But it forged a new Marine Corps. By Michael E. Ruane Washington Post May 31, 2018 May 31, 2018 0 ...