Coral & Brass (Gen. Holland M. Smith, Pacific campaign)

Coral & Brass (Gen. Holland M. Smith, Pacific campaign) Released through The Black Vault, a digital archive of declassified documents. The document, FMFRP 12-37, is a memoir and analysis of the Pacific island-hopping campaign by Marine General Holland 'Howlin' Mad' Smith. It was published in 1979, a reprint of the 1949 edition, and is now available through The Black Vault. Provenance: The document was released through The Black Vault, a digital archive of declassified documents, and is available on their website. The canonical PDF can be found at https://www.theblackvault.com/documents/wwii/marine1/1237.pdf. The Document: FOREWORD, April 7, 1989 1. PURPOSE Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication (FMFRP) 12-37, Coral and Brass, is published to ensure the retention and dissemination of useful information which is not intended to become doctrine or to be published in Fleet Marine Force manuals. 2. SCOPE This reference publication is an autobiography of General Holland “Howlin’ Mad” Smith that details his experiences in the Pacific during World War II. This book is written as a tribute to the Marines who served him so gallantly in the Pacific and, more importantly, to point out mistakes made during the island campaigns in order to prevent these errors in future conflicts. 3. CERTIFICATION Reviewed and approved this date. BY DIRECTION OF THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS M. P. SULLIVAN Major General, U.S. Marine Corps Deputy Commander for Warfighting Marine Corps Combat Development Command Quantico, Virginia DISTRIBUTION “TL 3 “ CORAL AND BRASS BY HOLLAND M. SMITH General, U. S. Marine Corps (Ret.) AND PERCY FINCH ZENGER PUBLISHING CO., INC. P.O. BOX 9883 ● WASHINGTON, D.C. 20015 COPYRIGHT, 1948, 1949, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS COPYRIGHT, 1948, BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY FOREWORD THE AIM OF THIS BOOK is twofold: first, that due credit be given to a gallant body of men, the United States Marine Corps, who in their path across the Pacific were faithful to their traditions and to their country second, to point out the errors that were committed in World War II in such a manner that they will not be repeated in World War III—God forbid. This is a personalized account of over forty years in the service of my country, culminating in the greatest war in our history. I never kept a diary. I had no official historian at my elbow recording in detail the battles I fought. I was too busy fighting those battles to set down anything in chronological form. Therefore, I find myself largely relying on my memory to compile the story of those forty years. If I have erred in facts, it is due to the momentous times through which I have lived and served. I bear no malice toward any man or any Service. Any criticism in this book is made only for constructive purposes in the light of national defense needs. I am sure that a grateful country will not forget the magnificent efforts made by the Marines in the Pacific for the successful prosecution of the war against Japan. I fully realize that all branches of the Marine Corps and the other Services that helped us are not mentioned in the brief compass of this book. But I wish here to pay tribute to those I may have omitted—the Marine Women Reserves, the commanders of the small craft in the Pacific who got us ashore and supplied us, the Medical Service who cared for our wounded, the Seabees who never let us down, and those units of the Army who fought alongside of us. I am grateful to the many friends, in and out of the Service, who inspired and helped me write this book. Lieutenant Colonel C. Robert Payne, USMCR, who served on my staff, suggested the title. Among those who helped to fill it were Andrew Higgins, Robert Sherrod, Mac Asbill, Jr., my former aide, Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, Jr., who assisted me in the preparation of the submarine chapter, and my faithful orderly, Platoon Sergeant William L. Bradley. I also had the assistance of Percy Finch as my collaborator. Finch, a veteran war correspondent, came to the Pacific with a long record from other wars, and by accompanying me on my major operations, he followed the Central Pacific drive which I had the honor to command. HOLLAND M. SMITH. INTRODUCTION THIS IS A STORY ABOUT A MAN, a Corps, and a war. The accomplishments of the man and his Corps profoundly influenced the outcome of the war. The man, of course, is Holland Smith, who, although he was in the public eye continuously throughout the late war, is actually little known to the average reader of this book. I say little known because to most of them he is the nickname “Howlin’ Mad” or a tough General who got results at the expense of human life, or perhaps just a typical Marine. None of these newspaper characterizations portray the man. Nor am I so presumptuous as to claim either the knowledge or the ability to transmit to those who do not know him the essence of Holland Smith. For over two years, however, I was privileged, as his aide, to know him as intimately as any man ever did. Perhaps I can explain some of the aspects of the man which would otherwise be lost in the turmoil of this book. On the surface, of course, he is a famous Marine whose successes against the Japanese enemy are legendary. Recipient of four Distinguished Service Medals,