RENEWED MARINE CORPS ASSAULTS AT BELLEAU WOOD

Renewed Marine Corps assaults at Belleau Wood

In June 1918, United States Marines and soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces were committed to stopping a German drive toward Paris near a patch of forest called Belleau Wood. On June 11th, 1918, Marine units launched renewed assaults into the dense, shell-torn woods after earlier attacks had been thrown back with heavy losses. Fighting was at close range, with machine-gun nests hidden among shattered trees and rocky outcrops forcing small groups of Marines to advance by short rushes and hand grenades. The cost in casualties was severe, but the persistent attacks gradually pushed German forces out of key positions and helped stabilize a threatened sector of the Allied line. In later telling, Belleau Wood became a defining moment in Marine Corps history, associated with toughness under fire and an unwillingness to yield ground. The bitter combat on this June day contributed to a broader Allied effort that blunted the last major German offensive on the Western Front. It also signaled that American combat units were now fully engaged in the decisive battles of the First World War.