Geoffrey
A Fresh Start.
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We’re picking up on the heels of an older site – www.1stbattalion24thmarines.com – and continuing a research project that’s been running for nearly 15 years. I read the first letter from my relative, 1Lt. Philip E. Wood, Jr., while a senior in college. I was 22 then; he was 23 when he died in action on Saipan. He not only gave his life to rescue helpless civilians, but was so well respected by his men that several risked – and lost – their lives backing him up. What began as an effort to understand family sacrifice grew massive in scope: the subject of documentaries; written about in journals and magazines; featured as a source in books by James Hallas and James D. Hornfisher; and, most movingly for me, discussed over dinner and drinks with dozens of veterans in their homes or at reunions. And still we are only just scratching the surface of all there is to learn.
The site remains focused on the World War II era, plus the years immediately before and after the war itself. Over the years, I’ve collected a ton of information on the battalion’s operations, combat experiences, and the men who served under its control. Thousands of pictures from private and archival sources, rare and out-of-print books, and interviews and conversations with the veterans themselves. A lot of this was hosted on the old version of the site, which dated back to 2013 or 2014. The sheer amount of data – plus my experiences revamping my other project, Missing Marines – led to the decision to switch 1/24 to a more powerful WordPress platform. (For those who are veterans of the old site, I hope you agree this was a good move!)
Of course, the changeover was not without its problems – mostly, a lot of page formatting looked wonky and a surprising number of images didn’t upload properly. Making matters worse, the standard WordPress import/export function times out when the files are above a certain size, so a bunch of pages just… disappeared. Or rather, failed to upload. The old site had several thousand pages, so tracking down the missing ones has been a bit of a chore.
As you browse, you might see a lot of our Charlie Company miscreants at left – if you do, that means the page is being updated and will be back online soon.
That said, there are another batch of pages – mostly profiles – that were manually imported and look VERY broken. Lots of random backslashes. If you spot one of those on the site, please contact me so I can get it fixed.
Looking for a place to start in the meantime?
Browse some photographs documenting life in the Weapons Platoon of Company A.
Check out the souvenirs that caught the eye of a rifleman on Saipan.
Have a search through the Battalion’s muster rolls from 1942 to 1945.
Or, if you’re in the mood for a longer read:
Biographies
Letters
Combat
Whether you’re a historian, a family member, a veteran, or simply interested in the history of this battalion – I look forward to hearing from you.
– Geoffrey
(And, while you’re at it, check out Missing Marines)
Thank you for all you do and I’m excited to see the new layouts and a fresh look at all the stories! I always has problems leaving comments on the old page . Hopefully it will be a smoother ride this time 😉
Geoff,
Congratulations! The new site is amazing and such a pleasure to explore. I can’t begin to explain how excited my extended family members are to have our Uncle honored in such a way. We are grateful that we have met his buddies through the photos and learned the stories of his time with Co A. Saying “Thank you” never seems to be enough, two simple words that carry such heartfelt appreciation for you and all you do for so many.
Sincerely,
“Flatfoot” Hall’s niece,
Victoria
Thanks for doing this. Stumbled on your site while researching the APA’s they used. My Dad was in the 23rd Marines, and I am working on a book about the first campaign on Roi-Namur. Scrounging around for some details about training at New River etc.