The Marine Corps League, formed in 1923 by members of what had been the Marine Corps Veterans Association assimilated more than 40 existing Marine oriented organizations that sprang up following the end of World War 1. Comprised largely of veterans of the fierce fighting between the Fifth and Sixth Marine Regiments and the Germans, these returning veterans of the Great War (“the war to end all wars”) were called “Teufelhunde” by their German adversaries, literally meaning “Dogs of the Devil,” or as we now know, DEVIL DOGS. Legend has it that, because our Marines were so under-supplied during the battle of Belleau Wood; that, when they engaged the Germans in hand-to-hand combat, they bit them!
These battle-hardened Marines who, for all time, earned for ensuing generations the title “Devil Dog”, coined years ago on 6 June 1918, were a part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commanded by General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing. They had set sail on 14 June 1917 under orders from Major General Commandant George Barnett as a “Force in Readiness.” At the time, the total strength of the Marine Corps, worldwide, stood at 511 officers and 13,214 enlisted men. At the end of the battle for Belleau Wood, 1,062 Marines lay dead. The French General commanding the Sixth Army ordered that Belleau Wood (Bois de Belleau) be henceforth known as “Bois de la Brigade de Marine.” Seven Marines would ultimately be awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during World War I.
Military Order of the Devil Dogs 2006 Handbook
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