Quotation: "a marine and his rifle" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Well, Bill, that cite certainly casts doubt on Pershing's coinage of the
phrase, especially since it's

a) the earliest known version and doesn't mention him
b) almost twenty years after he was supposed to have said it - giving it
time to get into print earlier
c) doesn't mention Marines specifically.

Since at least 1917 Marines have received intensive marksmanship training in
boot camp. Marksmanship training in the other services traditionally has
been less demanding, hence the association of the quote with Marines.

JL

On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 12:03 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

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> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: Quotation: "a marine and his rifle" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
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>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
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>
> [unsigned editorial] "To Test Trench Warfare" _Reno Evening Gazette_ Sep
> 18 1937 p 4 col 1
> "Where the practice abroad has been to build military strength about
> automatic weapons, such as the light machine gun, this nation still
> holds that the rifle in the hands of a marksman is the deadliest weapon
> in the world."
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 4:18 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Quotation: "a marine and his rifle"
> >
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Quotation: "a marine and his rifle"
> >
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> > Not in YBQ - as far as I can tell.
> >
> > 38,000 raw Googlits for the phrase "The deadliest weapon in the world
> > is a
> > U.S. Marine and his rifle," attributed to AEF commander Gen. John J.
> > Pershing in 1918. There are, of course, a number of variant wordings.
> >
> > Every U.S. Marine since WWII has been exposed to this quote.
> >
> > The earliest ex. I can find is in a news item apparently based on a
> > Marine
> > Corps press release:
> >
> > 1942 _Paris (Texas) News*_ (*April 5) 47:  Creed of Marine and His
> > Rifle
> > Written By Officer ... When the reports on the battles of Chateau
> > Thierry
> > and Belleau Wood came into A.E.F. headquarters at Chaumont, France,
> > back in
> > 1918, officers reported General Pershing said, "The deadliest weapon
> in
> > the
> > world is a United States Marine and his rifle."
> >
> > The immediate source of the quote may have been Brig. Gen. William H.
> > Rupertus, Commander of the San Diego Marine Base and author of the
> > "Creed."
> >
> >
> > My search of the Web, Google Books, Newspaperarchive, and ProQuest
> > failed to
> > reveal either an earlier appearance of the remark or any definitive
> > connection to Gen. Pershing.
> >
> > An Internet search also failed to reveal whether Rupertus (a
> lieutenant
> > during World War I) was stationed at Pershing's headquarters in 1918,
> > where
> > he might have heard (about) the remark himself.
> >
> > 38,000 is a lot.
> >
> > JL
> >
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