Any good reading info on this? The little research I've done shows that there were about 6,000 Marines that participated in the African and European theaters of WWII
The U.S. Navy sent the admiral who developed the U.S Navy's Pacific Amphibious doctrine to the Europe to advise on the Normandy landings... they basically blew him off. They had conducted beach landings in North Africa, Sicily and Italy..JABQ04 said:
The only Marines I've heard of engaging the Germans in combat were with the OSS I believe. The rest of the USMC were shipboard marines serving on various warships. I am aware that the Marines aboard the USS Texas were ordered to prepare to land during the Normandy invasion but never went in. I'd be curious to see where and if any marines actually saw ground combat in the ETO.
ETA: also guards at embassies as well as liaisons for working with Commandoes and info share/swap with amphibious landings.
The actor Sterling Hayden was a Marine that when he commissioned was assigned to the OSS and earned the Silver Star for actions with partisans in Yugoslavia during WWII.