Marine Corps Base Quantico -- Preserve, promote and publish Marine Corps history — this is the mission of the Marine Corps history division.
Based at Marine Corps University aboard Quantico, the division writes about the history from documents collected by the archives department.
“The idea is we will write the histories as they occur, but also go back and find niches we have missed in the past,” said Dr. Charles Neimeyer, director of the Historical Division and the Gray Research Center at Marine Corps University.
For instance, one historian is currently writing about the Marine Corps during WWI.
“We have a lot of individual histories, but nothing that’s comprehensive that takes the Marines from the 5,000 it was in 1916 to 74,000 in 1919,” Dr. Neimeyer said.
Using documented materials such as command chronologies from the archives as evidence, historians write about the Marine Corp’s past.
“You’re like a detective piecing together a story,” said Dr. Neimeyer, a retired lieutenant colonel who was in the Marine Corps for 20 years.
However, Dr. Neimeyer cautions about writing history too soon.
“If you write it right after something happens, then what happens is things emerge that you didn’t know about that will often change the narrative. Often times it’s like a fine wine, you don’t want to write it before it’s done,” he said.
He typically will write about an historical event four or more years after it occurred to enhance the accuracy of events.
“We focus on these histories with a critical eye. We don’t necessarily take sides. It’s very straight forward…not a lot of opinion is injected,” said Dr. Neimeyer.
The history division is split into four branches.
• Historical Branch: Writers and researchers put out official publications to tell the Marine Corps story.
• Historical Reference Branch: Answer requests for information from the commandant’s office, to members of Congress, high level officials, veterans and individual Marines using working files.
• Field History Branch: Deploys detachment historians to collect relevant material (oral history, written/electronic plants, operation orders, maps, artifacts, and more) to use for reference material. For example, field historians were sent to Haiti after the earthquake to document Marines helping with relief assistance.
• Editing and Design: Responsible for design and layout of manuscripts, maps, etc. for the historical division’s publications.
“We have files on famous and infamous Marines. Anyone with a Marine Corps history question can call us. We answer 6,000 to 7,000 requests a year,” said Annette Amerman, historian in the historical reference branch.
According to Dr. Neimeyer one piece of relatively unknown history is the original Marine Corps motto wasn’t “Semper Fidelis.” It was “Fortitudo”, Latin for fortitude and was used on early Marine Corps uniforms until the 1830’s.
The historical division also supports the National Museum of the Marine Corps through storyboards, ensuring galleries are factually correct, and that signage is written properly.
“We are the final word on the history of the Corps. We take this mission very seriously, because when we say something is true in Marine Corps history, than it better be right,” Dr. Neimeyer said.
For more information, visit http://guides.grc.usmcu.edu/lomc
— Writer: cbrown@quanticosentryonline.com