“And none of them (battalions of the Sixth Marine Regiment) approached the rather appalling losses incurred by an extra battalion formed of detachments from each of the nine regular battalions of the Second Division. This heroic battalion, the First Battalion, Twenty-ninth Marine Regiment, commanded first by Lieutenant Colonel Guy E. Tannyhill and later by Lieutenant Colonel Rathvon McC. Tompkins (until he was also wounded near the end of the battle), faced the fearsome task of taking the 1,554-foot peak of Mount Tapotchau, the highest point on Saipan. Like good Marines, Colonel Tompkins’ men never faltered in their assignment, but there were only about 200 left in the battalion when the battle ended. The United States can thank its lucky stars for such picked men who are not afraid to die; without them it is difficult to see how the Pacific war would even now be advanced as far as Tarawa, which is 2,000 miles to the rear.”
2. The officers and men of the 29th Marines are very proud of the splendid reputation already established by our First Battalion.
VICTOR F. BLEASDALE,
Colonel, U. S. Marine Corps
Commanding
WASHINGTON
The Secretary of the Navy takes pleasure in commending the
FIRST PROVISIONAL MARINE BRIGADE
for service as follows: