Marine Defense Battalions in World War II

“Marshall K. Snyder deserves laudable credit for taking up an essential story of the Marine air-ground team ignored by division and wing scholars. During World War II, some twenty Defense Battalions served overseas, including two of the first desegregated combat units of the Corps. Tactically employed as the name implies, the Defense Battalions were strategically deployed as the forward elements of the fleet to secure vital naval advanced bases for fuel, communications, and air power.“—Charles D. Melson, Chief Historian Emeritus, History Division, Headquarters Marine Corps and Marine Corps University

“This book fills a missing segment of Marine Corps and seacoast defense history. The author provides the background on the origin and background of the Marine defense battalions from their doctrine development and tactical uses before the advent of World War II. The book presents both a narrative history that history readers will find engaging and unit-based summaries and literature for the historian.” — Mark Berhow, editor of the Coast Defense Journal

“By uncovering the story of Marine defense battalions in World War II, Marshall Snyder helps us connect broader themes of naval strategy, adaptation, and the crucial interdependence of sea power in the Pacific War. In highlighting the tremendous versatility, industry, and efficiency of these under recognized Marine units, he shares a story as relevant to U.S. national security today as it was in 1941-45.” – Chris K. Hemler, author of Delivering Destruction: American Firepower and Amphibious Assault from Tarawa to Iwo Jima

“Marshall Snyder has filled an important gap in our knowledge of the Pacific War in this first comprehensive history of the Marine Defense Battalions. As Snyder recounts in this fine detailed study, after being Initially responsible for the static protection of Allied island facilities, including the heroic defense of Wake and Midway islands, the battalions’ primary role changed to providing anti-aircraft defense for airstrips and other invasion objectives during the Allied march to victory.” — Alan Rems, author of South Pacific Cauldron: World War II’s Great Forgotten Battlegrounds

“Marshall K. Snyder draws on extensive research to explain how and why the U.S. Marines defended islands against Japanese amphibious, naval, and aerial assaults during World War II. His book traces the evolution of the base defense concept from the Advance Base Force in the early 1900s, to the Defense Battalion and Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion in World II, and on to the Marine Littoral Regiment since 2022. Highly recommended for historians and military personnel alike.”— David J. Ulbrich, PhD, author of Preparing for Victory: Thomas Holcomb and the Making of the Modern Marine Corps, 1936-1941

Marshall K. Snyder graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1977 with a BA in history and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Retiring in 1997, he is a veteran of Grenada, Beirut, and Desert Shield/Storm. As a civilian he worked on a number of Department of Defense infrastructure projects, including the Pentagon Renovation Program. Snyder lives in Vienna, Virginia.

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