Security· Interwar China Expeditions
4th Marines Shanghai garrison ('Shanghai Marines')
When civil war swept through China and threatened the foreign district of Shanghai, the Marine Corps rushed troops to the city to protect Americans and other foreigners living there.
The 4th Marine Regiment took up the job and stayed on as the city's permanent Marine garrison, earning the nickname the "Shanghai Marines." Their mission was to guard the International Settlement, the part of the city where foreigners lived and did business, while fighting raged around it between Chinese factions. The Marines held firmly to a position of neutrality, refusing to take sides in China's internal struggles even with battles going on nearby. They protected lives and property and kept order in their sector without becoming part of the conflict. The 4th Marines remained on this duty in Shanghai for years, leaving only shortly before the United States entered the Second World War.
Record no. 551