Combat· World War I
Meuse-Argonne - 2-9 November 1918
After the breakthrough on the first day, the Marines kept pushing northeast as part of the larger drive toward the Meuse River.
The Army's 3d Brigade passed through the Marine lines to take the lead, with the Marines following in close support and at times taking over the advance again. The Germans were retreating but still dangerous, keeping up heavy artillery and machine gun fire and leaving units behind to slow the Americans down. The weather turned cold and rainy, and the Marines suffered badly from exhaustion, hunger, sickness, and supply problems as much as from enemy fire. Food and rations often could not reach the front. The advance ground forward through woods, ravines, and farmland toward the river. This stretch was less about big assaults and more about a hard, miserable push to keep the beaten German army moving back.
Podcast episodes on World War I
Record no. 543