China Service
The 31st garrisoned the old walled city of Manila until Japanese troops invaded China. On 1 February 1932, the regiment was ordered to Shanghai, China, arriving on 4 February. There, the unit guarded a section of the International Settlement, during a period of considerable fighting between Japanese and Chinese troops. Reinforcing the 4th Marine Regiment and a predominantly British International Force, the 31st Infantry deployed hastily by sea to protect Shanghai's International Settlement. Although adjacent parts of Shanghai were demolished by fierce fighting between Japanese and Chinese troops, the International Settlement remained an island of security. By April, some officers sent for their families from Manila and billeted them at a hotel in the International Settlement. On 5 July 1932, when the crisis passed, the unit returned to the Philippines. For their service in Shanghai, they received the Yangtze Service Medal (Marines).
Read more about this topic: 31st Infantry Regiment (United States)
Famous quotes containing the words china and/or service:
“Riot in Algeria, in Cyprus, in Alabama;
Aged in wrong, the empires are declining,
And China gathers, soundlessly, like evidence.
What shall I say to the young on such a morning?—
Mind is the one salvation?—also grammar?—
No; my little ones lean not toward revolt.”
—William Dewitt Snodgrass (b. 1926)
“We have in the service the scum of the earth as common soldiers.”
—Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke Wellington (1769–1852)