War: Retreat of the 20,000

"Retreat, hell!" snapped Major General Oliver Prince Smith, commander of the 1st Marine Division, with which he had fought on Guadalcanal, New Britain, Peleliu, Okinawa (TIME, Sept. 25). "We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction."*

"We're gonna get out of here," said Lieut. Colonel Raymond L. Murray, commander of the 5th Marine Regiment. "Any officer who doesn't think so will kindly go lame and be evacuated, but I don't expect any bites for that offer." There were no bites.

Said Colonel Lewis ("Chesty") Puller, famed battle-scarred commander of the 1st Marine Regiment: "We'll suffer heavy losses. The enemy greatly outnumbers...

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