Eaton's Expedition Sirs: ". . . Captain William Eaton. Under his leadership and the Stars & Stripes, the capture of Derna was made by 10 U. S. Marines, 38 Greeks and 400 Arab mercenaries" (TIME March 22, p. 24).
Many "historically-minded Marines'' will question TIME'S authority, if not TIME, for this statement.
This writer is at present at work on an original motion picture story, "First to Fight," based in part on the U. S. war with Tripoli and the capture of Derna, and covering the period up to and including the participation of Marines, "picked men, to lead the storming of Chapultepec under Major Twiggs and Captain McDonald Reynolds," at Mexico City in 1847; i.e., "From the Halls of Montexuma to the Shores of Tripoli."
During my research I have found that William Eaton was not a captain of Marines, nowhere in official records of officers attached to Commodore Treble's squadron is the name of a Captain William Eaton listed. However, he was the U. S. Consul and given special authority to execute the war. He was referred to as "General" and later was an officer in the U. S. Army.
TIME was right in that he was commander-in-chief of the forces which captured Derna. In addition, these forces consisted of a Colonel Leitensdorfer, a Tyrolese colonel of engineers, a medical officer (probably Mendrici), Lieut. O'Bannon, U. S. Marines, Midshipman Pascal Peck, U. S. Navy, a Marine non-commissioned officer, six Marine privates, 25 cannoneers (including three officers), 38 Greeks (including two officers), Hamet, a friendly Arab, and 90 men, an Arabian cavalry detachment under Sheik El Tahik and about 200 footmen and camel drivers, 107 camels and a few asses.
CAPTAIN OWEN ERNEST JENSEN 13th Battalion. Fleet Marine Corps Reserve Los Angeles, Calif.
TIME did not say William Eaton was a captain of Marines. And it was not after but before the Tripoli expedition that he saw service in the U. S. Army, first as a Revolutionary volunteer, later as a regular Army captain.
In 1798 he was made U. S. consul at Tunis. In 1804 he became "Navy Agent to the Barbary States" and as such led his heterogeneous force from Alexandria, Egypt, through the Libyan Desert and attacked Derna from the landward side while U. S. gunboats under Commodore Samuel Barron bombarded the town from the sea. Hot of temper and loose of tongue.
Captain Eaton was never properly rewarded for his heroism during his lifetime, died in iSn. a disappointed man of 47.—ED.
LaGuardia's Kegling Sirs: TIME, for March 22. under Sport, states in connection with the American Bowling Congress, ". . . New York's plump little Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia bowled the first ball. It rolled ignominiously into the gutter. . . .
Last night I watched a newsreel in which Ed. Thorgerson was the sports spokesman. J showed New York's Nazifoe opening the event. His Honor threw a ball down the alley traveled smoothly and squarely down the boards to end in an eminently satisfactory strike.
Has LIFETIME reporting overlooked obvious ability as a Kegler of vivacious LaGuardia? RUDOLPH H. SJOGREN Worcester, Mass.
Mayor LaGuardia's ball opening the Congress knocked down one pin. With practice he later improved his form, recorded a strike for the newsreels.—ED.