The U.S. Marine Corps in Crisis: Ribbon Creek and Recruit Training

The history of a tragic event in USMC history and of how its impact led to reforms

In 1956, a Marine drill instructor led his recruit platoon on a punitive night march across Ribbon Creek, a tidal stream at the Parris Island, South Carolina, recruit depot. Six men drowned, and the resulting court-martial became a national media sensation putting the future of the corps into question. Written by a senior historian at the Marine Corps Historical Center, The U.S. Marine Corps in Crisis explores the social, political, and historical context of this tragic moment in U.S. military history as a case study in how bureaucratic institutions undertake internal reform and offering a valuable vantage point on tensions in American society during the 1950s.

This book also provides insights into the political relations between Congress and the military during the 1950s, as well as the power wielded by committee chairmen in Congress during that period. Another significant portion of the book examines military-press relations in the post-Korean era and shows how the seeds were sown for the press's later disenchantment with the military during the Vietnam War. Finally, in describing the legal battle waged by a prominent lawyer on behalf of a Marine drill instructor, it highlights the ideals and goals which liberal Americans were soon to turn toward the civil rights movement. In short, the book provides a lens for examining American society during the 1950s.