9000 enlisted men and 100 officers.
Brigadier General J.H. Pendleton commanding.
Paris Island, SC 1917 (Photograph published 1919)

This photograph is one of a series taken by the famous photographers Mole & Thomas, during World War I. (This and others like it hang in the Library of Congress today.) They went around the country to various Army, Navy and Marine Corps camps taking pictures of the troops in various patriotic formations, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, the American Flag, and even Woodrow Wilson. This was their contribution to the war effort, by raising morale, and selling war bonds.

This particular picture has a special significance to me in that my father is standing at the tip of what would be Florida on the map in the insignia. He was a 17 year old "boot" taking his training at Paris Island, SC in 1917, when this picture was taken from a water tower. What interests me is to imagine the actual formation of the men on the parade field, so that the camera lens could pull them in to the exact correct dimensions. All of this without computers or calculators.

(Look how many men it takes to go across the same space at the top compared to the bottom of the picture.)

Even though I chose to spend my tour of duty in the Army, I am extremely proud of my father's service in the Marine Corps, as well. This original still hangs in our family home.

Jim T