Welcome to our "Trivia Challenge." Instead of clicking on an answer, we ask you to e-mail us your choice. Please, one entry per person per question. When we post our next question, the answer to this question will be posted below along with the names of those who responded correctly. The winner's name will be drawn from the list of those who correctly answered the question, and a prize will be mailed to our winner. We hope you enjoy the challenge, and we welcome your feedback.
Apamama Atoll, 76 miles south of Tarawa, was secured in November 1943. Each of the islands in the atoll had a code name and the code name for Entrance Island was:
A. Nick
B. Joe
C. Oscar
D. Steve
E-mail your answer to LeatherneckTrivia@mca-marines.org
Please include your name and mailing address.
The last question: On June 11, 1917, John Philip Sousa led the Great Lakes Training Station Band in the first public playing of the new march,
A. Semper Fidelis
B. The Washington Post
C. The First to Fight
D. US Field Artillery
Answer: D. "US Field Artillery" Ref: Chief Librarian, U.S. Marine Band, who pointed out that Sousa was commissioned a Lieutenant in the US Naval Reserve on May 31, 1917 and that Sousa’s sister was married to a member of the staff at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Also, under the topic of more trivia, the Marine Corps History Division notes that “The Recruiters’ Bulletin,” New York, June 1917, a publication “Published Monthly in the Interests of the Recruiting Service of the U.S. Marine Corps,” contained the announcement that LT “John Philip Sousa’s new march, dedicated to the Marine Corps, was played by the band from Great Lakes Training Station,” but there is no official record of a Sousa march titled, “The First to Fight.”
Winner: Corporal Cody B. Fountain, 2d Radio Bn, Camp Lejeune, N.C. We are sending him a copy of Ronald H. Spector's book, "In the Ruins of Empire: The Japanese Surrender and The Battle for Postwar Asia."
Leatherneck thanks everyone who fired an answer downrange. If you missed the bull's-eye this time, a new target is up.
