David J. Bettez - Kentucky Marine: Major General Logan Feland and the Making of the Modern USMC

Praise for
Kentucky Marine: Major General Logan Feland and the Making of the Modern USMC

Major General Logan Feland is not a household name; David J. Bettezs work is a significant step toward rectifying that problem. Bettez has given new life to General Feland and his many accomplishments, most of which are still visible in todays modern Marine Corps. Bettezs research and writing pull together the scattered pieces of Felands life and career at a crucial time in the Corpss historythe one-hundredth anniversary of World War I, and the downsizing of the Corps after a major war. These events still resonate, and Felands efforts are as relevant today as they were one hundred years ago. Kentucky Marine is a must-read for any Marine Corps historian or enthusiast.Annette Amerman, senior reference historian, Marine Corps History Division

In Kentucky Marine, David J. Bettez opens a window on a crucial period in U.S. Marine Corps historythe first three decades of the twentieth century. Holding an architecture degree from MIT, Logan Feland was better educated than most Marine officers of his day, but proved he possessed a warriors heart at Belleau Wood and other bloody battlefields of World War I. Bettez also shows how Feland oversaw the development of the small wars techniques in Nicaragua, which became the Marines trademark during the interwar period and encouraged the budding amphibious warfare doctrine that permitted his Corps to come into its own during World War II.Gregory J. W. Urwin, professor of history, Temple University

Kentucky Marine follows the changes in the Marine Corps from its role as colonial infantry to amphibious assault force. David J. Bettez uses the career of Major General Logan Feland to chart this institutional change, which took Feland and the Marines to the battlefields of France. This book takes its objective.Allan R. Millett, author of Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps

Logan Feland is a virtually unknown Kentuckian whose story needs to be told. Kentucky Marine offers a wealth of research from a variety of sources to piece together the life of an important individual.William E. Ellis, author of A History of Education in Kentucky

KENTUCKY MARINE

Major General Logan Feland
and the Making of the
Modern USMC

David J. Bettez

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Copyright 2014 by The University Press of Kentucky

Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.

Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com

Unless otherwise noted, photographs are courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bettez, David J., 1952

Kentucky Marine : Major General Logan Feland and the making of the modern USMC / David J. Bettez.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8131-4457-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8131-4482-5 (pdf) ISBN 978-0-8131-4481-8 (epub)

1. Feland, Logan, 1869-1936. 2. United States. Marine CorpsOfficersBiography. 3. GeneralsUnited StatesBiography. 4. United States. Marine CorpsHistory20th century. 5. Belleau Wood, Battle of, France, 1918. 6. AmericansNicaraguaBiography. 7. NicaraguaHistory1909-1937. I. Title. II. Title: Major General Logan Feland and the making of the modern USMC.

VE25.F39 2014

359.96092--dc23

[B]

2013045015

This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

For my parents

Contents

Acknowledgments

If it takes a village to raise a child, it certainly takes at least several people to create a book. Many kind people helped me. First, I wish to thank my wife, Roi-Ann Bettez, for her tremendous support. From our first visit to Quantico in January 2008, she enthusiastically supported my efforts to write a biography of Major General Logan Feland, USMC. She traveled to various archives, discussed with me all aspects of the book, and read the manuscript so many times that she knows more about General Feland than she thought possible when we began this project.

Historians generally depend on archives and their professional staff, and I had the pleasure to encounter some wonderful archivists. From the beginning, director Mike Miller and his staff at the Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections at the Alfred M. Gray Marine Corps Research Center in Quantico enthusiastically supported this project. Mike read and earnestly discussed the manuscript with me; he was a General Feland fan from the outset, and I hope this resulting work satisfies his enthusiasm. Other Marine Corps Archives staff members were always helpful, pleasant, and polite when answering questions and getting materials for me. I am grateful to John Lyles for making suitable copies of photographs to use in this book. I especially enjoyed my discussions with archivist Jim Ginther regarding General Felands influence in the development of Marine Corps aviation.

Across the way at Quantico, several folks at the Marine Corps History Division, Historical Reference Branch, assisted me, including Danny Crawford, Robert Aquilina, and Kara Newcomer. Kara tracked down information on the Marine Corps mail guards of the 1920s, as well as some of the photographs for this book. My biggest supporter there was historian Annette Amerman, another Feland enthusiast. I spent much time discussing this project with Annette, whose encyclopedic knowledge of Marine Corps history and of the resources in the History Division guided me to sources that had not been used in many years, allowing me a fresh view of Marine Corps history and General Felands place in it.

Farther down the road at Quantico, the folks at the Marine Corps Association were supportive of the project and granted me permission to use material for this book. I thank Marine Corps Gazette editor Colonel John Keenan, USMC (Ret.), and especially Leatherneck executive editor and publisher Colonel Walter Ford, USMC (Ret.). When I appeared in Colonel Fords office one afternoon, he graciously took time out of his busy schedule to help me track down photos in the