"Lou"
Diamond's face, sun-bronzed and accentuated by a
neatly trimmed gray goatee, was well known at posts
and stations throughout the world. His comrades
called him "Lou," but he was thought of,
often, as "Mr. Marine" and "Mr. Leatherneck."
Leland Diamond
was born 30 May 1890, at Bedford, Ohio. Although
he first enlisted at the age of 27, somewhat older
than most recruits, the difference never was noticeable.
His salty, hard-driving personality soon expressed
itself in both word and deed, and no Marine ever
showed more devotion to the Corps.
Because
of the incredible voice, which matched his 5-foot,
11-inch, 200-pound frame, "Lou" was once
dubbed "The Honker." Though cool in training
and battle, he was rarely quiet. According to his
World War I buddies, "The tougher the action,
the louder "Lou" would yell." Many
of his comrades at Guadalcanal considered him "a
human air-raid warning system."
Though
in the military service, Diamond lived informally,
going hatless and wearing dungarees practically
everywhere. He even accepted one of his decorations
in dungarees. When receiving the citation awarded
him in Australia by General A.A. Vandergrift, "Lou"
looked the general in the eye and said, "I
made my landing in dungarees-guess they're good
enough to get my commendation in."
Diamond's
informal language occasionally drew frowns from
Chaplains within earshot. His earthy manner of speech,
however, never appeared to detract from his role
as a morale-booster for his unit, nor from his ability
as an instructor and leader, as amply attested to
by recruits who trained under his wing.
Self-confidence,
even cockiness, was one of the sergeant's outstanding
characteristics. He considered anybody with less
than ten years in the Corps a "boot."
While he bawled out recruits who sometimes instinctively
saluted him, he frequently failed, himself, to salute
less than a field grade officer. Despite his peculiarities
and, in many ways, because of them, he was a "Marine's
Marine."
Opportunities
to apply for a commission were rejected by the grizzled
campaigner, who explained that "nobody can
make a gentleman out of me." Though not a "spit-and-polish"
Marine, Diamond prove himself an expert with both
60- and 81mm mortars, his accurate fire being credited
as the turning point of many an engagement in the
Pacific during World War II.
Diamond
enlisted in the Marine Corps at Detroit, Michigan,
25 July 1917, listing as his former occupation "railroad
switchman." As a corporal in January 1918,
he shipped out from Philadelphia aboard the USS
Von Stuben bound for Brest, France. He
saw action with the famous 6th Marines in the battles
at Chateau Thierry, Belleau Wood, the Aisne-Marne,
St. Mihiel and the Meuse Argonne. Promoted to the
grade of sergeant, he marched to the Rhine with
the Army of Occupation. At war's end, "Mr.
Leatherneck" returned to America, disembarked
at Hoboken, N.J., and 13 August 1919, received an
honorable discharge from the Corps.
But railroading
and civilian life in general did not suit his fancy,
and on 23 September 1921, "Lou" again
walked into a Marine recruiting office. Promotions
were rapid for him and while serving as Assistant
Armorer at Parris Island, South Carolina, in February,
1925, he regained his sergeant's stripes.
"Mr.
Marine" itched for more action and he soon
got it-in Shanghai with Company M, 3d Battalion,
4th Marine Regiment. But the Sino-Japanese controversy,
in "Lou's" opinion, was "not much
of a war," and on 10 June 1933, he returned
to the United States, disembarking from the USS
Henderson at Mare Island, California. By
then he was a gunnery sergeant.
Diamond
returned to Shanghai with his old outfit, the 4th
Marines, ten months later; was transferred to the
2d Marines in December 1934; and returned to the
States February 1937. Two years after his promotion
to Master Gunnery Sergeant, 10 July 1939, he was
assigned to the Depot of Supplies at Philadelphia
to help design a new infantry pack.
Following
the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, "Lou"
shipped out to Guadalcanal with Company H, 2d Battalion,
5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, arriving at the
beaches 7 August 1942. He was 52 years old. Among
the many fables concerning his "Canal"
service is the tale that he lobbed a mortar shell
down the smoke stack of an off-shore Japanese cruiser.
It is considered a fact, however, that he drove
the cruiser from the bay with his harassing "near-misses."
An indication
of Sergeant Diamond's value to the Corps is found
in a letter of commendation for "outstanding
performance of duty on Tulagi and Guadalcanal,"
from General Alexander
A. Vandegrift, Commander of the 1st
Marine Division, and later Commandant of the Marine
Corps. The letter states in part:
"To
every man in your company you were a counselor,
an arbiter of disputes, and an ideal Marine. "Your
matchless loyalty and love of the Marine Corps and
all it stands for, are known to hundreds of officers
and men of this Division, and will serve as an inspiration
to them on all the battlefields on which this Division
may in the future be engaged."
After
two months on Guadalcanal, physical disabilities
dictated "Mr. Leatherneck's" evacuation
by air against his wishes. He was moved to the New
Hebrides and later to a hospital in New Zealand,
where he proved to be a somewhat obstreperous patient.
Somehow, he acquired orders to board a supply ship
for New Caledonia, where a friend ordered him back
to Guadalcanal-the supposed location of his old
outfit. Upon his arrival, however, Diamond discovered
that the 1st Marine Division had shipped out to
Australia, a distance of over 1,500 miles. "Lou"
made the trip, without orders, by bumming rides
on planes, ships and trains.
But "Mr.
Marine" was destined to see no more combat.
On 1 July 1943, he disembarked from the USS Hermitage
at San Pedro, California, and twelve days later
was made an instructor at the Recruit Depot, Parris
Island, South Carolina. He was transferred to Camp
Lejeune on 15 June 1945, and joined the 5th Training
Battalion with the same duties.
A familiar
sight in the early morning on the company street
thereafter was "Old Lou," standing with
watch in hand and whistle in mouth, awaiting the
first note of reveille to break the men out.