Every so often, TCM plays small features like this in order to fill a time slot more completely, and the movie that preceded this had nothing to do with world war 2. Still, I'm glad I saw this because it goes over how some of the finest warriors on earth are trained: the US Marines. A little known fact that people often overlook is marines were actually not used in europe during world war 2, at least in any sort of combat role. Some were stationed on ships around the time of the Normandy landings but none ever fought there during the conflict. They were reserved for amphibious assaults on japanese held islands in the pacific ocean as this is the type of fighting they were best at. This 10 minute short film attempts to show how the Corps gained such a legendary fighting reputation. In the film, they show how rigorous marine training is. Crawling under large formations of barbed wire as fast as you can and stabbing a dummy with bayonets are some of the things shown. Between these activities, there is, of course, a large amount of drills. Later on, the men learn how to counter different types of fighting styles in close quarters combat, such as what to do if someone attempts to stab you with a bayonet or jumps up behind you with a garrote wire. It takes a lot of stamina and practice to memorize these techniques, and even more to execute them. Towards the end, marines have to recite the Rifleman's Creed, made more famous by its inclusion in Full Metal Jacket. It starts with the words "This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine." It helps the men understand the importance of looking after your weapon and making sure no dirt, mud, sand, or anything else liable to make it stop working gets into its feed system. Obviously, the pacific theater had no shortage of sand or mud, especially on humid islands like Guadalcanal. While there isn't much to this film at all, I still thought it was a good look into how the marines became the elite fighting force they are now. They have trained to be that way. My favorite part is probably when they show how to react against different types of attacks at close range. It's a lot harder than it looks. In any case, most ww2 films interest me, despite how mediocre a lot of them are.
