Devil Dog

{{Short description|U.S. Marine nickname}} {{About|the U.S. Marine nickname}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Use American English|date=October 2021}} thumb|upright|A recruiting poster from 1918

'''Devil Dog''' is a nickname for a United States Marine coined during World War I.<ref name="simmons">{{cite book |editor-last=Westermeyer |editor-first=Paul |last=Simmons |first=Edwin H. |date=2018 |title=The Legacy of Belleau Wood: 100 Years of Making Marines and Winning Battles |location=Quantico, Virginia |publisher=Marine Corps History Division |page=58 |isbn=978-0-16-094412-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Evan |date=2004 |title=Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War |location=New York |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |page=47 |isbn=9780425224748}}</ref>

==History== thumb|upright|The Bulldog fountain in Belleau Multiple publications of the United States Marine Corps claim that the nickname "Teufel Hunden"{{efn|The correct German spellings are "Teufelshund" (singular) and "Teufelshunde" (plural).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/german-myth-teufelshunde-devil-dogs-1444315 |title=German Myth 13: Teufelshunde – Devil Dogs and the Marines |website=ThoughtCo |publisher=Dotdash |access-date=2021-08-22}}</ref> However, while "Teufelshund" is a valid grammatical construction, the word is unknown in Germany.<ref name="ss"/> The more likely choice for a German speaker would be "Höllenhund"—"hellhound" in English—casting further doubt on the origin story.<ref name="simmons"></ref>}}—"Devil Dogs" in English—was bestowed upon the Marines by German soldiers at the Battle of Belleau Wood in June 1918.<ref>{{cite book |last=United States Marine Corps |publisher=Skyhorse |location=New York |title=U.S. Marine Guidebook |page=37 |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60239-941-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.6thmarines.marines.mil/Units/1st-Battalion/History/|title=6th Marine Regiment > Units > 1st Battalion > History|publisher=United States Marine Corps|access-date=2019-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite letter |first=Robert B. |last=Neller |recipient=United States Marine Corps |subject=A Message from the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps |language=English |date=2018-11-10|url=https://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Portals/142/Docs/2018%20Marine%20Corps%20Birthday%20MSG.pdf?ver=2018-10-11-115925-700 |access-date=2021-08-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.barracks.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/498143/remembering-the-battle-of-belleau-wood/ |title=Remembering the Battle of Belleau Wood |last=Price |first=Will |date=2006-05-28 |publisher=United States Marine Corps |access-date=2021-08-26 |quote=Little wonder that from the time of this fierce battle to the present day, Marines are still known by the nickname given them by the awed Germans they vanquished at Belleau Wood: "Teufelhunden," which means "Hounds from Hell," or "Devil Dogs."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.albany.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/1016285/marines-maintain-warrior-spirit-through-mcmap/ |title=Marines Maintain Warrior Spirit Through MCMAP |last=Hanks |first=Nathan |date=2016-11-30 |publisher=United States Marine Corps |access-date=2021-08-26 |quote=In 1918, during the battle of Belleau Wood, France, the Marines were given the nickname "teufelhunden," or "Devil Dog," by the Germans for their fierce fighting ability.}}</ref> However, on April 14, 1918, six weeks before that battle began, hundreds of U.S. newspapers ran a fanciful, unsigned wire service report that stated:

{{blockquote|text=That time-honored nickname, borne by the United States marines for generations—leathernecks—is no more! At least, the Germans have abandoned it, according to reports from France.

In its place the Teutons have handed the sea soldiers one with far more meaning. They call the American scrappers "teufel hunden," which, in English, means "devil dogs."{{efn|Multiple sources.<ref>{{cite news |title=Essay in Marine Nomenclature |work=The New York Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/207351483/ |access-date=2021-09-04 |date=1918-04-14 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Devil Dogs', Foe Calls Marines |work=The Detroit Free Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1048486201/ |access-date=2021-09-04 |date=1918-04-14 |page=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Germans Call 'em Teufel Hunden: Recruiters Report a New Nickname for Marines |work=The Boston Daily Globe |access-date=2021-09-04 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/431201684/ |date=1918-04-14 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Devil Dogs' New Name for U.S. Marine Corps |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/686934917/ |access-date=2021-09-04 |date=1918-04-14 |page=6}}</ref> This quote was also reprinted in the May 11, 1918 edition of ''Arms and the Man'', the publication of the National Rifle Association.<ref>{{cite magazine |author= |title=Glass Sights |date=1918-05-11 |volume=64 |number=7 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Shooting_and_Fishing/to4wAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA132&printsec=frontcover |magazine=Arms and the Man |page=10 |access-date=2025-02-14}}</ref>}}}}

The American press immediately seized upon the new term, and it was quickly used on a Marine Corps recruiting poster by Charles Buckles Falls in July 1918, showing an American bulldog chasing a German dachshund wearing a ''pickelhaube''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sturkey |first=Marion F. |date=2003 |title=Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines |location=Plum Branch, South Carolina |publisher=Heritage Press International |page=104 |isbn=0-9650814-1-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= |date=1918-07-20 |title=Teufel Hund Posters at Marine Office |work=The Bend Bulletin |page=4 |quote='Teufel Hund'...is the leading display line on the new Marine recruiting placards and posters...the Marine bulldog is showing chasing the German Daschsund. The last line...is 'Devil Dog Recruiting Station'...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Donald |first=Graeme |date=2009 |title=Loose Cannons: 101 Myths, Mishaps and Misadventures of Military History |location=New York |publisher=Osprey |pages=124–125 |isbn=978-1-84603-377-3}}</ref>

The veracity of the German origin of the term, however, was questioned as early as 1921 when journalist H. L. Mencken wrote that the term was the invention of an American war correspondent.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mencken |first=H. L. |date=1921 |title=The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XbZIAAAAMAAJ/page/333/mode/2up/ |quote=''Teufelhunde'' (''devil-dogs''), for the American marines, was invented by an American correspondent; the Germans never used it. |page=333}}</ref> In 2016, Robert V. Aquilina of the United States Marine Corps History Division stated that the term was likely first used by the Marines themselves and that there is no evidence of German use or origin of the term.<ref name="aq">{{cite web |url=https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2016/06/14/this-photo-of-gen-neller-drinking-from-the-devil-dog-fountain-will-motivate-you/ |title=This photo of Gen. Neller drinking from the devil dog fountain will motivate you |last=Schehl |first=Matthew L. |date=2016-06-14 |website=Marine Corps Times |publisher= |access-date=2021-08-22 |quote="The term very likely was first used by Marines themselves and appeared in print before the Battle for Belleau Wood," Bob Aquilina of the Marine Corps History Division told Schogol at the time. "It gained notoriety in the decades following World War I and has since become a part of Marine Corps tradition."}}</ref> Similarly, Patrick Mooney of the National Museum of the Marine Corps wrote that "We have no proof that it came from German troops...There is no written document in German that says that the Marines are Devil Dogs or any correct spelling or language component of 'Devil Dog' in German."<ref name="ss">{{cite news |last=Schogol |first=Jeff |date=2011-01-04 |title=Did Marines, not German soldiers, coin the phrase 'Devil Dogs'? |url=http://www.stripes.com/blogs/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/did-marines-not-german-soldiers-coin-the-phrase-devil-dogs-1.130602 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107082848/http://www.stripes.com/blogs/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/did-marines-not-german-soldiers-coin-the-phrase-devil-dogs-1.130602 |archive-date=2011-01-07 |work=Stars and Stripes |access-date=2023-12-03}}</ref> Further, when asked about the term by ''Stars and Stripes'', Lt. Col. Heiner Bröckermann of the German Military History Research Institute said that he had "never heard anyone using the word 'Teufelshund' or 'Teufelshunde' in Germany."<ref name="ss"/> Nevertheless, "Devil Dog" has become firmly entrenched in the lore of the United States Marine Corps.<ref name="aq" />

== Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:United States Marine Corps lore and symbols