World War I -- 1917-1918

Battle of Bouresches -- June 6-7, 1918
Battle of Belleau Wood -- June 6-26, 1918
-- Legend has it that Germans began referring to Marines as "Teufelhunden" or Devildog; Marines rated as "storm troops"
-- Belleau Wood renamed "Bois de la Brigade de Marine" wood of the Marine Brigade.
Battle of the Aisne-Marne (Soissons) -- July 18-20, 1918
-- 28 July, 1918 -- Gen. John A. Lejeune, assumed command of the Second Division (Army), marking the first time that a Marine officer would lead an Army Division
-- Aug. 13, 1918 -- Opha Mae Johnson, first female enlisted Marine; Women Marines were known as "skirt Marines" or "Marinettes."
Battle of St. Mihiel -- Sept. 12-16, 1918
Battle of Blanc Mont -- Oct. 2-9, 1918
-- 5th and 6th Marine regiments awarded French Fourragere; to this day, members of those regiments still authorized to wear the award.
Battle of Meuse-Argonne -- Nov. 1-11, 1918
-- 305 "Reservists (Female)" entered the Marine Corps as clerks to "Free a Marine to Fight";

1919 --
all women ordered out of the Reserve Corps

1923 --
Lt. Col. Earl H. "Pete" Ellis dies under mysterious circumstances in Palau Islands; his research and prescient thinking on war in the Pacific, contained in "Marine Corps Operations Plan 712, Advanced Base Operations in Micronesia," of 1921, forecast requirements for war in the Pacific, including sizes of forces necessary to take objectives, and the future of amphibious warfare.

1927-1933 --
Occupation of Nicaragua -- Marines gained a fighting reputation during this time; Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller a.k.a. "Tiger of the Mountains," awarded Navy Cross for actions while in Nicaragua; was awarded five Navy Crosses before retiring in 1955 as a Lt. Gen.