On June 6, 1918, Major Julius S. Turrill led U.S. Marines in a desperate assault on Hill 142 during the Battle of Belleau Wood. Charging across an open wheat field under murderous machine‑gun fire, the Marines seized the hill in brutal close‑quarters combat, marking one of America’s first major engagements of World War I.
The assault on Hill 142 came at a staggering human cost. Entire platoons were cut down in the wheat as Marines advanced with almost no cover, forcing officers and enlisted men alike to improvise under fire. By the end of June 6, some companies were reduced to a fraction of their strength — yet they held the hill. That brutal stand became the first proof to Allied commanders that American troops would endure the same punishing attrition that had defined the Western Front for years.
