Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fantastic piece of WWII Marine Corps history. This tabletop display is what’s known as a “standee”, a cardboard cutout with a foldable bracket on the back that “locks” into place allowing it to stand on its own. The condition is really good and exhibits signs of long “service” with the Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

In World War II, the Marines played a central role in the Pacific War, participating in nearly every significant battle.

The Corps also saw its peak growth as it expanded from two brigades to two corps with six divisions, and five air wings with 132 squadrons. In addition, 20 Defense Battalions were also stood up, as well as a Parachute Battalion. In all, the Corps totaled at a maximum end strength of over 475,000 Marines, the highest in its history.

This display piece stands at 22 inches tall with a base width of 5 inches. The image is of a US Marine wearing his summer flying gear with a sign that reads as:

U.S. MARINE
Summer
FLYING GEAR

MARINE AVIATORS WEAR
TWO TYPES OF
UNIFORMS, MEDIUM
WINTER GEAR
(ALSO USED IN HIGH
ALTITUDE FLIGHTS)
*
GOGGLES MAY HAVE
EITHER BROWN, GREEN
OR CLEAR LENSES
DEPENDING ON THE
TYPE OF FLIGHT DUTY

A lovely example that comes more than ready for display.

United States Marine Corps Aviation
During World War II, the Marine Corps' air arm expanded rapidly and extensively. They reached their peak number of units with 5 air wings, 31 aircraft groups and 145 flying squadrons. During the war, and for the next fifty years, the Guadalcanal campaign would become a defining point for Marine Aviation. The great takeaways were the debilitating effects of not having air superiority, the vulnerability of targets such as transport shipping, and the vital importance of quickly acquiring expeditionary airfields during amphibious operations. Because of the way the Pacific War unfolded, Marine Aviation was not able to achieve its 1939 mission of supporting the Fleet Marine Force at first. For the first two years of the war, the air arm spent most of its time protecting the fleet and land-based installations from attacks by enemy ships and aircraft.

This began to change after the Battle of Tarawa as the air support for ground troops flown by Navy pilots left much to be desired. After the battle, General Holland Smith recommended, "Marine aviators, thoroughly schooled in the principles of direct air support," should do the job. The New Georgia campaign saw the first real close air support provided to Marine ground forces by Marine Air; the Bougainville campaign and the campaign to retake the Philippines saw the establishment of air liaison parties to coordinate air support with the Marines fighting on the ground, and the Battle of Okinawa brought most of it together with the establishment of aviation command and control in the form of Landing Force Air Support Control Units.

During the course of the war, Marine Aviators were credited with shooting down 2,355 Japanese aircraft while losing 573 of their own aircraft in combat, they had 120 aces and earned 11 Medals of Honor. Immediately following the war, the strength of the Marine Corps flying arm was drastically cut as part of the post war drawdown of forces. Their active strength fell from 116,628 personnel and 103 squadrons on 31 August 1945 to 14,163 personnel and 21 squadrons on 30 June 1948. They maintained another 30 squadrons in the Marine Air Reserve. Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson attempted to eliminate Marine Corps aviation by transferring its air assets to other services and even proposed to progressively eliminate the Marine Corps altogether in a series of budget cutbacks and decommissioning of forces.