The Marines lost very little. I was recently reading about the Marine salvage parties that policed the battlefields for weapons and armaments after each battle. They even removed ammo and hand grenades off the Marine dead, who were buried with the 782 gear they had on. No mention was made as to what repairs were made in the field. Probably had 3rd or 4th Echelon Maintenance in the field at that time - not certain. The habit of using bayoneted 03's to mark graves was a temp measure for certain.
Just watched Palin's show on the 11th hour, 11th day casualties on Military Channel. The AEF lost 10,000 men on 11 Nov 1918 (1000 died that day). Many, if not most, of the graves bear the date of 10 Nov 1918. 2/3's of the bodies in the Muese-Argonne Cemetery were repatriated after the war (14000 left). If you spent 1 minute at each grave, it would take 30-8 hour days, or 6-5 day weeks, to see them all. There were originally 42,000 Americans buried in that cemetery alone (over 1/3 of all the American dead from WWI). Had no idea it was that extensive. Showed them polishing the headstones. I also noticed the French pronounce Muese and Asine in very strange ways. Neither are pronounced as they appear.
I did find that only one body was ever recovered from Cemetery #29, where the Belleau Woods Hill 142 Marines were buried in mass graves in the field north of Lucy Et. George.
Jim
