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THIS IS THE FIRST OF TWO PAGES housing materials culled from the
Wilburt S. Brown collection in the Marine Corps Research Center
(CLICK
HERE FOR PAGE 2).
A 2nd Lieutenant in the Nicaraguan campaign, Brown rose to
become a Major General in World War II. In late 1927 and
early 1928, Brown wrote some of the war's most richly
descriptive and revealing patrol & combat reports (see e.g.,
PC-DOCS BROWN
27.12.07). His
Wikipedia biography (offsite) offers a crisp synopsis of his military
career. After his retirement from the US
Marines, Brown went on to earn a Ph.D. in History at the
University of Alabama in 1963, at age 63.
This page houses 14 photographs and two drawings scanned from the
Wilburt S. Brown materials,
also housed in
PHOTO-DOCS > MCRC.
They include the best known aerial photo of San Rafael del Norte
during this period; a wonderful aerial photo of Matagalpa City;
a close-up of the Matagalpa Cathedral; photos of Brown's Marine
Corps buddies; three photos of Sandinistas by Sandinistas; and
more.
Page 2 of this Brown Collection houses 27 written
documents in 48 JPEG files spanning the years 1927—1960. Two sets of letters in
particular shed much light on two key Nicaraguan players in the
Sandino drama: the Telpaneca lawyer Nicanor Espinosa —
executed by the Sandinistas in 1929 for his collaboration with
the Marines — and José Santos Rivera of San Rafael del Norte, an
important informant and guide for the Marines & Guardia early in
the war. In these letters we learn more exactingly how
Espinosa collaborated with the Marines, and how close of friends
Brown & J. S. Rivera became. The collection also includes the only known
original letter written by the Mexican Sandinista General Manuel
Echeverría (15 Dec. 1927) — and much else.
An effective commanding officer and perceptive
observer, 2nd Lt. Wilburt Brown was also proficient in
Spanish, judging from the letter he wrote to José Santos Rivera
in early 1941, when he was commanding the USS Pennsylvania
in the Pacific. A brief biography of Brown and an
inventory of materials in the Wilburt S. Brown collection can be found online by searching the holdings of the
Marine Corps University, or by clicking here (offsite
link to PDF file).
Grateful acknowledgement is extended to the
staff of Archives & Special Collections of the MCRC; to Lebanon
Valley College students Olivia Edwards, Nicole Wilhelm, and Mary
'Katie' Yost for their excellent work at the MCRC for three days in
early January 2015; and to the Arnold Grant in Experiential
Education for funding this research.
Click on thumbnails below to view full images,
all photos in high-resolution JPEG files (600 dpi).
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May 1927. Rear reads:
"Diagram coupled with photograph of aircraft to show a
system of message pick-up developed by Marines in
Nicaragua, May 1927. From the manuscript collection of
Maj Gen Wilburt S. Brown, USMC, Ret."
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May 1927. Aerial photograph of
Matagalpa; see caption in photo below. Rear of photo
reads, in small tag in upper right: "Aerial view
of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, taken in May 1927. From the
manuscript collection of Maj Gen Wilburt S. Brown, USMC,
Ret." Handwritten on rear: "Matagalpa.
Locate: Decompression Chamber. Fort Erskine.
Petrona's. The General's. Amadors or Any
other place and receive a prize consisting of A Hand
Painted Picture of Lt. Col. Willis, Maj Reno, Maj
Erskine, Lt Col Berry, Mr Hawkins (All composite).
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24 May 1927. Aerial photograph of
San Rafael del Norte, facing northeast, with explanatory
symbols written onto the photo. Arrows point to
two separate sets of "trenches & foxholes," while other
arrows point "to Honduras," "to Estelí," and "to
Jinotega". Caption at bottom reads "San Raphael"
and includes the date — perhaps from the same flight
that produced the aerial photo of Matagalpa, above.
Tag on rear reads: "Aerial view of the San Raphael
area, Nicaragua, taken 24 May 1927. From the
manuscript collection of Maj Gen Wilburt S. Brown, USMC,
Ret."
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ca. May 1927. "Catedral de
Matagalpa, Nicaragua, C.A." No date indicated.
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ca. May 1927. Field encampment of
US Marines, probably near Matagalpa or Jinotega, no date
indicated.
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1928. Photograph of 2nd Lt.
Wilburt S. Brown, Battalion Quartermaster of the 5th
Regiment, in Matagalpa, 1928.
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8 June 1928. Rear of photo reads:
"El Gral Moncada saliendo del parque de Dictar su
Conferencia Doctrinaria con el periodista Juan Ramón
Aviles, Jinotega, 6/8/1928." Also written:
"To my dear friend Mr. Wilburt S. Brown, Sincerely, J.
S. Rivera, 2, 11, 929."
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No date. From Fred Becker, a
Marine Corps buddy of Brown's. Rear of photo
reads: "Hi Ya! Wilbur Brown remember me?
We always were together on all patrols. Quilali.
San Albino. Ocotal. Jicaro. Nueva
Segovia. Fred Becker."
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1927. Rear of photo reads:
"'Skid' Skidmore USNA,
1928
[overwritten with] 1927. Forced out of USMC in
1936 for throwing Jap sentry over wall of Jap Embassy in
Pekin. Sentry with bayonet was trying to make Skid
salute the Emperor."
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1929. Rear of photo reads:
"My relief as Q.M., Harry Bacon."
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1929. Rear of photo reads:
"Capt Billy Aiken who later went to Naval Prison for
Post Exchange shortage in San Diego, 1931. Too
bad, good lad."
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February 11, 1929. Business
card and photograph: "J. Santos Rivera y Sra. San Rafael
del Norte, 11 de Fbro. de 1929." Rear of photo
reads: "A Mr. Brown, Santitas h. Fbro. 11, 1929. Santitos. Josecito - Alexander - Paquita."
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11 February 1929. Photograph of
Brown with two men, one of whom is José Santos Rivera.
Rear of photo reads: "Duplicated. One of my
Matagalpa guides. El Coronel is all I remember of
his name." Which one is Rivera? Unclear.
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11 February 1929. Photo of child
waving. Caption beneath photo reads:
"Another message from J. Santos". Rear of
photo reads: "San Rafael del Norte, Febrero 11 de
1929. My dear friend Mr. Brown. This one
remembrance of my friendship for him. My best
remembers for your appreciated family in United States.
Sincerely, José Santos Rivera."
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No date. Two drawings showing
technique for carrying wounded on horseback.
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Photos of Sandinistas by Sandinistas in the
Brown Collection
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May 13, 1928. Sandinista rebels on
the march. This is the best version of
this photograph yet found. Handwritten caption
reads: "Explorando el campo el 13 de mayo de
1928." Rear of photo reads: "Sandino's bandits -
Picture captured by intelligence dept."
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_small.jpg)
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1927 or 1928. Sandinistas in
formation. Rear reads: "Picture captured by
the intelligence dept of Sandino's bandits."
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1927 or 1928. Sandinistas with
flag mounted and on the march. Rear reads:
"Picture captured by intelligence dept of Sandino's
bandits."
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PAGE 2 OF BROWN COLLECTION
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