<p>
“To every man upon this earth<br />
Death cometh soon or late.<br />
And how can man die better<br />
Than facing fearful odds,<br />
For the ashes of his fathers,<br />
And the temples of his gods,”</p>
<p>
Since I was able to remember I heard my father quoting little odd bits of poetry that had appealed to him. In the above excerpt from “Horatius at the Bridge”, and in the following one from Browning’s “Rabbi ben Ezra” may be found his entire philosophy of life:</p>
<p>
“Grow old along with me.<br />
The best is yet to be”.</p>
<p>
He was a soldier and a good one, but he knew the true value of life is not to be found in strife. He loved his life, his family and his freedom, but he felt these to be more selfish loves beside the love of “Duty, Honor, Country”. And so, even though one of his heart’s desires was to serve the best he could, and then retire as all old warriors do, he elected to remain on Corregidor with his troops even when he had a chance to get out.</p>
<p>
After the fall of the Philippines he spent his days in a succession of prison camps. He was captured in 1942. In December of 1944 he was on board an unmarked POW ship headed for Japan which was sunk by our own forces.</p>
<p>
Much as I regret his loss, and I do regret it more and more each year, I still am grateful for the things he gave me that can never die. I thank him for the religion he taught me which says that I shall see him again, for the philosophy of living which he handed down to me. He was really fortunate, I can see for the first time now, in the greater sense. His was the seldom given chance to die for his ideals, and I am proud of him for accepting that opportunity, in spite of what it meant to us who loved him.</p>
<p>
He was a Denver boy who had a dream to go to West Point. That dream came true, and from that time till his death he cherished the pride of the Corps in which his dream became a reality. He served on a succession of posts, both in this country and its possessions and he never forsook the ideals of that Corps. He was a humorist in the real sense of the word, that is, he was kind, understanding and just. He loved the American soldier and was proud to lead him. He often said there was no better in the world, and he must have been as proud to die with him as he was to live with him. He had to make his choice between his two philosophies of life and I know he made the right one. May God take him and the others like him to a special place in infinity.</p>
<p>
<em>—I. M.</em></p>
<p>
• • • • •</p>
<p>
<em>Cyril Quentin Marron</em> was born in Denver, Colorado, June 26, 1901. His parents were John Joseph Marron and Mary Crowley Marron, now both deceased. His parents came to Denver in the early 1880s. They met and were married in Denver in 1883. Lieutenant Colonel Marron was their youngest child, the last of ten. He was a twin. His twin sister, Irene, died of pneumonia in 1904, but alt the others lived to grow up. His oldest brother, John Alexander, died in 1927. The others, all living, are: Mr. Urban S. Marron, Denver; Mrs. J. B. Ginn, Denver (Florence); Mrs. W. A. Wiley, Denver (Ethel); Commodore Adrian R. Marron, U.S.N.A. ‘14, U.S. Navy; Mrs. J. P. Raddick, Denver (Adeline); Capt. Raymond V. Marron, U.S.C.G. Academy ‘24, U.S. Coast Guard; Mrs. F. C. Lebhart, Denver (Berenice).</p>
<p>
After going through the public schools in Denver, he went to West Point in 1919, where he was graduated in 1923 as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. First stationed at Fort Douglas, Utah, where he met his future wife, he was next sent to Manila in 1925. In 1926, on November 24, he was married to Miss Ruth Schumacher, of Yonkers, N.Y., in his Navy brother’s quarters near the Cavite Naval Yard in the Philippines. His bride, a graduate of Wellesley College, had traveled to the Philippines to marry him. Shortly after their return to the States, a daughter, Ruth Irene, was born on November 16, 1927, in Charleston, S.C.</p>
<p>
First Lieutenant Marron was next sent to the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Ga. After completion of the course there, another tour of duty in the Philippines ensued, during which he had his first encounter with the Japs. This was in Shanghai in 1932, where the Japs had landed in force and were staging a miniature war with the Chinese. Our 31st Infantry (Manila’s Own) was sent to Shanghai to protect our nationals there. Lieutenant Marron was Assistant S-2 at that time, and learned a great deal about the Japs. From this time on, he was of the opinion that war with Japan was merely a matter of time.</p>
<p>
Returning to the States once more, in 1934, he was sent to George Washington University Law School, in Washington, D.C. This marked the achievement of a long-standing ambition. Hitler was coming into power, and the world appeared to be headed toward conflict. Captain Marron thought that some one with both legal and military training would be valuable. He called it the “double focus” on world affairs. With this in mind, he specialized in international and constitutional law. He already was expert in military law.</p>
<p>
In three years he managed to achieve both an LL.M. and a J.D., besides taking honors, and being elected to membership in the “Order of the Coif”, the legal honor society. The accomplishment of all this was no sinecure. It meant practically no social life or relaxation, but of such is the stuff of ambition.</p>
<p>
He was assigned to the Judge Advocate General’s Department for duty, and sent to Omaha. But at the time that Hitler marched into Poland, he announced emphatically that World War II had begun, and forthwith began trying to be relieved of his assignment in the Judge Advocate General’s Department, and to be returned to the Infantry.</p>
<p>
In 1940, Major Marron became Regimental Adjutant of the 10th Infantry. In March, 1941, while he was a student at the Command and General Staff School at Leavenworth, Kansas, orders came sending him to the Philippines without delay. He sailed from San Francisco April 22, 1941, on the S.S. Washington, leaving his family behind, as per orders. He was assigned to duty as Military Liaison Officer on the staff of the High Commissioner, Francis B. Sayre. He was told that no one else had his qualifications of military and legal background, combined with his familiarity with the Philippines.</p>
<p>
When the war started, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (December 19, 1941), and assigned to military duty under General MacArthur. Very little is known of his activities during the fighting. He was on Corregidor part of the time. He had the opportunity to leave with the High Commissioner’s staff, but chose to remain. At the time of the surrender on Bataan in April, 1942, he was commanding the second battalion of the 31st Infantry. It is not known whether or not he made the “Death March”, but it seems likely that he did, for he was in Camp No. 1 in July, 1942. From there, he was shipped to Camp No. 2, in October, 1942. This Camp was near Davao, on Mindanao. All that ever was heard from him were four or five form post cards headed “Imperial Japanese Army”, and saying little. In June, 1944 he was moved to Manila and put in Camp No. 1. In December, 1944, he was put on a Jap prison ship and started for Japan. Our forces had already landed on Leyte and were preparing to land on Luzon so this ship was spotted immediately by our planes and bombed. We may never know how many were killed then for the Japs kept no record. Some survived, only to die in subsequent bombings in Formosa, or at sea from wounds and illness. The United States Government has designated December 15, 1944 as the date of Lieutenant Colonel Marron’s death, and has awarded him the Purple Heart Medal posthumously, “for wounds resulting in his death”.</p>
<p>
<em>—R. M.</em></p>
<p>
</p>