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On 3 May 1946, the fate of the Marine Corps was determined in a little-known battle fought off the coast of San Fransisco on the infamous Alcatraz Island.
To understand the importance of the battle on “The Rock,” we need to set the stage for what life was like for the Marines in post-war America during the mid-1940s.
A sign displayed at Alcatraz. (Courtesy of author)
Back From the War
When the calendar flipped over to 1946, WWII had just concluded and battle-hardened troops were returning stateside to their families and a new normal. These men had been a part of ferocious battles in Africa, Italy, and all over the Pacific on islands like Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The men who returned home had made it through what many consider to be the toughest war in human history. By the time the war ended, the men who had survived these battles were hardened, decorated, and skilled weapons of war.
Alcatraz: el sangriento motín en la cárcel de donde nadie podía escapar, cinco muertos y una fuga de película
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since the mid-1800 understand it s gone from fortress to prison to a tourist attraction. it switched to civilian use. the first civilian main inmates arrived in the summer of 1984. the last inmates was on march 1963 the day that it ceased to be a federal prison. it had become too expensive to operate and the buildings were deteriorating. the last inmates were loaded on to buses that day taken to the pier and transferred to boats and shipped off to other federal prisons that were more modern and less costly to run. for years the rock sat empty, a desolate area. the indians occupied for a time in the 70s. in 1963 a decade after it closed the federal government opened it up to tourists. in 1992 george wattson looked back at the history of alcatraz and the prison that made the island notorious. reporter: the evolution of alcatraz has been as spectacular as it has been predictable. sooner or later the military fortress would volunteer of into a prison fortress and for good reas