Leatherneck Magazine

File:Leatherneck Magazine December 1970 cover.png

December 1970 issue with Miss Alabama Ann Fowler in South Vietnam.

Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines (or simply Leatherneck) is a magazine for United States Marines.

History and profile

It was first published as a newspaper by off-duty Marines at Marine Corps Base Quantico in 1917, and was originally named The Quantico Leatherneck. In 1918, "Quantico" was dropped from the magazine's name.

In 1920, with the formation of the Marine Corps Institute (MCI) by Commandant of the Marine Corps John A. Lejeune, Leatherneck became an official Marine Corps publication under the auspices of MCI, and was moved to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C. In 1925, the format was changed from a newspaper to a magazine.

During World War II, many of the Marine Corps' combat correspondents were assigned to Leatherneck. In 1943, the Leatherneck Association was formed to govern the magazine, making it more autonomous and answerable only to the Commandant.

The magazine is sometimes referred to as the "Reader's Digest for Marines". Its name derives from the slang "leatherneck" for a U.S. Marine, referring to the leather-lined collar or stock of the original Marine uniform.

Leatherneck was an official Marine Corps publication until 1972, staffed primarily by active-duty Marines. That year all active-duty positions were eliminated and the magazine returned to Quantico. In 1976, the Leatherneck Association merged with the Marine Corps Association (MCA). As of 2010, MCA continues to publish Leatherneck alongside another Marine Corps periodical the Marine Corps Gazette.

Staff and contributors

Leatherneck staff and contributors have included:

• Gordon Bess, creator of the comic strip Redeye
• George Booth, cartoonist for The New Yorker
• John Clymer, animal and Western artist
• Russ Jones, illustrator, novelist and founding editor of Creepy magazine
• Tom Lovell, Western painter
• Fred Lasswell, cartoonist best known for his comic strip Snuffy Smith.
• Louis R. Lowery, combat photographer who took photo of the first flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima
• Mike Ploog, comic-book and movie-storyboard artist

External links

• www.Leatherneck.com
• Leatherneck Magazine official site