Parris Island mascot Lance Cpl. Legend, reporting for duty.
By Barry Kaufman
Following a ferocious assault by invading Marines, retreating German soldiers reportedly branded their attackers “Teufel Hunden,” roughly translated as “Devil Dogs,” due to their overwhelming tenacity in battle.
It was a name earned through blood and relentless courage and granted through the terror of their enemies. As you can imagine, it stuck.
Just four years later, an English Bulldog by the name of Jiggs was enlisted to the Corps, where the young private rose to the rank of Sgt. Major within two short years. Sergeant Major Jiggs served as the public face of the Corps, appearing in the film “Tell it to the Marines,” with Lon Chaney, and serving as spokesman for the Marines. When he died in 1927, he was buried with full military honors at a service attended by Marine guards and scores of mourners.