{"id":192531,"date":"2025-07-13T14:14:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T19:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=183248"},"modified":"2025-10-02T06:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T11:34:11","slug":"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">13<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Human beings are born to fight. It\u2019s honestly kind of weird. All of God\u2019s creations have a violent streak. Your typical house cat will torture anything smaller than itself for fun. When your adorable puppy is violently shaking that little squeaky toy, in his mind, he is ripping the very life out of some small, innocent creature. However, all that pales in comparison to homo sapiens. One particular US Marine, Joseph Drexel Biddle, just had a gift for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-5.12.36-PM-689x1024.jpg\" alt=\"kitten\" class=\"wp-image-183258\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Don&#8217;t let those big, adorable eyes fool you. This little guy would gladly slaughter anything small enough for him to catch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><h2>Table of contents<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"#h-humans-fighting-nature\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-level=\"2\">Humans&#8217; Fighting Nature<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-joseph-drexel-biddle-origin-story\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-level=\"2\">Joseph Drexel Biddle Origin Story<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-great-grandfather-nicholas-biddle\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-level=\"3\">Great-Grandfather Nicholas Biddle<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-joseph-drexel-biddle\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-level=\"3\">Joseph Drexel Biddle<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-close-quarters-combat\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-level=\"2\">Close Quarters Combat<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-biddle-answering-the-call\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-level=\"2\">Biddle &#8211; Answering the Call<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-instructor\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-level=\"3\">Instructor<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-joseph-drexel-biddle-s-legacy\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-level=\"2\">Joseph Drexel Biddle&#8217;s Legacy<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-ruminations\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-level=\"2\">Ruminations<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-humans-fighting-nature\">Humans&#8217; Fighting Nature<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This curious drive toward pugilism pervades everything about our culture. Football is just thinly veiled small-unit combat. Feel free to raise your kids in a gun-free home if you wish. Just don\u2019t be surprised when little Junior gnaws his Pop-Tart into the shape of a <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/firearms\/handguns\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\">handgun<\/a> and then shoots you with it. It\u2019s hardwired into our DNA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-5.13.24-PM-3-816x1024.jpg\" alt=\"black and white headshot photo of Muhammad Ali\" class=\"wp-image-183260\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Everybody recognizes Muhammad Ali. His claim to fame was an uncanny capacity to beat people to a pulp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Fighting is also big business. Everybody on the planet recognizes Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. Floyd Mayweather is the highest-paid boxer in the world. He\u2019s currently worth around $450 million. He earned all that cash by beating the holy bejeebers out of folks. And then there\u2019s the government taking things to the very next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-5.15.03-PM-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"f-35 lightning fighter jet\" class=\"wp-image-183261\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A single brand-new F-35 Lightning will set you back about $80 million. You and I are paying for those things.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The US defense budget is roughly $770 billion per annum. There are currently 328 million people in our great republic. Putting that in perspective, the United States spends $2,347 a year on defense for every man, woman, and child in America. Throughout a typical lifetime, that\u2019s $183,110 for each and every one of us. All those F-35 fighter planes aren\u2019t going buy themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While social justice warriors might hallucinate up some feel-good tripe about some ethereal spark of goodness in all of us, that\u2019s just not true. We all come from the factory broken. However, some seem more inclined to scrap than others. One of those <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/dueling-doctors-the-curiously-violent-origins-of-the-american-medical-association-2__trashed\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"308\">curiously violent<\/a> men was Joseph Biddle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-joseph-drexel-biddle-origin-story\">Joseph Drexel Biddle Origin Story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Joseph Drexel Biddle was born on 1 October 1874 to Emily Drexel and Edward Biddle II. Young Joseph spawned from banking royalty. His grandfather on his mom\u2019s side was Anthony Joseph Drexel. His great-grandfather on his dad\u2019s side was Nicholas Biddle. Anthony Joseph Drexel was a banker who established modern American global finance in the aftermath of the Civil War. JP Morgan was a junior partner in his firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-5.15.55-PM.jpg\" alt=\"Nicholas Biddle, great-grandfather to Joseph Drexel Biddle\" class=\"wp-image-183262\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is Nicholas Biddle, Joseph Biddle&#8217;s great-grandfather. He single-handedly deconstructed the American economy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-great-grandfather-nicholas-biddle\">Great-Grandfather Nicholas Biddle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Nicholas Biddle lived a generation prior and personally precipitated a financial recession in America after a spat with firebrand American President Andrew Jackson. In response to some offensive action or other by President Jackson, a man notoriously distrustful of financial institutions, Biddle hiked up interest rates in his banking house. This had the effect of destabilizing American currency. It&#8217;s not just every day a single man who isn\u2019t a Bond villain can threaten to topple the American economy. Together, these two families were lyrically rich. All that cash was destined to funnel right into the pockets of young Joseph Drexel Biddle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I grew up in a family of modest means. We never wanted for necessities, but we didn&#8217;t have just gobs of cash lying about, either. Having personally known periods of both austerity and plenty, I would posit that it was the relative deprivation that actually best honed my present character. Most really rich people I have known can be a bit caustic. Not so with Joseph Biddle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-5.17.40-PM-1-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"image of young adults in white shirts and jeans making faces\" class=\"wp-image-183263\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Behold TikTok influencers. Nothing about these idiots is real. In a survival situation, they would likely either cannibalize each other or just starve and die.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-joseph-drexel-biddle\">Joseph Drexel Biddle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>That guy could have just chosen to live out his life anonymously in opulent comfort. Truth be known, had it been me, I likely would have gotten some plastic surgery pec implants and embarked on a satisfying career as a part-time TikTok influencer. However, Joseph Biddle opted for something else entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-6.08.07-PM.jpg\" alt=\"Chuck Norris demonstrating his famous round-house kick\" class=\"wp-image-183269\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">My personal favorite&#8211;Chuck Norris once bet NASA he could survive re-entry without a spacesuit. On July 19th, 1999, a naked Chuck Norris re-entered the Earth&#8217;s atmosphere, streaking over 14 states and reaching a temperature of 3000 degrees. An embarrassed NASA publicly claimed it was a meteor, and still owes him a beer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The word Karate means \u201cempty hand.\u201d This martial art originally arose in Japan and revolves around self-defense without the use of weapons. There are countless variations. Nowadays, the more photogenic adherents can land lucrative movie deals and become ludicrously wealthy in the process. Jason Statham, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Wesley Snipes have all converted some killer martial arts moves into gobs of cash. Chuck Norris\u2019 roundhouse kick should hang in the Louvre. Joseph Biddle got into martial arts back when martial arts weren\u2019t cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-close-quarters-combat\">Close Quarters Combat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With more money at his disposal than he could ever spend, Biddle sought out training opportunities. Unencumbered by the need to make a living or feed himself, the man threw himself into everything he did. He became a published author and playwright and earned the title of fellow of the American Geographical Society. Along the way, he trained extensively in savate and jiu-jitsu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-5.11.25-PM.jpg\" alt=\"vintage photo of two men fighting savate style martial arts\" class=\"wp-image-183257\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Traditional savate involves men dressed like ballerinas kicking each other artistically. It is, of course, French.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Savate is a French martial art, believe it or not. The word means \u201cold shoe or boot.\u201d Savate combines elements of English boxing with a variety of graceful kicking techniques. In the annals of savate, only foot kicks are allowed. Therefore, mastering savate involves some epic footwork. Bruce Lee was a serious student of the technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jiujitsu dates back to the 16th century in Japan and can be employed in either offense or defense. The art was perfected among the Japanese warrior class in the 17<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;century. Jiujitsu went on to spawn judo, aikido, sambo, and the contemporary sport of mixed martial arts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to being an absolute close combat monster, Biddle also lived out a powerful and abiding Christian faith. He fathered a popular movement titled \u201cAthletic Christianity.\u201d At one point, his organization boasted some 300,000 active members. When teaching children, he was wont to explain that, \u201c(Jesus) had gone into the jungle [<em>sic<\/em>] for forty days to train for a match with the Devil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-4.58.12-PM.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle in 1909 dressed in boxing attire\" class=\"wp-image-183249\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is Joseph Biddle in 1909 as he was set to box incognito.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>An avid boxer, Biddle tended to attract attention based on his station and his extensive writings. He therefore typically boxed incognito under the pseudonym \u201cTim O\u2019Biddle.\u201d Along the way, he got fairly good at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-biddle-answering-the-call\">Biddle &#8211; Answering the Call<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1917, the United States stood poised to enter World War 1. We always were an undeniably scrappy mob. That institutional tendency toward pugilism very nearly destroyed us during the American Civil War. However, in the early 20th&nbsp;century, the state of American combat training was fairly rudimentary. As a result, Joseph Drexel Biddle&#8211;socialite, author, Christian lay leader, amateur boxer, and recognized master of unarmed combat&#8211;enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 41.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-4.58.28-PM-757x1024.jpg\" alt=\"black and white photo of Joseph Drexel Biddle. dressed in military uniform\" class=\"wp-image-183253\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joseph Biddle was already in his forties when he first enlisted in the Marine Corps.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Jarheads recognized the value of an intense regimen of calisthenics and hand-to-hand combat training. As Biddle was the only show in town, they commissioned him a Captain and gave him free rein to tour Marine training camps in Britain and France, schooling young Leathernecks in the fine art of close quarters fighting. His technique focused on English boxing but also taught mastery of the bayonet as well as general physical toughness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-4.57.17-PM.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle training a young marine\" class=\"wp-image-183256\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Biddle and his Jarhead pals put on a killer bayonet demo before a major boxing match, destroying the facility in the process. Note the curious lack of scabbards on those blades.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-instructor\">Instructor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After the war, Biddle remained in the Marine Corps Reserve but also branched out. In 1919, he gave a public demonstration on rifle bayonet fencing as an opening act before the Willard-Dempsey prizefight. Biddle and his Marines put on a spirited and rousing display. However, the bout had to be postponed as the Jarheads absolutely destroyed the canvas boxing ring in the process.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 1930s, Biddle taught close combat techniques as part of new agent training for the FBI. In 1937, the Marine Corps Association published Biddle\u2019s book titled&nbsp;Do or Die, Military Manual of Advanced Science in Individual Combat.&nbsp;While some complained that the techniques described therein were somewhat dated on a battlefield liberally populated with <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/search?keyword=machine%20guns\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\">machine guns <\/a>and armored vehicles, hand-to-hand combat remains an important part of military training even today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-4.57.33-PM-808x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle training a marine in close combat techniques with bayonets\" class=\"wp-image-183250\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This guy was better part of seventy and went Mano-a-Mano against these young Marines with raw sharp steel whilst wearing dress shoes and a necktie. They just don&#8217;t make them like this anymore.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With World War 2 brewing, Biddle was recalled to active duty once again as a Marine close combat instructor. By 1941, he was 67 years old and a full Colonel. Even then, his teaching technique was sufficiently radical as to strain credulity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-joseph-drexel-biddle-s-legacy\">Joseph Drexel Biddle&#8217;s Legacy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Lee Marvin\u2019s hand-to-hand training scene in the epic war film&nbsp;<em>The Dirty Dozen<\/em>&nbsp;was inspired by Joseph Biddle. Biddle would face off unarmed against young, fit, hard Marines equipped with an unsheathed knife or a bayonet on a rifle. Biddle would then invite them to attack him. During many years of these demonstrations, he was only seriously injured once. One young fire breather got a good slice in against Biddle\u2019s wrist and put him in the hospital for two full months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-5.04.26-PM-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"image of Lee Marvin's character major reisman in The Dirty Dozen movie\" class=\"wp-image-183251\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Part of Lee Marvin&#8217;s character Major Reisman in The Dirty Dozen was based upon Marine Colonel Joseph Biddle. Lee Marvin was a combat Marine himself who was shot during the Battle for Saipan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Biddle\u2019s influence lives on in the Marine Corps today. Nowadays, individual combatives are formalized in the Corps as the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program or MCMAP. The motto is&nbsp;<em>One Mind, Any Weapon.<\/em>&nbsp;The MCMAP was launched in 2001 and is designed to improve morale, enhance team-building, and foster mental and physical toughness. The MCMAP is a major part of the Marines\u2019 embracing the warrior ethos. Components address combat with edged weapons, the bayonet, weapons of opportunity, and unarmed hand-to-hand techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-5.10.01-PM.jpg\" alt=\"two soldiers practicing martial arts on a grass \" class=\"wp-image-183255\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nowadays, the Jarheads take their combatives quite seriously. Hand-to-hand combat is an integral part of Marine Corps training.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fitness.marines.mil\/Martial-Arts-Instructor\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\">MCMAP <\/a>employs a belt system akin to that of most recognized martial arts programs. Trainees advance from Tan through Gray, Green, Brown, and eventually Black belts as they master the intricacies of the program. The MCMAP draws from a wide variety of styles, all tailored to the unique demands of the modern combat Marine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ruminations\">Ruminations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The United States of America is in a fairly shoddy state these days. The fine art of manliness is institutionally discouraged. In some quarters, we struggle to define what a man even is. One might be forgiven for feeling that the inmates had taken over the asylum. However, this was not always the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-4.57.03-PM-802x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle training a marine in hand combat\" class=\"wp-image-183252\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">It took fortitude for a 67-year-old man to give a Marine less than half his age a bayonet along with an order to try to kill him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>READ MORE HERE: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/when-americas-ace-of-aces-shot-down-a-crocodile\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\">Dr Dabbs \u2013 When America\u2019s Ace of Aces \u201cShot Down\u201d a Crocodile<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a time not so long ago when a 67-year-old man voluntarily faced off alone and unarmed against a hard young warrior wielding an unsheathed bayonet and sincerely invited the kid to kill him. Along the way, this remarkable, wealthy theologian helped create the most lethal and effective amphibious military force the world has ever seen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-13-at-4.56.48-PM-803x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle. in uniform holding a weapon\" class=\"wp-image-183254\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Colonel Joseph Biddle was one seriously manly man. His influence on Marine Corps training is still felt even today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Joseph Biddle died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 73 in 1948. His obituary in&nbsp;<em>Time Magazine<\/em>&nbsp;read, \u201cDied. Colonel Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr., 73, muscular Christian, father of the wartime ambassador to the governments in exile; following a cerebral hemorrhage; in Syosset, N.Y. He founded the Drexel Biddle Bible Classes in 1907 (their curriculum of fighting-&amp;-praying ultimately attracted 300,000 members), taught jujitsu and dirty fighting to Marines in both World Wars.\u201d A muscular Christian who taught dirty fighting. That&#8217;s a true warrior&#8217;s obit right there. Wow, what a stud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\" title=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some people seam more inclined to scrap than others. One of those curious men who seemed born to fight was Joseph Drexel Biddle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":215915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[772],"tags":[102,636,3420,2836],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-192531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-will-dabbs","8":"tag-feature-articles","9":"tag-history","10":"tag-war-stories","11":"tag-will-dabbs"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Joseph Drexel Biddle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read the inspiring story of Joseph Drexel Biddle, the father of Marine Corps close-quarters combat, now called MCMAP.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/joseph-drexel-biddle-the-father-of-marine-corps-close-quarters-combat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Joseph Drexel Biddle: Father of Marine Corps Close Quarters Combat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some people seam more inclined to scrap than others. 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