Didn’t Reuben James save a captain or maybe and admiral’s life?
Off North Africa?
During the expedition against the Barbary Pirates, there was hand to hand fighting and an officer was about to be slashed with a sword or a scimitar or something.
Reuben James put himself between the sword and the officer and died saving his life.
Seems like a Marine I once worked with told me this story as he was taught it in boot camp, so I'm sure someone will come along momentarily to refresh my memory.
He was supposed to have saved Lt. Stephen Decatur in a fight off Tripoli in 1804 (some say it was Daniel Frazier, who was treated for a head wound while James was not).
The slang term "Leatherneck" is supposed to come from a heavy leather collar the Marines wore to prevent throat cuts during that war.