When the Corps exploded from 65,000 men to nearly half a million during the war, what held it together was a thin cadre of pre-war professionals — the "Old Breed." Many were China Marines who had served in Shanghai and Peking, or veterans of the Banana Wars in Nicaragua and Haiti, men who had soldiered for a peacetime dollar a day and knew their trade cold. A Gunnery Sergeant like this one was that knowledge made rank: the senior enlisted expert who trained the flood of new Marines, steadied them in their first fight, and could run a company if every officer went down. When the Gunny pointed, Marines moved.

K&C sculpts the Gunny in the act of command — right arm thrust out to point the way, the Thompson gripped in his left hand, an M1911 holstered at his hip, in fatigues and a camouflage-covered M1 helmet. He is the hinge of a Pacific command diorama: directing the fire of the Marine with the BAR, driving the walking Marine sergeant and his squad forward, and echoing the orders of the shouting Marine officer.

King & Country model USMC071. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.