IT SOUNDS FAMILIAR: a little banana republic in Central America largely under the influence of the American Fruit Company, whose trade was being interfered with by Communist bandits (or freedom fighters—take your choice) and a decision to send in the U.S. Marines to restore order and "support a fledgling democracy." This time it was Nicaragua in 1927, and as usual, they were under-equipped, under-supported and their mission was ill defined, except to find, capture or kill the bandits. One Marine who served with distinction in this little-known mission was aviator First Lt. Christian Franklin Schilt, a pilot with Observation Squadron 7-M. They supported the small Marine force that was scouring the countryside for Sandino, the bandit chief. Schilt was already well known, having served in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and in 1926, he placed second in the Schneider Cup contest.
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