[August 16, 2026] The “Devil Duck” was a real duck who served as an unofficial mascot with the 2nd Marine Division in the Pacific during World War II. This story tells us about the American military culture more than what we typically would see in history books.
In 1942–1943, while the Marines were staging in New Zealand, Sgt. Francis “Pappy” Fagan won the duck in a raffle (or, in some versions of the tale, a poker game) at a local pub. The Marines named her Sergeant Siwash after another Marine, Sgt. Jack “Siwash” Cornelius, and made her the unit’s mascot.
She followed Fagan around, developed a taste for beer (warm beer preferred, no drafts), and became a popular morale booster. The Marines initially thought she was male until she started laying eggs.
Siwash went ashore with the Marines during the brutal Battle of Tarawa (Betio Island in the Gilbert Islands) on November 20, 1943. The island was heavily fortified, the landing was extremely costly, and the Marines initially held only a narrow strip of beach under intense fire.
This is wild. According to the unit’s lore, the duck engaged a Japanese rooster in combat on the beach. One widely repeated account (later cited in official-sounding citation language) claimed she fought with “utter disregard for his own personal safety,” was wounded by pecks to the head, routed the rooster, and refused medical attention until other wounded members of her section had been cared for.
Fagan later told reporters the rooster “didn’t have a chance” and that Siwash chased it up the beach. There was talk of a Purple Heart, but instead she received a written citation for bravery. Some later recollections suggested the fight may have been exaggerated or even that the rooster got the better of her at first.
The nickname “Devil Duck” stuck from this episode (playing on the Marines’ “Devil Dogs” moniker).
Siwash continued with the division for the Saipan operation (mostly remaining aboard ship for safety) and the Battle of Tinian, where reports claimed she again hit the beach and “captured” a small Japanese duck. After Tinian her combat days ended.
“Devil Duck” now in the USMC National Museum
She returned to the United States with Fagan, received a hero’s welcome, and eventually lived at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. She died in 1954 of liver disease (attributed in part to her beer-drinking habits). Her body was later taxidermied and presented to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia.
The story mixes documented details (the duck’s acquisition, rank/name, presence with the unit, beer habit, and postwar life) with wartime embellishment and Marine Corps humor typical of the era. It has been retold in Marine Corps publications, contemporary newspaper accounts, TIME magazine, and modern history pieces as a colorful piece of Pacific War lore.
I always love a good Marine story.
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Good one, sir. And thanks.
This was a fun story to read about that tough little duck the Marines took with them. I never heard of Sergeant Siwash before but now I will not forget her. Those guys in the Pacific sure needed something to lift their spirits and a duck that liked warm beer sounds about right. The part where she went ashore at Tarawa and tangled with that Japanese rooster made me smile. Even if some of it got stretched a bit in the telling it still shows the humor those Marines carried into hard places. Calling her the Devil Duck after the Devil Dogs nickname was perfect. It is nice that she stayed with the division through more of the fighting and then got a real hero’s welcome when she came home. Ending up at the zoo and later in the Marine Corps museum feels like the right send-off for a mascot like her. Stories like this remind me how much personality and heart the men brought to the war. They were not just fighting machines. They found ways to stay human in the middle of all that chaos. Thanks for sharing this piece of Marine lore, General Satterfield. It is the kind of tale that sticks with you long after you finish reading. I always enjoy these looks at the lighter side of military history. Keep them coming.
Somewhere in the afterlife there’s a Japanese rooster still telling his buddies about the day a drunk American duck ruined his entire war. God bless Sergeant Siwash, proof that even a duck can live by the code. Great story to tell my grandchildren.
Too funny!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
Hi Susie Q. Well said. Even in war time there can be humor to hang onto.
Ha Ha, more duck stories.
That Devil Duck put more Marines to shame than half the second lieutenants I ever met. 😂