1st Marine Regiment (United States)
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The 1st Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. The regiment, sometimes known as "Inchon", falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
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[edit] Subordinate units
The Regiment comprises four infantry battalions and one headquarters battalion:
- Headquarters Company 1st Marines (HQ/1)
- 1st Battalion 1st Marines (1/1)
- 2nd Battalion 1st Marines (2/1)
- 3rd Battalion 1st Marines (3/1)
- 1st Battalion 4th Marines (1/4) - (assigned to the 1st Marine Regiment for historical reasons)
[edit] History
The 1st Marines were activated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 27, 1913. At this time it bore the designation of 2d Advance Base Regiment. During the early years of its existence, the regiment was primarily employed as a combat force in the so-called Banana Wars, in the Caribbean area. The first of these engagements occurred in April 1914 when the regiment landed and seized the Mexican port of Vera Cruz. They next participated in the Haitian campaign (1915–1916) and the Dominican Republic campaign (1916). On July 1, 1916, this organization was re-designated as the 1st Regiment of Marines. In December 1918, the 1st Regiment returned to the Caribbean and was deployed to Cuba for approximately six months.
Following its second Dominican tour of duty it was deactivated, but was subsequently reactivated at Quantico, Virginia on March 15, 1925. The Regiment received its present designation of 1st Marines on July 10, 1930. The decade of the 1930s was a period of inactivity in the 1st Marines' history, as the unit was in a deactivated status during most of this time. World War II was the occasion for the next reactivation of the Regiment on February 1, 1941 at Culebra, Puerto Rico as part of the 1st Marine Division.
[edit] World War II
The 1st Marines stood at a low state of readiness at the beginning of the war having just been reconstituted from cadre status however they did possess very strong leadership at the higher levels.[1] They set sail from the San Francisco in June of 1942 on board a mix of eight ships headed for the South Pacific.[2] The 1st Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal, part of the Solomon Islands, on August 7, 1942 and would fight in the Battle of Guadalcanal until relieved on December 8, 1942.[3]. Some of the heaviest action the regiment would see on Guadalcanal took place on August 21, 1942 during the Battle of the Tenaru, which was the first Japanese counter-attack of the campaign.[4][5] Following their first campaign, the regiment was sent to Melbourne, Australia to rest and refit. During their stay there they were billeted in the Melbourne Cricket Ground until leaving in September of 1943.[6]
The 1st Marines would next see action during Operation Cartwheel which was the codename for the campaigns in Eastern New Guinea and New Britain. The regiment would be the first ashore at the Battle of Cape Gloucester on December 26, 1943. They fought on New Britain until February of 1944 at such places as Suicide Creek and Ajar Ridge.[7]
The next battle for the 1st Marines would be the bloodiest yet at the Battle of Peleliu. The regiment landed on September 15, 1944 as part of the 1st Marine Division's assault on the island. The division's commanding general, Major General William H. Rupertus had predicted the fighting would be, "...tough but short. It'll be over in three of four days - a fight like Tarawa. Rough but fast. Then we can go back to a rest area."[8] The 1st Marines fought on Peleliu for 10 days before being pulled off the lines after suffering 56% casualties and no longer being combat effective.[9] The regiment was decimated by heavy artillery and accurate small arms fire in the vicinity of Bloody Nose Ridge. Repeated frontal assaults with fixed bayonets failed to unseat the Japanese defenders from the 14th Division (Imperial Japanese Army).[10] Ten days of fighting on Peleliu cost the 1st Marine Regiment 1,749 casualties. [11]
The last World War II engagement for the regiment was the Battle of Okinawa.
In September 1945, the 1st Marines deployed to North China to take part in the garrisoning of the area and in the repatriation of former enemy personnel. It remained in China until February 1949. They returned to Camp Pendleton and were deactivated on October 1, 1949.
[edit] Korean War
The Korean War resuscitated the buildup of the Marine Corps. As a result, the Regiment was brought back into existence on August 4, 1950. On September 15, the 1st Marine Division, including the 1st Marines, assaulted the beaches of Inchon.
The Regiment then went on to take part in the liberation of Seoul and later in the noted Chosin Reservoir Campaign. For the next two and one-half years, the 1st Marines continued to engage the North Koreans and Chinese Communists. Following the termination of hostilities in July 1953, the Regiment remained in Korea and acted as a defensive force against possible Communist attempts to rekindle the war. The 1st Marines returned to Camp Pendleton in April 1955. There it stayed for the following ten years except for a brief deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the Caribbean during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
[edit] The Vietnam War
With the intensification of the American involvement in the war in Vietnam in 1965, the Regiment was ordered to the Far East that summer. By January 1966 the entire Regiment had completed its move to the embattled nation. The first major operation in the war for a battalion of the 1st Marines was Harvest Moon in December 1965.
By fall of 1967, the 1st Marines were operating permanently in the northern sector of the I Corps tactical zone. The following winter the communists launched their all-out Tet Offensive. The enemy overran Hue, the old imperial capital. Between January 31 and March 2, 1968, elements of the 1st Marines, along with other U.S. Marine and South Vietnamese units, fought to regain control of the city. Bitter street fighting and hand-to-hand combat characterized the battle. Hue was finally recaptured after the enemy suffered nearly 1,900 killed. The regiment remained deployed in South Vietnam for the next two and a half years, participating in numerous operations, both large and small. On June 28, 1971, the last members of the regiment departed Danang to return to the United States at MCB Camp Pendleton. The 1st Marines were the last Marine infantry unit to depart Vietnam.
[edit] Post Vietnam Era
In the spring of 1975, the 1st Marines provided primary support to the Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton for preparation of a camp to house Vietnamese refugees during Operation New Arrivals. In 1983 1st Marines were assigned responsibility to provide the Ground Combat Element for the WESTPAC MAU. Since the inception of the Special Operations Capable (SOC) Marine Expeditionary Unit's (MEU's) in support of contingency operations in the Western Pacific, the 1st Marine Regiment has been the SOC Regiment of the 1st Marine Division.
[edit] Operation Desert Storm and the LA Riots
In August 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait and 1st Marines deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield. On December 30, 1990, 1st Marines was designated as Task Force Papa Bear The Task Force attacked into Kuwait on February 23 and continued its march to the vicinity of Kuwait International Airport where hostilities ceased on February 27.
From 1 May to 11 May 1992, elements of the Regiment deployed to perform riot control operations as part of the Joint Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Los Angeles. Assuming a prominent role in quelling the urban unrest in South Central Los Angeles.
[edit] Operation Iraqi Freedom
In January 2003, 1st Marines deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Organized as a 5,000-man combined arms task force known as Regimental Combat Team One [RCT-1], the regiment fought its way from Kuwait to Baghdad, with significant actions at An Nasariyah, Al Kut, and Baghdad. Subsequent to the collapse of the regime, the RCT conducted security and stability operations in Baghdad and Al Hillah until returning home throughout the summer of 2003.
In February of 2004, 1st Marines deployed to the Al Anbar province of Iraq. Upon arrival in theater, 1st Marines formed into a Regimental Combat Team (RCT-1) and conducted a relief-in-place with 3d Brigade of the 82d Airborne Division. RCT-1 consisted of several major subordinate commands from 1st Marine Division and various smaller attachments from throughout the Marine Corps.
The RCT’s area of operation (AO), consisted of numerous cities most important of which was Al Fallujah. On March 31, 2004, four U.S. Citizens working for Blackwater USA were attacked, mutilated and hung on a bridge in the city. On April 7, 2004, Operation Vigilant Resolve commenced in response to these murders. After intense urban fighting, a political resolution was mandated and the regiment was ordered out of the city.
Throughout September and October of 2004, insurgent presence increased in Fallujah. Led by the 1st Marine Division, Operation Phantom Fury began with an assault north of the city with four infantry battalions in the attack. Designated the Division Main Effort, RCT-1 (3rd Battalion 1st Marines) crossed the line of departure on November 7, 2004. After twelve days of intense urban combat, 1st Marine Division had defeated the insurgents and successfully fought its way to the southern end of the city capturing the western half of Fallujah. First Marines returned to Camp Pendleton, California, on April 2005.
[edit] Medal of Honor recipients
Eighteen (18) Marines from the 1st Marines have been awarded the Medal of Honor [12] — 6 during World War II, 10 during the Korean War, and two during the Vietnam War.
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[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Frank (1990), p.47
- ^ Frank (1990), p.48
- ^ Frank (1990), p.522
- ^ Frank (1990), p.150-158
- ^ Cronin (1951), p.47
- ^ Leckie (2001), p.147-208
- ^ Turner (1997), p.25-6
- ^ Sloane (2005), p.65
- ^ Sledge (1990), p96
- ^ Sledge (1990), p.95
- ^ Sledge (1990), p155
- ^ Johnstone, Appendix B. Note, A.C. Gonzalez Medal of Honor action occurred after the publication of Johnstone's work.
[edit] References
This article incorporates text in the public domain from the United States Marine Corps.
- Bibliography
- Cronin, Francis D. (Capt) (1951). Under the Southern Cross - The Saga of the Americal Division. Washington D.C.: Combat Forces Press.
- Frank, Richard (1990). Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-58875-4.
- Martin, Robert(editor) (1997). First Marine Division. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing. ISBN 1-56311-244-2.
- Russ, Martin (1999). Breakout - The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14029-259-4.
- Sledge, Eugene B. (1990). With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19506-714-2.
- Web
- Regimental History. Official Website of the 1st Marine Regiment. Retrieved on 2006-10-29.
- Major John H. Johnstone, USMC (1968). A Brief History Of The 1st Marines. Historical Branch, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved on 2006-10-29.
- Official Website of the 1st Marine Regiment. Retrieved on 2006-10-29.
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