3rd Battalion 7th Marines

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3rd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment

3/7 insignia
Active January 1, 1941
Country United States
Branch USMC
Type Infantry
Part of 7th Marine Regiment
1st Marine Division
Garrison/HQ Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms
Nickname The Cutting Edge
Engagements World War II
* Battle of Guadalcanal
* Battle of Peleliu
Korean War
* Battle of Inchon
* Battle of Chosin Reservoir
Vietnam War
* Operation Starlite
Operation Desert Storm
Operation Restore Hope
Operation Iraqi Freedom
* 2003 invasion of Iraq

The 3rd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment (3/7) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and consist of approximately 800 Marines. The battalion falls under the command of the 7th Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] World War II

3rd Battalion 7th Marines was activated January 1, 1941 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and was assigned to the 1st Marine Brigade. In February 1941 they were reassigned to the 1st Marine Division. 3/7 participated in the following World War II campaigns:

After the war 3/7 participated in the occupation of northern China from September 1945 to April 1946and were then deactivated 15 April 1946

[edit] Korean War

The battalion was reactivated September 11, 1950 at Kobe, Japan and assigned to the 1st Marine Division. They deployed in September 1950 to the South Korea and participated in the Inchon-Seoul. Following the recapture of Seoul, the 1st Marine Division was pulled out of northwest Korea and sailed to the east coast where they landed at Wonsan and began to march north towards the Yalu River.

The battalion was in Yudam-ni on the evening of 27-28 November 1950 when the Battle of Chosin Reservoir began. On the first evening, the Marines of ‘’How Company’’ were overwhelmed on Hill 1403 by waves of Chinese attackers and were eventually ordered to pull back by the commanding officer (CO), Lieutenant Colonel William Harris[1] The battalion continued to fight on the hills around Yudam-ni for the next few days until December 1[2] when the 5th Marines and 7th Marines were ordered to fight their way back to the 1st Marine Division’s main perimeter at Hagaru-ri. The 300+ remaining members of 3/7[3] provided the rearguard for the two regiments as they brokeout to Hagaru-ri and were the last Marines to leave the perimeter at Yudam-ni as it was being overrun by Chinese forces[4] 3/7 consolidated with the rest of the division at Hagaru-ri and took part in the fighting breakout towards Koto-ri where, on December 7, all of the 1st Marine Division’s regiments were together for the first time since the landing at Wonsan in October[5] Of note during the battle, on the morning before their arrival at the Koto-ri perimeter, the battalion’s CO, who during the battle was described as “coming apart”[6] and having an “emotional breakdown and collapse”[7], disappeared and was never seen again.[8]

During the rest of the war 3/7 took part in the fighting on the East Central Front. In October 1951 it performed the first battalion sized combat helicopter air assault in history in Operation Bumblebee. After the war the battalion participated in the defense of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, July 1953 to March 1955.

[edit] Vietnam War

[edit] The Gulf War and the 1990s

Operation United Shield (Kilo Co., augmented with elements from India Co., Lima Co., and Weapons Co.)

[edit] Global war on terror

1st Tour

3/7 took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. They originally deployed in January 2003, moved north in March and April and then a five-month security assignment doing stabilizing operations in Karbala until September 2003. During the assignemnt, India Company, 3rd Battalion 7th Marines operated in Mahmudiyah, Iraq in support of Task Force Scorpion during July and August of 2003. Their training in the Kuwaiti desert and the subsequent invasion was covered in the TV documentary Virgin Soldiers which often airs on Discovery Times and Military Channel.

2nd Tour

After returning to the United States in September 2003, the battalion re-deployed in February 2004 to Al Qaim -- in western Al Anbar Province, abutting the Syrian border. Their area of responsibility included Husaybah, the primary border-crossing point between Syria and Iraq. They returned from that deployment in September 2004.

3rd Tour

On the third tour, 3/7 was stationed in Ar Ramadi and made FOB Hurricane Point (HP) their main base of operations and dispersed throughout the city to increase contact with the local residents. Since the prevalence of the Anbar Awakening, 3/7 Marines have been conducting counter-insurgency (COIN) missions rather than the more "kinetic" operations on previous tours.

[edit] Medal of Honor recipients

See also: Category:Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients.
World War II
Korean War
Vietnam War
Iraq War

[edit] See also

United States Marine Corps Portal

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Russ (1999), pp.115-121
  2. ^ Russ (1999), p. 305
  3. ^ Russ (1999), p. 324
  4. ^ Russ (1999), p. 326
  5. ^ Russ (1999), p. 394.
  6. ^ Russ (1999), p. 121
  7. ^ Russ (1999), p.168
  8. ^ Russ (1999), p. 371.
  9. ^ Gidget Fuentes. "Medal of Honor is first for a Marine since Vietnam", Marine Corps Times, November 10, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-10. 

[edit] References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the United States Marine Corps.
Bibliography
  • Russ, Martin (1999). Breakout - The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14029-259-4. 
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