Battalions · from 1942

3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines

Infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps.

History

3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, abbreviated as (3/3), was an infantry marines battalion of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) that specialized in close with and destroy the enemy with firepower and maneuver warfare, based out of Kaneohe, Hawaii. Known as either "Trinity" or "America's Battalion", the unit normally fell under the command of the 3rd Marine Regiment of the 3rd Marine Division. When fully manned, the unit consisted of approximately 1000 U.S. Marines and United States Navy Sailors. Like most 20th century model infantry marines battalions of the U.S. Marine Corps, 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines was made up of three rifle companies (India, Kilo, and Lima), a weapons company (machine gunners, mortarman, assaultmen, snipers and TOW gunners), and a Headquarters and Services (H&S) company.

The battalion was originally formed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 1942 and saw action on both Bougainville and Guam during World War II, where it was awarded its first Presidential Unit Citation and Navy Unit Commendation. Marines in the battalion were also awarded one Medal of Honor and seven Navy Crosses during the war.

Following World War II, 3rd Battalion was disbanded until 1951, when it was reformed in California. The battalion was alerted for possible deployment during the 1956 Suez War and the 1958 intervention in Lebanon. In 1965, the Marines of 3rd Battalion were deployed to the Vietnam War and participated in Operation Starlite, the first major Marine engagement of that conflict. The battalion continued to see major action through Vietnam and was rotated back to the United States in 1969. Famous alumni from its time in Vietnam include Corporal Robert Emmett O'Malley, the first Marine in Vietnam to be awarded the Medal of Honor, Oliver North, and John Ripley. Around the end of the Vietnam War, the Battalion was deactivated for a second time in 1974.

Text from Wikipedia: 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Key dates

1942
3rd Battalion 3rd Marines was activated on 1 June 1942 at New River, North Carolina as the 5th Training Battalion.
1943
On 1 November 1943, the 3rd Battalion landed at Cape Torokina with the rest of 3rd Marines, just east of the Koromokina River.
1945
After sitting off Iwo Jima in their transport ships for a month, the 3rd Marines were ordered to return to Guam on 5 March 1945.
1956
In December 1956, the 3rd Marine Regiment was deployed off of Indonesia because of civil strife.
1965
However, the battalion found itself caught up in the initial deployment of Marine units to South Vietnam, and landed on 12 May 1965 along the Vietnamese coast south of Danang at Chu Lai. 3rd Battalion's first major operation in the Vietnam War was Operation Starlite, where they teamed up with units of the 7th Marines.
1968
The first major combat for 3rd Battalion in 1968 came on 7 February, approximately a week after the Tet Offensive began, when Kilo Company engaged a PAVN battalion near Gio Linh. 29 Kilo Marines were killed, including PFC Robert Quick who was awarded a posthumous Navy Cross for deflecting a PAVN hand grenade.
1990
On 2 August 1990, 3rd Battalion was completing a deployment at Camp Hansen on Okinawa when they were notified to be prepared to immediately redeploy to Saudi Arabia as a response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
1991
Operation Desert Storm began on 17 January 1991, but for the first two weeks 3rd Battalion only conducted sporadic engagements with its Iraqi counterparts across the border.
1999
From 1999 to 2002, 3rd Battalion conducted operations Crocodile '99 and Tandem Thrust '01 in Queensland and Townsend, Australia, Operation Tafakula in Tonga, and then conducted UDPs to Okinawa in 2000 and 2002.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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