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PLEASE SEE STORELOT MORE --COMBINE SHIPPINGSAVE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$3rd Marine Division12 languagesToolsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia3rd Marine Division3rd Marine Division insigniaActive1942–1945, 1952–presentCountryUnited States of AmericaBranchUnited States Marine CorpsTypeGround combat elementSizeMarine DivisionPartofIII Marine Expeditionary ForceGarrison/HQCamp Courtney[1]Nickname(s)\"Fighting Third\" \"Caltrap\"Motto(s)Fidelity, Valor, HonorEngagements
- World War II
- Battle of Bougainville
- Battle of Guam
- Battle of Iwo Jima
Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
- Vietnam War
- Operation Starlite
- First Battle of Khe Sanh
- Operation Hastings
- Operation Buffalo
- Operation Kingfisher
- Operation Kentucky
- Operation Virginia Ridge
- Operation Idaho Canyon
- Tet Offensive
- Battle of Khe Sanh
- Con Thien
Operation Desert Storm
War on Terror
- Operation Enduring Freedom
CommandersCommanding GeneralMaj. Gen.Christian F. WortmanSergeant MajorSgtMajRobert W. SchielerNotable
commandersCharles D. Barrett
Graves B. Erskine
William E. Riley
William R. Collins
Wood B. Kyle
Rathvon M. Tompkins
Bruno Hochmuth
Raymond G. Davisshow3rd Marine Division (1942–1945)
The3rd Marine Divisionis adivisionof theUnited States Marine Corpsbased atCamp Courtney,Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. ButlerinOkinawa,Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry divisions in the Marine Corps and together with the1st Marine Aircraft Wing(1stMAW) and the3rd Marine Logistics Group(3rd MLG) forms theIII Marine Expeditionary Force(III MEF). The division was first formed duringWorld War IIand saw four years of continuous combat in theVietnam War. Today, elements of the 3rd Marine Division are continuously forward deployed and forward postured to carry out the US Government\'s mission of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific in conjunction with its sister services.
Organization 2024[edit]3rd Marine Division organization March 2024 (click to enlarge)
As of March 2024 the 3rd Marine Division consists of:[2]
- Headquarters Battalion
- 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment
- 4th Marine Regiment(Infantry)
- 12th Marine Littoral Regiment
- 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion
- Jungle Warfare Training Center, Okinawa (Transitioning toTECOM)
History[edit]World War II[edit]3rd Marine Division, 2nd Raider\'s sign on BougainvilleA young Marine waits on the beach atDa NanginVietnamduring the Marine landing, March 8, 1965.U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Eric Kassow, a rifleman with 3d Marine Division, provides security during the 3d Marine Division Rifle Squad Competition at Camp Gonsalves, Okinawa, JapanU.S. Marines with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division conduct parachute operations by jumping out of a KC-130 Hercules Okinawa, JapanU.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, conduct a fire mission with a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System during an Expeditionary Advance Base Operation exercise at the Northern Training Area, Okinawa, Japan, June 18, 2020. This 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment-led exercise also features participation from 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion and HIMARS from 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment. Training events like this strengthen 3rd Marine Division’s ability to control key terrain in a contested battlespace. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Donovan Massieperez)
The 3rd Marine Division was officially activated on September 16, 1942 atCamp Elliott,San Diego,California.[3]Most of the original members of the division were drawn from the cadre staff of the2nd Marine Division.[4]The division was initially built around the9th Marine Regiment, commanded byColonelLemuel C. Shepherd, Jr.who later became the 20thCommandant of the Marine Corps.Major GeneralCharles D. Barrettwas the first commanding general of the division.
The division deployed intoAuckland,New Zealand, between January and March 1943. In June of that year, it moved ontoGuadalcanalfor additional training, stopping first at Efate, New Hebrides for rehearsals (16-20 October 1943) and Santo, New Hebrides (21-29 October 1943) for shipboard-staging. 1 November 1943 saw the division land as part of theBattle of Bougainvilleand fight on the island until their last unit to arrive, the21st Marine Regiment, embarked on 9 January 1944. During the course of the battle the division had about 400 Marines killed.[5]
The division returned to Guadalcanal in January 1944 to rest, refit, and retrain. The next operation in which the division took part was theBattle of Guam. From 21 July 1944 until the last day of organized fighting on 10 August, the division fought through the jungles on the island ofGuam. During these 21 days of fighting, the division captured over 60 square miles (160km2) of territory and killed over 5,000 enemy soldiers.[6]The next two months saw continuous mopping up operations in which the Marines continued to engage leftover Japanese forces. At the end of the battle the division had sustained 677 Marines killed, 3,626 wounded, and nine missing.[7]
The division remained on the island of Guam for training, until it embarked as part of the landing force for theBattle of Iwo Jima. The 3rd Marine Division was initially in reserve for the battle.[8]However, the division was committed one regiment at a time when the initial regiments that landed there needed to be relieved.
The21st Marinescame ashore on 21 February[8]followed by the9th Marines,12th Marine Regiment,3rd Tank Battalion, on 24 February.[9]The Marines of these two infantry regiments, supported by the artillery of the12th Marine Regimentand tanks of the3rd Tank Battalion, fought on Iwo Jima until the end of organized resistance on 16 March and the subsequent mopping up operations for the next month. All elements of the division were back on Guam by 17 April 1945.[10]The fighting on Iwo Jima cost the 3rd Marine Division 1,131 killed in action and another 4,438 wounded.[11]
After the return to Guam, the division began preparing forthe invasion of Japan. This invasion never took place sinceJapan surrenderedon 15 August 1945. The 3rd Marine Division was decommissioned on December 28, 1945 atMarine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA.[12][3]
During the war, the 3rd Marine Division had three Seabee Battalions assigned to it. The 25th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) was posted to19th Marinesas the third battalion of the regiment. These landed on Bougainville, as did the 71st NCB which was assigned as the 3rd Division\'s shore party there.[13]
The 25th NCB also landed during the assault on Guam as the shore party to the 3rd Marine Regiment, after which the 19th Marines were deactivated, and the 25th NCB was reassigned. The 62nd NCB was then posted TAD to the 3rd for Iwo Jima. They were in the reserve, but they became the lead battalion in getting airfield No. 1 operational, after of the many casualties taken by the primary assault Seabees,[14]the 133rd NCB.[citation needed]
Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign MedalObverseTypeService medalPresented byDepartment of WarandDepartment of the NavyEligibilityServed in the U.S. armed forces for at least 30 days in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946.StatusInactiveFirst awardedDecember 7, 1941Last awardedMarch 2, 1946
Service ribbonandcampaign streamer.PrecedenceEquivalentAmerican Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign MedalPhotograph of an Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal with one silvercampaign starand two bronze campaign stars, representing seven campaigns.
TheAsiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal[1]is aUnited Statesmilitary awardof theSecond World War, which was awarded to any member of theUnited States Armed Forceswho served in theAsiatic-Pacific Theaterfrom 1941 to 1945. The medal was created on November 6, 1942, byExecutive Order9265[2]issued by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was designed byThomas Hudson Jones; the reverse side was designed byAdolph Alexander Weinmanwhich is the same design as used on the reverse of theAmerican Campaign MedalandEuropean-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.
US Navy - Marine Corps campaigns[edit]
The 43 officially recognized US Navy campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations are:[5]
- Pearl Harbor:Pearl Harbor-Midway: 7 December 1941
- Wake Island: 8–23 December 1941
- Philippine Islands operation: 8 December 1941 – 6 May 1942
- Netherlands East Indies engagements: 23 January – 27 February 1942
- Pacific raids (1942): 1 February – 10 March 1942
- Coral Sea: 4–8 May 1942
- Midway: 3–6 June 1942
- Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings: 7–9 August 1942 (First Savo)
- Capture and defense of Guadalcanal: 10 August 1942 – 8 February 1943
- Makin Raid: 17–18 August 1942
- Eastern Solomons: 23–25 August 1942
- Buin-Faisi-Tonolai raid: 5 October 1942
- Cape Esperance: 11–12 October 1942 (Second Savo)
- Santa Cruz Islands: 26 October 1942
- Guadalcanal: 12–15 November 1942 (Third Savo)
- Tassafaronga: 30 November – 1 December 1942 (Fourth Savo)
- Eastern New Guinea operation: 17 December 1942 – 24 July 1944
- Rennel Island: 29–30 January 1943
- Consolidation of Solomon Islands: 8 February 1943 – 15 March 1945
- Aleutians operation: 26 March – 2 June 1943
- New Georgia Group operation: 20 June – 16 October 1943
- Bismarck Archipelago operation: 25 June 1943 – 1 May 1944
- Pacific raids (1943): 31 August – 6 October 1943
- Gilbert Islands operation: 13 November – 8 December 1943
- Marshall Islands operation: 26 November 1943 – 2 March 1944
- Asiatic-Pacific raids (1944): 16 February – 9 October 1944
- Western New Guinea operations: 21 April 1944 – 9 January 1945
- Marianas operation: 10 June – 27 August 1944
- Western Caroline Islands operation: 31 August – 14 October 1944
- Leyte operation: 10 October – 29 November 1944
- Luzon operation: 12 December 1944 – 1 April 1945
- Iwo Jima operation15 February – 16 March 1945
- Okinawa Gunto operation: 17 March – 30 June 1945
- Third Fleet operations against Japan: 10 July – 15 August 1945
- Kurile Islands operation: 1 February 1944 – 11 August 1945
- Borneo operations: 27 April – 20 July 1945
- Tinian capture and occupation: 24 July – 1 August 1944
- Consolidation of the Southern Philippines: 28 February – 20 July 1945
- Hollandia operation: 21 April – 1 June 1944
- Manila Bay-Bicol operations: 29 January – 16 April 1945
- Escort, antisubmarine, armed guard and special operations: 7 December 1941 – 2 September 1945
- Submarine War Patrols (Pacific): 7 December 1941 – 2 September 1945
World War II Victory Medal
For the medal awarded to merchant mariners, seeMerchant Marine World War II Victory Medal.World War II Victory MedalObverseTypeService medalPresented byDepartment of WarandDepartment of the NavyEligibilityServed in the armed forces between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946.StatusObsoleteService ribbon(top) andcampaign Eastern Campaign MedalEquivalentMerchant Marine World War II Victory MedalNext(lower)Army of Occupation Medalor
Navy Occupation Service Medal
TheWorld War II Victory Medalis aservice medalof theUnited States militarywhich was established by an Act ofCongresson 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945.[1][2]
