4th Marine Regiment (United States)
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| 4th Marine Regiment | |
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 4th Marine's insignia |
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| Country | United States |
| Branch | USMC |
| Type | Infantry regiment |
| Role | Locate close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver |
| Nickname | The Oldest and the Proudest/"China Marines |
| Motto | Hold High the Torch |
| Engagements | Banana Wars *Occupation of Vera Cruz *Occupation of the Dominican Republic World War II *Battle of Corregidor *Battle of Guam *Battle of Okinawa Vietnam War Operation Desert Storm |
The 4th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Based at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, it is part of the 3rd Marine Division of the III Marine Expeditionary Force.
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[edit] Mission
Locate and destroy the enemy within the Pacific Theater, and provide a means of force projection. However it is not limited to this theater, that is its main area of operations. 4th Marines also lends humanitarian aid where directed.
[edit] Current units
Currently each of the Regiment's three battalions are part of other Marine infantry regiments in the 1st Marine Division. The regiment in turn hosts battalions stationed in the United States and Hawaii for training in jungle warfare.
- Headquarters Company
- 1st Battalion 4th Marines-attached to 1st Marine Regiment for historical reasons
- 2nd Battalion 4th Marines-attached to 5th Marine Regiment for historical reasons
- 3rd Battalion 4th Marines-attached to 7th Marine Regiment for historical reasons
[edit] History
[edit] Early years
The 4th Marine Regiment was first activated on April 16, 1914, in Puget Sound, Washington, under the command of Colonel Joseph Henry Pendleton. This activation was a direct result of deteriorating relations between the United States and Mexico. On April 21, President Woodrow Wilson ordered U.S. Naval Forces to Vera Cruz. Shortly after activation, 4th Marines embarked upon the USS South Dakota (ACR-9) headed for San Francisco. Upon their arrival they received four companies (the 31st, 32nd, 34th and 35th) which were to become attached to the regiment. The regiment then sailed for Mexico.
On April 28, 4th Marines arrived in Acapulco harbor. Reinforcements subsequently arrived in Mzatlan a week and half later. The regiment continued to maintain a presence in Mexican waters patrolling the shore through May and June. However by the end of June no landing had been deemed necessary and tensions had eased between Mexico and the United States. Shortly thereafter 4th Marines withdrew from Mexican waters and concluded their first Latin American expedition. The regiment returned to San Diego, California to establish its new home base. Between this time and February 1916 the regiment conducted several missions of force projection off the coast of Mexico. None had required the Marines to actually disembark as diplomatic relations were subsequently smoothed over upon their arrival or shortly thereafter.
The Dominican Republic broke out in civil war in the spring of 1916. American forces were sent to quell the danger posed to Americans and other foreigners there. As the Americans came ashore the rebels withdrew from Santo Domingo, the capital, to Santiago where they had established another rival government. American forces called for reinforcements and 4th Marines was called into action. They left San Diego on June 6 for New Orleans. Three days later they boarded the USS Hancock for the Dominican Republic.
[edit] World War II
The 4th Marines had been stationed in North China in the late 1930s, evacuating from Shanghai to Manila on 30 November 1941. With its 3rd Battalion inactivated in China in 1934, and further reduced by unreplaced separations from the service (replacements were instead diverted at the direction of the 4th's commander to the 1st Special Defense Battalion in the Philippines), it consisted of only two battalions, each with only two rifle companies of two platoons each and one machinegun company. The 4th Marines absorbed the Marine Barracks Olongapo on 22 December 1941 to fill out the 1st and 2nd Battalions to three rifle companies of three platoons each, then added the 1st Special Defense Battalion at Cavite to create the 3rd Battalion.
The 4th Marines then were moved to Corregidor where on 10 April 1942 it added the 4th Provisional Battalion composed of U.S. Navy personnel that had previously served during the Battle of Bataan as the Provisional Naval Battalion.
When the Japanese defeated allied forces in Bataan on April 9, 1942, they shifted their focus to Corregidor Island. The island was essential to the invading Japanese forces, as it was the last remaining obstacle to Manila Bay, known as the finest harbor in the Orient.
The regiment was composed of troops from 142 different U.S. and Filipino organizations with nearly 4,000 men with the regiment occupied the island at the time, but more than half were Army and Navy personnel without ground combat training. Approximately 1,500 U.S. Army and Philippine Scouts personnel reinforced the regiment during the defense of Corregidor, designated as the Reserve Battalion.
On May 5, Japanese soldiers landed on the island and faced fierce resistance from American and Filipino artillery, but with persistence the Japanese forces etched their way deeper into allied territory and eventually overcame one of the regiment's artillery batteries. Early the next day, Japanese tanks made it to shore.
Army Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, the commander of U.S. forces in the Philippines under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, realized his men's defeat was imminent. Just a day after the invasion, he surrendered for fear that the more than 1,000 wounded troops would be captured or killed. 4th Marine Regiment were utterly destroyed, only the some surviving Marines and the personnel made up of what was left of the regiment.[1] The regiment was subsequently dissolved under ill-fated control of its own accord. The commander of 4th Marines ordered the burning of the colors before they made their hasty evacuation.
By 1 February 1944, four Marine Raiders battalions were amalgamated into a re-established 4th Marine Regiment, bearing the name and honors of the original 4th regiment lost in the Philippines in 1942. The 1st, 3rd, and 4th Raiders formed the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd battalions, and the 2nd Battalion became Weapons Company. 4th Marines, combined with the 22nd Marine and the 29th Marine Regiments, was assigned to the 6th Marine Division and fought at Guam and Okinawa. After the end of World War II, the 6th Marine Division was deactivated, also dissolving the regiments under its operational command.
In 1951 the 4th Marines were reactivated carrying the honor and lineage of both the old and new 4th Regiments, and later served in Vietnam as part of the 3rd Marine Division, under theIII Marine Amphibious Force from 1965 to 1969.
[edit] Unit awards
A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the appropriate ribbon of the awarded unit citation. 4th Marines have been awarded the following:
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[edit] See also
- China Marines
- Organization of the United States Marine Corps
- List of United States Marine Corps regiments
[edit] Notes
- ^ Leatherneck Magazine, 4th Marines explore historic Philippine battle site, Feb. 1, 2007.
[edit] References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.
- Bibliography
- Condit, Kenneth W.; Turnbladh, Edwin T. (1960). Hold High the Torch - A History of the 4th Marines. Washington D.C.: Historical Branch, Headquarters Marine Corps.
- Web
- 4th Marines official website
- James S. Santelli. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 4TH MARINES. Historical Division Headquarters, U. S. Marine Corps, Washington, D. C. 20380, 1970
- China Marines website
- Surviving members of the 4th Marines dine with new members immediately after WWII
- 4th Marine Chapter-American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor
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