A Summary History of the 2nd Marine Division

"Follow Me"(Original article written 8/17/2010)

History of the 2nd Marine Division - Follow Me

History of the 2nd Marine Division. The 2nd Marine Division is an infantry division of the United States Marine Corps. The 2nd MarDiv serves the USMC as the ground maneuver element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. The Marines of the second division have served their country with distinction during World War II, the Persian Gulf War, and now in the Global War on Terror. The 2nd Marine Division is stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

The unit's shoulder patch was designed and authorized in late 1943 for wear by 2nd Marine Division units serving in the Pacific Theater. The spearhead-shaped patch is scarlet and gold, in the center is a hand holding a torch with the number two. Around the torch are the stars of the Southern Cross constellation as a reference to Guadalcanal. Although the Marine Corps officially disallowed shoulder patches in 1947, the insignia still appears on buildings, signs, documents, and non-uniform clothing.

With the threat of WWII on the horizon, the 2nd Marine Division was created through a re-designation of the 2nd Marine Brigade on February 1, 1941, at Camp Elliott, California. Because of the growing threat of a German invasion of Iceland, the 6th Marine Regiment and other 2nd MarDiv units were sent to garrison Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, the 8th Marine Regiment was sent to defend American Samoa.

The 2nd Marine Division participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands from January 4 to February 8, 1943. However, even before the Division headquarters were deployed, the 2nd and 8th Marine Regiments reinforced the 1st Marine Division in the early weeks of the battle. The 2nd Marine Regiment participated in the Guadalcanal and Tulagi landings Aug 7-9, 1942. The 8th Marine Regiment went ashore on November 2, 1942. The 2nd and 8th Marine Regiments were awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for their performance while attached to the 1st Marine Division.

In the Pacific Theater of WWII, the 2nd Marine Division also saw action on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands from November 20 to December 4, 1943, where the Division was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. The 2nd MarDiv fought in the battle for Saipan in the Mariana Islands Campaign from June 15 to July 24, 1944. The Division participated in the capture of Tinian Island from July 24 to August 10, 1944. Their last combat action of WWII was to act as a floating reserve for the Battle of Okinawa from April 1-10, 1945. A detachment from Division Headquarters and the 8th Marine Regiment went ashore to reinforce from June 1-30, 1945. At the end of the war, elements of the 2nd Marine Division were part of the occupation of Nagasaki, Japan. They arrived just twenty-five days after the dropping of the nuclear bomb.

The 2nd Marine Division did not deploy to the Korean or Vietnam wars. The decades following WWII were highlighted by multiple peacekeeping and security deployments for elements of the Division. Noteworthy deployments include the U.S. intervention in the Lebanon crisis of 1958, the reinforcement of Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and Operation Power Pack, where elements of the Division landed in the Dominican Republic in 1965. The 2nd Marine Division deployed as part of the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon from August 1982 until February 1984. The 2nd MarDiv suffered the loss of 241 Marines and Sailors during the 1983 bombing of the Beirut barracks. In December 1989, the 6th Marine Regiment and other elements of the 2nd Marine Division participated in Operation Just Cause, the deployment to liberate the country of Panama from Dictator Manuel Noriega.

The 1990s began with elements of the Division participating in Operation Sharp Edge, the evacuation of American and allied civilians out of war-torn Liberia. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait. The 2nd Marine Division deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield, which began on August 7, 1990, to defend the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Operation Desert Storm, the battle for the liberation of Kuwait, began on January 17, 1991, with an extensive air campaign. The ground campaign kicked off on February 23, 1991, when the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions, along with Kuwaiti forces, crossed into Kuwait and headed toward Kuwait City. They overran the well-designed, but poorly defended, Iraqi trenches in the first few hours. The Marines crossed Iraqi barbed wire obstacles and mines, and then engaged Iraqi tanks, which surrendered shortly thereafter. Most Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait opted to surrender rather than fight. Following the war, elements of the Division participated in Operation Provide Comfort to defend Kurds fleeing their homes in northern Iraq in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War.

In early 2003, elements of the 2nd Marine Division deployed to Kuwait to reinforce the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in preparation for the invasion of Iraq. These units formed a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) designated Task Force Tarawa. Task Force Tarawa crossed into Iraq on March 21, 2003, the first day of the ground war, with the initial task of seizing Jalibah airfield in southern Iraq. Following this, the Task Force pushed north and took part in a major battle in Nasiriyah. After the war, these Marines were moved north to Al Kut, where they provided security and stabilization operations in central Iraq. Task Force Tarawa returned to the United States via Kuwait on May 14, 2003.

The 2nd Marine Division deployed to Camp Fallujah, Iraq as the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) headquarters in January 2005 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom III (OIF III, later re-designated OIF 04-06) to relieve the 1st Marine Division in the Al Anbar province. The division again deployed for another yearlong tour at Camp Fallujah from 2007 to 2008.

As of 2010, units of the 2nd Marine Division continue to serve their country in the Global War on Terror in deployments to Afghanistan. Members of this storied marine division persistently live up to their motto, "Follow Me!"

---

Books by Jim Travis Broumley

The Boldest Plan is the Best

In the fall of 1941, as the U.S. Army scrambled to prepare for the war they knew was coming, a new kind of soldier was training with a new way of getting to the battlefield – the paratrooper. The first to deploy to England and the first to jump into combat, while their more celebrated airborne brothers were still training in the States. This is the story of the 509th PIB

The Bridge at El Djem

Tunisia, 1942

Paratroopers Lieutenant Jack Bell and lead scout Corporal Roland “Rube” Roubideaux might be the only survivors out of their platoon after a failed mission to blow up a bridge behind enemy lines. Now they're going back to finish the job, tagging along with a detachment of British SAS desert commandos.

The Avellino Jump

Avellino Province, Italy, 1943 Paratroopers Lt Jack Bell and Sgt Rube Roubideaux, jumped with their battalion behind German lines in Italy to take pressure off the Allies’ tenuous hold on the Salerno beachhead. But they are given an additional mission by Col Addington, the mysterious OSS officer. They need to complete their battalion’s mission while also getting an Italian scientist safely to American lines. But first they need to outwit a fanatic Nazi officer and an Italian playing both sides.

The War in Venafro

Naples, Italy 1943 Lt Jack Bell is reunited with his cousin Nadia. The only problem: she is now the head of an organized crime family, and threatens to pull Jack and his friend Captain “Doc” Allen into her world to stop an American deserter from taking over. Meanwhile, friction grows between the veteran paratroopers and some of the new men, will everyone be able to work together to fight the Germans?

Anzio

Anzio Italy, 1944 - 1LT Jack Bell and his fellow paratroopers prepare to make a beach landing in Italy. The problem is that the civilians in Naples know where they’re going before they do. Along with everything else, Jack is put in the position of escorting OSS officer Boyd Carter on a raid of a German held blockhouse to “capture” an old friend. Now Carter is wounded and Jack is a prisoner. Can Jack’s friends and their green platoon leader mount an unauthorized rescue?

Operation Dragoon

Cpt Jack Bell and the rest of the 509th PIB jumped into Southern France as part of Operation Dragoon. Before the battalion can move out to attack the Germans in Le Muy, Maj Boyd Carter shows up with a mission for Jack. Rescue an Air Corps major, nine miles behind the lines and hidden by a group of French Resistance fighters. The Geronimos are outnumbered, but "Rube" Roubideaux has a plan to even the odds.