2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines

UNIT HISTORY 1941 1947

14 JANUARY 1941: SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, AS THE 2D BATTALION, 2D MARINES AND ASSIGNED TO
2D MARINE BRIGADE
REASSIGNED DURING FEBRUARY 1941 TO THE 2D MARINE DIVISION
DEPLOYED DURING JUNE-JULY 1942 TO KORO ISLAND
WORLD WARS II CAMPAIGNS:
GUADALCANAL
TARAWA
SAIPAN
TINIAN
OKINAWA

HONORS:
PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION STREAMER WITH TWO BRONZE STARS
The scarlet and gold spearhead-shaped shoulder patch was designed and authorized in late 1943 for
wear by 2nd Marine Division units serving in the Pacific Theater. The patch centers on a hand holding
a torch, with 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. The insignia of Marine Corps Base Camp
Lejeune retains the spearhead shape and general color scheme of the 2nd Marine Division.

Battalion History, WWII

The regiment was reactivated 1 February 1941, at San Diego, California, as part of the 2d Marine Division. Under the
command of Colonel John M. Arthur, it deployed to Koro Island on 25 July 1942, in time for the final rehearsal for the
Guadalcanal landing. Although its mission was one of division reserve, elements of the regiment landed on Florida Island
on 7 August 1942, prior to the main assault on Guadalcanal, to support the Tulagi landing. Other elements landed on
Gavutu and Tanambogo, to reinforce units engaged in clearing operations. Two infantry battalions of the regiment landed
on Tulagi on 9 August and secured the small islands in the area.
On 29 October the 2d Marines moved to Guadalcanal, to take part in the attack towards Kokumbona. Through 11 January
1943, the regiment occupied several defensive positions within the Guadalcanal perimeter, reinforcing the front lines
where most needed. It launched a final three-day offensive drive to the west of Point Cruz on 12 January, before
reassembling in a reserve area. On 31 January 1943, the regiment left Guadalcanal for New Zealand, arriving in Wellington
a few weeks later. Here, for the next nine months, the 2d Marines would rest, train, and reorganize.
The regiment sailed on 28 October 1943, for Efate, south of Espiritu Santo, for final rehearsals of the landing at Tarawa. On
20 November, under the command of Colonel David M. Shoup, the 2d Marines assaulted Betio Island, the defensive
bastion of the Japanese force on Tarawa Atoll. The assault waves mounted in amphibian tractors crossed the large coral
reef which surrounded the island and moved steadily to shore. The 3d Battalion of the 2d Marines was the first unit to
reach its assigned beach and gain a foothold. Later waves embarked in landing craft, had trouble crossing the reef, and
were forced to wade hundreds of yards to shore under intense fire. Despite heavy losses, the landing force managed to
secure Betio within three days. Colonel Shoup was awarded the Medal of Honor.
On 24 November the 2d Marines left Tarawa for Hawaii, where a new camp awaited it at Kamula. Here at Camp Tarawa,
the regiment began the task of rehabilitation, reorganization, and intensive training for battles still ahead. Six months later
it left Hawaii for the attack on Saipan. Now under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Walter J. Stuart, the 2d Marines
were to feint a diversionary landing on 15 June 1944 in the Tanapag area, then to operate in support of the main landing
force. Once ashore, the 2d Marines launched an attack toward Garapan on 17 June. A week later, advancing against stiff
enemy opposition, the regiment reached the outskirts of Garapan. Here it remained, patrolling and consolidating its lines,
while other elements of the division moved into position for a push northward, On 2 July the regiment began its attack
through Garapan, taking the town within two days. From 6 to 11 July, the 2d Marines continued to advance, finally helping
to compress the enemy into a small area on the northern tip of the island. Saipan was declared secure on 9 July, but
isolated pockets of resistance kept mop-up operations going until 23 July.
On the following day, the 2d Marines conducted another feint landing, this time off Tinian Town, in support of landing
forces to the north. A day later, the regiment landed and advanced rapidly against sporadic enemy resistance to help
capture the island. After Tinian was declared secured on 1 August, the regiment once again began the task of mopping up.
After the Tinian operation, the 2d Marines returned to Saipan for rehabilitation and reorganization. The regiment
remained there for the next seven months, training under semi-battle conditions, as Japanese stragglers continued to
emerge from the jungle long after the fighting was officially over.
The 2d Marines sailed for Okinawa on 25 March 1945, under the command of Colonel Richard M. Cutts, Jr. With other
forces the regiment was again executing a diversionary landing when a Japanese kamikaze smashed through one of the
landing ships, killing and wounding a number of Marines. After withdrawal of this diversionary force, the 2d Marines
returned to Saipan, once again for intensive training, in anticipation of landings on the Japanese home islands.
At the wars end the regiment landed at Nagasaki, for occupation duty. After nine months, the 2d Marines relocated to
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during June and July 1946. By late 1946 the regiment had an advanced amphibious training
program underway, but on 19 November 1947, the 2d Marines was reduced to battalion strength, with the designation 2d
Marines kept intact. Upon the request of the Navy for a battalion-sized unit to be deployed with the Sixth Fleet in the
Mediterranean Sea, the 2d Marines embarked on 5 January 1948 for the island of Malta. As part of the first amphibious
unit to reinforce the Sixth fleet, the 2d Marines took part in landing exercises until relieved in March. The regiment
returned to Camp Lejeune, where it regained two-battalion strength on 17 October 1949.
INDIVIDUAL HONORS:

NAVY CROSS:
2ndLt Joseph J. Barr, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, November 20, 1943
Cpl Richard L. Close, Corporal, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, November 20, 1943
Pfc Frederick W. Cramer, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, June 17, 1944 *
Sgt Edward R.Godwin, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, November 20, 1943
Cpl Warren R. Herbst, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, July 26, 1944
2ndLt Toivo H. Ivary, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, November 20, 1943
Cpl Osbaldo R. Paredes, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, November 20, 1943 *
1stSgt Orvan S. Slaughter, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, November 22, 1943 *
Cpl Henry J. Witkowski, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, November 20, 1943
Pvt John T. Yaksich, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines (Rein), November 12, 1942
To you, who lie within this coral sand,
We, who remain, pay tribute of a pledge,
That dying, thou shalt surely not have died in vain.
That when again bright morning dyes the sky
And waving fronds above shall touch the rain,
We give you thisthat in those times
We will remember.
We lived and fought together, thou and we,
And sought to keep the flickering torch aglow
That all our loved ones might forever know
The blessed warmth exceeding flame,
The everlasting scourge of bondsman's chains,
Liberty and light.
When we with loving hands laid back the earth
That was for moments short to couch thy form,
We did not bid a last and sad farewell
But only, "Rest ye well."
Then with this humble, heartfelt epitaph
That pays thy many virtues and acclaim
We marked this spot, and murm'ring requiem,
Moved on to westward.
Epitaph on the gate to the 2nd Marine Division Cemetery on Betio. Written by Capt Donald L.
Jackson, USMC
""There was one thing that won this battle, Holland," says Julian Smith, "and that was the supreme
courage of the Marines. The prisoners tell us that what broke their morale was not the bombing, nor
the naval gunfire, but the sight of Marines who kept coming ashore in spite of their machine gun
fire.""
Tarawa by Robert Sherrod
 COMPANY F, 2/2
The Landing Zones - 20th November AM
Red Beach 2: The 2/2 were the last to land and faced a hail of defensive fire from the Japanese
defenders. The amtracs that made it to the beach unloaded their Marines, who found shelter behind a
log barricade and watched the following Higgins Boats ground on the reef, their Marines jump out and
start to wade for the shore. The commander, Lt Colonel Amey was killed as he waded ashore after his
amtrac was put out of action. F Company suffered fifty percent casualties as it made it to the log
barrier and advanced slightly inland. E Company landed at the junction of Red Beaches 1 and 2 and
managed to put one Japanese strongpoint out of action before consolidating their position. G
Company took heavy losses before reaching the barrier and attempted to find the location of the
strongpoint immediately in front of them in the collection of palm trees and small huts.

The Landing Zones - 20th November PM

On Red Beaches 2 and 3, the Marines had managed to forge a toehold, but at a high cost. Ruud's I and
L Companies were absorbed by 'Jim' Crowe's 2/8 as a composite unit as their losses were so severe.
The Marines still received plenty of artillery and air support which prevented Japanese reinforcements
moving about freely, but their own artillery support (10th Marines) were badly delayed in coming
ashore, as were M4A2 Sherman tanks that had been specially prepared to drive ashore with
extensions to the exhausts and air intakes and a tar-like substance waterproofing the chassis below
the expected waterline. They were guided in by specially trained reconnaissance platoons that
suffered heavy casualties doing their job. Seven tanks made it ashore on Red Beach 3 to support 'Jim'
Crowe and his men, while two successfully made it ashore on Red Beach 1 (Chicago and China Gal).
Confusion continued to reign at the top of the command chain with the result that Shoup stayed in
command on D+1.

The Japanese defenders had put up a stern resistance and had caused the Marines serious casualties
and disrupted their assault. Admiral Shibasaki's intensive training had paid off, but a lack of time and
manpower had resulted in a defence that was less than for what he had hoped (some 3,000 mines
remained unlade for example, as did many tetrahedrons). On the afternoon of D-Day, a sharp-eyed
Marine spotted a group of Japanese officers moving in the open and called down a barrage from the
destroyers Ringgold and Dashiell who put down a salvo of 5in shells. The entire group, who happened
to Admiral Shibasaki and his command staff (who had given up their command bunker so that it could
be used as a hospital), were killed. The importance of this incident cannot be overestimated, for if he
had lived, it is likely that Shibasaki would have launched a vicious counterattack at night which could
have spelled disaster for the Marines who had a precarious beachhead at best.
21st November
The American hold on Betio was tenuous, but the death of Admiral Shibasaki meant that the night was
fairly uneventful with only a few sporadic contacts. When daylight came, so did the heat, and with it
the awful smell coming from the scores of unburied dead bodies that had been washed up on the
shore. It would be reinforced as the death toll climbed steadily over the next few days of continued
fighting.

By 08.00 Hays could report to Shoup with what remained of his battalion, but a lot of the heavier
equipment had been lost in the water. As the day wore on and the tide rose, heavier equipment
started to flow into the beachheads, but the Marines could make few inroads into the Japanese
defences. The Japanese for their part had used the hours of darkness to consolidate their defensive
positions and the Marines who had made it over the western taxiway of the airfield (A and B
Companies from Major Kyle's 1/2) now found themselves trapped in a triangle formed by the taxiways
and the main runway. After a concentrated sea and air bombardment Shoup sent these Marines to
occupy the ground between the airfield and the sea, effectively cutting the garrison in half. They
resisted a viscous Japanese counterattack at a high cost and dug in, where they were eventually
reinforced by Colonel Jordan and his 2/2. The attempts to break out by 'Jim' Crowe's 2/8 on Red Beach
3 were being frustrated by a complex of pillboxes and a large bombproof shelter, despite killing a large
number of the enemy.

By afternoon 2/2 had a 200 yard enclave on the southern shore.

22nd November