Company M (Mike Company) - Currently in use as a Remain Behind Element for combat replacements of forward deployed elements.
Weapons Company
History
Early years
The battalion was first activated in 1925 at Naval Base San Diego, California. Since its initial inception in 1925, this unit has had several periods of activation.
World War II
On May 1, 1941, at Cavite, Philippine Islands became the First Separate Marine Battalion, Navy Yard, Cavite. Relocated during December 1941 to Corregidor, Philippine Islands. Redesignated January 1, 1942, to the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, Corregidor, Philippine Island. The 4th Marine Regiment participated in the Battle of Corregidor from January to May 1942. The unit was ordered to surrender by Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright on May 6, 1942, an order with which Colonel Samuel L. Howard, the commanding officer of the 4th Marines, agreed. Colonel Curtis, the regimental executive officer, ordered Captain Robert B. Moore to take the regimental colors outside and burn them rather than allow them to fall into enemy hands. Once the order was carried out, Colonel Howard wept and said, "My God, and I had to be the first Marine officer ever to surrender a regiment." After this 4th Marines temporarily ceased to exist.
On February 1, 1944, four Marine Raider 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, 4th, and 3rd Raider Battalions became respectively the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions, 4th Marines. The 2nd Raider Battalion became the regimental weapons company. Forming part of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade and later 6th Marine Division, the 4th Marines fought in the battles of Guam and Okinawa.
Vietnam War
On April 14, 1965 3rd battalion 4th Marines was deployed to an area near Chu Lai, South Vietnam. Two companies were sent north to Phu Bai to secure a small airfield just 8miles south of Huế City. First contact was made on April 22 southwest of Da Nang with a Vietcong (VC) unit. The Marines at Phu Bai made their first contact on April 24. Both sides lost two men. These patrols continued until the whole battalion re-deployed back to Okinawa on December 24, 1965. In March 1966, the battalion returned to the Phu Bai, Huế City areas. They participated in company and platoon size patrols and ambushes against the VC in the Thừa Thiên–Huế Province till the end of June 1966. At that time the entire Battalion moved north and just south of the DMZ, in the Song Ngan River Valley also known as "Helicopter Valley", because of all the helicopters that were shot down with Marines on board. There they participated in Operation Hastings which was a multi-battalion operation that ran from July 15 to August 3, 1966. This was the first major Marine campaign against the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). A total of 8,000 Marines participated in this large operation. It stop the PAVN from further advancing into South Vietnam. The PAVN 324B Division losses were put at 824 killed and 17 POW's. Total Marine losses were put at 126 killed and 448 wounded. Capt. Robert J. Modrzejewski and SSgt. John J. McGinty were both awarded the Medal of Honor for their action and leadership during this time. This operation was also the most costly of the war to this point.
A U.S. Marine from 3d Battalion, 4th Marines moves forward during Operation Prairie
In August 3/4 was back in Phu Bai again running patrols and ambushes in search and destroy missions. Early September the battalion moved its headquarters 55 miles (89km) north to Đông Hà. On September 22, 1966, the battalion was again in action against the 324B Division in Operation Prairie which ran from August 3 to October 27, 1966. Fighting for Hill 400 and Hill 484 and also called Mutter's Ridge in the Razor Back Mountains, a heavily fortified Nui Cay Tri ridge. It was very costly for both sides, losses were put at nearly 1,300 PAVN killed and total Marine losses were put at 200 killed and over a 1,000 wounded. Captain James J. Carroll was later posthumously awarded a Navy Cross for valor on Hill 484.
Photojournalist Larry Burrows took a large collection of Time-Life photos during the operation. The most recognizable is a Pulitzer Prize winning photo, taken on Hill 400, showing wounded Gunnery Sergeant Jeremiah Purdie being guided by a Hospital Corpsman Darrell Hinde as he reaches out to Lance Corporal Paul Holland Mitchell [1] who was also seriously wounded and waiting to be treated. Photo is called "Reaching Out" Shown in many special Time-Life issues.
At the end of 1966 the 4th Marine Regiment was pulled out of the DMZ and sent south to participate in Operation Chinook around Huế. When that operation ended the battalion went into a rebuilding stage.
On January 31, 1967 Operation Prairie II started. On February 27 L/3/4 and a tank platoon was involved in a battle near Hill 48 to save a recon team that ran into a PAVN Regiment. On the 28th other Marine companies including M/3/4 were brought in for ground operation. When the operation ended total casualties for both sides were put at 93 Marines killed, 483 wounded and the PAVN losses were put at 694 killed. Prairie II ended on March 18, but Operation Prairie III started the next day. The battalion was pulled back to regroup and rebuild. For the next couple of months the battalion worked Route 9 guarding lines near Cam Lo, The Rockpile and Camp Carroll, which was the largest concentration of artillery pieces in northern I Corps. July and parts of August it was time for the battalion to spend time in the "Barrel", Con Thien. On September 4 the battalion was ambushed just south of Con Thien with heavy casualties. 3/4 was pulled back for rebuilding its manpower. Some of the other major Operations in 1967 were Operation Hickory (May 18 to May 28), Operation Kingfisher (July 16 to Oct 31) and Operation Kentucky near Con Thien in the western area of Leatherneck Square in the latter part of 1967 and in January 1968. Other operations the battalion participated in 1968 and 1969 were Operation Lancaster II (Jan 21 to Nov 25, 1968), and Operation Robin (2–19 June) along Route 9 southeast of Khe Sanh.
After November 6, 3/4 was the last infantry battalion of the 3rd Marine Division left in South Vietnam. On November 24, 1969, the battalion sailed from Vietnam to Okinawa.
1980s & 1990s
Reassigned January 1983 to 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, NC. January 1984 deployed to Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan returning to Camp Lejeune in the summer of 1984. Became the Marine Corps first "MARSOC" qualified Special Operations Capable Battalion as part of the 26th Marine Amphibious Unit in 1985 and then deployed November 1985 to the Mediterranean aboard the USS Guadalcanal. April 15th, 1986 participated in Operation El Dorado Canyon, Libya. The first Marine unit in combat in Panama during Operation Just Cause was India Company, 3/4. They landed in Panama on April 6, 1988, and by April 10 were engaged in combat with clandestine units from Cuba. Some might have been from the 7th Company of the Panamanian Defense Forces, known as the "Macho de Monte" or "mountain machos", a special ops / guerrilla warfare unit named after a sort of aggressive wild boar.
1996–1997 saw the battalion participate in Operation Hunter Warrior (Sea Dragon). The objective of the operation was to test experimental gear, weapons and other equipment essential to a Marine Rifle Squad. In 1998 the battalion was transferred from Camp Pendleton, California, to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in 29 Palms, California. There they worked back to full battalion strength and prepared for deployment to Camp Schwab, Okinawa in 1999–2000.
During this time the battalion also completed the summer and winter warfare training packages at Marine Corps Cold Weather Training Bridgeport, Ca.
Global War on Terrorism - Iraq
The April 2003 toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue in Firdos Square in Baghdad shortly after the Iraq War invasion.Marines and Sailors tend to the medical needs of an injured boy in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
3/4 deployed to Kuwait in January 2003 and went on to participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The group was led by Lt. Col. Brian P. McCoy. They were the first U.S. Marine unit to enter Baghdad. This battalion was shown in the famous scene of the statue of Saddam in Firdos Square being pulled down. The battalion redeployed to Iraq in March 2004 and subsequently took part in Operation Vigilant Resolve while attached to the 1st Marine Regiment. They subsequently deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in January 2005 and provided oversight for Iraq's first national election in decades. 3/4 deployed again in September 2006 to the Al Qaim region in the Euphrates River Valley of Iraq, in Western Al Anbar Province, conducting counter insurgency combat operations and support and security operations. 3/4 saw heavy fighting throughout the deployment. The Marines were spread out in individual platoon-sized combat outposts along the river side, where fighting was especially intense, particularly in the first half of their extended 9-month deployment. Around Spring time in the second half of the Marines' deployment, the fighting turned to more small scale ambushes and IED attacks conducted by the enemy, who had become increasingly affected by losses in manpower and equipment in the large scale fighting that took place throughout the Fall and Winter months of 2006 and 2007. The battalion suffered 12 KIA, and over 100 WIA during the nearly 9-month deployment, which was due to being extended for the Troop Surge in early 2007. After returning home to Twentynine Palms in late May, 2007, the battalion again deployed in early 2008 to Al Anbar with dual missions of carrying out combat operations, training Iraqi security forces, and supervising the Iraqi peacekeeping effort. Their area of operations reached from Haditha to Hit, becoming the largest area any military unit had controlled in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion also became the first U.S. military unit to reach 5 straight Iraq deployments and returned from their deployment in early September 2008. They are also one of only two Marine battalions with eight straight combat deployments, the other being 3/7.[2][3]
Global War on Terrorism - Afghanistan
The battalion deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan for the first time from October 2009 to May 2010. The battalion participated in Operation Cobra’s Anger, the first major offensive of the war after President Obama announced a troop surge to the country. The battalion was deployed in large swath of area between the Helmand and Farah Provinces which included places such as Now Zad, Deleram, Golestan and Bakwa.
In April of 2011 to October 2011, Lima, Kilo and Weapons companies, along with other supporting units, deployed to the dangerous Upper Gereshk Valley in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The Marines were ordered to keep Taliban forces pinned down in the 'green zone' around the Helmand River so that work on nearby Route 611 could continue uninterrupted. Over the next six months, five Marines were killed in action (Staff Sergeant Leon H. Lucas, Corporal Paul W. Zanowick, and Lance Corporals Mark R. Goyet, Jason D. Hill, and Christopher L. Camero) and many more wounded in the face of repeated enemy attacks on patrols. In October, with work completed on Route 611 and their mission accomplished, the battalion withdrew from the valley and returned to the United States.[4]
In March 2013 to September 2013, the battalion deployed to Afghanistan for its final time. The battalion was responsible for the security and area around the Kajaki Dam and the Sangin District.
The battalion deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve from September 2018 to April 2019.
Marine Unit Deployment Program
The battalion deployed in 2017 from April to October to Darwin Australia under the Marine Corp's Unit Deployment Program as Marine Rotational Force - Darwin (MRF-D). Multinational training programs were executed with participants from Australia, Japan, France and elements from the United States Army and the United States Special Operations Command. During the deployment 3rd Battalion 4th Marines established itself as a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Supporting elements came from tilt wing and rotary wing helicopter squadrons, logistics units, and engineering elements. The mission of the MAGTF was to build cohesion with the Australian Defence Force and the United States Marine Corps. The most notable exercise was Talisman Sabre.
The 3rd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry divisions in the Marine Corps and together with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1stMAW) and the 3rd Marine Logistics Group forms the III Marine Expeditionary Force. The division was first formed during World War II and saw four years of continuous combat in the Vietnam 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.
2d Battalion 5th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps consisting of approximately 800 marines and sailors. They are based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and fall under the command of the 5th Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division. The battalion has seen combat in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War and has deployed many times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War on Terror.
Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 (HMLA-367) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters. Originally commissioned during World War II, the squadron participated in combat operations on Peleliu and Okinawa. Reactivated during the Vietnam War, the squadron has served during numerous conflicts since. The squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, California and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 39 (MAG-39) and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
1st Battalion, 1st Marines (1/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Pendleton, California, consisting of anywhere from 800 to 2,000 Marines and Sailors, but the number fluctuates depending on the battalion's mission. Falling under the command of the 1st Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division, they are commonly referred to as "The first of the First".
3d Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion(3D LAR BN) is a fast and mobilized armored terrestrial reconnaissance battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Their primary weapon system is the LAV-25 and they are part of the 1st Marine Division and I Marine Expeditionary Force. The unit is based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California.
2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The battalion, nicknamed the Magnificent Bastards from the Vietnam War, is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and is a part of the 5th Marine Regiment and 1st Marine Division.
2nd Battalion, 1st Marines (2/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based in Camp HORNO on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed "The Professionals," the battalion consists of approximately 1,200 Marines and Sailors. Normally they fall under the command of the 1st Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division.
3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, abbreviated as (3/3), was an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps, 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 battalions of the U.S. Marine Corps, 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines was made up of three rifle companies, 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.
1st Battalion, 11th Marines (1/11) is an artillery battalion comprising four firing batteries and a Headquarters battery. The battalion is stationed at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California. Its primary weapon system is the M777 lightweight howitzer. The battalion is under the command of the 11th Marine Regiment, part of the 1st Marine Division.
2nd Battalion, 11th Marines (2/11) is an artillery battalion comprising four firing batteries and a Headquarters Battery. The battalion is stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Its primary weapon system is the M777 lightweight howitzer. The battalion was the first in the Marine Corps to fully transition from the M198 Howitzer. They fall under the command of the 11th Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division.
5th Battalion, 11th Marines (5/11) was a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) battalion consisting of four Firing Batteries and a Headquarters Battery. The battalion is stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the first active duty HIMARS Unit in the Marine Corps. They fall under the command of the 11th Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division. This is the only battalion in the 11th Marine Regiment not using the M777A2 lightweight howitzer.
2nd Battalion, 9th Marines (2/9) was an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War I, the unit played an instrumental role in the defeat of the Japanese forces in the Battles of Guam and Iwo Jima during World War II. The battalion distinguished itself in the defense of Khe Sanh during the Vietnam War, and later participated in an ill-fated invasion of Koh Tang Island in Southeast Asia, with the intention of rescuing the crew of SS Mayaguez. During Operation Desert Storm, the battalion served as the lead battalion for the III Marine Expeditionary Force.
The Battle of Huế, was a major battle in the Tết Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. Initially losing control of most of Huế and its surroundings, the combined forces of South Vietnam and the United States gradually recaptured the city after a little over one month of intense fighting. The battle was one of the longest and bloodiest of the war, causing it to negatively affect the American public perception of the war. The battle is widely considered to be one of the toughest and most intense urban battles ever fought.
The Republic of Vietnam Marine Division was part of the armed forces of South Vietnam. It was established by Ngo Dinh Diem in 1954 when he was Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, which became the Republic of Vietnam in 1955. The longest-serving commander was Lieutenant General Le Nguyen Khang. In 1969, the VNMC had a strength of 9,300, 15,000 by 1973, and 20,000 by 1975.
3rd Combat Engineer Battalion was a combat engineer battalion of the United States Marine Corps, most recently activated from 7 October 2007 to 5 August 2014. 3rd CEB is having a reunion in Neihart, Montana May 19-22 2023 being hosted by Warrior Reunion Foundation.
3rd Force Reconnaissance Company is a force reconnaissance unit of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. The company is located in Mobile, Alabama.
The 1st Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)—the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the I Corps that oversaw the northernmost region of South Vietnam, the centre of Vietnam.
Operation Prairie IV was an operation conducted by the United States Marine Corps in the area around Con Thien, South Vietnam known as Leatherneck Square from 20 April until 17 May 1967. During the course of the fighting Marine casualties were 164 killed 1,240 wounded while claiming 505 People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) killed and 9 captured.
The 324th Division is an infantry division of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) assigned to the 4th Military Region.
The Battle of Phú Lộc took place from 28 August to 10 December 1974 when North Vietnamese forces captured a series of hills and installed artillery that closed Phu Bai Air Base and interdicted Highway 1. The hills were recaptured by the South Vietnamese in costly fighting that depleted its reserve forces.
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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United States of America 
United States Marine Corps 
