Victory Point - Ed Darack [22]
Of the myriad weapon systems in the modern U.S. Marine Corps arsenal, one stands out above all others: the M16 service rifle. The M16, which grunts have used since the Vietnam War, while extremely versatile and capable, holds its distinction not for its rate of fire, or for its durability, or for its accuracy. The M16 service rifle maintains its salient position not for what it is or what it can do, but because of who holds it, the most important component of the Marine Corps, the storied enlisted infantry Marine.
A U.S. Marine is “born and raised”—made—at one of two Marine Corps recruit depots, MCRD San Diego, California or MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina. Recruits arrive at night by bus, the prospective Marines having said their good-byes to their families and friends in towns and cities throughout the country just hours earlier. Modern recruits sign on to serve their country not out of desperation or lack of opportunity, as some movies and news media outlets portray, but out of the desire to fulfill a commitment to their country—ever-charged by the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the ongoing threats posed to America by terrorists throughout the world—as well to experience not just a challenge but a life defined by the rewards of overcoming what others might consider insurmountable obstacles, time and again. They come to the Marine Corps to continue a family tradition, having been raised on stories told by their Marine Corps fathers, grandfathers, or great-grandfathers. Or they come after learning about the historic exploits of the Marines in books, magazines, or even movies. Some even come after viewing USMC television advertisements, always noting that unlike those of other services, Marine Corps recruit commercials don’t offer free education, civilian job training, or money to entice enlistment; Marine Corps advertisements offer nothing but the opportunity to call oneself a United States Marine. The bus doors slam open and a drill instructor climbs aboard, and lives begin anew.
Throughout its history, the Marine Corps has waxed and waned in numbers of battalions, wartime necessity and peacetime contraction pushing and pulling its head count through the years. The Second World War saw the greatest number of Marine Corps battalions, the newly minted units having played pivotal roles in the Pacific Theater victory. And while many of those battalions raised for the war effort would see their end come just months after the armistice—as most of the Marines brought in during the war returned to civilian life—a few would continue to defend American interests long after the 2 September 1945 Japanese surrender. The Second Battalion of the Third Marine Regiment was one such battalion.
Initially activated on 1 May 1942 as the Third Training Battalion at New River, North Carolina, outbound recruits from MCRD Parris Island quickly bolstered the unit to fighting strength, and on 17 June 1942, the Second Battalion of the Third Marine Regiment was officially born. Marines of ⅔ would enter combat for the first time on 1 November 1943 as some of the first troops ashore for the opening phase of the Bougainville Campaign, an effort on and around the South Pacific Ocean’s Bougainville Island, an operation that would last through August of 1945. The Marines of ⅔ fought continuously for a month on Bougainville, hacking through tangled, dripping jungle as they charged after Imperial Japanese soldiers. They then moved to Guadalcanal to train for an assault on Guam, a battle that they would remember as their most significant contribution to America’s World War II victory.
Temporarily decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, the