1st Battalion, 23rd Marines
1st Battalion, 23rd Marines | |
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Houston, Texas | |
Nickname(s) | "Lone Star" |
Anniversaries | 10 November 1775 Birthday of the Marine Corps |
Engagements | World War II
|
Commanders | |
Current commander | LtCol Walt E. Larisey |
1st Battalion, 23rd Marines (1/23) is one of 32
Current units
Name | Location |
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Headquarters and Services Company | Houston, Texas
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Alpha Company | Houston, Texas
|
Bravo Company | Bossier City, Louisiana |
Carlos Company | Corpus Christi, Texas |
Carlos Company(Det) | Harlingen, Texas |
Weapons Company | Austin, Texas |
Mission
Provide trained combat and combat support personnel, and units to augment and reinforce the active component in time of war, national emergency, and at other times as national security requires; and have the capability to reconstitute the Division, if required.
History
World War II
The battalion was activated on 20 November 1942, at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.
- They participated in the Battle of Kwajalein (Roi and Namur) where they landed as part of the initial assault on 31 January 1944. Their assault objectives were the heavily defended Japanese occupied twin islands of Roi-Namur in the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific. Roi-Namur were two tiny islands in the northern part of the atoll. It was the site of major Japanese three-runway airbase. 23rd Marines attacked Roi while the 24th Marines landed on Namur. The regiment secured Roi by the evening.
- The Battalion's next action came at the .
- The Invasion of Tinian commenced on 25 July 1944. The 4th Marine Division was selected to lead the assault on Tinian. Again, the pre-invasion bombardment built to a crescendo as H-hour approached. Assault elements met only limited small arms fire when they reached the beach. With nightfall, came the expected Japanese counterattacks. The division employed flame throwers, demolition charges and automatic weapons fire to route Japanese soldiers out of caves, bunkers, and other defensive positions on the southern portion of the island. One of the most difficult aspects of the final phase of battle was convincing Japanese soldiers and thousands of civilians to surrender.
- The final combat action for 1/23 would come during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was only 750 miles from Tokyo and was a major objective on the way to the Japanese mainland. The Japanese were painfully aware of the strategic importance of Iwo Jima and had prepared extensive and formidable defenses with a network of miles of caves and tunnels. The tunnels were in the islands black volcanic rocky base well protected from preinvasion naval and air bombardment. The 4th Marine Division landed in the first assault wave on 19 February 1945 . The 23rd and 24th Marine Regiments led the division's assault with 1/23 being the left Assault Battalion on yellow beach 1. They landed from APA 158 the USS Newberry.[3] The 23rd Marines were ordered to seize the Motoyama Airfield #1 for the 133rd Seabees to get operational. High seas, heavy surf and loose volcanic soil made movement off the beaches difficult. By 20 February 1945, 23rd Marines had made good progress towards capturing the airfield. With the exception of a few remaining small pockets of resistance, the division had defeated the resolute and entrenched enemy in its zone of action in twenty days at a cost of nearly 50 percent combat efficiency. The 23rd did not have a Pioneer Battalion for the assault so the Seabees of the 133rd Naval Construction Battalion were attached to the 23rd and assigned that job. A Co. 133 was Shore Party to 1/23 until relieved on D-plus 18 by the Army Garrison Shore Party.[4]
Gulf War
The battalion was mobilized for the first time since World War II in January 1991 in support of
Global War on Terror
Operation Enduring Freedom(January 2002-January 2003) Elements of the battalion were activated after the 11 September attacks. Bravo Company and attachments from Alpha Company's Weapons platoon were deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they provided perimeter security for the base.
Operation Iraqi Freedom (June 2004) The battalion was again mobilized in June 2004 to conduct three months of pre-deployment training at the
In May 2007, Marines that had not participated in the June 2004 mobilization were tasked to support 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines in their upcoming activation. Volunteers from the first mobilization were also part of this support. These Marines were deployed back to the Al Anbar Province and conducted operations near and around the Haditha Dam.
Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) (November 2010 - December 2011)[5]
About 800 marines and navy corpsmen departed in November 2010 for pre-deployment training at
The battalion officially handed responsibility over a wide variety of operations in Afghanistan to the Massachusetts-based
Security cooperation team Jordan (SCT-J) 2020-2021
Elements of the battalion where deployed to support NATO efforts in Afghanistan, training and advising the 23rd Georgian infantry battalion (gib) but were remission to Jordan to train and advise various units throughout the country.
Medal of Honor recipients
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 awarded unit citation. Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces have different categories: i.e. Service, Campaign, Unit, and Valor. Unit awards are distinct from personal decorations. 1/23 has been presented with the following awards:
Ribbon | Unit Award |
Presidential Unit Citation
| |
American Defense Service Medal with one Bronze Star | |
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 4 Arrowheads
| |
World War II Victory Medal | |
National Defense Service Medal with three Bronze Stars | |
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation 1990-91[7]
| |
Navy Unit Commendation Desert Storm, II[8] | |
Iraq Campaign Medal | |
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal | |
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal |
Navy Unit Commendation and Afghanistan Campaign Medal
See also
- List of United States Marine Corps battalions
- Organization of the United States Marine Corps
- 23rd Marine Regiment (United States)
- Headquarters Company 23d Marines (HQ/23) - San Bruno, California
- 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines (2/23) - Pasadena, California
- 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines (3/23) - Bridgeton, Missouri
- Chicago, Illinois
- Truck Company 23rd Marines - Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
- Combat Logistics Battalion 23 formerly 4th Landing Support Battalion (aka the 4th Pioneers)
- Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133
- Seabees
References
- This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.
- ^ C Co 1/23 WWII History|
- ^ US Marine Corps World War II order of battle : ground and air units in the Pacific War, 1939-1945|date=2002, Gordon L. Rottmann, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, p. 218-220 [1]
- ^ How Annex 4th Marine Division's Operation Repoprt, April, 1945, National Archives, College Park, MD 20704
- ^ Appendix 1 Dog Annex 4th Marine Divisions Operations Report of April 1945, National Archive, College Park, MD 20704
- ^ "Houston-area Marine Reserve unit saddles up for Afghanistan". Chron. 4 November 2010.
- ^ a b "'Lone Star Battalion' finishes Afghan deployment, passes torch to 'New England's Own'".
- ^ NAVMC 2922 August 2012[*[2] Archived 30 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "NAVMC 2922 August 2012" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- Bibliography
- Rottman, Gordon L. (2002). U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle - Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939–1945s. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31906-5.
- Web
- 1/23's Official Website
- 1/23 Parent's website
- Charle Co 1/23 World War II veterans site
- 1/23 Landing in Tinian World War II 1944
- Opinion of 1/23 by Major High in Iraq 25 Dec 2004
- 1/23 Provides Security for Iraqi Elections 2005
- Bravo Co 1/23 in the Fight in Iraq 2005
- 1/23 Sniper Confirmed with Longest Shot 2005
- 1st Battalion 23d Marines Ceremony in Iraq 2005
- Texas Welcomes Home 1/23 in 2005
- Texas Governor Press Release on 1/23 2005
- Politics1.com 1/23 blog by Lt. Crabtree
- Bravo Co 1/23 I-I Gazette Article on Leadership Mentoring 2007 (Archived 2009-07-22)
- 58 Weapons Marines from 1/23 Welcomed Home from Iraq 2008
- Weapons Co 1/23 Live Fire in Hawthorne, NV 2009 (Archived 2009-07-22)