Blood Is Thicker Than Water: 2nd Battalion 1st Marines 1st Marine Division

This post is a brief glimpse of my son's ancestors' lineage, those Marines other than that of direct bloodline . 2/1's battles during the War in the Pacific are listed near the end of this post.

For those of you who've tried to keep up with this little series that I seem to mutilate more than develop, you may recall the battles 4th Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division (Uncle Lonnie or LT. McCurry) fought were in Bougainville, Guam, and Iwo Jima.

We've covered Bougainville, so guess we'll have to backtrack some, but that's okay.

I've already seen that I won't always be able to pinpoint down to the unit itself without doing a lot more research than I have time available for just now, but I'll do my best to narrow it to the smallest element possible. Tracking, at times, may be only as close as 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions themselves.

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2nd Battalion 1st Marines (2/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 1000 Marines and Sailors. They fall under the 1st Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division.

History
Activated August 1, 1922 at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as the 2d Battalion, 1st Regiment and assigned to the 2d Brigade.

Participated in the occupation of the Dominican Republic, Deactivated 20 July 1924

World War II
Reactivated March 1, 1941 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as the 2d Battalion, 1st Marines and assigned to the 1st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force

Deployed during April 1941 to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina

Deactivated June 14, 1941

Reactivated February 11, 1942 at New River, North Carolina, and assigned to the 1st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force

Deployed during July 1942 to Wellington, New Zealand

Participated in the following World War II campaigns:

Guadalcanal August 7, 1942 – The 1st Marine Division invades Tulagi and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. It is the first U.S. amphibious landing of the war. A day later eight Japanese warships retaliate and sink three U.S. heavy cruisers, an Australian cruiser, and one U.S. destroyer, in less than an hour. Over 1,500 Allied crewmen are lost.

Nearly two weeks later, on August 21, 1942, U.S. Marines repulse the first major Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal, setting the stage for the Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal from September 12-14, 1942.

Peleliu
New Britain
Okinawa

Redeployed during September 1945 to Tiensin, China

Participated in the occupation of North China, September 1945-October 1947

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