The 6th Marine Regiment (also referred to as "6th Marines") is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The regiment falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Division of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. Its combat history dates back to World War I when they were part of the American Expeditionary Force. They fought in the Pacific Theater in World War II, most notably at the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. More recently, the regiment has seen combat during the Gulf War and in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Subordinate units The regiment comprises four (five during war) organic infantry battalions and one headquarters company:
Headquarters Company 6th Marines (HQ/6) 1st Battalion, 6th Marines (1/6) 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines (2/6) 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines (3/6) 1st Battalion, 8th Marines (1/8) 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines (2/9; during wartime only, when activated)
History
World War I The 6th Marine Regiment was first organized at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on 11 July 1917, three months after the American entry into World War I, under the command of Medal of Honor holder Colonel Albertus W. Catlin.Jones (1987), p. 161. The regiment included three battalions: the 1st (74th, 75th, 76th, and 95th Companies), the 2nd (78th, 79th, 80th, and 96th Companies), and the 3rd (82nd, 83rd, 84th, and 97th Companies). Virtually all of the senior officers and staff non-commissioned officers of the 6th Marines were long-service professionals, while most junior officers and all privates were new enlistees. Although the new men were short on experience, they were long on education: Colonel Catlin estimated that 60% of them were college men.Quote cited in Henry, U.S. Marine in World War I, p. 5. Regimental increments arrived in France during late 1917 and early 1918. Upon arrival, the 6th Marines joined the 5th Marine Regiment and the 6th Machine Gun Battalion to form the 4th Brigade, U.S. 2nd Division (Regular), American Expeditionary Force. The early spring was devoted to training under French tutelage. The "Marine" BrigadeThis honorific title was a little misleading since the brigade included both Marines and soldiers and was serving under the Articles of War as a U.S. Army unit. entered the trenches of the Toulon Sector near Verdun in March 1918, where it suffered its first combat casualties. The regiment had 33 men killed while in the trenches, most lost when the 74th Company billeting area was gassed on 13 April 1918.Strott, George G. Navy Medics with the Marines, 1917–1919 (Washington, D.C.: DON, 1947), p. 38.
The 4th Brigade was ordered to shore up crumbling French lines near Château-Thierry in late May 1918. The 6th Marines took up positions southwest of Belleau Wood, then it was ordered to seize the town of Bouresches and to clear the southern half of Belleau Wood itself on 6 June. These attacks were the beginning of a month-long struggle that eventually became a landmark battle for the U.S. Marine Corps. Colonel Catlin was severely wounded not long after the first waves went over the top; his replacement was Lieutenant Colonel Harry Lee, who would command the regiment for the rest of the war. Gunnery Sergeant Fred W. Stockham voluntarily gave up his own gas mask to a platoonmate and was later awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor for that action. Regimental dentist Weedon Osborne was also awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. Regimental losses in this sector were 2,143 over 40 days.Strott, p. 50. In recognition of the "brilliant courage, vigor, spirit, and tenacity of the Marines", the French government awarded Marine units at Belleau Wood the Croix de Guerre with Palm and renamed Belleau Wood "Bois de la Brigade de Marine."McClellan, Edwin N. The United States Marine Corps in the First World War (Honolulu: University of Pacific Press, 2002), p. 42
The U.S. 2nd Division was attached to the French XX Corps to conduct a counterattack near Soissons in mid-July. The 6th Regiment was held in reserve when the initial assault waves went over the top on 18 July. The next day, the 6th Marine Regiment stepped off, advancing alone from Vierzy toward Tigny, but was stopped short of the objective by intense artillery and machinegun fire. Casualties were extremely heavy, estimated at 50 to 70% in most units. First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates (a future commandant of the Marine Corps) reported only about two dozen of more than 400 men survived and added "... There is no one on my left, and only a few on my right. I will hold."Jones, pp. 12–13. Regimental losses during the Aisne-Marne Offensive numbered 1,431; 19 July 1918 is the single costliest day of fighting in the history of the 6th Marine Regiment. Two Navy medical personnel attached to the 6th Regiment received Medals of Honor for their actions at Soissons: future admiral Joel T. Boone and corpsman John H. Balch.Strott, p. 66.
After a month-long rest, the Marines were assigned to the U.S. First Army to participate in the first "all-American" push, a double envelopment to eliminate the St. Mihiel salient. The 6th Marines was relegated to support the 3rd Brigade's attack from Limey to Thiaucourt. The push began early on 12 September, and the initial attack carried virtually all of the division's objectives before noon that day. The American attack unknowingly coincided with a German withdrawal. The sharpest action for the Regiment occurred when defending the outpost line of resistance on 15 September. Although this mission has been tagged "a piece of cake" by some historians, the 6th Marines lost more than a hundred killed and about five hundred wounded at St. Mihiel; Navy corpsman David E. Hayden earned a Medal of Honor for his heroic actions while attached to the 6th Marines defending Thiaucourt.Jones, pp. 15–16.
The 2nd Division and the US 36th Division were then loaned to the French Fourth Army for its assault on German forces that became the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge. Here the Marines successfully captured their objectives after bloody fighting, and with support from the 36th Division fought off German counterattacks until the flanking French units were able to catch up to the American advance. The 2nd and 36th Divisions then advanced and captured a German strongpoint at St. Etienne, after which the 2nd was withdrawn from the line to regroup and returned to American command.
For the actions at Belleau Wood, Soissons, and Blanc Mont, the 6th Marine Regiment was awarded the French croix de guerre three times. As a result, the regiment is authorized to wear the fourragère of the croix de guerre (seen in the unit's logo), one of only two units in the Marine Corps so honored (the other being the 5th Marine Regiment). The fourragère thereafter became part of the uniform of the unit, and all members of the modern 6th Marines are authorized to wear the fourragère while serving with the regiment.
When the armistice on 11 November 1918, ended active hostilities, the 6th Regiment was assigned to the U.S. Third Army to spearhead the Allied march from France through Belgium and Luxembourg to Coblenz, Germany. There, the regiment settled into uneventful occupation duty from December 1918 to May 1919. At that time, the regiment once again deployed for hostilities when the German representatives balked at the unexpected terms of surrender. This threat persuaded the Germans to accept to the terms, and the treaties formally ending the war were signed in June 1919. Their mission accomplished, the Marines sailed for home the following month.Jones, pp. 18–22.
The 6th Marines was deactivated at Quantico on 13 August 1919 after victoriously parading through the streets of New York City and Washington, D.C. Thomas Boyd's novel Through The Wheat.Boyd, Thomas. Through The Wheat: A Novel of the World War I Marines (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press reprint, 2000). covers the activities of the 6th Marine Regiment during the First World War.
Between the World Wars The 6th Marine Regiment was reactivated in 1921 at Marine Base Quantico where it was brigaded with the 5th Regiment. Together, these storied units conducted training and made national headlines by participating in a series of much-heralded summer maneuvers that recreated famous Civil War battles (Wilderness, Gettysburg, Antietam, and New Market) using modern tactics and equipment. Elements of the regiment were called on to reinforce occupation forces in Cuba and the Dominican Republic in 1924. The regiment was once again inactivated in March 1925.Two years later, civil strife tore through China threatening American lives and property. This danger required an increased military presence to forestall violence and disorder. As a result, a new 6th Regiment was activated at Philadelphia for duty with the 3rd Provisional Brigade in China. No major incidents occurred in 1928 so in 1929 the China Marines were either reassigned or sent home. The colors of the 6th Regiment returned to San Diego where the unit was officially dissolved.Parker, William D. A Concise History of the United States Marine Corps, 1775–1969 (Washington, D.C.: HistDiv, HQMC, 1970), pp. 52 & 55–56. The regiment was reactivated on 1 September 1934 as part of the Fleet Marine Force.
World War II When the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, the 6th Marines was temporarily detached from its parent 2nd Marine Division to garrison Iceland while assigned to the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. The Brigade was disbanded on 25 March in New York City. The 6th Marines was reassigned to the 2nd Marine Division at San DiegoRottman, p. 146. before sailing for the South Pacific. After a brief stay in New Zealand, the 6th Marines landed at Guadalcanal on 4 January 1943 where it was temporarily reunited with the 2nd and 8th Marines. The 6th Marines, fighting as part of a provisional Army-Marine division after the bulk of the 2nd Marine Division departed, participated in the final American offensive on Guadalcanal advancing from Kokumbona to Cape Esperance and eliminating the last remaining enemy forces. The 6th Marines suffered 223 casualties (53 killed in action/died of wounds, 170 wounded in action) during its six weeks on the "Canal".Jones, pp. 48–54.
The regiment then returned to New Zealand to refit for the upcoming Operation Galvanic, the capture of the Gilbert Islands in the Central Pacific. This time the target was Tarawa Atoll. The 6th Marines, once again part of the 2nd Marine Division, was the V Amphibious Corps floating reserve. The assault waves stormed ashore on 20 November 1943 but ran into stiff resistance. Casualties were so heavy that the entire division reserve was committed on the first day. The 6th Marines was ordered ashore the following morning. The 1st and 3rd Battalions landed across Betio's Green Beach and were ordered to drive the length of the island, the 2nd Battalion was used as a blocking force on nearby Bairiki Island. Betio was declared secure after 76 bloody hours. The 1st and 3rd Battalions mounted out for a new rest camp in Hawaii, but the 2nd Battalion stayed on to clear the rest of the atoll. The 6th Marines suffered 355 casualties (99 dead, 256 wounded) and received a Presidential Unit Citation for actions at Tarawa.Jones, pp. 65–78.