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"The Old Breed"
 (Updated 10-30-08)
The 1st Marine Division is the largest unit on active duty in
the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed "the Old Breed," or the "Blue
Diamond," the 1st Marine Division is also the most decorated unit of its size
in the USMC. The 1st Marine Division is the ground combat element of the I
Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) and is stationed at Camp Pendleton in
California.
The primary mission of the Blue Diamond Division is to conduct
amphibious assault operations as part of the Naval Expeditionary Force (NEF)
and other military force operations as part of the MEF in any operational
environment as directed. The 1st Marine Division is comprised of Headquarters
Battalion, the 1st, 5th, 7th, and 11th Marine Regiments, 1st Reconnaissance
Battalion, 1st and 3d Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalions, 1st Tank
Battalion, and 3d Assault Amphibian Battalion. These units represent a
combat-ready force of more than 22,000 Marines and Sailors. As part of a Marine
Expeditionary Force, the 1st Marine Division is supported by a Marine aircraft
wing and other support elements.
While some of the Old Breed Regiments were in existence as
early as 1911, the 1st Marine Division was activated on February 1, 1941 aboard
the battleship USS Texas (BB-35). This was the first Division to be formed in
U.S. Marine Corps history. Following the outbreak of World War II, the Division
sailed to the Southwest Pacific. On August 7, 1942, the Blue Diamond conducted
the initial assault against the Japanese occupied islands of Guadalcanal and
Tulagi. After defeating the Japanese in a six month long struggle, which cost
over 3000 casualties, the Division moved to Australia for rest and
reorganization. It was in Melbourne that the division adopted the Australian
folk song "Waltzing Matilda" as its marching song. To this day, 1st Division
Marines still ship out to this song being played.
The Guadalcanal campaign was the first major American Pacific
campaign in World War II and the first time the 1st Marine Division conducted
combat operations as a division. The Division's actions during this operation
won it the first of three World War II Presidential Unit Citations (PUC). The
division would next see action during Operation Cartwheel, the campaigns in
Eastern New Guinea and New Britain. The Old Breed came ashore at the Battle of
Cape Gloucester on December 26, 1943 and fought on New Britain until February
1944. The 1st Marine Division also won Presidential Unit Citations for the
battles of Peleliu during September through November of 1944, and Okinawa from
March through June of 1945. Three weeks after Japan surrendered, the Division
was dispatched to North China for occupation duty. While in China, the Division
had numerous encounters with the Chinese Communists.
At the start of the Korean War in June of 1950, the Blue
Diamond, like much of America's military, found itself under strength as a
result of the post WWII drawdown of forces. Part of the 1st MarDiv, the 5th
Marine Regiment, was rushed to Korea to help hold the Pusan Perimeter, while
the rest of the Division prepared for their role in the new conflict. The Old
Breed was picked to lead the amphibious assault known as the Inchon Landing on
September 15, 1950. After landing the 1st Marine Division moved north and
secured the South Korean capital of Seoul after heavy fighting with North
Korean Communist forces. Later that fall as Communist China entered the war;
the 1st Marine Division was attacked by seven Chinese divisions on November 27,
1950. The Old Breed fought their way out of the Chosin Reservoir while
suffering over 900 killed and missing, over 3,500 wounded and more than 6,500
non-battle casualties mostly from frostbite during the battle. The greater part
of the Chinese 9th Army was rendered ineffective as they suffered an estimated
37,500 casualties trying to stop the Marines' march out of the "Frozen Chosin."
These combat actions in Korea earned the 1st Marine Division its fourth, fifth,
and sixth Presidential Unit Citations. The next two and one half years saw the
Division employed as a front-line unit against the Communist Forces. After the
fighting had ended in July 1953, the 1st Marine Division remained in defensive
positions for nearly two more years.
In 1965, 7th Marines participated in the first major
engagements for American ground troops in South Vietnam, called Operations
STARLITE and PIRANHA. By March of 1966 the 1st Marine Division Headquarters was
established at Chu Lai. By June of that same year, the entire Division was in
South Vietnam. The Blue Diamond's zone of operation was the southern two
provinces of the I Corps area, Quang Tin and Quang Ngai. Between March 1966 and
May 1967, the Division conducted 44 named and unnamed operations. Major
engagements included Operations HASTINGS and UNION I and II. In these
operations, 1st Marine Division units decisively defeated the enemy.
During the 1968 Tet Offensive, the Old Breed was involved in
fierce fighting with both Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army elements. It
successfully beat back and decimated every enemy assault in its area of
operations, pursuing the enemy into his sanctuaries. It was during this period
that Marines from the 1st and 5th Regiments fought in the Battle of Hue. The
Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruiser USS Hue City is named in their
honor. It is the only naval vessel named for a battle of the Vietnam War. U.S.
Marine Sergeant Alfredo Gonzalez was awarded the Medal of Honor for his
fearless gallantry above and beyond the call of duty at Hue. The USS Gonzalez
(DDG-66), an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, honors the memory of
this hero. It was also during this period that the 1st Marine Division earned
its seventh and eighth Presidential Unit Citations.
After six hard years, the 1st Marine Division returned to Camp
Pendleton, California in 1971. However, the Vietnam era chapter of their
service was not over. In 1975, the Division supported the evacuation of Saigon
by providing food and temporary shelter at Camp Pendleton for Vietnamese
refugees as they arrived in the United States.
On August 26, 1990, the Blue Diamond Division deployed to
Saudi Arabia in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. During Operation
DESERT SHIELD, the 1st Marine Division served as a deterrent force to prevent
further Iraqi aggression. With the start of Operation DESERT STORM on January
17, 1991, the Division conducted numerous combined arms raids against enemy
forces culminating in the ground assault to liberate Kuwait on February 24,
1991. The Division fought alongside the 2nd Marine Division under I MEF and
with the rest of the Coalition Forces went on the offensive. In only 100 hours
ground combat, the 1st Marine Division destroyed the enemy in its path as it
led the breakthrough to Kuwait City.
During the 1990s the Old Breed was called on to serve in
humanitarian relief missions as well as their primary mission of preparing for
war. Immediately following the Persian Gulf War, the Division sent units to
Operation SEA ANGEL, a humanitarian relief mission conducted after a
devastating typhoon hit the country of Bangladesh. The 1st Marine Division also
sent units to the Philippines in Operation FIERY VIGIL after the eruption of
the volcano Mount Pinatubo. In December of 1992, the 15th Marine Expeditionary
Unit (MEU) supported by the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines landed in Somalia as
part of Operation RESTORE HOPE to bring relief to that famine stricken
country.
In early 2003, the 1st Marine Division deployed by air and sea
to link up with its advance headquarters deployed to Kuwait under I MEF. In a
high speed attack, in conjunction with The United Kingdom's 1st Armored
Division and the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, the Marines and Sailors
covered 808 kilometers in 17 days of sustained combat to complete the deepest
penetrating ground operation in Marine Corps history. Attacking to Baghdad
alongside the 3rd ID and eventually seizing Saddam Hussein's hometown of
Tikrit, the Old Breed again demonstrated the Marine Air-Ground team in action.
The 1st Marine Division conducted stability operations in Baghdad, Tikrit, and
then in south-central Iraq from May to October of 2003. The Division then
returned home to Camp Pendleton and Twenty-nine Palms and prepared for
redeployment. The Blue Diamond's actions in the invasion of Iraq earned the
Division its ninth Presidential Unit Citation.
In March 2004, the 1st Marine Division relieved 82d Airborne
Division in Iraq's Sunni Triangle and took control of the Al Anbar province.
The Old Breed was the lead unit in Operation VIGILANT RESOLVE and Operation
PHANTOM FURY in 2004. During Operation IRAQI FREEDOM II, the Division conducted
counter-insurgency operations that culminated in Operation AL FAJR which
liberated the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah and enabled the first legitimate
elections to occur in Iraq. During February and March 2005, the Blue Diamond
was relieved by the 2nd Marine Division, concluding the largest relief in place
in the history of the Marine Corps.
As early as 2006, elements of the 1st Marine Division were
once again in Iraq as the ground combat element for I MEF in the Al Anbar
province. Currently, in 2008, continue to deploy in support of the Global War
on Terror in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Currently, in 2008, elements of the 7th
Marine Regiment are deployed in Afghanistan while the 5th Marine Regiment, the
1st Marine Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines are deployed with the
Multi National Force - West (MNF-West) in Iraq.
The Old Breed will continue to serve the Corps and their
country as long as they are needed. The marines of the Division are living up
to their motto of "No better friend, no worse enemy," while participating in
Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM in Afghanistan.
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