3rd Battalion 8th Marines (3/8) was an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune () is a United States Armed Forces, United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for Amphibious warfare, amphibious assault training, and its ...

, North Carolina, consisting of approximately 1,100 Marines and Sailors. The battalion fell under the command of the 8th Marine Regiment and the

2nd Marine Division The 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV) is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF). The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina ...

Subordinate units

Headquarters and Service Company A headquarters and service company is a company-sized military unit, found at the battalion and regimental level in the U.S. Marine Corps. The U.S. Army equivalent unit is the headquarters and headquarters company. In identifying a specific hea ...

* Company I * Company K * Company L *

Weapons Company A weapons company, sometimes called a manoeuvre support company, is a company (military), company-sized military unit attached to an infantry battalion to support the rifle companies of the battalion. It usually possesses some combination of machine ...

Mission

The mission of the Marine Corps rifle squad is to locate, close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver and/ or repel enemy assault by fire and close combat.

History

World War II

The battalion was activated on November 1, 1940, in San Diego and was assigned to the 2nd Marine Brigade. The 2nd Marine Brigade was re-designated February 1, 1941, as

. It participated in the action at the Battle of Guadalcanal,

Battle of Tarawa The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, an ...

, Battle of Saipan, Battle of Tinian and the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. Following the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, they re-deployed during September 1945 to Nagasaki,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and participated in

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

from until February 1946. The battalion was deactivated March 26, 1946.

1950s & 1960s

3/8 was reactivated on January 15, 1951, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, as 3rd and was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division. During the 1960s they participated in the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

from October to December 1962 and Operation Powerpack in the Dominican Republic in 1965.

1970s

3/8 went to the Med in January 1979 as part of the 32 MAU. Major Oliver North was 3/8’s S3 officer.

1980s & 1990s

3/8 went to the Med in January 1980 and 1981as part of the 32 MAU. The company first sergeant

Lewis G. Lee Lewis G. Lee (born January 19, 1950) is a retired United States Marine who served as the 13th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. He retired from active duty in 1999 after over 31 years of service. He was the last Sergeant Majo ...

would eventually become Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. The battalion was part of the Multi-Nation Peace Keeping Force in Lebanon from October 1982 to February 1983, and February through October 1984. * Participated in Operation Sharp Edge in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

during August 1990. * Participated in Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq during April and July 1991. * Participated in Operation Deny Flight, Bosnia and Herzegovina, March- September 1993. * Participated in Operation Deny Flight,

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

, April - September 1995. * Participated in Operation Assured Response,

, June - August 1996. * Element Participated in Operation Quick Response, Central African Republic, June 1996. * Participated in Operation Joint Endeavor Adriatic Sea October 1996. * Elements participated in security operations

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and Panama November 1997 – February 1998 and January – August 1999. * Participated in Operation Noble Anvil,

Operation Shining Hope {{unreferenced, date=November 2007 Joint Task Force (JTF) Shining Hope was the United States contribution to Operation Allied Harbor. The mission of JTF Shining Hope was to conduct foreign humanitarian assistance operations in support of US governme ...

and Operation Joint Guardian, April 1999-October 1999.

Global War on Terror

USMC parachutist Afghanistan 081208-M-0000J-002a

* Participated in

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

, Kabul, Afghanistan, December 2001 - September 2002. During this time companies from 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines guarded the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. * Participated in

Operation Secure Tomorrow Operation Secure Tomorrow is an operation that took place from February 2004 to July 2004 in Haiti. A multinational force composed of the United States, Chile, Canada, and France was deployed in accordance with UN Resolution 1529. The force was ...

Port au Prince, Haiti Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, March - June 2004. * Participated in

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, Karmah, Iraq, January - August 2005. * Participated in

, Ramadi, Iraq, March - mid October 2006 * Served as the ground combat element of the

22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU) is one of seven such units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel. They are currently based out of M ...

from February 2007 - February 2008, during which elements participated in Operation Sea Angel II in Bangladesh. * Participated in

, Afghanistan October 2008 - May 2009. In December 2008, the Marines of India Company provided security for Operation Backstop — protecting large British logistics convoy that moved equipment and supplies for Coalition combat operations in Helmand Province. Mainly Nawzad, Afghanistan. * Served as the ground combat element of the

26th Marine Expeditionary Unit The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU) is one of seven such units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is an air-ground task force with a strength of about 2,400 personnel when at full strength during a deployment. ...

from April 2010 - May 2011, during which elements were deployed into Afghanistan from January–May 2011 in the

Nahri Saraj District Grishk District ( ps, ګرشک ولسوالۍ) (population 114,200), also called Nahri Saraj District (), is a district in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. Its principal municipality is Grishk (population 48,546). Grishk Dam is located in ...

of Helmand province. * Elements participated in Odyssey Dawn and Unified Protector while deployed aboard 26 MEU * Participated in

, Marjah, Afghanistan, April 2012 - December 2012. Defense

Deactivation

Commandant Gen.

David H. Berger David Hilberry Berger (born December 21, 1959) is a United States Marine Corps four-star general currently serving as the 38th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. Since his commissioning in 1981, he has served in a variety of command an ...

, former Commanding Officer of 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, released a press statement stating,"Developing a force that incorporates emerging technologies and a significant change to force structure within our current resource constraints will require the Marine Corps to become smaller and remove legacy capabilities". In May 2020, 3rd Battalion was listed as one of the units proposed to be deactivated. U.S. Marine Corps Col. John H. Rochford, the commanding officer of 8th Marine Regiment, and Sgt. Maj. Keith D. Hoge, the sergeant major of 8th Marine Reg., both with 2d Marine Division, cased the regimental colors during a deactivation ceremony on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Jan. 28, 2021.

Awards

United States Navy Presidential Unit Citation ribbon

Presidential Unit Citation Streamer with 2 bronze stars * Joint Meritorious Unit Award ribbon

Joint Meritorious Unit Award Streamer * Navy Unit Commendation ribbon

Navy Unit Commendation Streamer with 1 silver and 2 bronze stars * Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon

Meritorious Unit Commendation Sreamer with 2 bronze stars * Marine Corps Expeditionary ribbon

Marine Corps Expeditionary Streamer with 2 bronze stars *

American Defense Service Medal Streamer * Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Streamer with 1 silver star * World War II Victory Medal ribbon

World War II Victory Streamer * Army of Occupation ribbon

Navy Occupation Service Streamer with "Asia" and "Europe" Marine Patrol Helmand Province w

National Defense Service Streamer with 3 bronze stars * Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal ribbon

Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamer with 1 bronze star * Southwest Asia Service Medal ribbon

Southwest Asia Service Streamer with 1 bronze star * Kosovo Campaign Streamer with 2 bronze stars * Afghanistan Campaign Streamer with 3 bronze stars * Iraqi Campaign Streamer with 1 bronze star *

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary ribbon

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Streamer *

Global War on Terrorism Service Streamer NAVMC 2922, MMMA, 26 November 2019 and the Historical Resources Branch, Marine Corps History Division

Notes

References

: ;Bibliography * Rottman, Gordon L., "U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939-1945". Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. 2002. ;Web
3/8's official website

External links

CNN report on 3/8 fighting in Ramadi, Iraq
{{2ndMarDiv Infantry battalions of the United States Marine Corps