1968 - Major Jay R Vargas received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions as CO, G/2/4, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade.
1992 - Brigadier General Marvin Hapgood Jr. led 1500 Marines from Camp Pendleton to help quell the Los Angles riots.
A new physical fitness order (Marine Corps Order 6100.12) was issued by HQMC after being developed by Training and Education Command for the last three years. A stricter weight control program, linking physical fitness test (PFT) performance to the body composition program assignment process, and slightly higher weight limits are part of the new order.
2002 - The Department of Defense announced that all service members on active duty on or after 11 September 2001 are eligible to receive the National Defense Service Medal. The medal may also be awarded to members of the reserve components who are ordered to federal active duty, regardless of duration, except for certain categories. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Defense Service Medal 22 April 1953. It has subsequently been awarded for honorable active service for any period between 27 June 1950 and 27 July 1954, the period between 1 January 1961 and 14 August 1974, and between 2 August 1990 and 30 Nov. 1995.
2003 - President Bush, speaking on the deck of the returning USS Abraham Lincoln, declared the Major combat operations in Iraq had ended.

May 2
1945 - PFC William A Foster received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions with K/3/1 on Okinawa.
1946 - Marines helped quell a prison riot at Alcatraz Island, CA. Marines from Treasure Island Marine Barracks, under the command of Warrant Officer Charles L. Buckner, aiding in suppressing the three-day prison riot at Alcatraz Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay. WO Buckner, a veteran of the Bougainville and Guam campaigns, ably led his force of Marines without suffering a single casualty.
1950 - SA Robert Bush, Navy Corpsman received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on Okinawa.
1968 - Captain James E Livingston received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions as CO of E/2/4, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade.

May 3
1898 - Lieutenant Dion Williams and Marines from the USS Baltimore raised the American flag over Cavite, Philippines.
2003 - The Marine Corps left Iceland after being present for more than six decades. Marines were the first American military forces to arrive on the northern European island when the first contingent landed 7 July 1941 as part of the 1st Provisional Brigade sent to protect Iceland from becoming embroiled in World War II. The 51 members of the Marine Corps security force were used as the core group to set up the 3rd Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) Company in Norfolk, Virginia.
2004 - Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England presented awards to three Marines from 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines at Camp Pendleton for actions during the initial invasion phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in early 2003. Sgt Marco A. Martinez received the Navy Cross, while SSgt Adam R. Sikes and Cpl Timothy C. Tardif both received Silver Stars. Secretary England also presented the widow of GySgt Jeffrey E. Bohr Jr. with a posthumous Silver Star.
May 4
1942 - Marines participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea during WWII.
1945 - Sergeant Elbert L Kinser received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions with I/3/1 on Okinawa.

May 5
1919 - HQMC moved into the new Navy Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington DC
1961 - Marine pilots retrieved America-s first astronaut, Navy Commander Alan Shepard.
1983 - In Beirut, Lebanon, a UH-1N helicopter carrying the commander of the American peace-keeping force, Colonel James Mead, was hit by machine gun fire, the six Marines aboard escaped injury. Colonel Mead and his crew had taken off in the helicopter to investigate artillery and rocket duels between rival Syrian-backed Druze Moslem militiamen and Christian Phalangists that endangered French members of the multinational force.

May 6
1937 - Marines at NAS Lakehurst, NJ helped rescue the survivors of the Hindenburg disaster.
1942 - The Colors of the 4th Marine Regiment were burned to avoid capture on Corregidor.
1970 - L/Corporal James D Howe received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions with I/3/7.
2004 - Four Marines with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, were presented awards by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Michael Hagee at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twenty-nine Palms, California, for their actions during OIF. Capt Brian R. Chontosh and PFC Joseph B. Perez received the Navy Cross and Corporal’s Armand E. McCormick and Robert P. Kerman received Silver Stars.

May 7
1873 - 200 Marines from the steamers USS Pensacola and Tuscarora landed at the Bay of Panama, Columbia to protect Americans.
1942 - The 8th Defense Battalion landed on Wallis Island, from Tutuila Island.
1945 - Private Dale M Hansen received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions with C/1/7 on Okinawa.
PFC Albert E Schwab received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions as a Flame Thrower Operator with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines on Okinawa.
Corporal John P Farday received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions with C/1/7 on Okinawa.
1965 - MAG-12 arrived at Chu Lai, Vietnam to construct a maintenance facility and support systems for an expeditionary airfield.

May 8
1808 - Marine Barracks, Charleston was established under Lieutenant Pinckney using 22 Marines.
1945 - PFC James D LaBelle posthumously received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions with Weapons Company, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, in action against enemy forces on Iwo Jima.
1995 - In the wake of the most devastating storm to hit the New Orleans area in more than 200 years, a group of Marines and sailors from Marine Forces Reserve demonstrated the quick response synonymous with the Navy/Marine Corps team. Within 24 hours, Marines assisted in the evacuation of 2,500 civilians, and Navy corpsmen treated scores of flood victims.
1970 - L/Corporal Miguel Keith received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions with Combined Action Platoon 1-3-2, III Marine Amphibious Force.
2002 - Private First Class Darwin H. Brown was laid to rest in Bernardston, Massachusetts, nearly 60 years after the 18-year-old Marine was killed in the battle of Tarawa, November 1943. Brown’s dog tags, and later his remains and those of another man, were uncovered by local construction workers on what is now Betio Island in the Republic of Kiribati. Laborious forensic and DNA tests established one of the bodies as Brown’s.

May 9
1846 - Lt Archibald Gillespie delivered a Presidential message to Captain John C Fremont in Oregon.
2000 - The remains of six Marines, listed as missing in action from the Mayaguez incident in Southeast Asia 25 years ago, were identified and returned to their families for burial in the United States. The May 1975 incident involved the attempt to rescue an American cargo ship and its crew on a small island near Cambodia. It was considered the last battle of the conflict in Southeast Asia.
2002 - Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth A. Walsh, a World War II Marine Corps fighter ace and MEDAL OF HONOR recipient, was posthumously inducted into the Naval Aviation Hall of Honor at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida. LtCol Walsh is credited with 21 kills during the war and was awarded the MEDAL OF HONOR for taking on numerically superior enemy forces. Three Navy pilots were also inducted into the hall.

May 10
1845 - Marines from the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) landed at Tourane, Cochin China (Da Nang, Vietnam). This was the first time Marines landed in Viet Nam.
1945 - The 22nd Marines, 6th Marine Division, executed a pre-dawn attack across the Asa River Estuary and seized a bridgehead from which to continue the attack toward Naha, the capital of Okinawa.
May 10, 1945 - William D Halyburton: Pharmacist's Mate Second Class, US Naval Reserve  received the MEDAL OF HONOR for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with a Marine rifle company in the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 10 May 1945.

May 11
1898 - Private Joseph J Franklin received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Nashville.
Private Frank Hill received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Nashville.
Private Joseph F Scott received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Nashville.
Private Michael Kearney received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Nashville.
Private Oscar W Field received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Nashville.
Private Pomeroy Parker received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Nashville.
Sergeant Phillip Gaughan received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Nashville
Private Daniel Campbell received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Marblehead.
Private Patrick F Ford, Jr. received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Marblehead.
Private Herman W Kuchneister received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Marblehead.
Private Edward Sullivan received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Marblehead.
Private Walter S West received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions on the USS Marblehead.
1920 - The 16th Marine Regiment was organized in Philadelphia for duty in Cuba, Haiti, & Dominican Republic.

May 12
1975 - Marines were alerted for rescue of the Mayaguez crew and assault on Koh Tang Island, Cambodia.
2003 - The Marine Corps lifted the stop loss and stop-move policies that had been put in place in January. The policies were used to increase the Corps' combat effectiveness for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Marine Administration Message 228/03 offered the details of the phase out. An estimated 6,000 Marines were affected by the stop loss.

May 13
1846 - War was declared on Mexico.
1928 - Marines participated in the Battle of Cua River in Nicaragua.

May 14
1917 - The first Marine detachment transferred from Annapolis to a new Marine post at Quantico, VA.
1919 - Marines from the USS Arizona landed at Constantinople to secure the American Consulate.
1945 - Corporal Louis J Hauge Jr. received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions as leader of a machine gun squad serving with C/1/1 on Okinawa.

May 16
1927 - Marines participated in the Battle of La Paz Centro in Nicaragua.
1945 - The 22nd and 29th Marines continued the attack against Half Moon Hill, a day characterized by the 6th Marine Division as the "bitterest" of the Okinawa Campaign, by the 18th, the famous "Shuri line" had been broached.

May 17
1945 - Corporal James L Day received the MEDAL OF HONOR for actions as a as a squad leader with the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Marines, 6th Marine Division, on Okinawa. Corporal Day rallied his squad and the remnants of another unit and led them to a critical position forward of the front lines of Sugar Loaf Hill.
1962 - The 3rd MEU landed in Thailand, easing the communist pressure.

May 18
1902 - Marines from the USS Ranger landed at Panama City to protect Americans.
1968 - PFC Robert C Burke received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions with I/3/27, RVN.

May 19
1927 - The 11th Marine Regiment arrived in Estelí, Nicaragua for garrison duty.

May 20
1803 - Marines participated in the raid on Tripoli
1906 - Major John A Lejeune embarked his battalion for duty in Panama.

May 21
1847 - A Marine Regiment formed for duty with General Winfield Scott’s Army in Mexico.

May 22
1912 - Lieutenant Alfred A Cunningham became the first Marine officer assigned to aviation duty. 1st Lieutenant Alfred A. Cunningham, the first Marine officer to be assigned to "duty in connection with aviation" by Major General Commandant William P. Biddle, reported for aviation training at the Naval Aviation Camp at Annapolis, Maryland, and Marine aviation had its official beginning.
2003 - Marine Private First Class Ronald Lilledahl became the first "unknown" American service member from the Korean War to be positively identified. His remains were exhumed in 1999 from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii with the hopes that new technology could lead to identification of America's unknowns. Private First Class Lilledahl's remains were returned to his family for burial.

May 23
1899 - Marines arrived to secure the Cavite Naval Base, Philippines.
1988 - The V-22 Osprey, the world's first production tilt-rotor aircraft, made its debut during rollout ceremonies at Bell Helicopter Textron's Arlington, Texas, facility. More than 1,000 representatives, gathered to hear various speakers, including Gen Alfred Gray, Commandant of the Marine Corps, praise the versatile rotor craft designed to meet the needs of 21st Century battlefields.

May 24
1900 - Marines landed at Taku, China, to establish a Legation Guard at Peking.

May 25
1775 - Eight Marines escorted the payroll, being the first recorded action of the Continental Marines.

May 26
1853 - Marine Major Jacob Zeilin arrived with Commodore Matthew C Perry’s squadron on Okinawa.
1945 - 1st Lieutenant Harry L Martin received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions as Platoon Leader Company C, Fifth Pioneer Battalion, Fifth Marine Division on Iwo Jima.
1969 - Operation Pipestone Canyon began when the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines and 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines began sweeps in the Dodge City/Go Noi areas southwest of Da Nang. It terminated at the end of June with 610 enemy killed in action at a cost of 34 Marines killed.

May 27
1803 - Marines aboard the USS John Adams engaged Tripolitan gunboats off Tripoli.
1969 - PFC Jimmy W Phipps received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions as a Combat Engineer with B/1/1.

May 28
1945 - The 5th Marine Regiment began the final assault against Shuri Castle, Okinawa.
1952 - PFC John D Kelly received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously with C/1/7 in Korea.

May 29
1944 - The 4th Marine Division sailed from Pearl Harbor for Saipan operations.
1945 - 5th Marines assaulted Shuri Ridge, Okinawa, despite heavy mortar fire and took the crest and later Shuri Castle itself.
1951 - PFC Whitt L Morland received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions as an Intelligence Scout attached to C/1/5, in Korea.
1952 - Corporal David B Champagne received the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously for actions with A/1/7 in Korea.
1991 - Elements of a joint task force that included the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade departed the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Bangladesh after nearly two weeks of disaster relief operations following a devastating cyclone. The joint task force delivered tons of relief supplies using helicopters, C-130s, and landing craft in Operation Sea Angel.

May 30
1873 - 68 Marines from the USS Ohio and USS Portsmouth restored order after a fire in Boston.
2004 - Vietnam MEDAL OF HONOR recipient Private Raymond Michael “Mike” Clausen, Jr. died of liver failure at the age of 56. Private Clausen heroically participated in the helicopter rescue of a Marine platoon stranded in a minefield on 31 January 1970 while he was serving as a helicopter crew chief with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263. He was buried in Ponchatoula Cemetery in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.

May 31
1900 - Marines guarded Peking Diplomatic Quarters during the Boxer Rebellion.