Second Battalion Seventh Marines is garrisoned on board the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at 29 Palms, CA. 2d Battalion, 7th Marines activated 01 January 1941 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as the 2d battalion, 7th Marines and was assigned to the 1st Marine Brigade, Fleet Marine Force. It was reassigned during February 1941 to the 1st Marine Division, and relocated during April 1941 to Paris Island, South Carolina, and relocated during September 1941 to New River, North Carolina. The Battalion was attached during March 1942 to the 3rd Marine Brigade, and deployed during April 1942 to Samoa. It was detached during August 1942 from the 3rd Marine Brigade and reassigned to the 1st Marine Division. It participated in the following World War II campaigns: Guadalcanal; Eastern New Guinea; New Britain; Peleliu; and Okinawa. It participated in the occupation of North China, September 1945 - January 1947. The unit relocated during January 1947 to Camp Pendleton, and deactivated 26 February 1947.
The Battalion was reactivated 17 August 1950 at Camp Pendleton, California, and assigned to the 1st Marine Division. It deployed during September 1950 to the Republic of Korea and participated in the Korean War from September 1950 through July 1953, operating from Inchon-Seoul, Chosin Reservoir, East Central Front, and Western Front. It participated in the defense of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, July 1953 - March 1955, and relocated during March 1955 to Camp Pendleton.
It deployed during June 1965 to Camp Schwab, Okinawa, and participated in the War in Vietnam, July 1965 - October 1970, operating from Qui Nhon, Chu Lai, Dai Nang, Dai Loc and An Hoa.
The Battalion relocated during October 1970 to Camp Pendleton, and was reassigned to the 5th Marine Amphibious Brigade. Reassigned during April 1971 to the 1st Marine Division, it participated in the battalion rotation between the 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa and divisions stationed in the United States during the 1980s. It relocated during January 1990 to Twenty-nine Palms, California, and participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Southwest Asia, August 1990 - March 1991, and relocated during March 1991 to Twenty-nine Palms, California.
The battalion continued to participate in the rotation between 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa and divisions stationed in the United States from March 1991 - June 2005. From July 2005 - January 2006 and January 2007 - August 2007, the battalion was assigned to Regimental Combat Team 6 and participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom, operating around the Fallujah area. Upon returning to Twenty-Nine Palms, California the battalion started predeployment workup for another tour. In April 2008, the battalion deployed to Afghanistan to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom.
From April 2008 to November 2008 the Battalion deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom 08 and was assigned to Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan, and later to the Special Purpose MAGTF - Afghanistan. Operating from locations in Northern Helmand and Eastern Farah Provinces, the Battalion engaged in heavy fighting with insurgent forces while conducting full-spectrum COIN with a focus on development of the Afghan National Police.
The Battalion deployed to Okinawa, Japan in support of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) from January to July of 2010. During this deployment the Battalion participated in Operation Cobra Gold 2010 and Operation Balikatan 2010 in the countries of Thailand and Republic of the Philippines. The Battalion again deployed to Okinawa, Japan in support of the 31st MEU from June to December of 2011. During this deployment the Battalion participated in Talisman Saber 2011 and PHIBLEX 2011 in the countries of Australia and Republic of the Philippines.
Notable Persons
Medal Honor - Vietnam -
PFC Oscar Palmer Austin
Private First Class Oscar Palmer Austin (MCSN: 2472757), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 23 February 1969, while serving as an assistant machine gunner with Company E, Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in connection with operations against enemy forces west of DaNang, Republic of Vietnam.
Description
This campaign was from 30 January to 1 April 1968. On 29 January 1968 the Allies began the Tet-lunar new year expecting the usual 36-hour peaceful holiday truce. Because of the threat of a large-scale attack and communist buildup around Khe Sanh, the cease fire order was issued in all areas over which the Allies were responsible with the exception of the I CTZ, south of the Demilitarized Zone.
Determined enemy assaults began in the northern and Central provinces before daylight on 30 January and in Saigon and the Mekong Delta regions that night. Some 84,000 VC and North Vietnamese attacked or fired upon 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 5 of 6 autonomous cities, 64 of 242 district capitals and 50 hamlets. In addition, the enemy raided a number of military installations including almost every airfield. The actual fighting lasted three days; however Saigon and Hue were under more intense and sustained attack.
The attack in Saigon began with a sapper assault against the U.S. Embassy. Other assaults were directed against the Presidential Palace, the compound of the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, and nearby Ton San Nhut air base.
At Hue, eight enemy battalions infiltrated the city and fought the three U.S. Marine Corps, three U.S. Army and eleven South Vietnamese battalions defending it. The fight to expel the enemy lasted a month. American and South Vietnamese units lost over 500 killed, while VC and North Vietnamese battle deaths may have been somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000.
Heavy fighting also occurred in two remote regions: around the Special Forces camp at Dak To in the central highlands and around the U.S. Marines Corps base at Khe Sanh. In both areas, the allies defeated attempts to dislodge them. Finally, with the arrival of more U.S. Army troops under the new XXIV Corps headquarters to reinforce the marines in the northern province, Khe Sanh was abandoned.
Tet proved a major military defeat for the communists. It had failed to spawn either an uprising or appreciable support among the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, the U.S. public became discouraged and support for the war was seriously eroded. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968. In addition, there were 61,000 other allied troops and 600,000 South Vietnamese.
The Tet Offensive also dealt a visibly severe setback to the pacification program, as a result of the intense fighting needed to root out VC elements that clung to fortified positions inside the towns. For example, in the densely populated delta there had been approximately 14,000 refugees in January; after Tet some 170,000 were homeless. The requirement to assist these persons seriously inhibited national recovery efforts.
