3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed "Thundering Third". The most recent leader Lt. Col. B. Middleton's radio callsign is "Darkside". They are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, and consist of approximately 1,000 Marines. The unit currently falls under the command of the 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, but â?? along with its two sister battalions â?? is hosted by the 3rd Marine Division, at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, when training in jungle warfare. The 3rd falls under the 4th Marine Regiment at such times.
Active Years
1925 - ?
May 1, 1941â??May 6, 1942
February 1, 1944â??October 1, 1947
November 28, 1952â?? May 30, 2014
Activated September 17, 2015
Notable Persons
Medal Honor - Vietnam -
1stLt Frank Stanley Reasoner
First Lieutenant Frank Stanley Reasoner (MCSN: 0-85378), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 12 July 1965, while serving with Company A, Third Reconnaissance Battalion, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in action against armed enemy forces near DaNang, Republic of Vietnam.
Medal Honor - Vietnam -
Capt John J McGinty, III
Second Lieutenant John James McGinty, III (MCSN: 0-103889), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 18 July 1966, while serving with Company K, Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in action against an armed enemy in Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam.
Medal Honor - Vietnam -
Col Robert J Modrzejewski
Major Robert Joseph Modrzejewski (MCSN: 0-73356), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company K, Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in action against enemy forces in the Republic of Vietnam.
Description
The Battle of Bataan represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan's invasion of the Philippines during World War II. The capture of the Philippine Islands was crucial to Japan's effort to control the Southwest Pacific, seize the resource-rich Dutch East Indies, and protect its Southeast Asia flank. It was the largest surrender in American and Filipino military history, and was the largest United States surrender since the Civil War's Battle of Harper's Ferry. Ultimately, more than 60,000 Filipino and 15,000 American prisoners of war were forced into the infamous Bataan Death March.
After more than two years of fighting in the Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled a promise to return to overseeing the The Campaign for the Liberation of the Philippines. As part of the campaign, the Battle for the Recapture of Bataan (31 January to 21 February 1945) by US Forces and Philippine guerillas avenged the surrender of the defunct United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) to invading Japanese forces.