The 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines (3/9) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War I it served until the early 1990s when it was redesignated as 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) during a realignment and renumbering of the Marine Corps' infantry battalions, following the deactivation of the 9th Marine Regiment. The 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines was initially a subordinate unit of the 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, but was later operationally transferred to the 1st Marine Division as a subordinate unit of the 7th Marine Regiment where it remained until its redesignation as 3/4.
3/9 was reactivated under the 2nd Marine Division in May 2008 as the Marines expanded as a result of the continuing War on Terror.
Notable Persons
Medal Honor - Vietnam -
PFC Alfred Mac Wilson
Private First Class Alfred Mac Wilson (MCSN: 2421744), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 3 March 1969, while serving as a rifleman with Company M, Third Battalion, Ninth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in action against hostile enemy forces in Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam.
Medal Honor - Vietnam -
2ndLt John Paul Bobo
Second Lieutenant John Paul Bobo (MCSN: 0-92986), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 30 March 1967, while serving with the Company I, Third Battalion, Ninth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force in Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam.
Medal Honor - Vietnam -
LCpl Thomas Elbert Creek
Lance Corporal Thomas Elbert Creek (MCSN: 2403648), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 13 February 1969, while serving as a rifleman with Company I, Third Battalion, Ninth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force in action against enemy forces near Cam Lo, Republic of Vietnam.
Description
After New Georgia, the next major operation was an invasion of the island of Bougainville, which was approached by landings at Mono and Stirling in the Treasury Islands on October 25-27, 1943. A Marine division landed on the west coast of Bougainville at Empress Augusta Bay on November 1, 1943. The Marines were followed within the month by an Army division and replaced in the next month by another Army division.
It was late November before the beachhead at Empress Augusta Bay was secure. This beachhead was all that was needed, and no attempt was made to capture the entire island. Allied planes neutralized enemy airfields in the northern part of the island, and the Allied command made use of its naval and air superiority to contain the Japanese garrison on Bougainville and cut its supply line to Rabaul by occupying the Green Islands (February 14, 1944).
Despite these measures, the Japanese maintained pressure against the beachhead, mounting an especially heavy but unsuccessful counterattack as late as March 1944. Success at Bougainville isolated all Japanese forces left in the Solomons. The Japanese sustained comparatively heavy air and naval losses during the campaign, which further crippled the Japanese Combined Fleet and had a vital effect on the balance of naval power in the Central Pacific.
