This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Sgt Edson Franklin Bellis
to remember
Marine Cpl Michael John Bonagura, Sr..
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Contact Info
Home Town Belleville
Last Address Belleville
Date of Passing Mar 31, 1993
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My father was a Marine Raider on Guadalcanal. He was in the 1st Marine Division. I know from his records that he started out in the 5th Marines, 2nd Battalion, but somehow he wound up in the Raiders, notice the Raider patch he's wearing in the picture. The details of that story, like so many others, I never fully understood. He enlisted in June of 1940, before Pearl Harbor, as he was always fond of telling me. Somehow that distinction mattered to him. The Old Breed versus all the guys who enlisted after December 7, 1941, a few months seemed to make all the difference, though in the end they were all called The Old Breed. In fact Michael had dropped out of school after finishing tenth grade at Belleville High in New Jersey. He altered his birth date on his birth certificate and forged his mother's signature on a parental consent form so he could enlist at 16. Over the years he always talked a lot about the Marines and not much about the war. All I knew about his war experiences, traits that carried over onto his life with his family, were that he hated rain, nighttime, and almost anything Japanese. But he loved the Marine Corps, and he was a good fit as a Marine. He told me he would have made a career out of the Marines had he not suffered so acutely from Malaria. Recruit training was easy for him (as a tenth grader he played semi-pro football on Sundays for the Newark Bears!). The food in the Marines was good and there was plenty of it, and he got to travel and see places he'd never otherwise have seen all over the United States, Cuba, New Zealand, Samoa, the South Pacific islands, Australia, California, the Pacific Northwest and probably many other places I don't even know about. He brought more than just memories home from the Pacific. He suffered terribly from PTSD for the rest of his life after the war and that's a long time when you go into battle at 17. He died of service-connected disabilities at 69, his father lived to be 96, so I guess dad hoped he'd live a long life, but it wasn't to be. He lived longer than a lot of other Guadalcanal vets though.
The 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines was initially formed in July 1914 and immediately sailed to the Caribbean due to political turmoil in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The battalion returned to the United States in late 1914. In June 1917, the battalion sailed for France with its present regiment. During World War I, the battalion participated in the Battle of Belleau Wood, Soisson, and the Meuse-Argonne Campaign. For these actions, the battalion was twice awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and once with Gold Star. The FOURRAGERE, representing these awards, and is worn today by members of the battalion.
2nd Battalion, 5th Marines participated in the post-war occupation of Germany and returned to the United States in August 1919. In 1920, at Quantico, Virginia, the battalion was ordered to guard U.S. mail trains. During this period, it also participated in reenactments of Civil War battles. The battalion was sent to Nicaragua in 1927 to fight bandits and supervised the 1928 national elections there.
At Quantico from 1934 on, the battalion participated in numerous exercises contributing to the development of the Marine Corps Amphibious Doctrine. In 1941 2nd Battalion 5th Marines joined the newly formed 1st Marine Division at New River, North Carolina. The 1st Marine Division departed the East Coast in 1942 and has never returned. During World War II, that battalion fought at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa. After the war, the battalion served on occupation duty in North China until 1947.
In July 1950, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines sailed from Camp Pendleton, California, to Pusan, Korea. In August, the battalion fought at the Pusan Perimeter. The battalion participated in the landing at Inchon, the liberation of Seoul, the Chosin Reservoir Campaign, and the defense of the East Central and Western Fronts. From July 1953 to February 1955, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines assisted in the defense of the Korean de-militarized zone after which it returned to Camp Pendleton.
In 1959, the battalion deployed to Camp Schwab, Okinawa, and then in 1960, relocated to Camp Pendleton. In April 1966, the battalion deployed to the Republic of Vietnam. During the next five years the battalion participated in combat operations in Hue city, Que Son, Phu Bai, Dong Ha and Phu Loc. The battalion returned to Camp Pendleton in 1971, and in 1975 participated in Operation New Arrival, the relocation of Southeast Asian Refugees.
During the next fifteen years, the battalion deployed regularly as part of the Marine Corps Unit Deployment Program. In December 1990, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines sailed for the Persian Gulf and participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines landed in Saudi Arabia and participated in the liberation of Kuwait. During the return transit to the United States, the battalion was diverted to Bangladesh in order to provide humanitarian relief as part of Operation Sea Angel.
In 1993, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines deployed as the Battalion Landing Team for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operation Capable) and participated in operations in Rwanda and Somalia. In 1995 the Battalion began regular deployments to Okinawa for service as the Battalion Landing Team for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) and participated in several operations in East Timor.
In February 2003, the Battalion deployed to Kuwait as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In March, the Battalion attacked into Iraq, freed the Iraqi people and conducted peacekeeping operations in Muthanna Province until its redeployment in August. The Battalion earned its 14th Presidential Unit Citation for the Operation Iraqi Freedom campaign.
In August of 2004, the Battalion once again deployed to Iraq to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom II in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
2nd Battalion, 5th Marines is the most highly decorated battalion in the United States Marine Corps. Its motto comes from its actions at Belleau Wood during WW I. The fleeing French advised the newly arrived Marines to retreat in the face of overwhelming odds. The Battalion response: Retreat, Hell! We just got here!!
