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Patch - 1st MARINE DIVISION - Vietnam War
1st Combat Engineer Battalion - Southern Cross Background
United States Marine Corps - Khe Sanh - USMC - DMZ - Highway 9
Dong Ha - Cam Lo - Hue - Southern Cross - Vietnam Banner
Measures - 4.6 x 3 inches (11.5 x 7.5 cms)
First Combat Engineer Battalion (1st)
1st Combat Engineer Battalion is a combatengineer battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The unit, nicknamed\"The Super Breed\", is now based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton,California and falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the IMarine Expeditionary Force.
1st Combat Engineer Battalion departed SanDiego Harbor with the 7th Marine Regiment (RLT-7) on WW-II Troop Ships USSPickaway (APA-222) and USS Renville (APA-227) on 23 May 1965 for Camp Hansen,Okinawa, with a brief stop-over at Pearl Harbor Hawaii.
From Okinawa they deployed to Qui-Nho,m SouthVietnam, landing there on the night of the 6th / 7th ofJuly 1965.
On 10 November 1965 7th Marines re-deployed toChu Lai in the Republic of Vietnam.
One Marine was lost on the USS Renville whileen route to Hawaii due to appendicitis which was misdiagnosed as sea-sickness.
During the Vietnam War the 1st EngineerBattalion supported 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions of the 1st 5th and 7th Marinesin combat operations from July 1965 through April 1971, operating fromQui-Nhon, Chu-Lai and Da-Nang, the most famous of which was Operation\"Starlight\" conducted August 1965 where Sgt. Robert E. O\'Malley wasawarded the first Marine Corps Medal of Honor of the Vietnam War.
1st Marine Division – USMC - Vietnam
In 1965, the 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division participated in Operations Starlite and Piranha, the first major engagements for American ground troops in South Vietnam.
March 1966 saw 1st Marine Division Headquarters established at Chu Lai.
By June, the entire Division was in South Vietnam, its zone of operation - the southern two provinces of I Corps - Quang Tin and Quang Ngai.
Between March and October 1966 to May 1967, the division conducted 44 named operations. During the 1968 Tet Offensive, the division was involved in fierce fighting with both Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army elements.
It was successful in beating back enemy assaults in its operation areas, most particularly in the City of Huế.
The division received its 7th Presidential Unit Citation for service from 29 March 1966 to 15 September 1967 and an 8th one for the period 16 September 1967 to 31 October 1968.
After six hard years of combat, and after suffering 7,012 men killed in action, the 1st Marine Division returned home to Camp Pendleton in 1971.
In 1975, the division supported the resettlement of South Vietnamese refugees by providing food and temporary shelter at Camp Pendleton for Vietnamese refugees as they arrived in the United States.
