27th Marine Regiment (United States)

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27th Marine Regiment
27th Marines Insignia
Active	January 10, 1944 - January 10, 1946 January 1, 1966 - N/A
Country	United States
Branch	USMC
Type	Infantry regiment
Role	Locate, close with and destroy the enemy with fire and maneuver
Part of	5th Marine Division
Garrison/HQ	Deactivated
Battles/wars	World War II * Battle of Iwo Jima Vietnam War

The 27th Marine Regiment (27th Marines) is a deactivated infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. They fought during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II and again for a short time during the Vietnam War.

1 Subordinate Units
2 History
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Subordinate Units

The Regiment was comprised of three infantry battalions and one headquarters battalion:

Battalions
Headquarters Battalion
1st Battalion 27th Marines (1/27)
2nd Battalion 27th Marines (2/27)
3rd Battalion 27th Marines (3/27)

[edit] History

The 27th Marine Regiment was activated on January 10, 1944 as a result of the massive increase in the Marine Corps during World War II. The regiment first saw action during the Battle of Iwo Jima. During the course of the battle they suffered 566 killed, 1706 wounded and had 4 Marines receive the Medal of Honor. After the surrender of Japan the regiment was deactivated on January 10, 1946.

The 27th Marines was again reactivated during the on January 1, 1966 but was mainly used as a pool for new replacements before they went overseas. After the Tet Offensive in 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson authorized an increase in U.S. troop strength in Vietnam and the 27th Marines was one of the units sent. They became the first Marine regiment to fly into a combat zone. Their deployment overseas put a severe strain on manpower in the Marine Corps and they were returned back to the United States before the close of 1968.