Immediately following the 1950 North Korean invasion of South Korea, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines sailed from Camp Pendleton, California, to defend the Pusan Perimeter as a part of the famous "Fire Brigade". The Battalion also participated in the landing at Inchon, the liberation of Seoul, the Chosin Reservoir Campaign, and the defense of the East, Central, and Western Fronts before the war was over. From July 1953 to February 1955, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines assisted in the defense of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, after which they again returned to Camp Pendleton.