13th Marine Regiment ( United States ) The 13th Marine Regiment was activated on July 3 , 1916 as an infantry regiment . On September 1 , 1919 , the Regiment was deactivated . World War I . On 5 September 1918 the 5th Marine Brigade was formed , which included the 11th and 13th Marine Regiments and the 5th Machine Gun Battalion . World War II . On December 11 , 1943 , the regiment was reactivated and redesigned as an artillery regiment . The 13th Marines played an important role in securing Iwo Jima . On February 6 , 1946 , the Regiment was again deactivated . Vietnam War . In May 1966 , 1st Battalion was reactivated and departed to Vietnam with RLT 26 . The 1st Battalion was deployed in RVN ( Republic of Vietnam ) . = Khe Sanh = Battery A 1 - 13 was the primary supporting arm of 1st Battalion 26th Marines . Both were originally under the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima but in Vietnam were Op Con to 3rd Marines . A - 1 - 13 made several amphibious landings in Vietnam , as part of BLT 1 - 26 in Operations Deckhouse Three , Deckhouse Five , and Prairie near the DMZ under the command of captain Richard W . Bailey . A - 1 - 13 was deployed to Hill 55 in late October 1966 and captain John " Jack " V . Brennan relieved RW Bailey in January 1967 . On 11 May 1967 , Brennan ' s Bandits deployed to Khe Sanh just after the " Hill Battles . " On 27 June 1967 at 0030h A - 1 - 13 was targeted my NVA mortars and suffered 2 KIA ( killed in action ) and 30 WIA ( wounded in action ) . Brennan ' s Bandits under the command of its wounded Skipper fired counter battery fire and silenced the mortars . A - 1 - 13 was the only artillery battery at Khe Sanh defending the base as the NVA began its buildup for the siege . In August 1967 captain Dennis L . Pardee took command and renamed the battery " Pardees Pirates . " August 67 , HQ 1st Battalion arrived at Khe Sanh . Captain Pardee led A - 1 - 13 through the siege until 29 February 1968 . Pardee was also wounded during the siege . A - 1 - 13 had 11 more KIA ' s and over 60 WIA ' s . Bravo and Charlie 1 - 13 were at Khe Sanh during the siege as 2nd Battalion , 26th Marines , 3rd Battalion 26th Marine Regiment , and 1st Battalion , 9th Marines ( " The Walking Dead " ) joined the fight . On 8 February 1970 1st Battalion , 13th Marines celebrated firing its 700 , 000th round . On 30 April 1970 , 1st Battalion , 13th Marines was deactivated . Alpha Battery 1 - 13 fired the last artillery rounds in Vietnam with 53 confirmed kills 21 of which were on the last day before deploying to Da Nang to return to CONUS . Of all the batteries in 13th Marines " A " Battery fired the most rounds < Command Chronologies 1 - 26 and 1 - 13 including Muster Rolls A - 1 - 13 Sept 1966 ; AA reports > June – October 1966 , the Regimental Headquarters , 2nd Battalion , and 4th Battalion were reactivated and commenced an extensive training program . In January 1967 , 3rd Battalion was reactivated . 1967 Command Chronologies 1 / 13 , 4 / 12 , and 1 / 12 and Kilo Battery According to the Command Chronology for ( HQ ) headquarters , 1st Bn battalion , 13th Marines ( 1 / 13 ) for January 1967 , Kilo 4 / 13 was listed as a subordinate unit located on Okinawa . Captain Duncan Jones was listed as the K / 4 / 13 commander until January 27 , when Jay Evans assumed command . On Jan 1st , the Battalion commander , Lt Col R . L . Christian , two officers and 33 enlisted were TAD to the Special Landing Force as FDC Fire Direction Center personnel for Deckhouse 5 . On the 23rd , the battery embarked to Fuji for the scheduled 17 - day exercise . On February 20 the advanced party for Kilo ’ s Fire Exercise at Fuji departed . The March Command Chronologies for 1 / 13 said Lieutenant Colonel Christian visited Kilo ’ s FireEx ( Fire Exercise ) at Fuji with the Battery undergoing day and night training and achieved a C - 1 rating . The report says that Kilo returned to Okinawa on 10 March . It goes on to say that on 24 March , Jay Evans went temporary additional duty " ( TAD ) to HQ 3rd Division and Kilo Battery 4 / 12 in regards to proposed replacement of K / 4 / 12 with K / 4 / 13 . He returned on 30 March . On 16 April , Jay Evans and the advanced party departed for Vietnam with the rest of the Battery departing on the 19th . 4 / 12 had administrative control for the Battery in Vietnam Lt Col Duncan Jones , the old Kilo Battery Commanding Officer , was listed as the 4 / 12 commanding officer ( CO ) . It had Captain Dave Cadiz as CO of K / 4 / 12 . The 4 / 12 report says that on “ 30 April , K / 4 / 12 rotated to Okinawa and was replaced by K / 4 / 13 ” . For 1 / 13 and they list Cadiz ’ s Battery ( btry ) in Okinawa as “ K ” Btry 4 / 13 , with parenthesis on the “ K ” . The report said that battery was redesignated as “ 4 / 13 ” on arrival in Okinawa . So the belief that we assumed their K / 4 / 12 designation in Vietnam was wide spread . The May Command Chronology of 4 / 12 states that on “ 6 May , K / 4 / 13 was redesignated K / 4 / 12 “ resulting from the transplacement of the two batteries ” . The July Command Chronology for 1 / 13 states that 1 / 13 and all units except K / 4 / 12 embarked for Vietnam . The August Command Chronology for 2 / 12 gives the date of August 3 , 1967 for the change of command from Jay Evans to Frank Bendrick . In January 1968 , The Regiment supported and mounted out 2nd Battalion to WestPac . On September 15 , 1968 , the 2nd Battalion returned from ( WestPac ) Commander Western Pacific . While in Vietnam , the 2nd Battalion fired over 170 , 000 rounds of 107mm & 105mm ordnance in support of friendly forces . In addition , the 2nd Battalion trained Vietnamese cannoneers for the Republic of Vietnam Artillery Battalion . Casualties : The 2nd Battalion suffered 21 KIA & 59 WIA while inflicting a confirmed 947 KIA on the enemy . During the months of December 1968 and January 1969 , the Regiment supported and mounted out a platoon of _ _ _ to WestPac . Additional activities included many BLT , RLT , and Division exercises , and host support to Marine Corps Reserve units . On October 15 , 1969 , The Regimental Headquarters , 2nd Battalion , and 4th Battalion were " deactivated . "