1st Marine Regiment ( United States ) The 1st Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton , California . The regiment , sometimes known as " Inchon " , falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force . Subordinate units . The Regiment comprises four infantry battalion s and one headquarters company : History . The 1st Marines were activated in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on 27 November 1913 . At this time , it bore the designation of 2nd Advanced Base Regiment . During the early years of its existence , the regiment was primarily employed as a combat force in the so - called Banana Wars , in the Caribbean area . The first of these engagements occurred in April 1914 , when the regiment landed and seized the Mexican port of Vera Cruz . They next participated in the Haitian campaign ( 1915 – 1916 ) and the Dominican Republic campaign ( 1916 ) . On 1 July 1916 , this organization was re - designated as the 1st Regiment of Marines . In December 1918 , the 1st Regiment returned to the Caribbean and was deployed to Cuba for approximately six months . Following its second Dominican tour of duty , it was deactivated ; but it was subsequently reactivated at Quantico , Virginia on 15 March 1925 . The Regiment received its present designation of 1st Marines on 10 July 1930 . The 1930s was a period of inactivity in the 1st Marines ' history , as the unit was in a deactivated status during most of this time . World War II was the occasion for the next reactivation of the Regiment on 1 February 1941 at Culebra , Puerto Rico as part of the 1st Marine Division . World War II . The 1st Marines stood at a low state of readiness at the beginning of the war , having just been reconstituted from cadre status ; however , the regiment did possess very strong leadership at the higher levels . In June 1942 , the 1st Marines set sail from San Francisco on board a mix of eight ships headed for the South Pacific . The 1st Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal , part of the Solomon Islands , on 7 August 1942 and would fight in the Battle of Guadalcanal until relieved on 8 December 1942 . Some of the heaviest action the regiment would see on Guadalcanal took place on 21 August 1942 during the Battle of the Tenaru , which was the first Japanese counter - attack of the campaign . Following their first campaign , the regiment was sent to Melbourne , Australia to rest and refit . During their stay , there they were billeted in the Melbourne Cricket Ground until leaving in September 1943 . The 1st Marines would next see action during Operation Cartwheel , which was the codename for the campaigns in Eastern New Guinea and New Britain . The regiment would be the first ashore at the Battle of Cape Gloucester on 26 December 1943 ; and continued fighting on the island , at such places as " Suicide Creek " and " Ajar Ridge " , until February 1944 . The next battle for the 1st Marines would be the bloodiest yet - the Battle of Peleliu . The regiment landed on 15 September 1944 as part of the 1st Marine Division ' s assault on the island . The division ' s commanding general , Major General William H . Rupertus had predicted the fighting would be , " " . . . tough but short . It ' ll be over in three of four days – a fight like Tarawa . Rough but fast . Then we can go back to a rest area . " " . The 1st Marines fought on Peleliu for 10 days before being pulled off the lines after suffering 56 % casualties and no longer being combat effective . The regiment was decimated by heavy artillery and accurate small arms fire in the vicinity of " Bloody Nose Ridge " . Repeated frontal assaults with fixed bayonets failed to unseat the Japanese defenders from the 14th Division ( Imperial Japanese Army ) . Ten days of fighting on Peleliu cost the 1st Marine Regiment 1 , 749 casualties . The last World War II engagement for the regiment was the Battle of Okinawa . In September 1945 , the 1st Marines deployed to North China to take part in the garrisoning of the area and in the repatriation of former enemy personnel . It remained in China until February 1949 . It is also likely that they were stationed in North China to bolster the Chinese Nationalists defense against the Chinese Communists . The presence of the 1st Marines was used as leverage by George C . Marshall in 1945 – 46 to attempt to moderate a settlement to the impending Chinese Civil War . They returned to Camp Pendleton and were deactivated on 1 October 1949 . Korean War . The Korean War resuscitated the buildup of the Marine Corps . As a result , the regiment was brought back into existence on 4 August 1950 . On 15 September , the 1st Marine Division , including the 1st Marines , assaulted the beaches of Inchon . The regiment then went on to take part in the liberation of Seoul and later in the noted Chosin Reservoir Campaign . For the next two and one - half years , the 1st Marines continued to engage the North Koreans and Chinese Communists . Following the termination of hostilities in July 1953 , the Regiment remained in Korea and acted as a defensive force against possible Communist attempts to rekindle the war . The 1st Marines returned to Camp Pendleton in April 1955 . There it stayed for the following ten years , except for a brief deployment to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba and the Caribbean during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis . The Vietnam War . With the intensification of the American involvement in the war in Vietnam in 1965 , the regiment was ordered to the Far East that summer . By January 1966 , the entire regiment had completed its move to the embattled nation . The first major operation in the war for a battalion of the 1st Marines was Operation Harvest Moon in December 1965 . By fall of 1967 , the 1st Marines were operating permanently in the northern sector of the I Corps tactical zone . The following winter the communists launched their all - out Tet Offensive . The enemy overran Hue , the old imperial capital . Between 31 January and 2 March 1968 , elements of the 1st Marines , commanded by Col . Stanley Hughes , along with other U . S . Marine and South Vietnamese units , fought to regain control of the city . Bitter street fighting and hand - to - hand combat characterized the battle . Hue was finally recaptured after the enemy suffered nearly 1 , 900 killed . The regiment remained deployed in South Vietnam for the next two and a half years , participating in numerous operations , both large and small . On 28 June 1971 , the last members of the regiment departed Danang to return to the United States at MCB Camp Pendleton . The 1st Marines were the last marine infantry unit to depart Vietnam . Post Vietnam era . In the spring of 1975 , the 1st Marines provided primary support to the Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton for preparation of a camp to house Vietnamese refugees during Operation New Arrivals . In 1983 , 1st Marines were assigned responsibility to provide the Ground Combat Element for the WESTPAC MAU . Since the inception of the Special Operations Capable ( SOC ) Marine Expeditionary Unit ' s ( MEU ' s ) in support of contingency operations in the Western Pacific , the 1st Marine Regiment has been the SOC Regiment of the 1st Marine Division . Operation Desert Storm and the LA Riots . In August 1990 , Iraq invaded Kuwait and 1st Marines deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield . On 30 December 1990 , 1st Marines was designated as Task Force Papa Bear . The task force attacked into Kuwait on 23 February and continued its march to the vicinity of Kuwait International Airport , where hostilities ceased on 27 February . From 1 to 11 May 1992 , elements of the regiment deployed to perform riot control operations as part of the Joint Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Los Angeles . They assumed a prominent role in quelling the urban unrest in South Central Los Angeles . Operation Iraqi Freedom . In January 2003 , 1st Marines deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom . Organized as a 5 , 000 - man combined arms task force , known as Regimental Combat Team One [ RCT - 1 ] , the regiment fought its way from Kuwait to Baghdad , with significant actions at An Nasariyah , Al Kut , and Baghdad . On 5 April , commanding officer Colonel Joe D . Dowdy was relieved by Major General James Mattis and replaced by Colonel John Toolan , a highly unusual act . Subsequent to the collapse of the regime , the RCT conducted security and stability operations in Baghdad and Al Hillah until returning home throughout the summer of 2003 . In February 2004 , 1st Marines deployed to the Al Anbar province of Iraq . Upon arrival in theater , 1st Marines formed into a Regimental Combat Team ( RCT - 1 ) and conducted a relief - in - place with 3d Brigade of the 82d Airborne Division . RCT - 1 consisted of several major subordinate commands from 1st Marine Division and various smaller attachments from throughout the Marine Corps . The RCT ’ s area of operation consisted of numerous cities , most important of which was Al Fallujah . On 31 March 2004 , four U . S . citizens working for Blackwater USA were attacked , mutilated and hung on a bridge in the city . On 7 April 2004 , Operation Vigilant Resolve commenced in response to these deaths . After intense urban fighting , a political resolution was mandated and the regiment was ordered out of the city . Throughout September and October 2004 , insurgent presence increased in Fallujah . Led by the 1st Marine Division , Operation Phantom Fury began with an assault north of the city , with four infantry battalions in the attack . Designated the division main effort , RCT - 1 ( 3rd Battalion 1st Marines ) crossed the line of departure on 7 November 2004 . After twelve days of intense urban combat , 1st Marine Division had defeated the insurgents and successfully fought its way to the southern end of the city capturing the western half of Fallujah . First Marines returned to Camp Pendleton , California , in April 2005 . Medal of Honor recipients . Nineteen ( 19 ) Marines from the 1st Marines have been awarded the Medal of Honor – 7 during World War II , 10 during the Korean War , and two during the Vietnam War .