Sgt Grit Marine Forums

26 January 1904: The emperor of Addis Ababa, Abyssinia, decorated Captain G. C. Thorpe for escorting diplomats 500 miles through the desert.
26 January 1942: First U.S. troops reached Northern Ireland.

27 January 1778: Marines landed at New Providence, Bahamas; the American flag flew over foreign soil for the first time.
27 January 1837: Marines fought in the Battle of Hatchee-Lustee in Florida.
27 January 1937: 1st and 2nd Brigades in Fleet Landing Exercise #3 off San Diego, California.
27 January 1944: Anzio beachhead seized in Italy.
27 January 1973: Signing of Vietnam Peace Accord.
27 January 1988: About 400 Marines and sailors from the 2d Marine Division, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, and 2d Force Service Support Group deployed for the Persian Gulf. The Contingency Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) CM 2-88 would relieve Contingency MAGTF 1-88 in the volatile Persian Gulf and provide the effective landing force capability to Joint Task Force Middle East.

29 January 1914: Marines joined British, French and German troops in Haiti to protect mutual interests.
29 January 1991: The first serious ground fighting of Operation Desert Storm broke out when Iraqi troops mounted an attack into Saudi Arabia along a 40-mile front. Iraqi units centered their efforts on Khafji, a port city six miles south of the border. Saudi and Quatari troops, supported by artillery from the 1st Marine Division and attack helicopters and other allied coalition aircraft, recaptured the town two days later.

30 January 1943: Marines participated in the Battle for Rennell Island.
30 January 1968: Beginning of Tet Counteroffensive.

31 January 1944: The American flag was first raised over Japanese soil by B/1/25 in the Marshall Islands.
31 January 1956: Camp "H. M. Smith" dedicated as FMFPAC Headquarters, Oahu, Hawaii.

3 February 1852: Marines landed at Buenos Aires, Argentina, to protect American lives.
3 February 1967: M16E1 introduced to III MAF - RVN. (Note: The M16E1 was designated as the M16A1 on 28 February 1967)

4 February 1868: Marines landed at Osaka, Japan, to protect foreign nationals.
4 February 1955: 3rd Engineer Bn moved from Japan to Okinawa.

5 February 1918: The 1st Marine Replacement Battalion sailed for France in WW I.

6 February 1780: Continental Marines helped defend Charleston from the British.
6 February 1832: Battle of Quallah Batto, Sumatra.
6 February 1968: Two reduced Marine battalions, the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines with two companies, and 2d Battalion, 5th Marines with three, recaptured Hue's hospital, jail, and provincial headquarters. It would take three more weeks of intense house to house fighting, and nearly a thousand Marines killed and wounded, before the imperial city was secured.

7 February 1832: 250 Marines defeated Malay pirates in Sumatra, Indonesia.
7 February 1862: Roanoke Isle, N.C. seized by Marines and Soldiers in battle with Confederates.

9 February 1904: Captain A. W. Catlin's 49 Marines established the first permanent Marine garrison in Honolulu.
9 February 1948: The first Marine helicopters (HO3S-1s) were delivered to the Corps.

10 February 1862: Battle of Fort Cobb.
10 February 1945: Task Force 58, with Marine Fighter Squadrons 123, 216, 217, 212, and 451 on board carriers, attacked Tokyo and provided air cover support for Iwo Jima landing forces. They also bombed and strafed Okinawa.

11 February 1904: Marines landed at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
11 February 1922: BGen John H. Russell was appointed U.S. High Commissioner and personal representative of the President to the government of Haiti. This nine-year assignment placed this future Commandant in supreme command of both the occupying American force and the Haitian Gendarmerie.

12 February 1809: Abraham Lincoln's Birthday.
12 February 1918: WW I Marines landed at Scapa Flow, Great Britain.

13 February 1943: The U.S. Marine Corps Women's Reserve was formed.

14 February 1885: Marines were authorized to retire after 30 years of service.

15 February 1998: One hundred years ago this date, 28 Marines and 232 seamen lost their lives when the battleship MAINE was mysteriously sunk by an explosion in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. Though no definitive evidence linked the Spanish with the sinking, the cry went up, "Remember the Maine!", and by late April the U.S. and Spain were at war.

17 February 1944: Marines landed on Engibi Islet in Marshall Islands (Islet secured February 18, 1944).
17 February 1967: The first full day of Operation DECKHOUSE VI, which lasted until 3 March, was conducted near Quang Ngai city. The Special Landing Force (BLT Y4 and HMM-363) accounted for 280 enemy killed.
17 February 1988: Marine LtCol William Higgins, assigned to the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization, was abducted by pro-Iranian terrorists.

18 February 1814: The British schooner Phoenix fell to Marines of the USS Constitution.

19 February 1944: Marines joined US Army assault on Eniwetok in Marshall Islands (Island secured February 20, 1944).
19 February 1945: The 4th and 5th Marine Divisions stormed ashore at Iwo Jima (Island secured March 26, 1945).