6th Marine Division (United States)
| 6th Marine Division | |
|---|---|
6th Marine Division insignia
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| Active | 7 September 1944 – 1 April 1946 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Marine Corps |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Locate close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver |
| Nickname(s) | The Striking Sixth or New Breed |
| Engagements | |
| Decorations | Presidential Unit Citation |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. |
The 6th Marine Division was a United States Marine Corps World War II infantry division formed in September 1944. During the invasion of Okinawa it saw combat at Yae-Take and Sugar Loaf Hill and was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. The 6th Division had also prepared for the invasion of Japan before the war ended. After the war it served in Tsingtao, China where the division was disbanded on April 1, 1946, being the only Marine division to be formed and disbanded overseas and never set foot in the United States.
The 6th Marine Division was formed on Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands on September 7, 1944. The 6th division was formed from three infantry regiments, the 4th, 22nd and 29th Marines, and other units such as Engineer, Medical, Pioneer, Motor Transport, Tank, Headquarters, and Service battalions. The core cadre around which the division was formed was the former 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, which included the 4th and 22nd Marine Regiments, plus their supporting artillery battalions - these artillery battalions were later consolidated into the 15th Marine Regiment.
The Battle of Guam ended in August 1944 and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade was called to Guadalcanal along with the 1st Battalion, 29th Marines, which had served with the 2nd Marine Division in the Battle of Saipan on the Mariana Islands. With a core of all these veterans incorporated into the new division, the 6th was not considered "green" despite being a new formation- most of the men were veterans of at least one campaign and many were serving a second combat tour, half the forces in the 3 Infantry Regiments were all veterans, and some units were even 70% veterans. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 29th Marines disembarked from the United States on 1 August 1944, and landed on Guadalcanal on 7 September 1944 to further stand-up the Division. The now fully manned 6th division underwent "rugged" training on Guadalcanal between October and January before it was shipped 6,000 miles to land as part of the III Amphibious Corps on the island of Okinawa on 1 April 1945.
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