MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- Before a combat deployment, every officer and staff noncommissioned officer has hopes of bringing back all their Marines and Sailors safely to be with their loved ones. That goal may seem unattainable to some, but 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, returned from Iraq in October with everyone they left with.
During the battalion’s first deployment to Iraq during OIF I, the unit sustained more casualties than any other unit since the campaign began.
“Earlier in the year an article came out with the numbers of the most casualties during the war and 1/3 was number one,” said Gunnery Sgt. Eugene Holiday, communications chief, 3rd Marine Regiment. “This was a great accomplishment because the battalion was really hurt in OIF I. It was a great way to rebound from having that reputation to now being the first unit to return home with everyone we left with.”
While serving in Haditha with the Lava Dogs from 1/3, Holiday served as the battalion’s radio chief.
“I think the main reason we came home as a whole and took no casualties is because the officers and staff NCOs pushed the Marines and took the strict guidance from the battalion commander to be aware of safety at all times,” said Holiday, a Jasper, Ala., native. “It was a huge issue through training, and the deployment, and from day one it was embedded into our heads that the safety of our Marines always came first.”
Holiday added the battalion was always on their toes, whether they were patrolling or driving through the streets.
Aside from safety, Holiday feels the unit who inhabited the area before 1/3’s arrival in March had a lot to do with the battalion’s success.
“The ground work 2/3 made during their stay in the Triad made the situation a lot better …,” added 32-year-old Holiday.
Until the battalion returned in October, it seemed like an impossible feat to bring everyone home, Holiday said
Lance Cpl. Ezekiel D. Johnson, rifleman, 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1/3, said some people may think the battalion was able to accomplish this because they weren’t leaving the wire.
“That’s about as far from the truth as it gets,” Johnson said.
“Bravo Company was constantly conducting mounted and dismounted patrols through Haditha, so our operations tempo had nothing to do with our success because it was as high as it could possibly be.”
“We accomplished something that was unheard of during combat,” he said. “Although I won’t be there, the ground work has been laid for 1/3, so there’s a good chance this feat will happen again during 1/3’s next deployment later this year.”
The battalion who was once known for having the most Marines killed during the Battle of Fallujah, the bloodiest battle since Vietnam’s Hue City, will now be known as the first battalion to return home intact– a feat the battalion hopes it’ll accomplish again.