thedrifter
04-18-07, 06:59 PM
New grunt battalion stands up at Lejeune
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 17:43:13 EDT
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — If Ho Chi Minh could see them now.
1st Battalion, 9th Marines, reactivated Wednesday in a ceremony that drew former battalion members from all over the country.
“We are so very well aware of the legacy you provided us,” Lt. Col. Bradley Vickers, the battalion commander, told a crowd of former 1/9 Marines.
One of the most combat-decorated battalions in the Corps, 1/9 got its macabre nickname during a speech former Vietnamese Prime Minister Ho Chi Minh made in 1966. Minh called the Marines the “walking dead,” speaking of them as already deceased, just not buried.
The battalion sustained the longest combat tour in Marine Corps history — 47 months and seven days. “The Walking Dead” also had the highest casualty rate in Corps history.
The battalion was deactivated in September 1994. It was supposed to reactivate in October 2005, but the move was delayed because of significant shortfalls in personnel and equipment.
Still, members of the battalion deployed to Iraq, the Horn of Africa and Afghanistan and took the lead in testing the Modular Tactical Vest and other gear while awaiting the unit’s formal reactivation.
Under a grayish sky with the rippling New River Inlet as the backdrop, former 1/9 Marines proudly watched as the battalion’s current 935 leathernecks stood in formation during the ceremony.
“It was something like I never felt before,” said William Manning, a retired staff sergeant who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. “I’m proud to be a part of the 1/9 legacy. I would go to Iraq right now if they would let me go.”
Ellie
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 17:43:13 EDT
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — If Ho Chi Minh could see them now.
1st Battalion, 9th Marines, reactivated Wednesday in a ceremony that drew former battalion members from all over the country.
“We are so very well aware of the legacy you provided us,” Lt. Col. Bradley Vickers, the battalion commander, told a crowd of former 1/9 Marines.
One of the most combat-decorated battalions in the Corps, 1/9 got its macabre nickname during a speech former Vietnamese Prime Minister Ho Chi Minh made in 1966. Minh called the Marines the “walking dead,” speaking of them as already deceased, just not buried.
The battalion sustained the longest combat tour in Marine Corps history — 47 months and seven days. “The Walking Dead” also had the highest casualty rate in Corps history.
The battalion was deactivated in September 1994. It was supposed to reactivate in October 2005, but the move was delayed because of significant shortfalls in personnel and equipment.
Still, members of the battalion deployed to Iraq, the Horn of Africa and Afghanistan and took the lead in testing the Modular Tactical Vest and other gear while awaiting the unit’s formal reactivation.
Under a grayish sky with the rippling New River Inlet as the backdrop, former 1/9 Marines proudly watched as the battalion’s current 935 leathernecks stood in formation during the ceremony.
“It was something like I never felt before,” said William Manning, a retired staff sergeant who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. “I’m proud to be a part of the 1/9 legacy. I would go to Iraq right now if they would let me go.”
Ellie