'Walking Dead' Marine battalion to be deactivated [View all]

[pinboy3niner]

Last edited Fri Aug 29, 2014, 01:36 PM - Edit history (1)

By JONATHAN DREW, Associated Press | August 29, 2014

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Decades before the television show, a Marine Corps battalion decorated for extensive combat in World War II and Vietnam earned the nickname the "Walking Dead."

Now the 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, which also saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan, is being deactivated during a ceremony Friday at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The step comes as top U.S. military and political leaders are moving to trim the size of America's military after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Marine Corps historians say the battalion appears to have gotten the nickname because of its high rate of casualties during the Vietnam War. But the unit also has a reputation for heroism that included Medal of Honor recipients at Guam and Iwo Jima during World War II and two in Vietnam.

Formed during World War I, the battalion had previously been deactivated in 1994 and reactivated in 2007. Its insignia depicts a cloaked grim reaper carrying a scythe.

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http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Walking-Dead-Marine-battalion-to-be-deactivated-5720543.php

I don't know if we have any 1/9 vets here, but anyone who ever served with that battalion will likely take news of its deactivation hard. I learned long afterward that my Army bn. from VN and our sister bn., both of the 101st Airborne Div., were stood down after the war. Years later our sister bn., 1/501 Inf., was reactivated for GWOT--but as part of the 25th Infantry Div.And just recently my old bn. (2/501 Inf.) was reactivated--but now as part of the 82nd Airborne Div.

The Marines' 1/9 may be reactivated at some point in the future, but if that happens the Corps likely will at least keep it as part of 2 Mar Div and not stick it with some other division.