IN HAWAII, ‘AMERICA’S BATTALION’ FOLDS ITS COLORS AND FADES AWAY
January 13, 2023 ·Carl Prine
On July 30, 2010, a helicopter at the memorial service held by 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines for Sgt. Joe L. Wrightsman departs Patrol Base Jaker in Afghanistan. Wrightsman died trying to save the life of an Afghan National Police officer who was being carried away by the Helmand River. On July 13, 2023, at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the Corps deactivated the famous battalion. US Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mark Fayloga.
During a somber ceremony in Hawaii, “America’s Battalion” folded its colors, sheathed its battle streamers, and faded back into its storied history.
On Friday Jan. 13, the Corps deactivated 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. It’s part of a series of moves across the Indo-Pacific region, designed to slim infantry-heavy combat teams into littoral regiments, with fewer grunts but more anti-aircraft missiles and ship-killing batteries.
That cold logic of strategy didn’t make Friday’s moment any less bittersweet. While a Marine band played Auld Lang Syne, six Marines struck the battalion’s colors and swaddled the banners in black cloth.
A quartet of Marines then marched the cased flags off the parade deck, with no troops trailing behind them, because their battalion was no more.
https://www.coffeeordie.com/third-battalion-marines-hawaii
