|
No, the USMC paarchute units did not make any combat jumps in WWII. Four battalions formed. Three went overseas, to Guadalcanal and the Solomons. On Guadalcanal, they fough side-by-side with the Marine Raiders, and were grouped with them in a Provisional Parachute-Raider Regiment. The para bns were wtihdrawn to New Caldeonia, where the 1st Parachute Regiment was formed. The Regt trained for a combat drop, but it never happened. The Regt's survivors were sent back to the U.S.; the Regt was disbanded in mid-ocean. The 4th Para Bn at Camp Elliott Cal acted as a replacement depot; it too was disbanded. Many of the Paramarines went on to cadre units of the 6th Mar Div; at least two of the Iwo Jima flagraisers were Paramarines, including Ira Hayes. By hocus-pocus, the history of the 1st Parachute Regt was grafted on to the reformed 4th Marines (in suspended animation since destruction/capture in Philippines in 1942), hence today's 4th carries honors for Guadalacanal, etc.
|
