2nd Tank Battalion stood up a single company in May 1941

2nd Tank Battalion stood up a single company in May 1941, using the 4th Tank Company [1 November 1940] to form its Company A. In July, that company deployed to Iceland with the Provisional Brigade. The battalion formed on December 20 at Camp Elliott, San Diego, growing to the standard organization of headquarters, service and four letter companies. Company B deployed to Samoa in January and Company C sailed with the 2nd Marines to Tulagi, landing in an assault there on 7 November 1942 against heavy resistance. This completed a "hat trick" of "firsts" for the battalion: First company overseas, first company to deploy to a war theater, and first company in combat. The battalion participated in every action of the 2nd Marine Division, such as Tarawa, Saipan and Okinawa. Sgt. Grant F. Timmerman of Company B was killed in action on 8 July 1944 on Saipan and was awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor. After a brief tour with the Japan occupation force, the battalion returned to its permanent garrison at Camp Lejeune, NC.With the coming of the Korean War, most of the battalion's personnel immediately augmented the 1st Tank Battalion [forming Company C of that unit] or provided replacements throughout the conflict. It also provided cadre for the 8th Tank Battalion, a wartime expansion force battalion.Garrison duty on the East Coast of the US involved support to routine deployments in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Second tank Battalion units became involved in two interventions in Lebanon, the Cuban Missile Crisis deployment, the Dominican Republic and the Guantanemo Base defense effort. The Vietnam War again caused the battalion to provide replacements for the tank battalions deployed there.

After the Vietnam War, peacetime deployments swelled with participation in NATO exercises. Units of the battalion also saw brief combat in the invasion of Granada. But the battalion as a whole saw its first combat since the Second World War in 1991, as it moved with the 2nd Marine Division to Saudi Arabia for the Liberation of Kuwait. Augmented by companies of the 4th USMCR Tank Battalion, 2nd Tank Battalion supported regiments and served as the division reserve for the four-day war in Kuwait. Today, the battalion continues in service in garrison at Camp Lejeune.

2nd TANK BATTALION
2nd MARINE DIVISION

LINEAGE
1941 - 1957
Designated I February 1941 as 2d Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force Elements deployed to Iceland, July 1941 - March 1942 Deployed to the South Pacific during January 1942 - January 1943 Participated in the following World War 11 campaigns: GUADALCANAL, SOUTHERN SOLOMONS, TARAWA, SAIPAN, TINIAN, OKINAWA. Deployed during September 1945 to Nagasaki, Japan. Participated in the occupation of Japan, September 1945 - June 1946. Relocated during June-July 1946 to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

1958- 1984
Elements participated in the landings in Lebanon, July-October 1958. Participated in Cuban Missile Crisis, October-December 1962. Elements participated in the intervention in the Dominican Republic, April-June 1965. Participated in numerous training exercises throughout the 1970's and in the 1980's. Elements participated as part of the Multinational PeaceKeeping Force in Lebanon, August 1982. February 1984. Elements participated in the landing on Grenada-Carriacou, October-November 1983.

1990- 1991
Participated in Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm, Persian Gulf

HONORS
PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION STREAMER World War II
Tarawa
CHINA SERVICE STREAMER
AMERICAN DEFENCE SERVICE STREAMER with one BRONZE STAR
EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN STREAMER
ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN STREAMER with one SILVER STAR two BRONZE STARS
WORLD WAR II VICTORY STREAMER
NAVY OCCUPATION SERVICE STREAMER with "ASIA" and "EUROPE" CLASPS
NATIONAL DEFENCE SERVICE STREAMER with one BRONZE STAR
ARMED FORCES EXPEDITIONARY STREAMER with three BRONZE STARS
MARINE CORPS EXPEDITIONARY STREAMER with one BRONZE STAR
SOUTHWEST ASIA SERVICE STREAMER with two BRONZE STARS