This 2d Marine Division shoulder patch was worn on Saipan. Designed and
approved in late 1943, the insignia is in the official Marine Corps
colors of scarlet and gold. The insignia displays a spearhead-shaped
scarlet background with a hand holding aloft a lighted gold torch.
A scarlet numeral “2” is superimposed upon the torch, and the torch
and hand are encircled by five white stars in the arrangement of the
Southern Cross constellation; under this the division’s first World War
II combat took place at Guadalcanal.
]
[Sidebar (page 6): The 4th Marine Division
This division had its roots in the shifting and redesignation of
several other units. The 23d Marines began as infantry detached from
the 3d Division in February 1943, the same month that an artillery
battalion became the genesis of the 14th Marines and engineer elements
of the 19th Marines formed the start of the 20th Marines. In March the
24th Marines was organized, and then in May it was split in two to
supply the men for the 25th Marines.
[Illustration:
Department of Defense Photo (USMC)
]
This war-time shuffling provided the major building blocks for a new
division. The units were originally separated, however, with the 24th
Marines and a variety of reinforcing units (engineer, artillery,
medical, motor transport, special weapons, tanks, etc.) at Camp
Pendleton in California. The rest of the units were at Camp Lejeune,
North Carolina. This East Coast echelon moved to Pendleton by train and
also by ship through the Panama Canal in July and August 1943. All the
units were now finally together, and thus the 4th Marine Division was
formally activated on 14 August 1943.
After intensive training, it shipped out on 13 January 1944, and in
13 short months made four major assault landings: Roi-Namur, Saipan,
Tinian, and Iwo Jima, suffering over 17,000 casualties. It was awarded
two Presidential Unit Citations and a Navy Unit Commendation, and
then deactivated 28 November 1945. In February 1966, however, it was
reactivated as the lead division in the Marine Corps Reserve, and it
furnished essential units to Desert Storm in the liberation of Kuwait.