| 2nd Marine Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 20 September 1965 – 16 April 1981 (brigade) 16 April 1981 – present (division) (44 years, 7 months) |
| Country |  South Korea |
| Branch |  Republic of Korea Marine Corps |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| Size | Division |
| Part of | ROK Marine Corps Headquarters |
| Garrison/HQ | Gimpo,Gyeonggi Province |
| Nickname | Cheongryong (Blue Dragon) |
| Engagements | |
| Decorations | U.S. Presidential Unit Citation ROK Presidential Unit Citation |
The2nd Marine Infantry Division (Korean:제2해병사단;Hanja: 第2海兵師團), also known asBlue Dragon Division (Korean:청룡부대;Hanja: 青龍部隊) or more literally theAqua (color) Dragon Division, is aninfantrydivision of theRepublic of Korea Marine Corps.
On June 1, 1965, Prime Minister ofSouth VietnamNguyễn Cao Kỳ requested military aid fromSouth Korea. To support South Vietnam from communistNorth Vietnam, Korea State Council agreed to send a Division and its supporting units on July 2, andNational Assembly of South Korea made final decision to send troops on August 13.
On August 17, theRepublic of Korea Marine Corps attached various battalions, companies, and platoons to the 2nd Marine Regiment to increase its size to a brigade. The Marine Corps originally planned battalion to regiment size unit, but reports from Vietnam said that separating army and Marines was more appropriate to operate.
With PresidentPark Chung-hee in attendance, the 2nd Marine Brigade was formally activated at the ROK Marine Corps training camp atPohang on September 20, 1965.
The 2nd Marine Brigade was a mostly volunteer group that included many of South Korea's early Chaebols (Lee Kun-Hee,Ohn Jee-won,Chung Mong-koo), intellectuals and staunch anti-communists. Drafting only took place from November 4, 1967, following the heavy casualties ofOperation Dragon Fire.
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The Blue Dragons were initially deployed toCam Ranh Bay in September 1965, but in December moved toTuy Hòa to provide security against thePeople's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 95th Regiment.[1]
In August 1966, the Blue Dragons moved toChu Lai and was placed under the operational control of theIII Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF).[2] Under an arrangement with the USMC, air assets would be provided to the brigade and assigned the same priority for available aircraft as American units. A team from Subunit One, 1stANGLICO was dispatched and charged with the mission of keeping an air umbrella over the Blue Dragon Brigade in and out of the field. A two-man fire control team was assigned to each ROKMC infantry company at all times.
Initially, theAK-47-equippedVietcong (VC) and PAVN had somewhat superior small-arms to South Korean soldiers, since they were armed with World War II-era weaponry (M1 Garand andM1 carbine), although ROK forces like others relied on overwhelming use of heavy artillery and air support against small-arms and mortar units. They later received more modern weapons from the United States military such as theM16 rifle.[1]: 143
Significant operations and actions involving the Brigade include:
The conduct of ROK forces is praised by some South Korean participation in Vietnam states that "the Koreans were thorough in their planning and deliberate in their execution of a plan. They usually surrounded an area by stealth and quick movement. While the count of enemy killed was probably no greater proportionately than that of similar American combat units, the thoroughness with which the Koreans searched any area they fought in was attested to by the fact that the Koreans usually came out with a much higher weaponry count than American forces engaged in similar actions."[1]
A total of 320,000 South Koreans served in the Vietnam War, with a peak strength (of any given time) at around 48,000.[1]: 131 About 4,000 were killed.
2nd Marine Brigade
| Start Date | End Date | Deployed | Combat | KIA | WIA | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Officer | Non-officer | Total | Large | Small | Total | Officer | Non-officer | Total | Officer | Non-officer | Total | ||
| October 9, 1965 | February 24, 1972 | 2,166 | 35,174 | 37,340 | 175 | 151,347 | 151,522 | 42 | 1,160 | 1,202 | 99 | 2,805 | 2,904 |
In February 1968, soldiers of the Brigade were accused of perpetrating thePhong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre.
In February 2023, TheSeoul court awarded Nguyen Thi Thanh compensation of $24,000, with the judge finding that Nguyen's relatives were killed on the spot and the plaintiff seriously wounded, and that this is obviously illegal.[8][9]
After returning from the Vietnam War, the 2nd Marine Brigade was expanded and restructured into as the 2nd Marine Division in 1981.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.