1st Marine Division: The Old Breed

The USMC's 1st Division - 'The Old Breed' - is the oldest, largest, most decorated division-sized unit in the corps. Divisional regiments had first seen service as early as March 8, 1911, when the 1st Marines was formed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, it would go on to perform in 15 major engagements during World War I. In World War II the 1st Division was blooded at Guadalcanal, then went on to fight throughout the Pacific campaign, each of the amphibious landings and the bloody battles to take the islands, being smaller versions of D-Day. The Pacific War saw some of the most uncompromising warfare in WWII, and the USMC was at the heart of it: the 1st Division would earn three World War II Presidential Unit Citations - Guadalcanal, Peleliu, and Okinawa - each was well deserved.