From a pre-war strength of 18,000 officers and men, the USMC rose to a strength of 485,833 officers and men.
While providing only 5% of the US armed forces in WWII, the Marines suffered almost 10% of the total American casualities, roughly 3% of serving Marines died in combat (1 out of every 34).
The operation suffering the highest casualty rate was the assault on Beito Island in Tarawa Atoll. The 2nd Marine Divisions suffered 3,318 losses---18% of the landing force. The regiment that had the highest casualty rate was the 1st Marines on the island of Pelelie (15-22 Sept 1944) where it suffered 1,672 casualties.
During the 1,364 days, 5 hours and 44 minutes of World War II, the United States Marine Corps suffered:
Killed in Action = 15,161
Died of Wounds = 3,259
Wounded in Action = 67,207 (including those wounded more than once)
Missing in Action, Presumed Dead = 2,822
Killed or Died while Prisoners of War = 348
Prisoners of War = 2,274
Non-battle deaths in combat zones = 4,778
Naval Medical personnel attached to the Marines suffered the following:
Killed in Action = 1,681
Died of Wounds = 252
Wound in Action = 5,153
Missing in Action, Presumed Dead = 529
Prisoners of War = 28
During the war, the USMC earned
18 Presidential Unit Citations (Navy)
3 Presidential Unit Citations (Army)
35 Navy Unit Commendations
During the war, Marines earned
82 Medals of Honor (51 posthumously)
1,026 Navy Crosses
3,952 Silver Stars
606 Legion of Merit
354 Navy and marine Corps Medals
29 Soldiers Medal (Army)
Navy Medical personnel earned 7 Medals of Honor (3 posthumously), 66 Navy Crosses and 485 Silver Stars.
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The reason that the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis.
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