Marines from WWII to Desert Storm

Following great success in WWII, the Corps suffered from budget cuts and loss of enlisted soldiers for years until the Korean War once again caused its ranks to swell. Marines served valiantly alongside Army troops and once again earned their reputation.

Over a decade later, battalions of Marines were inserted into Vietnam, where they fought a guerilla war against the Vietcong until the Marine Corps was withdrawn in 1971. The Marines took heavy casualties, losing over 13,000 dead with close to 90,000 wounded. Fifty-seven Marines earned the Medal of Honor for their conduct.

In the 1970s and 1980s the Marine Corps went through a low point, with enlistment dropping and higher rates of desertion and delinquency than ever before. Marines served in American actions in Beirut, Grandda, and Panama. The Corps once again bounced back by the Gulf War in 1990, when a deployment of 90,000 Marines became the largest Marine Corps operation in history.