| Unit Name: | 2nd Marine Infantry Division |
| Dates: | 20 September 1965 – 16 April 1981 (brigade) 16 April 1981 – present (division) |
| Branch: | Republic of Korea Marine Corps |
| Type: | Infantry Division |
| Size: | Division |
| Command Structure: | ROK Marine Corps Headquarters |
| Garrison: | Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province |
| Nickname: | Cheongryong (Blue Dragon) |
| Battles: | |
| Decorations: | U.S. Presidential Unit Citation ROK Presidential Unit Citation |
The 2nd Marine Infantry Division (Korean: 제2해병사단; Hanja: 第2海兵師團), also known as Blue Dragon Division (Korean: 청룡부대; Hanja: 青龍部隊) or more literally the Aqua (color) Dragon Division, is an infantry division of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps.
On June 1, 1965, Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ requested military aid from South Korea. To support South Vietnam from communist North Vietnam, Korea State Council agreed to send a Division and its supporting units on July 2, and National Assembly of South Korea made final decision to send troops on August 13.
On August 17, the Republic 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 President Park Chung-hee in attendance, the 2nd Marine Brigade was formally activated at the ROK Marine Corps training camp at Pohang 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 of Operation Dragon Fire.
See also: South Korea in the Vietnam War. The Blue Dragons were initially deployed to Cam Ranh Bay in September 1965, but in December moved to Tuy Hòa to provide security against the NVA 95th Regiment.[1]
In August 1966, the Blue Dragons moved to Chu Lai and was placed under the operational control of the III 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, 1st ANGLICO 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, the AK-47-equipped Vietcong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) had somewhat superior small-arms to South Korean soldiers, since they were armed with World War II-era weaponry (M1 Garand and M1 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 the M16 rifle.[1]
Significant operations and actions involving the Brigade include:
on Go Noi Island, Quảng Nam Province from October 1968 to December 1970.
on Go Noi Island, Quảng Nam Province from 26 May to 7 November 1969.
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] About 4,000 were killed.
2nd Marine Brigade
Direct Control Company
1st Marine Battalion
2nd Marine Battalion
3rd Marine Battalion
5th Marine Battalion
2nd Field Artillery Battalion
628th Field Artillery A Unit (Army)
In February 1968, soldiers of the Brigade were accused of perpetrating the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre.
In February 2023, The Seoul 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.