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Marine Raiders

Marine Raider insignia c. 1942-1944

The Marine Raiders were elite US Marine Corps soldiers who were used as amphibious light infantry in the Pacific theater of World War II. The raiders were mostly used as conventional infantry, although they also took part in special missions such as the Makin Raid in 1942. The Raiders were later seen as redundant, as they were "an elite force within an elite force", and they were disbanded on 8 January 1944 as large-scale amphibious assaults replaced special operation missions on Japanese-held islands.

In 2014, the Marine Special Operations Regiment was renamed the Marine Raider Regiment to serve as an homage to the Marine Raiders of old.

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