Who is 
Larry Marino?
 Page 4 of 8

“In the aftermath of the Columbine and other High School shootings, It has become Politically Correct to blame millions of decent American gun owners for the actions of a tiny handful of disturbed teenagers, with guns they had already been forbidden to possess. Guns they literally had to steal before committing their violent acts.”  ---  Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC (ret.) may have had it right when he said that "most of our citizens are sheep. In a world of sheep, those that can fight the wolf are feared. It is a biological truth that the sheep have trouble discerning the wolf from the sheepdog."
 
 I arrived in country on April 11, 1968, as a replacement member of Company C, 3rd. Battalion, 1st. Infantry of the 11th. Brigade, Americal Division (23rd.). At this time, I was a squad leader and directed operations for one of three, 81mm. mortar units in our weapons platoon. In most operations, our platoon provided fire support for the other three platoons in our company. Although about a third of the time, we operated as a fourth  infantry platoon. Because of heavy casualties sustained by all of the companies in our Brigade, we had a large percentage of replacements in our units. There was however, ample opportunity to gain experience over the next few months!

The 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry was constituted March 3, 1791 in the Regular Army as a company of the 2nd Infantry. The unit has participated in the Indian Wars, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the War with Spain, the Philippine Insurrection, World War II, and was activated July, 1966 in Hawaii to be assigned to the 11th Infantry Brigade in the Vietnam Campaign.

The battalion arrived in-country on December 22, 1967 landing at the Port of Qui Nhon after a 16 day trip by troop ship from Hawaii. The battalion's initial base camp was located at Fire Support base Bronco (LZ Bronco) adjacent to the village of Duc Pho, in the southern portion of South Vietnam's I Corps.

The unit was organized as a lightly equipped mobile quick-reaction unit which could move by any means of transportation to meet and defeat the enemy in any environment.

The battalion motto "Semper Primus, Always First" describes the spirit and determination that have always been associated with the unit. Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry were awarded over 2,000 medals during 1969. Nearly 500 awards were given for valorous actions.

The 3rd battalion, 1st Infantry has received the distinguished Unit Citation, the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, and the Combat Infantry Streamer.

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