Marines shelve ‘Dead’ battalion

RALEIGH, N.C. — Decades before the television show, a Marine Corps battalion decorated for extensive combat in World War II and Vietnam earned the nickname the “Walking Dead.”

The 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, which also saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan, was deactivated during a ceremony Friday at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The step comes as top U.S. military and political leaders are moving to trim the size of America’s military after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Marine Corps historians say the battalion appears to have gotten the nickname because of its high rate of casualties during the Vietnam War. But the unit also has a reputation for heroism that included Medal of Honor recipients at Guam and Iwo Jima during World War II and two in Vietnam.

Formed during World War I, the battalion had previously been deactivated in 1994 and reactivated in 2007. Its insignia depicts a cloaked grim reaper carrying a scythe.

More than 300 battalion members who have been reassigned to other units participated in Friday’s ceremony.

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