TODAY'S MOTO PHOTO - PARAMARINES

The 1st Marine Parachute Regiment was disbanded late in WWII, along with the Marine Raiders. Leadership thought there was no reason for specially trained jarheads; any jarhead could do any job! Paramarines and Raiders were reassigned to other units. 

Interestingly, though, the three batallions that made up the Paramarines have this to their credit:

- Paramarines Corporal Harlon H. Block and Corporal Ira H. Hayes made up 2 of the 5 Marines in the famous photograph of the the flag raising on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945.
- A third paramarine, Sergeant Henry O. "Hank" Hansen, was involved in the actual first flag-raising earlier that day.
- Five of the 81 Marines who received the Medal of Honor in World War II were Paramarines.

Joe Pagac at Camp Elliot, San Diego - As a Paramarine, Joe Pagac was with the 1st Marine Parachute Battalion, which was attached to the 3rd Marine Division on Bougainville and later helped form the 5th Marine Division that invaded Iwo Jima February 19, 1945.