Muster Roll of the First Battalion

Clerks learned a dizzying array of abbreviations and designations, the correct forms to use (NMC 107 and 107a), and the proper way to type them (black record ribbon). Their work would be reviewed and corrected by senior NCOs and signed by the commanding officer before being forwarded to Headquarters, Marine Corps for permanent filing. The clerks were only human and made occasional mistakes; naturally, these errors occurred more frequently when a unit was in combat. However, muster rolls are generally considered to be authoritative sources today – just as they were intended to be in the 1940s. The rolls for 1/24th Marines are the primary source used to define the narratives and fix dates throughout this history.

The list below is a compilation of over 2,000 men who served with the battalion in its various incarnations between 1942 and 1945. There are perhaps another thousand whose names appear on the muster rolls, but were only temporarily attached or transferred to other units within days or weeks. These men, along with a small number who joined the outfit in August 1945, have been omitted from the list. This is not to minimize their service, but to recognize that their time in the battalion was only a small part of their war.