US Marine Corps

Lore & Background

In the Medal of Honor franchise, the US Marine Corps is not a single character but a lived experience. The player is a Marine embedded within a small squad, moving through hedgerows in Normandy or cutting through jungle on a Pacific atoll. The Corps is defined by its close-quarters infantry doctrine: rifles, submachine guns, grenades, and the occasional tank or aircraft support. Squadmates are largely unnamed or given only a callsign, reinforcing the idea that the player is one of many in a larger machine of war.

The 2010 reboot, developed by EA Los Angeles, places the Marine in the aftermath of the D-Day landings, pushing inland through French countryside before shifting to the brutal island-hopping campaigns of the Pacific. Vanguard (2020), also from EA Los Angeles, continues the tradition of casting the player as a USMC combatant in WWII, emphasizing squad coordination, vehicle-based objectives, and the chaos of combined-arms warfare.

Across these entries, the USMC is rendered with a specific visual language: olive-drab uniforms, M1941 field packs, M1 Garand and Thompson submachine guns, and the distinctive insignia of the Corps. The games treat the Marine not as a hero above the fray but as a soldier doing the work—holding a position, suppressing an enemy machine gun, extracting a wounded comrade under fire.

In Their Own Story

The hedgerow was three feet of green wall and the world beyond it was all wrong. You could hear the crack of a MG42 somewhere to the left, staccato and close, and the smell of cordite mixed with wet earth. Your squad leader barked a count—three, two, one—and you were over the top, boots slipping in mud, the M1 Garand heavy in your hands. The Marine to your right was already laying down suppressive fire, and you saw the tracers stitch the far side of the field. You didn't think about the war. You thought about the next ten yards, the next breath, the next order. That was all any of you had. That was all the Corps ever asked.

Reader's Guide

The US Marine Corps debuts as the player's unit in Medal of Honor (2010), developed by EA Los Angeles and published by Electronic Arts. The player is an unnamed USMC combatant operating in a small squad during World War II, fighting across the Normandy campaign and the Pacific Theater. The Marine is not a named protagonist but a role the player inhabits, carrying M1 Garands, Thompsons, and grenades through hedgerow assaults, village clearances, and jungle engagements.

The unit's signature moment for fans is the opening Normandy sequence, where the Marine is thrown into the chaos of the D-Day landings and the push inland, establishing the grounded, squad-based combat that defines the series. The USMC reappears as the player's branch in Medal of Honor: Vanguard (2020), continuing the tradition of WWII Marine infantry warfare with squad coordination, vehicle objectives, and combined-arms scenarios. Across both titles, the Corps is defined by its infantry doctrine—close-quarters firefights, objective holding, and the gritty reality of 1940s small-unit combat.

Did You Know?

• In Medal of Honor (2010), the player's Marine operates in both the European (Normandy) and Pacific theaters within a single campaign, reflecting the dual-front nature of the WWII war the franchise depicts.
• The franchise has been published by Electronic Arts since its inception, with the 2010 reboot and Vanguard (2020) both developed by EA Los Angeles.
• The USMC in these games is rendered with period-accurate WWII equipment—M1 Garands, Thompson submachine guns, M1941 field packs—rather than modern gear, anchoring the player firmly in the 1940s.
• Squadmates in the 2010 and Vanguard entries are largely defined by their combat roles and brief radio exchanges rather than deep individual backstories, keeping the focus on the collective unit experience.