On January 19, 1918, the battalion went to League Island, Philadelphia in order to head out to France as part of the 4th Brigade, American Expeditionary Force.

The battalion fought at the Battle of Belleau Wood for which they were awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm from the French government.

Beginning October 3, 1918, the 6th Regiment led the offensive to take Blanc Mont Ridge, pushing the Germans out of the Champagne Region of France.

From May to July 1941 2/6 reassigned to the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade and deployed to occupy Reykjavík, Iceland to relieve British forces.

Although the characters were fictional, the movements of the 2/6 were historically accurate and were based on Uris' own experiences in the 2/6 during World War II as a PFC.

From February to June 1983, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines became part of the Multinational Peace-Keeping Force in Lebanon and were present during the 1983 United States embassy bombing.

In September of that same year the battalion's main force returned to Guantanamo Bay to provide security for Cuban migrants.

[citation needed] From April to May 2000, Echo company, Weapons Co and elements of Headquarters and Services' (H&S) Surveillance, Targeting and Acquisition (STA) deployed to Kosovo and took part in Operation Dynamic Response.

2nd Battalion 6th Marines deployed to Trek-Nawa, Helmand Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from December 2011 until June 2012.