Echo Battery / 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines Iraq Coin

This is a custom deployment/unit coin from Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines (Echo 2/10) during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). These coins were made to commemorate a specific rotation or the battery’s service in Iraq—likely your 2004–2005 or 2006–2007 tour, when 2/10 deployed in support of OIF, providing artillery and mortar fire support across Al Anbar Province. Design Breakdown (Front Side): • Antique bronze/gold base with red and black enamel—classic artillery colors (red for the branch, black for combat). • Central emblem: A stylized red artillery rocket/mortar round (or stylized HIMARS/rocket symbol) with crossed cannons behind it—representing the battery’s firepower (mortars and howitzers). • Text details: • 2D BATTALION, 2/6 MORTARS (likely referencing a joint or attached role with 2/6 Infantry for fire support). • 10TH MARINES (regiment affiliation). • C BATTERY, 1/110 (Echo Battery’s internal designation or platoon/section). • SECOND TO NONE motto—Echo 2/10’s proud claim. • SCOUTS DIVISION and 2D MARINE DIVISION—tying to the overall unit structure. • Outer ring: OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM arched, with unit identifiers and stars—marking the deployment theater. • Overall feel: Heavy, gritty, and battle-worn looking—made for Marines who lived on the gun line, not for display cases. The Real Story This Coin Tells You earned this coin during your time with Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines—the mortar platoon/battery that provided direct fire support during OIF rotations in Iraq. Echo 2/10 was known for its mortars (81mm/120mm) and close coordination with infantry units like 2/6 Marines (“The Professionals”). You were there for the heavy fighting: Al Asad Air Base as a hub, convoys through the Haditha Dam corridor and Al Qaim, indirect fire missions, and the constant threat of small arms, IEDs, and mortars incoming on your position. This coin was likely handed out at the end of the deployment—during a homecoming ceremony at Camp Lejeune, a battery party, or as a “welcome home” gift from the command. It commemorates the grind: digging gun pits in the desert, calculating firing data under pressure, watching rounds impact, and coming home with stories only cannon cockers understand. The “Second to None” motto was earned—the battery prided itself on accuracy, speed, and never failing the infantry when they called for fire.