Author: SgtGrit

Yankee Candle

Recommended location for use is upwind of a mess hall (or, for the newbies… "dining facility"… note that the uniform is contemporary, or nearly so… some things never change, or, more appropriately: "in every clime and place"…) Those of you with friends "in the military" (that's the way AF folks always refer to themselves)… take the friend aside, and explain life in the field as gently as you can… and steal most of their ammo, should they happen to have some… read more

Parris Island Experiences

You requested stories of PI experiences. Here are a couple of mind benders, not physical incidents but nevertheless, shook us up. We polished our dress shoes for weeks, never wore them with greens until late in the program. We were told to put on the dress shoes one evening when dressing for chow. On the way I guess we were all looking down at our spit shines, bobbing along. We were halted, told to bow our heads and stare at our shoes for a few minutes before going on to the mess hall. Another time we must have been slow in getting into greens for chow or the squad bay was messed up, because we had to go back in change into utilities with field jackets. Too slow, back again, get into greens with overcoat. In ranks we were told to open the overcoats. Some guys did not have their blouses buttoned. Back into the barracks, change again. We did this about 7 or 8 times before going to chow. Once there Sgt Brown announced that after chow we were going to the movies. However, before that we were to take a test on the M1. There were 75 of us in the Platoon. We could have 10 incorrect answers among us. Needless to say we did not go to the movies and I doubt that we would have regardless of the test results. We were near the end of the 8-weeks and when getting into greens for chow we were instructed to put our emblems on our covers and jacket lapels (Ike or Battle Jacket). While in line waiting our turn to enter the mess hall, another DI came over to our DI and berated him for allowing us to wear emblems when we were not yet MARINES, Sgt Brown made some excuse and told us to remove the emblems and put away until graduation. It was a cold January and February, puddles exposed to the sun did not thaw. We rarely wore field jackets or gloves, just our cotton utilities, no great flannel shirts that hung in the squad bay. One morning in a weak moment of compassion, while in ranks waiting to get in the mess hall for breakfast, we were called to attention, given the "at ease" command, cross our arms over our chest and put our hands in our arm pits. Other than a very few times did any of our DI's do anything physical to anyone in the platoon. read more

The History Behind These Flags

My name is Gene Crabtree. Retired GySgt (pictured on left). Recently I was asked by Jimmy Dupuy (pictured on right), if I could assist him with folding these two flags. I told him it would be an honor and I would be proud to assist him. He began to tell me the history of these flags. He found these flags in a box that he received after his mother passed away, they were not folded and he wanted to put them in Shadow Boxes. The flag I am holding is his Great-Grandfather's William Curry Chisolm's flag. He served in WWI. This flag has 48 stars, his Great-Grandfather passed away in 1926. The flag that Jimmy is holding is for his Father, Joseph Steven Dupuy. Mr. Jimmy served in the U.S. Marine Corps from '65-'69. I can't tell you the honor that this gave me and the sense of pride to assist in this Flag Folding. read more

Campaign Dates

Your site is prized by most Marine veterans that I know. When I wear the cover shown above, I do not do it to have people thank me for my service. That is appreciated; however the reason I wear it is that I get "Semper Fi" and "Ooorah's" from folks I'd never met before and it usually strikes up a good conversation of when they served and where. Many times, they want to know where I got my cover and I am happy to share that it is your website. I personalized my ribbons on my cover by adding campaign stars and my "60-" device to the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon. I got a generic Vietnam Service Ribbon bumper sticker and made a stencil to add my campaign stars with spray paint. I've had a lot of interest in this and usually got some chuckles when I told them how I did it. Feel free to publish the Vietnam Service Medal campaign dates. You might put out some feelers to see if folks might be interested in personalizing their covers or bumper stickers to reflect their time in "the Nam." read more