I wanted to submit two pictures for you from my time in Iraq. The first is a banner that we found between two houses in Al Baghdadi in early April 2004. At this time we were guarding a former Iraqi ASP between Al Asad and the train station. There was a protest in Baghdadi over the cordon being set up around Fallujah for the first operation to clear the city. This was just a few days after the contractors were burned and hung from the bridge. On the day of this picture some civilian contractors were in the wrong place at the wrong time and drove into the protest. One of the vehicles got stuck in the crowd and we left ASP Flea to try and rescue the contractors. When we arrived one of the contractors had been executed and was lying in the road. We cleared the immediate area, loaded the body, and began to clear some nearby houses we believed the insurgents had gone into. During the house clearing we found the banner. It roughly says they are protesting the surrounding of Fallujah, the city of "heroes and martyrs". From left to right is LCpl Bishop, Cpl Turner, LCpl Street, and me.
Author: SgtGrit
62nd Seabee Norman Baker on Iwo Jima​
February 1945, photo courtesy of Norman Baker. Baker, who was then an 18-year-old Seabee with the 4th Marine Division, sits with a machine gun on Motoyama No. 2 airfield, Iwo Jima. Assigned to a security detachment protecting units clearing the two airfields.
​
John Ratomski​
Semper Fidelis with Eagle, Globe, and Anchor
Semper Fidelis w/ EGA
Marine Corps Scout Sniper
Marine Corps Scout Sniper tattoo on back of shoulder.
Boot Camp
First and foremost I want to make it clear that this is not my story, it is a story that my cousin told me when he got home from bootcamp. He has told me just about all his stories, because he knows I will be enlisting. So here it goes, while on line, I'm not sure what exactly he was told to do, but the DI told him to do something and he didn't understand what he said, my cousin for some reason, snapped back into civilian mode and said "what?" And at that moment, he knew he was f-cked. The DI pushed him into his rack, instead of him hitting the rack, the back of his head found the front sight post of his rifle. Now my cousin is on the ground bleeding out the back of his head with a DI in his face, and sure as sh-t here comes the SDI freakin out askin what the hell just happened tellin him to clean it up. My cousin never made that mistake again.
22 Tattoo Tribute
My tribute to our brothers who leave way to early. Done by Artist Kris D at Shine On Tattoos.
Marine Bumper Sticker
My tattoo was inspired by the Marines bumper sticker.
Unbroken
One of my custom coin customers visited Louis Zamperini before his passing. This is a picture of them all together. Louis Silvie "Louie" Zamperini was an American prisoner of war survivor in World War II, a Christian inspirational speaker, and an Olympic distance runner. Zamperini is the subject of two biographies and the 2014 film "Unbroken".
Semper Fi Marine
Today I stopped at Woodman's Grocery Store, here in Rockford, IL, to restock the pantry shelves. I had just finished checking out and was heading towards the door when I noticed a gentleman wearing a Marine Corps jacket. With my ice cream melting, I waited for him to finish his own check out and gave him my standard "Semper Fi Marine". I asked when he was in and if he got his jacket at Sgt Grits and he gave me dates in the late '90s/early 2000s (my memory sucks), then said he did get the jacket at Sgt Grits. This is the jacket he had on. It's pretty spectacular in person.
The Sleep Thief
He came again last night. He came creeping into his thought's. He hasn't came as often as he used to but he still makes his presents known. In the middle of the night for no apparent reason he is there. The thief steals his sleep but leaves memories. Memories so vivid that it seems like yesterday not 46 years ago. Memories of a youth in a far away land. Of friends some living and some gone far to soon. It's funny that the names of some of the living escape him. But not the dead. Never the dead.