Author: SgtGrit

Life At War

One of the best times of being a Ordnance Man is when you take ordnance material back from the front lines to a rear Area where it will be repaired. In Korea, at the Punch Bowl, we took some tanks back to Masan, Korea where 1st Combat Service Group was. I was appointed one of the Train Guards and got to ride the train all the way back. Now as there were Guerrillas about we sometimes rode inside the tanks (mostly just for something to do) but when the train stopped to refuel coal and water we had the luxury of using the steam let off pipe to warm our "C's". We put them in an empty water expeditionary can and pulled the can up over the steam let off pipe. Then the engineer turned on the steam and heated our rations so hot we had to wait to open them. I took advantage of being a Train Guard by having my picture taken with the engineer (of course, he didn't want anything to do with it and sat on top). Korea was the first time, as I recall, it was legal to carry a camera, you weren't supposed to in WWII but guys did any way. I can still remember the bullets zinging off after hitting the Tank. How easy it was to enjoy the little things in life at War! read more

Operation Colorado

Operation Colorado, August, 1966, 1/5 and 3/5, and don't recall who all else. I had left MCRD SD with orders to Staging Bn, etc. earlier in the year… and a couple of other DI's that I knew got orders to the I-I staff with the Reserve Engineer company that was based at Fort Omaha… smallish installation, mostly brick buildings, probably has some interesting history. My pregnant wife and toddler daughter were to be well cared for, as her parents had plenty of room at their house in Omaha, basically just a mile or two up 30th from the Fort. So far, so good… then, on the 9th of August, somewhere northwest of Tam Ky, in the wee hours, we took mortar and recoilless rifle fire. Long story short, I managed to make an up close and personal connection with a few mortar fragments… not a BFD (although Joe B might have thought so), and it was what used to be recorded as "WIANE" or "Wounded In Action, Not Evacuated". (have hurt myself worse when shaving with a hangover… and a 'safety razor') However… I had neglected to check the "Do Not Notify NOK in case of… whatever… box on the old RED. (Record of Emergency Data) form… so… that meant the finely functioning bureaucratic chain would swing into action, because our Doc filled out a medical tag, generating a TWIX (Naval Message) to the Casualty Assistance folks nearest my NOK (Next Of Kin)… that being, of course, the I-I staff at Fort Omaha. These guys are Marines… and we take care of our own… goes without saying. Soooooo… when the TWX is on the message board first thing in the morning, the guys read it… and since it happens to be someone they know, they swing into action immediately!… by calling the house, identifying themselves, and asking my wife if she is going to be home later in the morning because they need to come talk to her… at about 06:30 in the morning… as she is standing there with my daughter hanging on to her nightgown, holding my by then six-day old son in her arms. They showed up in a sedan promptly at 0800. Wife has always referred to that period as the longest hour and a half in her life… had the name on the TWX been unfamiliar, I am sure that they (the CACO team) would have handled the situation in routine professional fashion… but when it's somebody you know… it's a little different. At the time, I could have gone full Gy Ermey on them… later, as an I-I, having to make injury/death notifications, gained a new understanding of one of the hardest assignments (IMHO) that the Corps can assign. read more

Doc Hall

I just finished reading this week's (25/26 June) newsletter, and in response to "MARINE Jim McCallum's (the ole gunny)" post concerning corpsmen, I thought I'd share a photo of "Doc" Hall. He was the ranking corpsman assigned to Lima 3/7 during the approximately six months (late December '66 to early June '67) that I had the privilege of serving as that company's Artillery Forward Observer from India 3/11. With a little luck, maybe one of your readers also served with him, and can give me an update on him. read more

Newest Marine Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient

On 19 June 2014, Cpl William Kyle Carpenter, USMC (Ret.) was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on 21 November 2010 while serving as an Automatic Rifleman with F Co, 2d Bn, 9th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st MarDiv (fwd), I MEF (fwd), in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. read more

Deep Sixed

Ddick: Once again Ddick has become my Muse regarding Amtrack operations off an LST. The one part of the launch he doesn't mention (because it's not apparent to those riding inside is the "deep six" portion which involves the tractor accelerating down the ramp and actually going 5 or 6 feet under water before bobbing to the surface (hopefully) and heading for the rendezvous circle. This is a little intimidating the first couple of times its done, but being Marines we would see how deep we could go. I think I've related this story before but here it is again. A second LT. platoon leader pulled me aside and asked where the driest place was inside when we launched because the cargo doors on top of the tractor weren't water tight and became a torrent while getting off the ship. I assured him that the driest place would be sitting on the machine gun platform in the front. Just above the platform was the machine gun turret with the gun taken out, it was rotated to the rear and a redwood plug was inserted where the barrel went. I told my crewman to rotate the turret to the front and remove the plug. As we "deep sixed" off the ramp a solid stream of cold seawater shot from the hole into the chest of the 2nd. LT. I kept my eyes glued to my vision block but snuck a peep to see how it went. He was staring at me with fire in his eyes but I'm sure he never asked to be kept dry while part of his platoon was getting wet. Ya gotta love 'em! read more