CHOW LINE

One day we were in the chow line and a recuit came up to one of of our drill instructors and shouted out "Sir, Private Navy requests to speak to the drill instructor Sir."  The drill instuctor shouted at him, "Private who?"  The recuit "Sir, Private NAVY, Sir.  Then the drill instructor asked him for his full name and the rercuit replied, Sir, Ulysses Samuel Grant, Sir.  The drill instructor hollowed US NAVY,  whats the matter did your old man hate you.  We all got a good laugh out of that one,  read more

The Grunts Came Running

While I was in VietNam (1967-1968) I experienced the true meaning of SemperFi and how Marines take care of Marines.

I was a dump truck driver with the 7th Engineer Battalion, Service Co. I was in a large convoy leaving the AnHue Combat Base with my friend Tyrone Jones heading for Hill 55, then on to DaNang. Tyrone had a new guy with him in his dump truck. I also had a new guy riding with me.(I can't remember the new guys names) The convoy had two tanks with it. One in the front, the other in the rear. About halfway to PhuLoc 6 the rear tank hit a command detonated land mine(I.E.D.) The convoy stopped,the front tank went back to help the blown up tank. We all jumped into the ditches and started shooting into the treeline. We received a few sniper rounds. The undamaged tank blew-up a hootch and the grunt next to me blew-up a small cement structure with a LAW. We got the all clear from the convoy commander and headed for Hill 55. Little did Tyrone and I know that what just happened was only the beginning of a very scary and exciting day. read more

LA Veterans Quilt Project

Grit,

I save everything, including all the t-shirts from every National Veterans Wheelchair Games since 1997. I wasn't sure what to do with them and when the LA Veterans Quilt Project came to my VA last year I asked Karen Van Den Brink if she could possibly make a quilt from my old shirts. She said absolutely and handed the project over to Linda Leibon who did and 'AMAZING' job!!! She had it for over a year and just presented it to me Tuesday 3/20/12. Something I will treasure forever and money can definitively not buy. I cannot thank the ladies enough! read more

Amtracs Vietnam 1969

Morning Grit,   I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter in the newsletter about amtracs in Viet Nam lately.  January 1st, 1969 at the ripe old age of 18 I found myself serving with the 3d Amtrac Bn. “A” Co. 3d Plt. 1st MarDiv. FMFWestPac. in the republic of Viet Nam.  Our Battalion Area was on the beach at Marble Mountain.  3d platoon operated in that area known as Arizona Territory/Dodge City, Charlie Ridge, Hill 10, Hill 37, Hill 55, Hill 65, Liberty Bridge, and some times around An Hoa.  I’m sending a few pictures taken at Liberty Bridge showing some of the outstanding Marines I served with and the 37 ton tracked amphibious vehicles we played with.  Hope they bring back some fond memories for your readers.   Semper Fi Randy (Beast) TALBOTT SSgt. 1968-1977