Author: SgtGrit

My Vietnam tour, 1967-’68. Cpl. Larry Woolverton

I completed radio school back at Pendleton, went through Staging, which was supposed to prepare you for Vietnam, but didn’t, and I was ready to go.

     We weren’t sent to Vietnam as a unit.  The group of us that took off from Los Angeles that February in 1967 were replacements.  We flew aboard a Continental Airlines 707 with a civilian crew, complete with stewardesses.  I don’t remember exactly how long it took us to fly from L.A. to Okinawa, but I think it was about eighteen hours.  We stopped in Honolulu, Hawaii for an hour, or so to refuel, and were allowed to go into the terminal and get a Coke, or whatever.  Then back on the plane and we were off again.  So, I had been to Hawaii!  Wow!  It was warm. Nice terminal. read more

187th Birthday menu – Okinawa 1962

It is Nov 10th 2011 Happy Birthday Marines. I was just reading your latest newsletter and seen another Birthday Menu, then I remembered that I had a menu from the 187th in Okinawa 1962   At that time I was aboard the USS General Mann on my way to to Camp Sukiran Okiinawa. Here are some pictures of the Menu.   Cpl G. D. Sprenkle 1961 to 1966

Tarpaper Barracks

Sgt Grit,

Just got your newsletter and there is a letter from Doran Cooper that was at Camp Gifu and was in Anglico. I was at Camp Gifu 1955 in Hg Bn Hg Co Comm Anglico Plt.

Here's some pictures. One is Me, Bernie standing in front of our tarpaper barracks. The others are taken on Iwo Jima Feb 1956 of the monument on top of Mt Suribachi. The coast line from there and the Mt from below. We made a landing there set up Radio nets remoted our Jeeps to the CP. There was air strikes. read more

Australia

I was reading your story about the hitchhiker in Australia when it reminded me of my own experience there. It was 1976 and we had just finished operation Kangaroo II and the ship that I was on went to Brisbane for a little R & R. Another Marine and I were walking into town when a married couple picked us up.  He was in the Austrailian Army Medical Corps. The couple took us to their apartment and treated us like family. For the entire week that we were there they took us around Brisbane, showed us all the sites, made us homemade meals. After the week in Brisbane the ship I was on got lucky and we went north to another  town called Cairns also in Austraila. When the people there found out that we were US Marines they treated us like friends. If is wasn't for the Marine Corps i would have never been able to see the parts of the world that I did.   Semper Fi Cpl Terry Hewitt USMC