Sgt Grit is a place where Marines can come and meet other Marines, share tattoos and stories, keep up with Marine Corps news, or shop for USMC gear.
Here is a picture of me wearing a Marine issue rain hat when I was on a Med Cruise with India 3/2 in 1959. I believe we were on Sardinia.
Cpl (2 stripes) Patrick Arata
Sgt Grit wants to hear from you! Leave your comments below or Submit your own Story !
Here are a few pictures from the Med float we did in the 1984. We (Lima 3/8) did a joint operation with the Norwegian Home Guard before we landed back in Beirut to relieve 2/8. It was a cold-weather operation so to prepare us for the operation we went up to Camp Ripley Minnesota. And let me tell you it was cold as a witch’s… well, I’ll leave that to the imagination of the readers. Anyway, most of us b-tched and complained (as usual) thinking that there was no way the cold of Minnesota could ever prepare us for the cold of Norway. Well, as usual again we were stupid aszes for thinking that someone above our dumb aszes did not know a thing or two about proper training and had been through one or two rodeos before. Norway’s cold and snow was NOTHING compared to Camp Ripley and Minnesota! We were well prepared to say the least.
While in artillary stationed in ICorps I got very sick. I was med evaced to a hospital in Danang. While I was hospitalized I got a dear JOHN letter from my girl at home. There was a list at the hospital of girls who would write to service personnel in Vietnam. I began writing to Lori Ivy. When I was released from the hospital I was still weak from my illness. I was sent home. I lost Lori’s address. I never could thank her. I couldn’t tell her what her letters meant to this young Marine sick on the other side of the world. I couldn’t even tell her I was sent home. To this day I think of her and hope somehow she will know how important she was to someone she never met. Semper-Fi Lori Ivy. ??
The date was Feb 67. I was on my way back after a 30 day free leave for extending 6 months. Flew in to DaNang with a E-7 sitting next to me asking a billion questions. Now at that time transit was in hardbacks near the airfield, no Hilton yet. It is night and I am BSing with a team from 26 Marines. They there for rabies shots. All the sudden we hear a “freight trains” going over our heads. Then loud explosions on other side of airfield. Well this same E-7 runs in yelling about getting into the trenches. So being good Marines we get up go out and proceed to watch the FNG’s jump into a trench 1/2 full of water and mudd. We did not say a thing, just walked back to the hootch a went to sleep. Funny, never saw that Gunny agian. Semper Fi
The top Marine is on the hunt to keep and retain the best talent the Corps has, and is considering a slew of changes from a new maternity leave policy to changing how Marines are evaluated and promoted.
Commandant Gen. David Berger laid out guidance for reshaping the Marine Corps in a planning document posted late Tuesday evening.
US Marines attended the US Marine Corps Cadet and Junior National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota, July 14-19, 2019.
Marine Corps Recruiting Command partnered with USA Wrestling to support student-athletes, coaches and their communities, to inform young people about opportunities within the Marine Corps, and to continue to foster the fighting spirit that Marines and athletes share.
74 years ago the U.S. Marine Corps underestimated their enemy, what they had anticipated to be a short battle against the outnumbered Japanese troops ended up as a 36-day siege resulting in nearly 7,000 Marines losing their lives. There was no doubt the U.S. would successfully complete their mission, however the landing forces were not prepared for the Japanese that were well entrenched and had prepared for battle, resulting in one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. Marine Corps history.
This story was originally published in SGT GRIT’S NEWSLETTER, the magazine, Vol. 2, No. 2. February, 2004. ($1.50). A Publication FOR Marines and BY Marines. Page 28…on THE MARINES page. This “edition” has been modified and adjusted.
“Get off my bus, you slimy-eyed maggots!” shouted the Drill Instructor at the top of his lungs. Thus began my “near death experience” all through nine weeks of Marine Corps Recruit Training…after we entered the gates at MCRD, San Diego…the Marine Corps Recruit Depot…on that “fateful” Monday night, September 16, 1968.
Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot Parris Island is a sacred place that shapes everyday citizens into United States Marines. The journey from recruit in training to United States Marine is unforgettable and some even describe it as the best worst time of their life. Once a Marine leaves the island, most may never return.
