April 10,1965 we landed in Vietnam as a member of the 9th MEB, I was a rifleman with Fox 2/3 fast forward a few weeks our reinforced Company had just boarded amtracks for a river landing 15-20 minutes later the operator had been tossing us around underwater when he said were stuck in the mud at the bottom of this muddy river, I can’t remember how many of us for sure were stuck inside 15 or more but it was hot, sweaty, and scary! One of the other amtracks had finally pulled us out.
Category: Main
Rules of Kung Fu
avoid before you block .
block before you hurt.
hurt before you maim.
maim before you kill’
kill before you are killed.
Duck for dinner
I entered the Corps on February 3, 1970, Parris Island, Platoon 218, A few weeks into training, I was introduced to “duck for dinner.” At first I thought wow wonder how these cooks are going to F _ _k up this meal. No not the case at all, the term means, that because the training schedule was tight, the platoon would “rangewalk” through the chow line and what ever each recruit could grab and eat and drink on the way to the exit was what you had for that meal. Our Drill Instructors would herd everyone through the process. What ever happens you wouldn’t want to be the last recruit to make formation. The Drill Instructor would take a quick head count, call everyone to attention, RIGHT FACE, forward march. At this phase there were 82 recruits, the entire event took under 25 minutes. I tell people about “suck for dinner” many can’t believe stuff like this happened.
Blood Stripe
Always in uniform.!
Hard way to get to Boot Camp
Six of us flew from Kansas City in the Spring of 1962 on our way to S.D. MCRD. Our flight took us to Los Angeles and we had tickets in our package to catch a bus from there to San Diego. However, we got on the wrong bus and ended up at the Greyhound bus station in downtown L.A. We didn’t know what to do so I looked up the Marine Corps in the phone book and called the number. I explained our problem to the guy who answered and he said he would send someone to give us a ride to MCRD. What they sent was a Navy Shore Patrol paddy wagon! The the Navy cops shoved us in there and drove us to the receiving barracks. The optics were terrible. The D.I.s must have assumed we had gone AWOL and were captured and brought there. It was a very bad start.
Regarding the “Really Old Corps”
Just read the article about the “Really Old Corps”. Made me smile with a strong inner sense of pride for having been in THAT Marine Corps, 1952-1955. I was not issued a Sam Browne Belt or Dress Blues but everything else in the article I remembered. I distinctly remember being one of about 6-7 men in my company in Korea still wearing boondockers and leggins in 1953. I had a Green Battle Jacket and wore it on R&R in Japan where I stood out like a sore thumb. Good memories all. Thanks .
Starting out from -zero
When I joined the Corps in July of ’57 we were flown from Portland,Or. We landed at Los Angeles and one of the guys asked the stewardess if we could get off the plane and stretch out legs. The nice lady said sure; long story made short the plane took off without us, we had to catch a later flight and when we got to San Diego we were already in deep ****. Helluva way to start out!
why I joined the Marines
In 1962 my brother, who was an active duty Marine, was home on leave and told me we were going to be in a war so I had better learn to fight. He said that I had better learn the right way if I wanted to stay alive and suggested the Marines. He was a PaRA-marine stationed in thailand. I believed him but by the time I enlisted they had done away with the para-marines. I don’t jump out of planes anyway.
Cpl
I saw my older brother on leave 1964 in his dress blues, metals, and rows of ribbons. My first thought was, I want that uniform and I want to be a Marine. September 12th 1968 I was at MCRD Camp Pendleton platoon 3081. I asked my brother before I went to boot camp as to what to expect. He grinned and say, no can do. I don’t want to ruin all the surprises. There were more than surprises awaiting us and my thanks goes out to DI Cpl. Joy. For his tough, physical, hard nose training, on and off the tarmac. The training it took to bring a lot of young Marines back home. Semper Fi.
CHRISTMAS WITH THE CORPS
CHRISTMAS WITH THE CORPS
T’was the night before Christmas and all through the Corps;
no one had liberty; the troops were all sore.
We were all sacked out – every man in the lot;
on our beds of spikes; the Marine Corps cot.
Then out of the night there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my rack to see whats the matter.
I rushed to the window while craning my neck,
but I tripped on my locker and fell on the deck.
The door opened wide, and it seemed to get colder;
when I saw that St. Nick had four stars on his collar.
It was the Commandant, there was never a doubt;
he was wearing his poncho, with the green side out.
He tip-toed around by every man’s rack;
closely inspecting each man’s field marching pack.
A chosen few got a ninty-six chit,
but most of us got a ration of shit.
Then he took off in his gold plated tank;
drawn by 8 colonels, all bucking for rank.
Going over the trees, he turned with a shout;
“Merry Christmas, your bastards, you’ll never get out!!”