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Most,if not all of you,have dates that you remember while in” The Corps”.I have a few. 10-Oct-67.first day at P.I. 9-Aug-70,the day I left “The Corps”,4-Apr-68,the day I arrived in Vietnam.22-Apr-69,the day I left Vietnam. 1-June-68, the day I was WIA while helping to repair a bridge near Hill-10. 22-Sept-68,the day I lost my best friend in a vehicle accident on the way to Hoi-An to fix another blown bridge.Then there is this one.The anniversary is soon approaching.19-Mar-69 During most of my tour I was assigned to help operate and maintain the ferry at the Liberty Bridge crossing the Song-tu-Bon.When I first arrived at “The Bridge” we slept in tent covered bridge trailers under the bridge like trolls.Later we make a hooch on top of the “Old Bridge” We made it out of the boxes that the arty or mortor rounds came. Our next move was to the compound a couple hundred yards back towards Dai-loc.Just after midnight on the 19th we got hit with rocket,mortor and some small arm fire We were to stay on alert all night Around 0200 the c0mpound on the other side of the river at Phu-Loc(6) was attacked by VC and NVA zappers that used the attack on our base as a diversion so they could position themselves for the attack on the arty battery,that is the theory anyway.The attack lasted about 3 or 4 hours and though we were only less than a clik away there was no way to cross the river without becoming open targets. The grunts at our compound wanted to go really bad but,we were all ordered to stand down and stay in position 11 Marines and 1 Corpsman were KIA (Navy Corpsman David Ray received a postumous Medal Of Honor for actions during the fight.) Nearly 30 other Marines were wounded.There were 70 some confirmed enemy dead,probably more.One of the dead vc was a kid from Dai-Loc that picked up our laundry and had it cleaned at his village.We were told that he had diagrams on him of our compound and that of Phu-Loc (6) We had no clue, he had everyone fooled.He had all the proper papers! go figure! We ferried him across the river many times.I lost a buddy that night Gunny “Smiley” Keefe.the mess sgt at Liberty Bridge and Phu-Loc (6) Before he set up the mess at Phu-Loc(6) he would make at least 2 trips across the river everyday with his “Mule” and take hot chow to the Marines on the hill.The last I saw or spoke to him was a day or two before the attack.He said he was having a problem with one of the new stoves and ask to borrow some tools.It is said that he died defending his men and the mess tent ( He received a postumous Silver Star) I will never forget that smiling face.If anyone else knew the Gunny please post a comment. Harry read more

The first female Marine students arrived at School of Infantry-West (SOI-W) to begin the first phase of Marine Combat Training (MCT) on Camp Pendleton, Calif., March 6, 2018.

This marks the first male-female integrated Marine Combat Training Company on the West Coast. read more

Back in 79 I went to fort lost in the woods MO. I fell off n love with Marie Kirkland. After my training I was to give to cailf so was Marie.But my orders where change at the last minute,and I was headed to camp Lejune. I flew back to see her before she left to Cailf.It was a crazy weekend we had even to this day it was the happiest I’ve ever been. If never got to see her again. A day doesn’t go by that point don’t think about her. I heard she married. As for me I have a son my wife passed away in 2001 I took up bull riding l know at my age. Yet i was a marine And still to this day I ride. My last ride will be in vagas 2019 That one day is for you Marie Kirkland. blueford. Be@gmail.com read more

“The Best Damn Cadence Calling Contest in the West.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO>>

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The Marine Corps’ aviators have increased their monthly flight hours per pilot, and are now flying substantially more than Air Force pilots, military officials said.

Both the Marine Corps and Air Force are facing pilot shortages and aircraft readiness problems that have left a large number of aircraft grounded. read more

WE REMEMBER:

Today in 1898 we lost 28 #Marines and 232 Sailors in the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana, Cuba. The loss of men and the battleship resulted in the nearly 4-month-long Spanish-American War.

Sgt Grit wants to hear from you! Leave your comments below or Submit your own Story ! read more

> It must of been in the late spring because it was “TOO HOT” by morning. The Platoon Lt. called a squad and myself to accompanied him to investigate an incident between two Marine Companies. Apparently, a squad had been sent out to set up an ambush on a village for the first part of their mission and then move down to and across the river in order to set up another ambush next to the river. The second squad from a different company was ordered to set up outside the village and attack the VC/NVA as they left the area next the day. Intelligence had assured them that the village was a “hot bed” (you might say) of VC/NVA activity.
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> Well, everything went according to plan with the squad on the ambush setting up after dark and in the right place. However, unknown to them, the squad that was sent to attack the village at sunrise was to be in place by midnight. Honestly, no one understood why this squad was required to be there that long before the attack. The Intelligence Unit was not forthcoming with their thoughts on the matter (go figure–right?). Now comes the part where this well thought out plan takes a turn, the ambush squad moves out like they were told to; however, when they got to the river the Squad Leader in charge of these men decided that the river was running too fast and deep (it rains in VietNam—a lot!). So in accordance with S.O.P., they connect the Radio Operator on watch at Bn. back in An Hoa to let him know of their situation and the necessary change that was going to be made to their orders. They let it be known that this squad would be returning to the village where they had set up their first ambush and settled in for the rest of the night. It’s now midnight, the attack squad leaves their lines and process to their jump off point for their mission. Wait! Why didn’t the Bn. Radio Operator tell them of the presents of the other squad of Marines? Well, apparently he was a sleep on his watch! Actually, he did fell to sleep on his watch.
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> The next morning comes and the ambush squad is gathering their things to make ready to move out for their company position. The attack squad sees this action and getting excited about their luck at catching so many VC/NVA off guard. Some would think that maybe Intelligence got it right this time. We were never able to clearly find out about who fired the first shot but it was fired and “all hell breaks lose” between these two squads of Marines. It was a very intense firefight for a few minutes. When the Squad Leader called-up the 3.5 rocket—I was never sure why this unit would have brought a long something like that. My guess was that it was sent to them for this attack and the squad was reinforced with exera men—so why not fire it off and get rid of those rounds as fast as possible (you might have guess—I’m grunt). The rounds are too heavy to hump back to the company. Anyways, the ambush squad heard this order and figured that the only people who would use this fire power in a firefight would be other Marines. This is what saved this squad from some serious injuries. They were able to identify themselves to the other squad and put a stop to this fight.
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> The finding of this investigation was that the Bn Radio Operator failed to make note of the changes during his watch and neither of the squads were found at fault for what had happen. The problem is that this was not the only incident that occurred to my company. It has always amazed me how just one person in the chain not doing their job can put so many at risk. I have from time to time stop to think about how many situations or incidents Marines find themselves dealing with without other Americans knowing anything about it. The Navy Seals must have a pretty good P.R. person working for them—I guess.
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> As always, this is a true story—“Sh– you not”!
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> May peace be with you. Semper Fi read more

Reunion Notice

Marine Corps Mustang Association (MCMA), 32nd Reunion and Muster, August 08-12, 2018. Menger Hotel, San Antonio, TX. Contact: Lt Col Richard J. Sullivan, USMC (Ret.) (508) 954-2262, sul824@verizon.net. Detailed reunion event information can be found at the MCMA Website, marinecorpsmustang.org. read more

March 28, 1970, Golf Co., 2/5 was on a difficult hump through the rice paddies back to An Hoa Base for three days of rest and showers. This time of year in Viet Nam the heat is “awful damn hot” and grunts were starting to feel the stress from the heat and mud and smell of the water in the rice paddies. We had been moving for a couple of hours when Cpt. Darling stop the company. In front of us was this large green mountain and word started being pass along to watch that beast. We stood there in that water for few minutes when suddenly the side of that mountain blew up. My friends, have you ever witness a B-52 air strike? The mountain was a deep green one second and then a massive cloud of dirt thrown into the air and when everything settled back down—nothing! Just one very large spot of rock was all that was left. We hear the explosion what seem like five minutes later. The word was pass through the radio that the air strike had been called on a VC/NVA rest and relaxation camp. Man! Their rest and relaxation was going to be long time. There was no need for a burial detail for anyone. I tell ya, that sight gave us something else to think about for the rest of that hump. read more