Category: Main

25 March 1945: After 35 days of bitter fighting, the amphibious assault on the rocky fortress of Iwo Jima finally appeared over. On the night of 25 March, however, a 300-man Japanese force launched a vicious final counterattack in the vicinity of Airfield Number 2. Army pilots, Seabees and Marines of the 5th Pioneer Battalion and 28th Marines fought the fanatical Japanese force till morning but suffered heavy casualties –more than l00 killed and another 200 American wounded. Nearly all of the Japanese force was killed in the battle. read more

Around the winter , spring of “68” the TET offensive was in full swing . I was a ammo tech H&S Co 3/7 around a little village called Dia Lac at the four corners.When most Marines called it a day they would leave their radios on after Armed Forces Radio went off the air. That way it would come back on in the morning without having to turn it back on and you know it was around 0600 hr. This particular morning around o545 hrs we started catching incoming and, of course, there was a scramble to get your stuff to a hole or bunker. The mortar rounds were right on top of us so the closest spot was right under the hooch It wasn’t a small bunker but it got crowded real quick. So , I always tried to get to the ammo dump because the bunkers are built so much better. After about 5 min. of this It stopped I decided to make a run for the dump. Well, about that time “old Charlie ” seem to know when I stuck my head out he put one almost on top of us. I fell back in the bunker and you know how quiet it gets. You could’ve heard a pin drop for about 30 seconds. Then all of a sudden you hear “GOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING VIET NAM!” coming from the radio when it came back on. Well, there’s probably at least 3 to 500 Marines on this hill (Hill 37) at any given time and most have their radios on . After about 15 seconds you hear someone start to laugh , then someone else starts , pretty soon the whole hill is cracking up . You remember a lot of bad scenes over there but once in awhile there’s a little humor. Sid Crews Cpl. 2311 P.I.Platoon 264 , platoon guide. Enlisted Aug. 65 to June 69 Nam Nov. 66 to July 68 read more

South Vietnam, Republic Of; I was a radioman with the 7th Regiment, 1St Marine Division from September1967 through October-1968 at Hill 55. One day we were walking back from a daily patrol and when we reached the main highway, we hitched a ride on an Army tank that was passing through. Never got inside it, but looked down into it. A few days later I was heading out on an operation in a CH-46 helicopter and got shot down. Luckily I survived with just a couple of sprained ribs-it made me realize that tanks and helicopters had the same problem-they’re both fucking bullet magnets! To all of us and those just like us-Damn Few!! read more

The year was 1963 I was a 15 yr old junior in High School in Riverside, CA the previous year I had attended the 3-week summer Devil Pup program at Camp Pendleton which made me even stronger in wanting to be a Marine. We had just arrived at school when someone got the bright idea to ditch and go to the beach around 60 miles away. My father was a deputy sheriff on the Riverside Sheriffs Office and I was afraid this was not a good plan, but this one kid drove his mothers car so we knew we would make it down and back without car troubles and could get back in school with a tardy slip before the day was over. Upon arriving at the beach and after walking down a steep hill to the sand we realized we had no swimming trunks another kid said no problem we’ll skinny dip! Great idea until the police car arrived and took us to the Newport Beach Police Dept. Our parents were called and had to pick us up at the station( for skinny dipping and truancy) my father screamed at me the whole ride home that my car was taken away and I was on restriction until I was 18 I begged my mother to let me enlist in the Marines when I turned 17 and a day. In those four years and including Vietnam I was never unhappy that I quit school to join the finest fighting outfit in the world! read more

We were all scared out of our wits after the first day- and the ability of the D I to strip you of any sense of reality- ” I am – your your mother- I am your father- and I am your worst nightmare.” In reality they had a short time to break you down- rebuild you into a Marine and wash off that former self you were at before Boot Camp. Er were called all sorts of names- some we learned what was meant of these epithets later on- we fought to be the apple of the D I’s eye. We were punished severely for screw-ups and were rewarded for sometimes inconsequencial things. In a nutshell we were remolded to a fighting unit- thinking as one and of each other – accomplish the mission at all costs- blind obedience to a point. We were called Girls to embarrass us – and after graduation we were called Ladies- My best feeling of pride as a Marine – my D I ‘s recognized us as ” United States Marines” — Semper Fi- and you are always a Marine- as I am still in tyhe Marine Corps League- and can honestly voice my opinion and have no fear anymore- as you do not want to piss off a old cranky 70 something male- ” Love the Sgt Grit newsletter- read more

Since the Corpsmen used to give us short arm inspections, we use to call them pecker checkers. Of course if you needed one he was Sir. I smashed my right index finger under a 20 MM box of ammo and it was swelled up and black and blue and killing me.  I went to see the Corpsman as I needed some relief. He had a big paper clip which he unwound so as to have a single round piece sticking out. He held it over a Zippo until it was red hot and put it to my finger nail. When it burnt it’s way through it went straight to the bone and the blood flew all over and I let out a yell that could be heard all the way to Po Hang Dong, down by the sea. After the blood let up the pressure was off and so was the pain. I had to hold it above my heart for a few days as every time my heart beat it would throb. I also had a few stitches put in by the same Doc and he should have been a surgeon. He was an old salt with tattoos from one end to the other but he knew his business. I was told he was a hold over from the Island campaigns.
Sgt. Dan Powell 52-55 read more

Sgt Grit: I recently looked up the subject of the Star of David
on the NCO Sword.You have two choices as to why it is there.  1. The Star of David is also known as the Star of Damascus.  In ancient times Damascus Syria was known as the fine metals capitol of the world and their trademark was the Star of Damascus aka Star of David.
2. One definition of the Star of David is “Leader of Men”
Take your pick I could not find any official reference
as to why it is there.
Semper Fi
Sgt Ronald (Bud) Albright
USMC 55-60 read more

Its a short story about Fox Co. , 2 Bn, 9th Mar, 3rd Mar Div, Okinawa in 1974.
In 1974, I was a LCpl on my first tour overseas and ended up the BN Radio Operator for Fox Co. 2/9. My CO was Capt Shawn Leach. Toward the end of my tour, we went on a training mission to the Northern Training Area (NTA). We were supposed to be on alert all night long and the radios were to be manned all night. I had taken a redheaded LCpl from the battalion HQ radio platoon. He had never been assigned to a grunt company and didn’t know sh*t about us or the way we worked. He was senior to me in rank by a month or so and kept trying to pull it the whole time. I had been with Fox Company through an entire 6 month WESTPAC float. Some where along the way I must have gained the respect of the CO and Company Gunny, because every time ol’ Red tried to run me down, they backed me up. read more