Category: Main

Sgt. Grit,

Here is a Christmas story for you. It was Christmas 1990 and we were in Saudi Arabia getting ready for Desert Storm. All of us SNCO’s with 3rd Assault Amphibious Battalion had been putting items we received from home on a table in our tent to share on Christmas Day. After going to the chow hall we went back to our tent to start our celebrating. The company CO and a few other officers came by to celebrate also. One of the Corpsman had been making some homemade hooch and he decided to share with all there (no alcohol was allowed in Saudi). Well everyone had a little sip as there was not much and we enjoyed it. The next day the word came down that no more homemade hooch would be allowed. We had a good Christmas even though we were away from our families. Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year. read more

When I served in the Corps I was a teenager when I enlisted in 1958. At that time a lot of the senior NCOS were veterans of the pacific. These men were all heroes to us and when they had their dress uniforms on the ribbons on there chest would take your breath away. Sometimes in the evening the kids like me would ask them to tell us what the battles were like . They would tell us story after story and we would set there with out eyes as big as silver dollars. I remember looking around at my buddies a time or two and they looked like they were hypnotized. When I was older and had a family of my own I was reading a story to my kids one Christmas eve and I looked up at them and they had the same look on their faces. That brought it all back to me. God bless the Marine Corps and everything it stands for. read more

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight. read more

Oorah Sgt Grit:

I’m going to tell the readers a story about my most memorable Christmas. Now, I love my family and like to spend holidays with them as much as the next man, but in my 26 years on Earth, my most memorable Christmas occurred while I was aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard with my brother Marines. This particular Christmas had no wonderful gifts, or huge Christmas trees, or Christmas decorations, but it is still my most memorable Christmas ever. read more

When the Viet Nam War ended, 591 Americans were released in Operation Homecoming in 1973. Military experts expressed their dismay that “some hundreds” of POWs did not come home with them. Since 1995, thousands of reports have been received, indicating that many Americans are still alive, and being held against their will in Southeast Asia. Whether or not these men are still there today, remains a mystery. What is certain, however, is that if only one American remains alive in enemy hands, from any war, we owe him our best effort to bring him home. read more

As told to Jim Martinez, Proud Father of LCpl. James A. Martinez, Jr. USMC

The Marines of the 3rd Battalion 7th Regiment Weapons Company Combined Anti-Armor Team (CAAT) Blue were lamenting the fact that they had pulled duty at ECP1 for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2005 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. ECP1 is an Enemy Check Point on the banks of the Euphrates River and controls the use of a strategic bridge crossing the river. The duty meant that CAAT Blue would miss out on the special holiday chow that would be served back at Firm Base Hurricane Point. read more

Memories from Peter J. Ritch, USMC 1967- 1970. Viet Nam, 1968-1969 and a member of the USMCVTA.

In 1967, two days after graduating from college and having just received my draft notice in the mail, I beat the draft and joined the Marines. And just as my Marine Recruiter had promised, seven months later I was headed for ?my thirteen months and a wake-up? in Vietnam. read more

Christmas time is upon us again and the Christmas chorals are going strong. There is one song I still have trouble listening to, Silent Night. I the later days of December 1967, I was stationed in Viet-Nam, 2/9. I had been in sickbay for a back injury. I got carried away and filled over 100 sand bags in to short a time. read more

A happy pup indeed, I am! I have a family that loves me, all the food and water I need, and a comfortable place to stay. Who could ever want more?

My job is protecting my family, and I love my job! It is an honorable task and it suits my character well. read more

I was on the Piva Trail Roadblock November 8th, 1943 and in a water filled foxhole for 16 hours, when the Japs would fire their knee mortars we would duck under the water. Sgt. Ignatius Gorak was killed during the night and several boys were wounded. We had a handful of turkey on the evening of the 24th, on the 25th Thanksgiving day we had a little turkey to eat on the front line. On the 26th we had a helmet full of turkey for the nine of us who were left of our ten man squad and it tasted good. We came off the front line November 28th to a rest area. December 3rd we carried rolls of barbed wire up to the front by the volcano to build an A-Frame with a machine gun at each end. Then back on the front line in a few days. We were on the front line Christmas Day 1943 and didn’t even realize it was Christmas. December 26th Jim P. Trent was wounded, December 27th James P. Kelso and Charles J. Cain were killed by artillery shells on the front line at the foot of the volcano. The Raiders established a beachhead so an airfield could be built. The Japs that weren’t killed were left there until the end of the war. I carried a BAR November 1st, 1943 until January 12th 1944. read more