Category: Era

Ingenious Jarheads

Sitting here watching a Military Channel program on the Browning 'Stinger' 30-cal as used by the Marines in WW2 – very interesting story behind it; Marines took Browning A-2's out of damaged SBD's and used an M-1 rear stock, BAR rear sight, bipod, and carrying handle, plus a modified trigger and lighter barrel, to make a light machine gun. Showed re-enactment of Marine PFC Tony Stein using one to take out numerous bunkers and pillboxes on Iwo – kept running to and from the beach to replenish the 100-rd ammo belts… took off his shoes and socks to run better in the sand. Pretty neat little MG, supposed to have a 1300rpm rate of fire! read more

Operation Colorado

Operation Colorado, August, 1966, 1/5 and 3/5, and don't recall who all else. I had left MCRD SD with orders to Staging Bn, etc. earlier in the year… and a couple of other DI's that I knew got orders to the I-I staff with the Reserve Engineer company that was based at Fort Omaha… smallish installation, mostly brick buildings, probably has some interesting history. My pregnant wife and toddler daughter were to be well cared for, as her parents had plenty of room at their house in Omaha, basically just a mile or two up 30th from the Fort. So far, so good… then, on the 9th of August, somewhere northwest of Tam Ky, in the wee hours, we took mortar and recoilless rifle fire. Long story short, I managed to make an up close and personal connection with a few mortar fragments… not a BFD (although Joe B might have thought so), and it was what used to be recorded as "WIANE" or "Wounded In Action, Not Evacuated". (have hurt myself worse when shaving with a hangover… and a 'safety razor') However… I had neglected to check the "Do Not Notify NOK in case of… whatever… box on the old RED. (Record of Emergency Data) form… so… that meant the finely functioning bureaucratic chain would swing into action, because our Doc filled out a medical tag, generating a TWIX (Naval Message) to the Casualty Assistance folks nearest my NOK (Next Of Kin)… that being, of course, the I-I staff at Fort Omaha. These guys are Marines… and we take care of our own… goes without saying. Soooooo… when the TWX is on the message board first thing in the morning, the guys read it… and since it happens to be someone they know, they swing into action immediately!… by calling the house, identifying themselves, and asking my wife if she is going to be home later in the morning because they need to come talk to her… at about 06:30 in the morning… as she is standing there with my daughter hanging on to her nightgown, holding my by then six-day old son in her arms. They showed up in a sedan promptly at 0800. Wife has always referred to that period as the longest hour and a half in her life… had the name on the TWX been unfamiliar, I am sure that they (the CACO team) would have handled the situation in routine professional fashion… but when it's somebody you know… it's a little different. At the time, I could have gone full Gy Ermey on them… later, as an I-I, having to make injury/death notifications, gained a new understanding of one of the hardest assignments (IMHO) that the Corps can assign. read more

Marines On The U.S.S. Indiana

Here's a picture of the Marines on the U. S. S. Indiana in 1911. Note the Sailors (I guess) sleeping on the right foreground. Interesting and note the belt, looks like the same belt I was issued in the 1940's and wore until I retired. As you can see the picture has a couple small problems BUT the sleeping figures always threw me. read more

Photos From World War I

I have been given the honor of maintaining the personal items that belonged to my paternal grandfather, Oscar Steiner King, USMC 1917 – 1919. Among them are a number of photos from WWI and what appear to be some official U.S. Marine Corps photo post cards taken during boot camp. My grandfather was with the 78th Company, 2nd Marines, 6th Battalion. He was part of the 2nd Replacement Battalion which replenished the 2/6 after the Battle of Belleau Woods. read more

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are men recorded in the book of Daniel, Chapters 1–3, Who faced the fiery furnace.

This story is about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Reese. Three brothers, born in Wales and immigrated to the U.S. They too faced a firey furnace, known as the American Civil War. Abednego is my Great-Great Grandfather. Abednego and Shadrach enlisted in the Union Army and served honorably. Meshach is a United States Marine, called to a Higher Duty Station in 1871. His service was brief, about 10 months. Attached are some documents found in the National Archives in Washington D.C. read more

Slick Sleeve Comments

This was taken when I was home on leave from ITR in March of 1970.

These are the blues I bought at San Onefre. I was a PFC but they were out of stripes so I had to endure a lot of "slick sleeve" comments. My father John Grimes, in the center, was a 3rd Armored Division Combat Veteran from WWII who fought in every campaign in the European theatre. My great Uncle Chester Schank was a WWI Veteran. read more