Category: Miscellaneous

Brewster Devices at 29 Palms

Been a while since I heard of Bearmat, but I remember it well.  I was a platoon commander and later XO in C Co, 3d Tank Bn, at Stumps from 79-83.  We were equipped with the M60A1 Rise-Passive Tank.  The M60 had the M-68 main gun, 105 mm.  My Plt. Sgt, Gy Sgt Mike Gratton, and the the other Tankers, informed me that when we went out on CAX's (Combined Arms Exercises) the cheapest round we fired  was HEP (High Explosive-Plastic) and it cost approximately $700-800.  Firing HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) or SABOT was off the scale.  Therefore the Brewster Device.   It was a reworked 105 mm shell casing, with a single shot 22 installed in the casing, boresighted to fire down the main gun tube.  Our platoons could go to a scaled-down firing range, with scaled down targets, and practice engagements.  The device would fire 22 calibre ammunition (hence having to get clearance from "Bearmat"), the crew would get practice at crew drills and target engagements, and the Corps saved a lot of money on ammo and fuel. read more

Back Alley Revisited

Thanks for the refresher course on Back Alley. What a great card game! It seems that Back Alley was the game of the Viet Nam Era for Marines. We played it whenever we could when I was in.(69-72). As I recall you could play with 2,3,or 4. You started off by setting up your score sheet, numbering down from 13 to 1 & 1 to 13. It was a game of luck,skill & finese. It was hard to teach to a novice so without  some players with a little knowledge of the game, it was easy to lose your edge and rememberence of the rules of the game. My Father was a Marine S.B.D. & Corsair pilot on Guadalcanal and the rest of the P.T.O. (8/42-7/45) followed by China Occupation in 46. When he was sailing across the Pacific in 42 he watched them play cribbage.(He learned nothing by watching!). On his 2nd trip over he jumped in and learned the game. Cribbage seemed to be the card game of Sailors & Marines during WW II. He taught my Mother and me how to play and growing up we would play on one of the Otterman's in the living room while watching TV. That is another great card game! It is a good way for families to bond and communicate. An art that we seem to have sadly lost. Thanks again for the refresher course. It brought back a lot of good memories with a lot of good Friends.               Semper Fi,    Gene Leslie, Sgt., U.S.M.C.(Ret.) read more

Chesty Puller

My Brothers & Sisters,

There is a facebook page occupied by a group of low life scum.
Their group comment is Chesty Puller can lick their balls.
Do we tell this man wanna be & his pals off?
Or do we ignore him & his community college pals letting them fade into obscurity?
I think this is a recruiter reject or boot camp wash out, & losers hang together.
This idiot & his group of 19 members include someone who claims to be a U. S. Marine.
I think one & all are posers & losers.
If all I knew of Chesty was that he was a Marine general with FIVE
(COUNT' EM 5) Navy Crosses that is enough to warranty respect.
 
My dad is a Viet vet Amtracker; I was signed to go & had epilepsy seizures before my due date.
However, my heart & soul stand with generations of my family (& probably  yours too) along with my dad & all of you on yellow footprints.  read more

The “Chesty Puller”

In response to D. Suter, the vehicle pictured (see attached) belongs to the Conrad F. Kania detachment, Marine Corps League, the Tonawandas, New York. It is named Chesty Puller and is used in parades in the Western New York area. This MCL detachment is also responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of the U. S. Marine Corps memorial in Veteran's Park, North Tonawanda, NY. I have attached a picture of the memorial from one of the annual Marine Appreciation Days held in July. read more

Marine Malachy Murphy

Sgt Grit:

I am trying to locate and/or get any available information about a Marine, Malachy Murphy, that I grew up with as a youngster, and later served briefly with when we were "young" Marines. I thought perhaps one (or more) of your Newsletter subscribers may have known or even served with Malachy. I am writing a story about Malachy and would really like to talk with anyone who may have known him in or out of the Corps. He may be deceased, as all efforts to locate him and his family (and I have written many letters) have not produced any results. You have no idea how many "Malachy Murphy's" there are out there, I have found many in my search efforts, including on Ancestsry.com and other similar sites. Some have written and given me a Malachy Murphy they thought was him; even though the date of birth was different, I checked that lead out and it was not him. read more