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.
Category: Old Corps
Life At War
One of the best times of being a Ordnance Man is when you take ordnance material back from the front lines to a rear Area where it will be repaired. In Korea, at the Punch Bowl, we took some tanks back to Masan, Korea where 1st Combat Service Group was. I was appointed one of the Train Guards and got to ride the train all the way back. Now as there were Guerrillas about we sometimes rode inside the tanks (mostly just for something to do) but when the train stopped to refuel coal and water we had the luxury of using the steam let off pipe to warm our "C's". We put them in an empty water expeditionary can and pulled the can up over the steam let off pipe. Then the engineer turned on the steam and heated our rations so hot we had to wait to open them. I took advantage of being a Train Guard by having my picture taken with the engineer (of course, he didn't want anything to do with it and sat on top). Korea was the first time, as I recall, it was legal to carry a camera, you weren't supposed to in WWII but guys did any way. I can still remember the bullets zinging off after hitting the Tank. How easy it was to enjoy the little things in life at War!
In Re: Korean Dog Tags
Just Thought I would send in a picture of my Dog Tags, issued in July 1951. When I went to Korea in Sept 52 they went with me. I was not issued different Tags in Korea. As you can see they are different in appearance than the ones GunnyRousseau showed in the last Newsletter. I guess Gunny being in the Old Corps, his would not be the same as a Boot like me. Thanks for your service to our Country and the great stories you submit to this Newsletter Gunny. SEMPER FI
1stLt. Presley N. O’Bannon USMC
Fred S. Stoki standing by the location marker signifying that just north of the marker is the birthplace of 1stLt. Presley N. O'Bannon. 1stLt. O'Bannon was the first American to command U.S. forces on foreign soil and the first to raise the American flag over a fortress in the Old World. His success at the Battle of Derne, Tripoli (present day Libya), on 27 April 1805, ended a four-year war against the Tripoli pirates and inspired the phrase "to the shores of Tripoli" in the Marines' Hymn.
Ended Up On Ulithi Islands
"What did you do during the War?" This was a title for a movie, books and stories that always come with an answer.
Let me tell you a story of something that happened to me during WWII. Because I was only seventeen and looked much younger I was often transferred. For some reason I ended up on Ulithi Islands awaiting transfer to somewhere else. There was an ship with smoke coming from it and people took off afraid the ammo aboard might explode. Now on the Ulithi Island of Mog Mog, you couldn't go very far. Due to my innocence or gullibility or what, my friend and I went to the ship, there were two men working on it and they were leaving. One was working in the hold loading ammo boxes on an elevator and sending them up. The other guy took the boxes from the elevator and then he removed the boxes so they could be placed on barge next to the ship. The smoke was coming from the opposite side of the ship where the ammo was so I went aboard with my friend and went down in the hold and started loading ammo into the elevator and sending it up to my friend on the deck.
USS Texas
I'm always up for military history in my travels. Several years ago on vacation with the family we found the USS Texas, now a museum ship.
Attached are a couple of photos about the formation of the 1st MarDiv. The 1st MarDiv. guys probably already know this and have been there but for the rest of us… a little more history.
Dog Tag Of The Korean War
In a recent letter, one lad asked about Dog Tags. But in the old, old days one of the Sergeants or Officers went back over the battle field to identify the Dead, or the Dead were just buried without concern for the identity. During the "Cold Harbor Battle" of the Civil War, men on both sides sewed their name and address on their coats so they could be identified and the family informed of their Death. I'm sure it happened more often than not.
That Was Then, This Is Now
I read in your column recently someone said he was a Real, Real Old Marine of 85. I've always thought age was a figment of the mind and if you let it get to you you'll worry about getting old and infirm. I never had time for that, I only had time to do my job and think about what I had to do next.
782 Gear
I was reading my weekly newsletter and someone was talking again about the old Corps. I then remembered a picture that was on my wall in an office I was assigned to when we moved to a new area of the base one time. I liked it and never took it down. I took a photograph of it when I retired and gave up the office. Thought I would pass it along.
Painted Stripes On Dungarees
I don't know when we started painting stripes on our Dungaree sleeves, but it was after World War II. Some were so bad and some so small that one of the guys that made stuff for the Marine Corps made Stripe markers. The original was like a box, you put that part of the sleeve where your stripe was supposed to be, then pushed the inside of the box back in, inside the sleeve, and if everything came out fine you had great looking stripes on your dungarees.