Category: Marine Corps Stories

Dear Sgt. Grit,

I am the only son of a WWII Marine Corps aviator. My father, Capt. Doit L. Fish, was assigned to Marine Bombing Squadron VMB-611 as a PBJ-1 (B-25 Mitchell) pilot, Moret Field, Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippine Islands. On May 30, 1945, Commanding Officer Lt. Col. George A. Sarles lead an all-day, multiple PBJ strike on the Kibawe Trail area near Davao, Mindanao. In the morning, Col. Sarles’ PBJ was hit by Japanese anti-aircraft and crashed with him and three of his crewmembers KIA. In the afternoon, while en-route to the target area, my father and his wingman were advised the Colonel’s aircraft was missing. After searching the area for the lost aircraft to no avail, the two PBJs attacked their assigned target area. My father’s PBJ disappeared, never to be seen again. He and his seven-member crew were declared missing in action. The loss of 12 brave fellow Marine squadron members was VMB-611’s highest single-day causalities in their short history. read more

Here’s a photo of that famous Jacket. Much more comfortable than the “Blouse.” When I got out I almost had a bidding war going for it. Should have kept it, but.

This picture was taken on Sanjo Street, Nara Japan 1953. I was a Corporal then. read more

Cpl. Jason Dunham
3rd Battalion, 7th Marines
Iraq, April 14, 2004
Award: Medal of Honor
Cpl. Dunham’s squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in Karabilah, Iraq, when they heard rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire erupt a distance away. Dunham led his Combined Anti-Armor Team towards the engagement to provide fire support to their Battalion Commander’s convoy, which had been ambushed as it was traveling to Camp Husaybah. As Dunham and his Marines advanced, they received enemy fire. Dunham ordered his squad to dismount their vehicles and led a fire team on foot several blocks south of the ambushed convoy. Discovering seven Iraqi vehicles attempting to depart, Dunham and his team stopped the vehicles to search them for weapons. As they approached the vehicles, an insurgent leaped out and attacked Dunham. Dunham wrestled the insurgent to the ground and in the ensuing struggle saw the insurgent release a grenade. He immediately alerted his fellow Marines to the threat and, aware of the imminent danger and without hesitation, Dunham covered the grenade with his helmet and body, bearing the brunt of the explosion and shielding his Marines from the blast. In an ultimate and selfless act of bravery in which he was mortally wounded, he saved the lives of at least two fellow Marines. (DoD & U.S. Marine Corps photos) read more

Dear Sgt. Grit

I was a between the wars Marine and served from 10/55 to 10/58 with 5 years inactive reserve. My first and best duty station,  following P.I. (Platoon 164) and I.T.R. at Pendleton, was at  Camp McGill Japan. Camp McGill was a former Japanese naval base and my draft wound up in the 1st Amphibian Truck Co., 2nd AMTRAC Batt. 3rd Marines. The company was soon downsized to platoon strength and became the 3rd D.U.K.W. Platoon with Capt. Dave Dichter commanding. read more

Found this picture of an F9F-8T Cougar from H&MS 13 that was probably the same one I flew in the back seat in ’63 when I made Plane Captain of the month. Although this pic was taken at Chu Lai, it’s still the same H&MS 13 that my squadron, VMA 212, was a part of at Kaneohe Bay in 1963. They only had one Cougar trainer. That year, my squadron established an award to be designated “Plane Captain of the month” and I happened to be lucky enough to be the first one. Before I could actually fly, however, I had to take pressure chamber and ejection seat training at NAS Barber’s Point. After that initial training I was ready for the flight. The pilot was a Captain from H&MS-13 and the hop was about an hour long. We did all the maneuvers including a loft bombing where he put it in a power dive from around 30,000 ft. and pulled back on the stick at about 6,000 ft. climbing back to altitude and flipping over, simulating special weapons delivery. I was watching the G meter climb to about 7 G’s. I could hear the wings creaking like rusty hinges as my G suit filled up with bleed air. After that maneuver he let me take the stick. “Put your left wing down”, he said, and I eased the stick left. Same thing with the right wing. So now I get a little confident and asked if I could try an aileron roll. “Go ahead if you think you can” says he. Now I’m feeling very confident, even though I wasn’t a pilot (did that years later as a civilian), and I just whipped that stick over in my right lap. I didn’t know that you have to give it a little nose up before entering an aileron roll. Nobody mentioned that part. Anyway, we were up around thirty thousand when I started the maneuver. I was looking straight up at the ocean getting closer and the airplane was not coming out of the roll. It was falling towards the water upside down. I still had the stick all the way over in a death grip, looking up at the ocean, watching the waves turn into whitecaps. The Captain said “Let Go Of The Stick”. “Are You Sure You Got It Sir”, says I. “Let Go Of The Godd-mn Stick” says he with more emphasis. So I let go, and he rolled out to level flight before we got wet. He didn’t say a word to me after that all the way back to Kaneohe and after landing he got away from that plane post haste and left me in the fuel pits. At any rate, there was only one PC of the month after me. They discontinued it after that guy because he puked in his Oxygen mask. Made a h-ll of a mess so I hear. They discontinued the award after that. read more