Sgt Grit is a place where Marines can come and meet other Marines, share tattoos and stories, keep up with Marine Corps news, or shop for USMC gear.
This was our group… no family members.
We had a Drill Instructor (Sgt Smith) assigned to us as our guide.
One of our group retired as a Lt Col (JJ Foyle). I have attached a letter he wrote praising Sgt Smith on a job well done. I am sharing this letter as it was outstanding and hits home especially if you are a Marine.
MACV Tower Account (with Frank Doezema Jr, Bob Robertson, Bobby Hull).
This is an eyewitness account used with permission from our friend Bob Robertson from the night of January 31st, 1968 the first night of The Battle of Hue…
Michael and I were assigned to Marine Security Detachment MACV Advisory Team #3 in Hue RVN. Though we had seen both Frank and Bobby Hull around the Compound on numerous occasions we had never been formally introduced nor spoken at length with either one until we were brought together to go through what would prove to be a life changing ordeal for everyone involved. We had no way of knowing at the time but we were only going to know Frank for six hours of his life, but I cannot think of any other type of situation one could go through where it would be possible to learn more quickly the make up of a mans character or what's in his heart than what the four of us would go through in the six hours to come. As a result I think there are probably things the four of us know about each other that many lifelong friends wouldn't know.
In your most recent Newsletter, Barry Farris commented on the blank stares that he receives when he mentions that he was stationed at Camp Napunja, Okinawa in 1956. I also have had the same problem when I say that I was at Camp Napunja in 1956 with the 3rd. Bn. 9th. Marines, after leaving Camp Okabu, japan, more blank stares. Napunja was still under construction when we hit the beach and was pretty much the way Farris describes it. I'm proud to say that our 3rd. Bn. included Col. Archie VanWinkle, Medal of Honor, then Weapons Company Comander and Col. Joe "Bull" Fisher, "Operation Starlite", then George Company Comander. After 80 years of life it's good to hear from someone else who was there. Semper Fi.
Last week a plaque was affixed to building #2 at Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois. The plaque reads: "Site of the former Marine Barracks, Naval Station Great Lakes 1926-1977. This plaque honors all Marines who were stationed with Marine Barracks Great Lakes 1926-1977, during peacetime and wartime. The Marines stationed in these barracks represented the Marine Corps, the Navy, and the nation with dedicated, honorable, and professional service. Semper Fidelis. Donated by Marine Barracks Great Lakes, Project 2015."
H Company, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment (Vietnam) held a reunion in Arlington, Virginia, August 31st – September 6th, 2015. We held a Memorial Service at the Iwo Jima Memorial for the 74 Marines and Corpsmen we lost during our time in Vietnam. Our guest speaker was Rear Admiral Brent Scott CHC, USN, Chaplain of the Marine Corps. Our Invocation was given by Commander Stephen Coates CHC, USN, Assistant Deputy Chaplain of the Marine Corps.
This past Friday my son Hunter Vigil graduated from Parris Island. Pictured is me on the left, my son and my dad Wayne Vigil Sr. My dad served our Corps '71-'75, I served '91-'95 and now it's his turn to carry on the tradition. I wish him luck in all his endeavors the Corps presents him with. Too proud of a Papa to keep it to myself.
I graduated MCRD San Diego Friday, August 25,1969 with Plt 2110.
The 1969 calandar (on the web) indicates this date fell on a Monday, NOT Friday.
Of course graduation always falls on a Friday.
I went on active duty on Friday, June 16,1969.
The calandar indicates this was also on a Monday.
The last 10 years I have shared my home and my life with a pure blood Old English Mastiff I named Moose because he would eventually become one of the largest dogs on the planet. As he neared his ninth birthday Moose settled at 235 pounds, just before he was diagnosed with Nasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma, one of the most agressive and of course deadly cancers. We had a surgery done immediately and the prognosis was good, tests showed that they got it all, but they had to carve a big ugly gouge in the middle of his face, No matter I still had my Moose and he was pretty much the same old friend and companion, he lost some (a lot) of weight, down to 165 but he's happy, he eats good and still plays with the cats, but a recent checkup has indicated the cancer has returned. There was talk of CT scans and radiation and after over seven grand in the past year I just don't have another eight to ten thousand. I am proud that I could give him another year, I am a Vietnam Vet with 70% PTSD and Moose has carried me through a lot, I owe him big. My only hope now is that he can hang on til Nov 18, his tenth birthday, my only other hope is that he lies down to take a nap and just does not wake up instead of makeing me have to make the decision when his quality of life has reached that point.. I will miss my big buddy, we have been inseperable since he was seven weeks old, the breeder was a friend and she let me take him early and I even gave him his last set of puppy shots. If ever a dog was truely representative of what it means to be a Marine it is the English Mastiff. What a history they have, from Ghengis Kahn to Hannibals trek across the Alps in his attempt to bring down the Roman Empire and creating several large breeds along the way. The Nobles kept great kennels and used them for sport from deer to bear a pair of Mastiffs were formidable, then during WWI they were almost wiped out but a few had been brought to the states and the breed exists today because of that…
The Greatest Generation just keeps amazing…
I have an update for you and your readers about my Uncle Marvin, the WWII Pacific grunt. He celebrated his 90th birthday in June… his son and sister-in-law planned a surprise party for him. Had to make it 3 days after his actual birthday though, it was the first opening in his social calendar! He still works full time too… has to have "play money" for all that socializing!
Looking for my old platoon brothers, 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Tanks, 1st Marine Division.
Jimmy Ramirez Sr.
