Category: Marine Corps Stories

KING RAT

Speaking of RATS as big as CATS…

Our Counter-Mortar Radar (CMR-11th Marines) was deployed with 2nd
Battalion, 1st Marines at a firebase near Monkey Mountain north of
DaNang, South Viet Nam during January of 1969. I was a Corporal of
Marines, MOS 5931, Ground Radar Technician. The tent I was in
housed eight Marines. We slept on canvas folding cots above hollow
wood pallet flooring. Our few amenities included a small
refrigerator. We had a generator to power the radar so we snaked a
couple of cables over to our tent for lights and to keep the adult
beverages cold. read more

Sgt. “what-cadence?”

Being a boot, 1st/squad leader in Plt. 320/Lima Co./3rd RTB/MCRD in
Jan. of '68, my vivid recollections are of Plt. Cmdr. (now called
SDIs) GySgt. R.D. Gallihugh. NOBODY EVER sang cadence like him! One
of our assistant DIs (JDI) was so pathetic in his cadence that we
sqd. leaders requested the Gunny take us out on the grinder rather
trying to keep step with Sgt. "what-cadence?". read more

Devil pups

Are you aware that there are two types of devil pups? Those that are military brats that have graduated from Lejeune High School, home of the devil pups. And then theres the children of Marines, so being both I was wondering if you were aware of the two. We take pride in our school name as well as of our status as a devil pup. We are few and far between but we are still here. read more

Making the Gunny Angry

On the day I was promoted to Corporal, it was a surprise. I didn't see it coming. It started pouring outside just as that mornings formation was ending and the Gunny marched us accross the street for classes that the training schedule had called for. Like always, we rushed to get there and had to wait for the instructor and classes to begin. Our Marines were making quite a racket as Marines might, and when the gunny walked in the back of the room and hollered "Knock off the horseplay", but hardly anybody but the NCO's standing in the back had heard him. After yelling "Knock off the horseplay" a second time and the racket in the room did not quiet down I rushed forward to the podium and yelled "Hey, you with the horse, knock it off" which caused all the NCO's to be heard snickering in the silence. The Gunny's look at me was deadly so I tried real hard not to look at him as I retreated to the back of the room. He never let me forget, and took every public opportunity he could to remind me that my first order as an NCO was "Hey, you with the horse, knock it off". read more

Christmas Eve An Hoa VietNam 1968

I had been in An Hoa since Sept., I was with 1st Dental Co. We had old French buildings for our clinic and quarters. The local Vietnamies wall builders had just finished a real nice sand bag wall behind our building that protected us and seperated us from two large gas bags and one large LZ. Christmas eve around 10 or 11 pm flares of all sizes started to light up the night, there were so many it was almost like day time. I was standing on top of the wall taping on my recorder the events as the happend. It was a site to see. My luck, no snipers were out, he would not have had a hard time seeing me. Next day, I was told the Gen. had a fit , some 5,000 lbs worth of flares went up in smoke, not to mention how easy a target we made of our selves. It was said that heads rolled. Also I could have gotten killed by the flare casing falling all around me… what a night. read more

In Regards to SgtMaj Charles “Rigor” Mortis

SSgt. Charles "Rigor" Mortis was my senior DI at PISC in 1964. He
retired as a Sgt. Maj. with 35 years of service and received the
Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He passed away Feb. 21, 2011. He was
a good man and a good Marine.

Kemp  read more

Texas Veteran

Semper Fi,

Recently you had a couple of news items in the newsletter about
Veteran's discounts and different businesses. Here in Texas any
Honorably Discharged Veteran may take his or her DD-214 down to
their local DMV and show it to the person there. Upon showing
their DD-214 and paying a small fee the term 'VETERAN' will then
be added to your driver's license. I've attached a copy of my
license showing the 'VETERAN' notation. You may use it in the
newsletter if you so desire. read more