Category: Marine Corps Stories

Had a recruit who couldn’t/wouldn’t keep his rifle rust free even after several admonishments from the DIs. He was called out during morning formation and while standing at at ease told to strip his M1 down to the 3 main groups. Then take it down to the bare essentials. Instructed to dig a hole 5ft long x 2ft wide x 3 ft deep. He placed 3 or 4 pieces on the bottom covered with sand and water did ths till there was no more parts or sand. Took a fire bucket filled it with water and poured over the area. I mean he put so much water on the area the water was flowing off. The DI told him at 2000 he was going to dig up his rifle find EVERY piece, have it cleaned for morning inspection if one speck of rust is observed he was going to be courts martialed I mean they were up in his face(they were mad!). During the day after everything dried the DIs raked up the whole area so he wouldn’t be able to tell exactly where it was buried.He was up most of the night. His rifle passed inspection and HE NEVER had a dirty/rust rifle again in boot camp read more

I remember arriving at my first fire base in Nam in March 1969. The firebase had been over run just before I got there and hit hard. Anyway, never forget a marine survivor telling me to take my dog tags off from around my neck and tie them with your laces in my boot for two reasons. One is because they clang if you go on a patrol and make noise and the other was, if you get hit by a mortar or rocket or step on a mine all that maybe left of you is parts of your boots and they like to identify you by the dog tags. Welcome to the Nam. read more

I arrived at South Camp Fuji Japan in the spring of 1957. Several days later I came down with the Asiatic flu (yes there was a flu pandemic in 1957), probably picking up the bug aboard ship on the way over. Laid up for several days I heard some of the guys talking about liberty off base in the ville of Fujioka. According to the scuttlebutt as soon as one entered a bar he would be joined by a pretty josan. So after I recovered I made my first trip into town. read more

In 1975, I was stationed at Camp Geiger (Camp Lejeune), NC. I was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines. In the mid 70’s, there was a television show called “Movin’ On”, which was about two semi truck drivers who would travel around the country getting into different adventures. The program starred actors Claude Akins (as Sonny Pruitt) and Frank Converse (as Will Chandler).
In one episode, Sonny is interviewed for an article in a national magazine. The article is entitled “The Toughest Men in America” and, in the article, he claims that truck drivers are the toughest men in America. When the article is published, men from other professions challenge Sonny’s claim. One of the challenges comes from Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Harris, played by actor Don Galloway. Gunny Harris challenges Sonny and Will to spend a week with a Marine Corps rifle company to prove how tough they really are. Being an ex-Navy man, Sonny accepts the challenge and Will reluctantly goes along.
This is where Company B 1/8, along with other Marines, comes into play. Our unit and barracks were used in the filming of the episode. We spent the better part of a week taking part in the filming and the cast and crew spent another week completing the show. One of the things I learned during the week was that television shows aren’t filmed in the order that they are seen. Filming each day was dependent on the weather, availability of filming locations, availability of the cast (including us Marines), etc.
It was fun getting to work with Claude Akins, Frank Converse and Don Galloway, but they weren’t the only well-known people we got to meet. Rosey Grier (as Benjy), of NFL fame, played the role of a truck driving competitor of Akins and Converse and heavyweight boxing champion Smokin’ Joe Frazier played the role of a Marine corporal who participates in a boxing match with Will. The “boxing match” took place at the field house at Camp Lejeune. Toward the end of the scene, the Marine extras in the audience were supposed to act like they were erupting into a brawl initiated by Benjy and his truck driving partner, Moose (played by Art Metrano). Of course, it didn’t take much motivation for Marines to start throwing punches and some of them were a little too real!
Our final day of filming was on a Saturday and it was to be a war games scene. Even though it had been a fun week of filming, none of us were very excited about having to work in the field on a hot summer day. To top it off, we saw cases of C-rations piled up nearby and assumed that they were for our lunch. Toward midday, two box trucks pulled into the training/filming area and began unloading tables and chairs. Box lunches and drinks were also unloaded and we found out they were for us. Our morale suddenly improved! At the end of the day’s filming, we were lined up and each given $40 for our work that day. It may not seem like much money now, but for Marines at that time and toward the end of the pay period, it was a welcome sight!
When the episode aired later in the fall, we were all excited to see ourselves on television. I remember thinking I was going to be in several scenes (and told my family I would be), but I was only in the background in one scene doing close order drill with other Marines. Of course, you couldn’t tell it was me because of our distance from the camera. In the end, Sonny and Will learned that Marines were definitely “The Toughest Men in America” and we had fun proving it to them! read more

I arrived in DaNang in mid may of 1967,the first night there we had heavy incoming rounds,mortars& artillary,we jumped in fox holes,well I fell asleep for two days in the fox hole because I had no sleep forthree days prior to getting to DaNang.Well when I finally was awoken by a gsgt,he made me move a pile of dirt from one spot to another then back again.That was my intro duction to Nam before being sent to Cam Lo. read more