This is a poem My daughter sent home to me just before graduation from boot camp at Parris Island, SC. Written by Jessica Lee Bianco, 1998:
“Marine Mom”
Three long moths it had been
Since you’ve seen your oldest one
You could not but imagine
Category: Marine Corps Stories
Looking for Marines, Dec. 68-69 An Hoa, Motor Pool
Hello everyone,
I am searching for information for my father, Dale Brown. He served in An Hoa, South Vietnam in the Motor Pool during Dec. 68-69. I have a few pictures that I need to scan in and post, but for now, I will list some names of fellow Marines who served along beside him. At the time he served in Vietnam, he was a lance corporal. The names I have are LCPL R.L. Morgan Jr., PFC D.M. Sykes, PFC E.G. Wilson, LCPL G. L. Kula, and LCPL H.L. Weldsoff (? not sure about spelling). If anyone recognizes any of these names or has any information, I would love to be able to pass it along to him. My father raised his daughter to value our country and our freedom, and even more so, to be grateful to all that served our country. I would love to be able to give back to him by helping him connect with others who served with him. My email is rountreemom@yahoo.com, and I welcome any information that you could give me. Thank you and God bless all who have served.
Old Corps Pictures
Sgt. Grit:
I have really enjoyed some of the photos in the news letter so I started digging. I found this one and had to send it out. Some may recognize this as the old MP station at the now closed MCAS El Toro circa 1983.
The two Marines in the center are me CPL later SGT on the left behind the car door and then LCPL later Sgt. Dave Sawyer.
Flags
Here are a display of four of the flags I bought from your store. We are the 1st Mar Div Association of Orange County California and we are all attending our annual luau. Many of us were Korean war vets who fought at the Punch Bowl and other significant battle zones. We were all recently honored by the Korean government with medals of freedom for our service at Camp Pendleton and we heard from many retired and active brass. One of our members is an OIF vet and was presented with the Navy Cross for his action and we have a few still around who fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The MOS's cover a wide range as does the length of service from five years to over twenty years. I believe our highest ranking member was a Major and now serves as a veteran benefits advocate. I bring the flags to all of our events and the fellows make sure that they are put up and displayed. However, the American flag with the EGA overlay cannot be displayed correctly so that the EGA and the USMC can be read because it is on the wrong side of the flag. I hope this can be corrected and I can be notified when it is so that I can replace the one I now have. The American flag you see I bought from my United States Senator and it was flown over the White House on November 10, 2010 and sent to me a few weeks later. Our group also sponsors a group of Young Marines which we are very proud of and who we are helping to send to Hawaii for a dedication service. Your catalogue is brought to all of our meetings for those who want to look through it or take home with them and I personally wear one of your many t shirts every day of the week unless I have to wear my ribbons.
A friend is like family: An open letter to my Marine friends
I am now old enough to have had “my younger days.” I can look back now on experiences I had 20-plus years ago and see quite a different person. I’m completely the same, while completely different. (I have talked to enough of you that I know you know what I mean.) Youthful exuberance and excitement have been replaced by cautious exuberance, and yes, even sloth. While excitement and great joy still occur in my life, “the way it was” can never be captured again. I guess that is how it should be. God willing, I am a long way from the end of my journey. Here are some of my thoughts on friendship as I approach 40.
Court St.
Dear Court st.,
You were the place not to go, getting out of bootcamp in 1981 our drill instructors warned us about it, well thats a big mistake or maybe it was reverse psychology and they were trying to tell us where the memories were. Anyways before I ever set foot in Lejeune a bunch of us met at the airport and ended up at a bar in the middle of the day and it turned out to be on Court st. I spent a lot of time and money there got in a couple of fights and watched some good friends fall in love with the "buy me drinkie" oriental girls in the lower end.
Never thought I’d be where I am.
I met my LCpl, through a girl that my ex-fiance cheated on me with, strange right….
Well when I met Tj, it was just sending him a message to be careful with this girl.
Needless to say I never thought I'd become a marine girlfriend,
Tj and I met for lunch in july, I didn't know this boy from adam so when he took me back to work instead when he went in for a hug, I returned this action by quickly extending my hand for " THE HANDSHAKE" . I didn't know it was his last night home on leave and had hoped to see him again before he left, but unfortunatly I didn't get off work till very late.
In response to favorite photo in the new Sgt Grit Catolog Vol 25
In reguards to the unranked marine joe featherston, who served 1963 to 1965 in kaneohe bay to phu bai, RVN.
I first went to Vietnam in April of 69. Returned home in April of 70, only to return Juy of 71 for my second tour. Being trained as an 0351 my first tour, but when I got there they made me an 0331.
Henry and the 4th, Saipan
My Grandfather has been a hero of mine for a long time, even though he died in 1992 when I was only six. Henry Ambrose Snell Jr. was born in Bethel Maine in 1919. He grew up on an apple farm before graduating from the University of Maine where, at almost six feet tall, he played on the basketball team.
Jacksonville, NC
I saw a number of items on life at Camp Lejune/Geiger, and the liberty in Jacksonville. I was glad to see that the Jazzland was still there. But they didn't have girls dancing in cages back then, they mostly sang on stage. That was my favorite hangout. I enjoyed the singing talent, mmmmmmm, maybe not as much as the eye candy. But I DO also remember the late bus back to the base. They had this one old bus that had a raised deck, from the floor, where the seats were. Good thing, as the lower part of the deck was a flowing river of puke that would flow out the door when it stopped at the main gate for inspection.