Category: Marine Corps Stories

June 6, 1944

June 6, 1944 marks the 76th Anniversary of Allied Forces landing on a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified Normandy coastline. Comprising British, Canadian and American soldiers, the invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history with more than 73,000 American soldiers making the initial landings with the support of nearly 7,000 US Navy vessels. Although Marine Corps involvement in the Pacific theater of World War II is well known, there were some Marines that participated in the European campaign as well. Marine Major General Robert O. Bare was awarded the Bronze Star for his efforts on D-day and obtaining valuable intel as an observer attached to British Assault Force J. See these photos from the Robert O. Bare Collection depicting what he saw on the beaches of Normandy! read more

MARINE OF THE WEEK:

MARINE OF THE WEEK:

Sgt. Franklin Simmons
2nd Battalion, 7th Marines
Farah, Afghanistan, Aug. 8, 2008
Award: Silver Star

In August 2008, then-Cpl. Franklin Simmons was serving in Afghanistan with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines as a Force Recon platoon team leader and designated marksman. While conducting clearing operations in the village of Shewan, Cpl. Simmons’ platoon was ambushed by a numerically superior enemy force. Volleys of intense rocket propelled grenade and machine gun fire disabled one of the platoon’s vehicles and trapped several Marines in the kill zone. Without regard for his own safety, Cpl. Simmons exposed himself to intense enemy rocket propelled grenade and machine gun fire as he crawled to the top of a berm to locate targets with his Mark 11 sniper rifle. He resolutely ignored enemy machine gun rounds impacting within a foot of his position as he calmly employed his weapon to kill the enemy firing at his fellow Marines in the kill zone. Remaining in this exposed position to get the necessary observation of his targets, he killed an estimated 18 enemy fighters and wounded at least two others. Cpl. Simmons’ devastating fires during an 8-hour battle in oppressive heat were critical in saving the lives of his fellow Marines read more

I am Legacy

Have you ever wondered about who you are in this life, in this world? What is your purpose in life? What will be or IS your contribution? After watching American Sniper, I wondered. Chris Kyle was a defender of our country and protector (overseer) of the troops he was with. That was his purpose. Looking back, I wondered what my purpose was, what did I do or what was I doing…. I recall going to my Marine Corps squadron’s several years ago, when Iraqi Freedom was being fought. The squadron was on their way back off of the carrier. There was a small crew from the squadron that was there to attend the reunion (lead team) and I was able to dine with a Marine that was with me from the time I was at my AFUN school. He has achieved the rank of Master Gunnery Sergeant and was telling me of some of the operations that they did off of the carrier. While he was telling me that, I was feeling less and less of a Marine. I did not feel worthy of claiming the title because during my time with the squadron there were no wars, or battles. We were the ‘transition’ squadron, making the change from the older F-4 Phantoms to the new F/A-18 Hornets. We learned. We maintained. We were awarded trophies for being safe and being able to keep all of our aircraft 100%, we traveled. What MGySgt Monroe said next nearly brought me to tears. He said “Guyer, what we did back then was setting the bar for these kids that are coming into the squadron today. We set that bar so high and they are trying to reach it so much, it is the new standard. And, because of that, we were able to bring back EVERY ONE. We lost no Marines while we were there…because of what we did then. You should be proud” After the movie and reflecting on what MGySgt Monroe said, I now know more about who I am and what I am doing….my contribution. I have been in aircraft maintenance for 30 years now and I am currently a maintenance instructor getting young men and women ready to take their Airframe and Powerplant licenses. I challenge my students, they are the next generation to keep, maintain and make those flying machines safe. They will be the ones that will be working on those machines that can make man break the bounds of the earth. I am the beginning of a Legacy. What I am doing now is setting the bar for those I am teaching to reach…..I am making a difference. Submit your own Story>>

MARINE OF THE WEEK // He refused to leave a fallen Marine behind…

MARINE OF THE WEEK // He refused to leave a fallen Marine behind…

Sgt. Eubaldo Lovato
1st Battalion, 8th marines
November 11, 2004
Operation Phantom Fury, Fallujah, Iraq
Award: Silver Star (upgraded from Bronze Star)

During the second battle for Fallujah, then-Corporal Lovato and his squad was ordered to clear a house. What the Marines did not know is that insurgents had barricaded themselves behind sandbags in one room.
When a fire team entered the room, Cpl. Travis Desiato was killed ­immediately by a barrage of AK-47 fire and fell to the floor. The insurgents put up such a volume of fire that the other Marines could not retrieve their comrade. The Marines fired ­blindly, unable to see the enemy fighters behind their barricade.
Lovato and the others in his squad could see Desiato on the ground. They tried calling out to him but he didn’t answer. A group of five Marines including Lovato made several attempts to reach Desiato ’s body. They threw C4 plastic explosives into the room, but it ­generated so much smoke that the Marines could not see anything. Then one Marine attached part of a shattered mirror to a stick, which allowed him to see where the insurgents were.
Pinned by enemy fire, Lovato manuvered to retrieve more grenades, with bullets passing through his pants pockets and sling.
Eventually Lovato was able to crawl to reach his Marines and asked a tank to blast the back of the building. The Marines stormed the building and killed the enemy inside. Lovato retrieved Desiato’s body. read more

Jarhead

I’ll never forget when we finished boot camp at Parris Island in 1966. Our drill instructor called 3 of us over to tell us we were going to radio school. After he told us where we were going he said, and I quote: “I just want you boys to know that once the shootin starts the average life of a radio operator is 30 seconds.” That was not something we wanted to know. Thanks be to God I lived much longer. read more

Picky Eaters

We called it “The Rock” and counted the days when we would rotate back to the land of the big PX. Hawaii wasn’t exactly the paradise we expected. The Marine Corps Base at Kaneohe is on a peninsula that forms Kaneohe Bay, with the Pali mountains as a backdrop. The Air Wing enlisted barracks was a group of two story, flat-roofed, stucco buildings with open squad bays that were connected by breezeways. The 212 barracks had the MPs on one side and the helo boys from HMM-161 on the other. Next to the 161 barracks was the mess hall. I arrived with a group of replacements for the guys whose two year tour was over. The barracks had an upper and lower open squadbay arranged in cubicles marked off by green metal wall lockers, and a central corridor. Each cubicle had six single bunks (or racks), as I recall. Each rack had a mosquito net which was a necessity on that side of the island, called the “Windward Side”. The mosquito nets were needed because of the mosquitos that were bred in the swamps between the base and the mainland. Those bugs were huge. One night, I forgot to put my net down. About 0300 I felt a thump on my chest. Looking down, I saw a Kaneohe mosquito turning over my dog tag to check my blood type. Not only were they huge, they were picky eaters. read more

Vietnam War: Facts, Stats & Myths

Myth: Common belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted.
Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers.

9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975. read more

Dark Glasses and Suntan Oil

We arrived at the San Diego airport at 2AM, three days late, leaving Houston after a hurricane. Everyone was herded off onto “cattle cars”. While standing on the “yellow foot prints”, a couple of guys in the back row were whimpering like someone who had just got a spanking from an angry Mother. When questioned by the DI, using a lot of colorful descriptives, “What do you mean you’re not supposed to be here?” one of them said, “We joined the Navy!” Naturally, we all were “invited” to do 50 push-ups for laughing. Our next experience was a not-so-professional haircut by the DIs, because there were no barbers there that early. The only thing I can say different about being a “Hollywood Marine,” is that we didn’t have “sand fleas”. MSgt (Ret) read more