In June 1959, I graduated from Parris Island platoon 117 and proceeded to ITR at Camp Geiger. Upon completion, I received orders to the Naval Training Center at Great Lakes where I completed 16 weeks of basic electronics training. We had Marine and Naval instructors. My DD214 has it listed as CommElecScol. After leave for Christmas, I proceeded to MCRD San Diego arriving just before the New Year. We had two classes of 20 leave Great Lakes and only one class arrived at MCRD San Diego. The other class received orders to their homes and were ordered to a guided missile school in the south. I’m not sure but I believe Alabama. Upon processing in at MCRD San Diego on a first come first choice basis, we could pick Ground Radio repair, Air Radio Repair or Radar repair. I selected Ground Radio Repair and attended 17 weeks of class listed on my DD214 as RadRepCrs.
Category: Marine Corps Stories
Technical Sergeant Stripes
I enlisted in November 1950, but due to some medical problems I didn’t arrive at MCRD, San Diego until 2 January 1951. We didn’t have the “yellow foot prints” then, but we were told and shown how to “fall in” for formation. After receiving barracks, we were assigned to Recruit Platoon 5/3 and housed in Squad Tents. We went to Camp Matthews for Rifle Qualification and we were housed in Quonset Huts. When we graduated from boot camp, I was quite surprised to see 2 of the recruits tacked on Technical Sergeant Stripes for graduation. It was then I found out that they were USMCR personnel.
Oh, Karma
OH, Karma… she’s a real beyitch… Got well deserved lumps all over me about my foxtrot uniform charlie kilo – uniform papa over the Kamikaze genesis… hope that doesn’t make me a libural… (that part about not knowing that the things you know are the ones that just aren’t so…) Have been described as often wrong, never in doubt… and knew I should have checked… will have to get a volunteer, preferably somebody who owes me a lot of money, to count my corrective pushups…
The Sweetest Voice of Any
Sgt. Grit. I was at MCRD in San Diego from June 1958-Sept. 1958. My DI’s were SSgt Curly, Sgt Rakes and Sgt Matte. Sgt Rakes had the sweetest voice of any one man that I have ever heard when it came to marching. He picked the whole platoon up in spirit when he was at the helm. I would like to thank these gentleman [although I the time I didn’t think they were] for taking an Idaho farm boy and making a man out of him. They made me grow up. I had an older brother retire from the Corps and another brother which wished he had. I was the third in a line of Marines from the family. Again I would like to thank SSgt. Curly, Sgt. Rakes, and Sgt Matte from Platoon 348 for teaching me to be a MARINE. SEMPER FI. Howard Tennant
Hot August Day in 1960
I was on PI during August 1960. Plt 248 one month out of high school. We cut the grass with nail scissors. Quick story: Charging in from PT to shower and get ready for chow. Unknown by the DI(#1), No.2 DI had allowed the rack of the house mouse to be taken to the next barracks as a proper display for the newbies there. When the mouse saw the empty spot on the deck where his rack should have been, he ran to DI #1 and shouted out, “Sir, My rack is missing!” In in own gravely, guttural, growl, The DI replied, “Well, You’d better #### one!” After serving 30 years and almost another 30 after that, I still laugh at that often used phrase.
Infantry Song
Sgt. Grit I am writing to you in hopes that you can help me. I would like to have a copy of the words to the infantry song chesty puller was a merry old soul. Its a infantry song that was sang to the nursery rhyme of old king cole,. We use to sing it back in 1991 when I was with the 3rd Marine Regiment, 1st. meb kaneheo bay hawaii . Any help you can give me with this would be greatly appreciated. I try to sing this to my 6 yr. old when he goes to bed. I’m not sure if its right though. Thank you in advance for your help.
Joke
An old Corps Marine was sitting on a bench at the mall. A young man walked up to the bench and sat down. He had spiked hair in all different colors; Green, Red, Purple, Blue, and Yellow. The old man just stared and stared. Every time the young man looked, the old man was staring. The young man finally said sarcastically, “What’s the matter, old timer, never done anything wild in your life?” Without batting an eye, the old Marine replied, “Got drunk once and had s&x with a peacock. I was wondering if you were my son.
The ‘frog voice’ is real.
Drill instructors literally scream so hard at recruits that they can pass out, give themselves hernias, or do serious and permanent damage to their vocal chords. That’s why they spend a lot of time at DI school learning to project from their diaphragms.
TWO K9S RETIRED TO HOMES OF THEIR HANDLERS
Two four-legged police officers ended their long careers with the Marine Corps Police Department aboard MCLB Barstow by getting their forever homes with their human partners, Sept. 12.
Military Working Dogs “Ricsi” P648, and “Colli” P577, both German shepherds, were officially retired in a ceremony held at the K-9 Training Field behind the Adam Leigh Cann Canine Facility aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow.
Real Rifles At Parris Island
At Parris Island in August of 1960, we still had the “REAL” rifles (M1 Garands) with stacking swivels. The stacking swivel actually had two very important uses. Number one was to enable the weapon to be stored in the upright position when hooked to two other rifles in a “teepee”. The second was as a motivator as in “All right girls, gettum’ out by the stacking swivels”, which was used by our Drill Instructors when somebody was out of step in the platoon. On this command we had to hold the 9.5 pound weapon straight out from the body by the stacking swivel between the thumb and forefingers of both hands. On a hot August Parris Island grinder, it wasn’t long before the strongest among us was in serious pain trying to stay in an upright position. The stacking swivel was indeed a very important part of Marine Corps lore and the source of sea stories. I hated to see it go.