Sgt Grit is a place where Marines can come and meet other Marines, share tattoos and stories, keep up with Marine Corps news, or shop for USMC gear.
When I was in boot camp in 1945, our DI instilled in us the correct way to mention the name of one of the Corps greatest leaders. That being Lt Gen John Archer Lejeune and he emphasized that the General and his family called it as Luh-Jern.
Well I called his name and the base Luh-jern for the next 22 years. During the 60s I found out that the civilian populace and the media in the Jacksonville area started calling it again as La-joon.
In Sept.67 I was coming of active duty, a gunny who was finishing his career, was involved in this operation. His unit had returned from WESTPAC. He said they opened up with a 3.5 Rocket launcher blew the doors off, and sent in the BAR men they emptied a few magazines all became silent immediately? This is the first time I have heard anything about since ’67.
When given the choice of two hours in an Amtrac riding back to Kaneohe or Humping Back for four to five hours the overwhelming choice of the grunts was to Hump it. We had been operating with various companies of grunts for about two weeks at Bellows Air Field (old WWII Air Corps Fighter base) on Oahu. We would take them out, circle, circle, circle then land on the beach, both day and night. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of being in an Amtrac while underway let me try and paint a picture.
I was assigned to the Marine Barracks at Yorktown, Virginia form 1959 to 1963. While standing guard duty at the Marine gate I had the honor of saluting General Puller on many occasions and allowing him to pass on through to visit our CO. One of our standard “SOP’s” was to notify the CO whenever the General came on station. After his retirement from the Marine Corps General Puller lived in Saluda, VA. This was not far from Yorktown.
Service members often encounter physical, psychological and emotional adversity when protecting the freedoms this country was founded on. The injuries sustained both on and off duty require recovery in many forms – including physical competitions, religious programs, community outreach opportunities, behavioral health and more. Some may only need a surfboard and a wave to ride.
During 1st phase platoon 1056 Paris island we were issued these uncomfortable skivies That in no way would contain our morning desire for head call out DI making his inspection came across me with my pecker sticking out desperately needing to take a leak looked at me in utter disgust I could feel panic setting in I have to piss like a race horse and I thought I have a 100 mountain climbers coming my way when he looked at me with a half ass grin and said PUT IT AWAY—put it away i i sir and with that he said for head call – we answered and I ran in those shower shoes in no time flat and relieved my self thinking to myself this is only the 1st 5 minuets of a long day
Marines with 7th Communication Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group conducted field testing of a new Free Space Optics system at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 21.
FSO is an optical communication system that transfers data on a highly secured and nearly undetectable infrared laser, separate from the radio frequency spectrum. The FSO allows for higher data rates compared to the current systems in the Marine Corps. This allows more users on a single network, and larger files, imagery and information to be transmitted.
As the Marines Corps Hymn boasts, Marines must be prepared to operate in any clime and place whether it be a desert, mountains or anything in between. Each environment poses its own unique set of challenges but training in those environments helps to prepare Marines to overcome those challenges. The Marines of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, took on a unique set of challenges in their latest field operation in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.
Sam Folsom, born July 24, 1920 in Quincy, Massachusetts, was one of the first echelon of 17 Marine fighter pilots with Marine Fighter Squadron 121 tasked with defending Guadalcanal. He is also one of the last living Marine Corps WWII combat pilot.
It was the summer of 1941, while Folsom was attending a flight training program in Jacksonville, Florida, that the unthinkable happened.“I was lying in my bunk in Florida,” Folsom recalled. “I turned on the radio and it blared out ‘Pearl Harbor has been attacked’, so I did what any patriotic American would’ve done. I jumped to my feet, got dressed and ran to the door as fast as I could.”
Why don’t i read any stories about Marine Aviation. I went to Jacksonville Fla. for aviation fundamentals 1957 then to Memphis Tenn. for helicopter maintenance school spent 4 years fixing & flying in those recip helicopters remember doing auto rotations & when pilot pulled up on the collective I would bend over & kiss my — goodbye in the hope we would pull out of the auto rotation loved working & flying around on the helicopters it gave me experience that i spent 30+years as a licensed airline mechanic @ SFO went to school after i was discharged March 1962 for my federal A & P License. My biggest disappointment with the USMC is when i went from Corporal E3 to Corporal E4 instead of Sargent E4 but my discharge papers said i was recommended for promotion to Sargent E5. Missed Vietnam couldn’t believe my squadron went over there in those decrepit recip helicopters HMR 462 before that HMR 163 “cheap Opama [Japan] Marines” Semper Fi troops keep them flying!
