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.
Sgt Grit,
I found these goodies while rummaging through some boxes stuffed away in a closet. Don't know if you can use them in any of your newsletters. The first is a Dining In MAG-39 put on on 15Jun79 and the next is a dinner menu from the 203rd Marine Birthday 10Nov78. I haven't seen anything on Dining In's in any othe newsletters, is this a thing of the past? Keep on with the great newsletter and great products. Semper Fi!
In 2006, while on R&R in Ecuador, I found this artist who hand carves the pictured artwork. I liked his artwork so much I started having him do stuff I thought was cool. I had him make the Marine logo, and I had my wife pick it up on a later date. I took in Camp Leatherneck to find a deserving Marine to give it to. I just so happened to run across Oliver North while at Leatherneck and I presented it to him for being a lifelong stand up Marine. Here is a photo of me and him.
While getting parts at a Dodge dealership in Spring, TX, we noticed this Marine Truck. It was a special order by a Marine. It had quotations by famous people, in Memory of Marines he served with (whose names were placed upon the truck), among the obvious in the pictures. It was a privilege and an honor just to be able to see this truck. Never saw it again after that day and I drive down that way every two weeks to the Veterans Center. Semper Fi Marine!
This is a picture of Ivan and Owen Dodge. Looks like the next generation will be carrying on the family tradition. Their uncles are GySgt Paul L. Chevalier, USMC Ret, and Pvt Matt Doppstadt (currently serving). SgtMaj Paul J. Chevalier (AKA Papa), USMC Ret. is very proud of them.
I have seen some pride shown on Marine's vehicles, and thought I would send this. With the help of my Sgt. Grit license plate holder and window decal, and the NJ state's vanity license program, I'm able to drive with Identity.
Wayne Parker
Sgt Grit
I saw your newsletter about going to the Bob Hope Show near DaNang in 1969. It was at Freedom Hill and I was there also. In fact I was a Squadron Photographer (First Marine Air Wing, MAG 11, VMA225 at the DaNang Airbase) and was sitting on the ground right in front of the stage. I took 600 pictures of the show and went again the next year to see his 1970 show and give him an album of the pictures I had taken the year before. Bob Hope was gracious enough to stand backstage with me and look at every page of the album with me that I had given him. He kept that album and it is now in his exhibit in the Library of Congress in Washington DC. It is a miracle story that is very meaningful to me and is my main memory of being a Marine (1967 – 1971). I was in Avionics on the A-6A Intruder and my specialty was the Auto Pilot on that plane but I was the Squadron Photographer as a hobby and so I would get a ticket to the show when Bob Hope came that year. I was making so much money selling the pictures I took that I extended for another tour to do another Bob Hope Show. The public opinion of the war had degraded so low between 1969 and 1970 that I couldn’t give my pictures away of the 1970 show.
A lot of people ask Veterans and service members the same question, how do you describe Freedom? Our answer is usually the same, the common “well, it means different things to different people.” Because most people do not look at it from our perspective,
I'm writing you this in response to the American Courage letter I received on 10 December 2010, specifically, the section by Henry J Lewis about his father, CPL Elmer B Lewis who fought on Kwajalein with the 4th Marine Division's first wave. I and some fellow Marines who are working on Kwajalein today would like to show our appreciation to the Lewis family and our fellow Leatherneck. On 12 December 2010 we are going to gather all the Marines on base and fly the American flag at half mast at the Veteran's Hall (American Legion post #44). At 1000 hours, we will gather for a photo to submit for your next newsletter or if you would be so kind as to forward to the Lewis family.
The people who serve and live on Kwajalein today pay special homage to our Veterans and see remnants of battles fought long ago, everyday. This is our chance to show one that Marines are a family and to his family that their loved one is respected and that we are grateful.
