Category: Proud to be a Marine

Camp Fuji, 1960

In previous newsletters, Camp Fuji has been discussed. I came across some photos taken there in 1960. My time in HQ-4-12, Camp Hague, Okinawa, included two trips to Fuji, one in August and one in Dec. 4-12 did live-fire exercises there with the 105's. The top 2 photos are in Aug., note no snow on Mt. Fuji. Also note the Japanese meatball flying alongside Old Glory. The next picture is of yours truly, sleeping off a hard night of liberty in Tomaho and Gotemba. We lived in 8 or 10-man tents, can't remember which, and our sleeping arrangements consisted of a fold-up cot, rubber air mattress, and sleeping bag. There was no need of brooms for housekeeping, just a rake, as the floor of the tents was volcanic ash and sand. Very easy to keep tidy. The next picture was taken the day we arrived in Dec. Note the snow on Fuji. We were issued (2) green wool long-sleeved shirts, and a parka hood that fastened onto our field jackets. They had some kind of fur around the edges, and were quite warm. read more

Captain Brophy

The Dalles Chronicle, 9 FEB 2013
Article by RaeLynn Ricarte

The Dalles — US Marine Corps Capt. Daniel Brophy walked for the last time on Feb. 23, 1969, the day his body was broken by a .50 caliber bullet – but the warrior spirit that took him to Vietnam has enabled him to continue living with purpose from a wheelchair. read more

Made Me Smile

I was part of the Marine Detachment aboard the USS Princeton when HMM 163 came aboard in the early 1960's. As I recall, they were in WestPac with us and they never left. We got to return and HMM 163 stayed on. As part of ship's company, we were responsible for the maintenance of certain areas of the ship… our Division (OS) had the responsibility of maintaining a couple of troop compartments… one of them was the compartment that housed HMM 163… while cleaning up, I picked up the attached… not sure who wrote it, but, it made me laugh and I must have put it in my pocket… I was cleaning out my seabag (getting ready to toss all of my "junk"), when I ran across this and it still made me smile! Remember the song, "MTA"? Poor ole Charlie! read more