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 had to back up Sgt E-4 C.J.Oudendyk story about Camp Hansen, 3rd Marine Divison in 1956. When the Marines transferred me from Japan to Okinawa. They put me at Camp Hansen, I was Cpl Myers, cook/baker but no place to work. The only thing left was the boiler in a quonset hut. There will be some pictures to let anyone know what I mean. In one of the pictures I'm setting there with you guessed it, C-rations, but the troops could not tell the difference, we would doctor the stuff up.
Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC) Memphis where Sailors and Marines learned how to be aviation technicians was actually in Millington, Tennessee about twelve miles North of Memphis.
Attached is my graduating class picture posed in front of the school's jet trainer. All the Marines in the picture got orders to Kaneohe Bay MCAS, early in 1961. Anyway, Gunny Bednarz brought back some memories in the last newsletter regarding Cinderella liberty during the week and weekend liberty when you didn't have the duty. No civvies allowed on base but you could rent a locker in downtown Memphis conveniently located at the bus stop from Millington to keep your civvies off base. Rumor has it that the commanding Admiral owned the lockers and that was the reason for the no civvies order on base. The best place to go in Memphis on liberty was the USO club.
One pic of DaNang Airbase. The other two are from inside DaNang city limits. E5 and below were not allowed into DaNang without a pass. But formalities are not a problem for my buddy LCpl DJ Huntsinger, later SSgt. He invited me to go to DaNang with him. Sounds great let's go. We get a few hundred yards from the gate to DaNang and he says we need to wait here. I say wait for what. A ride he says. He finally tells me what he is about to get me into. Being a dumbazs LCpl also, I agree.
I wanted to share these photos. Our baseball team wore digi desert jerseys with a name of a fallen Marine across the back of each jersey to commemorate these heroes. The top photo is of former Marines CPLs Klent Luschen (02-10) and Josh Wells (03-11) with their sons. The second photo is during a moment of silence that the team dedicated to these Marines for their sacrifice.
In responce to a newsletter May 21st about the making of the movie "Heartbreak Ridge". I was also in VMGR 352, and was in the welcome home crowd sceens used in the closing of the movie. As I remember, it took just about all day to film that final 5 minutes of the movie.
My dear friends, Marine Warriors, SgtMaj John Gallegos, SgtMaj. Gene Overstreet, former SgtMaj of The Marine Corps, and MGySgt Jerry Scoggins, had a great reunion today at the Veterans Memorial in Albuquerque, NM. John and Gene are a part of the "Run For The Wall" motorcycle ride from San Diego to Washington DC with a brief stopover for R&R.
I was reading my weekly newsletter and someone was talking again about the old Corps. I then remembered a picture that was on my wall in an office I was assigned to when we moved to a new area of the base one time. I liked it and never took it down. I took a photograph of it when I retired and gave up the office. Thought I would pass it along.
Pics from my collection.
Freedom Hill pre-ammo dump fiasco. Marine Barracks Nam O Bridge.
Semper Fi
Sgt Grit
About Amtracs and the question were they used in Combat, Absolutley, in Operation Starlite Aug 18th, 1965. They were used to carry Marines into battle, and as ressuply mission's, But that is their purpose to disembark from ship to Beach Head, Ramp Drops Marines infiltrate into the combat zone.
Love reading the Sgt. Grit Newsletter, I have a contribution some may find interesting.
In the summer of 1986 Clint Eastwood was directing and starring in 'Heartbreak Ridge' as GySgt Thomas Highway. It's a bit hokey with lots of inaccuracies but still contains enough to hold the attention of most Marines. Highway's recon unit is supposedly based out of Camp Lejeune but in fact the movie was filmed at Camp Pendleton and MCAS El Toro only one month before I reported to VMGR-352 / MAG-11 / 3rd MAW (my last duty station before leaving active duty). Clint had even signed the overhead control panel with a Sharpie on the flight deck of tail # 019, a KC-130F. (The KC-130 is a rugged, reliable, versatile, awesome aircraft, been flying now more than 50 years)
