Category: Proud to be a Marine

Iwo 1956

In Feb 1956 the 3rd Mar Div went and played war games on Iwo Jima. I was with Hq Co Anglico Plt. We went ashore set up radio nets. I was in a radio jeep remoted to the CP. I don't remember it before we played war games, but the pics are Mt Suribachi from below, then from on top looking at the shore line. The last pic is of the monument on top. I was a Pfc. then, was honorably discharged a Cpl Sept. 1957. read more

About Wearing Blues

Speaking of leggings. These are the leggings and dungaree cap I wore in Korea (1950-51). They're still folded down. Some of us folded them down for comfort, and when the weather permitted, unbloused our trousers. When we went into action as the 1stProvMarBrig, the North Koreans called us 'The Yellow-Legs'. Except for the 'USMC' on our pocket, from a distance they couldn't distinguish us from the Army. We had been ordered to remove our helmet camouflage covers. Surprised the heck out of them. read more

Marine Dress Blues

I would just like to weigh in on the dress blues conversation currently going on. If it was not for dress blues, I may have never joined our beloved Corps. You see, when I was a young lad of 17 my Dad took me to see the recruiters as I was interested in military service. The first recruiter he took me to was the Navy. We went in and discussed things a while and I took a preliminary ASVAB test in the office. I did well on the test and so the recruiter started telling me about the nuclear submarine program. He was pushing it hard. Being 6'1" I had no desire to be cooped up inside of a submarine underwater for months at a time. Incidentally, I have met a number of submariners in my life since that time and I have the greatest of respect for them. One of my regrets in life is that I probably never will be able to bust up through the polar ice cap and walk up at the North pole like most of them end up doing. That has to be one of the coolest things to do. read more

Props For The Design

We had a Marine come in to our clinic for a brace to help him walk (he'd had a few strokes and needs one to walk). He brought us one of your t-shirts and asked us if we could build it into his brace. I thought you'd get a kick out of it and also wanted to give you props for such a cool design. read more

3rd Plt, Bravo Co, 1st Tank Bn, 1st Marine Division Reunion

The 1st Marine Division, 1st Tank Battalion, Bravo Company, 3rd Platoon, will gather once again for their reunion, May 14th in ST. Charles, MO. This is the 3rd time the Viet Nam Vets have met as a
group since 1967. The first time they had seen or heard from each other was in 2009. That was the first time any of them knew who was still alive, or where they were all located. Cpl. Ronald Davidson said, "we have lost a few brothers along the way, and still have a few "strays" to locate". read more

Brother You Have One Now

I was touched by Henry Hisel's story. He like I, was a reservist 1962–1968. I wonder what boot camp he was in? I was in 1st BN, Plt. 118, MCRD SD.

The thing I wanted to tell was, during a recent static display of uniforms and memorabilia from our time in duty, I set up a clothes rack with my Dress Blues blouse and EGA NCO Guard Belt along with some other items with my Marine buddy Steve Goodman (we were in boot camp together back then…) anyway we have a senior (older than us LOL) Marine who was a corporal (buck Sgt.) in the 6th Marines who was in the fight on several islands of the Pacific in WWII, and one of them was Okinawa. In his collection was a Samurai Sword he took off a Japanese Soldier who when I asked our friend about it, I was told "well, he didn't need it anymore". Jack is about 5'6" tall and weighs about that much, but he is the "real deal" and is a great friend. read more

Sgt. Mom

Sgt Mom thanks you Sgt Grit! She absolutely loves her bumper sticker. She said, "oh, cute. That's cute!" One of the reasons mom has such a huge smile here is because she can actually see the bumper sticker and read it for herself. Her vision is poor but the bumper sticker being so vivid she can actually see it. So she got all excited. read more

Mr. John Wood

I just wanted to send along our sincerest appreciation for all the AWESOME Sgt. Grit items you donated to our benefit auction. We were absolutely blown away by the items you sent, especially the Marine t-shirts that depicted the state of KY. All the items were a big hit. We have raised in excess of $10,000 for our Textbooks For Troops program from the auction. Every dime of that money will go to buy textbooks for our military students and their family members attending classes at WKU. Thank you for making a huge difference in the lives of our students. read more