Category: Proud to be a Marine

Iwo Jima

Hello,

First off, I want to thank you for all you do for all of us Marines. I appreciate every newsletter and catalog I get from you. Even my wife enjoys them!

I received an email from my co-worker whose uncle was at Iwo Jima and took a picture of the famous moment when the flag was raised with his own camera. He attached a copy of the photo and supplied some details to go with it. I attached his email (below) and the photo. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. read more

Heroes of Guadalcanal

Sgt. Grit,   In my 86th Year,  I sometimes let my mind wander back to the days when I first met the Heroes of Guadalcanal, they were still heroes then. Every Marine admired those that went first, who were left on the island with not enough food or medical supplies. They were commanded by the best of the best, finally beating an enemy, though the Secretary of War and the Chiefs of Staff had all but written them off. Admiral Turner had withdrawn all his ships regardless of the fact that all supplies had not been off loaded. The Marines landed with less than a 30 day's supply though 90 days was suppose to be the norm. They fought with 1903 rifles and World War I ammunition. There were great Medal of Honor recipients that came out of that battle with names that are still  recognized, but many do not really know who or why. Mitchell, Basilone, Bailey, Bauer, Casamento, Edson, Foss. There were Marine heroes that the names are hardly recognized, like LtCol. Frank Goetige, Barney Ross, Charles Arndt, Frank Few and Joseph Spaulding.   Of course we all remember Chesty Puller whose Commander was Alexander Vandergrift who become the Commandant of the Marine Corps and is maybe one of the reasons the Marine Corps was saved by his, "On bended Knee" speech to Congress.   I remember old Marines talking about Chesty Puller, about him diving in a bomb shelter when a shell landed nearby and nearly burying him, and his cussing when he pulled himself out about how any Marine that violated fire discipline on the Canal, would be put in the listening post which was outside the wire.   Marines write in about Marines they met that fought at Iwo Jima, but none about the first that fought at Guadalcanal. I have a small box that was given to me by a friend who returned to Guadalcanal and scooped a small box of sand from the beach. It is my box of Sacred Soil. I also have a box of sand from Iwo Jima that is sacred too. One of the greatest times in my life was when I went to the 200th Birthday Celebration at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. There on the stage was at least 10 Medal of Honor recipients. The thrill was because each was wearing his Medal. I served under eight Commandants of the Marine Corps, I think that Gen. Thomas Holcomb and Gen. Alex Vandergrift were by far the greatest of them all. I knew PX Kelly when he was a Captain. I fixed the pistol he was going to shoot in the Marine Corps matches. I recently saw a drawing by a Marine Illustrator of a Marine coming out of Fallujah. It reminded me so much of the drawing of a Marine coming  out of Guadalcanal entitled "Too Many, Too Close, Too Long" drawn by Donald L. Dickson. Here's copies of both pictures.   GySgt. F. L. Rousseau,  USMC Retired

Guard Duty at 2nd FSSG, Camp Lejeune

Sgt Grit: I was in the Corps from '76 to '86. In my last year of duty I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC. I thought I could get out without incident however, three months before my exit I was Sgt of the guard in our area. 24 on, 24 off. I had a young PFC on post in the heavy equipment yard ie.. D8s, dump trucks, front end loaders. Well, late one night my equipment yard Marine really didn't care much for his line of work that late night. The story I got was, when he saw a Marine on his post approaching, he ran and jumped down a small concrete wall and rolled into a prone position with the M-16 pointed at that Marine approaching and said, "Freeze Mother F-cker". He stated after that, "And then I saw the glitter on his collar." The OD was so stunned, he turned away and proceeded to the guard shack and chewed my fellow Sgt of the guard. Two weeks later, the newly demoted PVT was on post again. I was so lucky to be on my off day.  read more

Bloused trousers

The story in the March 28 newsletter, "What Saved Us", reminded me of another "Butterbar" encounter.

I was a wingwiper with VMFAT-101,an F4 Phantom squadron, at MCAS El Toro in '69 during which time a whole lot of Marines fresh from staging at Pendleton were being flown from El Toro to 'Nam.  If you were one of the many you remember standing around in formations in parking lots or grassy areas by the barracks across the street from the flight line waiting for your platoons to board the chartered airliners. read more

SD vs PI

I recently had the pleasure of watching my 17 year old son graduate from MCRD P.I. I am a Hollywood Marine. I went to San Diego from the Detroit area 30 years ago, Now they are going to P.I. from here. He had the choice to go to San Diego since I went there but chose P.I. because he signed up with a buddy who HAD to go to P.I. My SDI was SSgt Mance, assisted by SSgt Perez and Sgt Augustine, who by the way really had it out for me once he found out my MOS was 5811(MP) and he was always getting tickets for speeding in his hot rod. read more

Oldest Living Woman Marine

Sgt Grit,   This is a photo of Bernice Roberts of Mt. Dora, FL, in her Service "A" Uniform. She was born on Dec. 4th, 1908. She is the oldest living Woman Marine at the age of 104. I will be visiting her on Easter Sunday and I will take some more pictures to send in to you.   Semper Fi Cpl. '69 -'70 Vietnam

Misconceptions About Boot Camp

In an attempt to clear up some of the misconceptions about boot camp assignments and the Mississippi River, I'm providing a map.   The country is split into two Recruiting Regions, East and West. Each Recruiting Region is split into three Recruiting Districts.   Maggots from the East Recruiting Region go to MCRDPI:   1st Recruiting District 4th Recruiting District 6th Recruiting District (notice the 6th District crosses the Mississippi river to include Louisiana)   Maggots from the West Recruiting Region go to MCRDSD:   8th Recruiting District 9th Recruiting District (notice the 9th District crosses the Mississippi River to include Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and part of Michigan) 12th Recruiting District   While that is the general rule, I've heard rumors of "legacy" recruits. That's a recruit who, because of location, would normally be assigned boot camp at one Recruit Depot, but because of a family member (father, mother, brother, uncle, etc.) will be allowed to go the other Recruit Depot for boot camp. I don't know if that's true or not. Maybe someone who has been or is on recruiting duty can clear that one up for us.   Forged on the anvil of discipline. The Few. The Proud. Jerry D.  "Oderint dum metuant." "Let them hate, so long as they fear." –Caligula

Flashy Elton John

Dear Sgt Grit,   Marines are Marines… no matter where they trained.  Back in the pre-WWI "Old Corps", Marines had been trained at various Naval bases like Puget Sound.  In WWII a unit of Samoans sworn in (USMCR) and trained in American Samoa.   As a "Hollywood Marine", I thought that I would settle this issue once and for all.  This petty bickering must come to an end. The accident of geography and weather should mean nothing.  The fact that San Diego has a Mediterranean climate and lacks surrounding swamps and swarms of sand fleas is a mere detail.  It is the training that makes boys into  Marines that counts.   First of all, when we arrived at MCRD in June of 1968, we were not "issued dress blues and sent on liberty into San Diego…"  This would have been irresponsible and injurious to the reputation of the Marine Corps.  First we had to go to the recruit barbershop to get a light trim so that we would present a military appearance when we went on liberty that night.   We were not issued "flashy Elton John" type sunglasses.  That is a cheap rumor.  We were issued basic aviator type sunglasses in high polished gold.  We were required to wear these day or night when on liberty.   We were not "bussed to Hollywood for dates with Hollywood starlets…"They were flown into Lindbergh Field in a charter jet.   Above all, we were not given 30 days leave immediately upon arrival. No matter what day of the week we arrived, we had to return from our first liberty in time for hard core Marine training… 1400, Monday.   I know that my brothers who graduated from P.I. are also faced with rumors by loose-mouthed people.  There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that "Hollywood Marines" are better looking than P.I. Marines. There is absolutely no truth to the rumors about the quality of Marine produced in either Recruit Depot.  There is probably no truth to the rumor that "Hollywood Marines" are smarter than Marine from P.I.   I hope that I have laid this matter to rest.   J.F. Owings 0311  1968-70

Lost and Found Newsletter 03 Mar 2013

Arrived at MCRDSD by bus on Aug-31-1966 and we all know what happened then, six days later I ended up with Platoon 2207 (pic attached) 2nd Battalion and graduated Oct-31-1966. Our Sr. DI was S/Sgt W. Salmond our other two DI's were Sgt. C.F. Hillinski and Sgt. R.B. Wallis.   I ended up being one of the House Mouses (this alone is another story) and would like to know if there's anyone out there who was also in the same Platoon.   Semper Fi to all my brothers and sisters Nam '67-'68 Torres R F