On the day I was promoted to Corporal, it was a surprise. I didn't see it coming. It started pouring outside just as that mornings formation was ending and the Gunny marched us accross the street for classes that the training schedule had called for. Like always, we rushed to get there and had to wait for the instructor and classes to begin. Our Marines were making quite a racket as Marines might, and when the gunny walked in the back of the room and hollered "Knock off the horseplay", but hardly anybody but the NCO's standing in the back had heard him. After yelling "Knock off the horseplay" a second time and the racket in the room did not quiet down I rushed forward to the podium and yelled "Hey, you with the horse, knock it off" which caused all the NCO's to be heard snickering in the silence. The Gunny's look at me was deadly so I tried real hard not to look at him as I retreated to the back of the room. He never let me forget, and took every public opportunity he could to remind me that my first order as an NCO was "Hey, you with the horse, knock it off".
Category: Proud to be a Marine
Marine Corps Hymn
When I was at P I. Third Bat. 1960, there was a D.I. in our series who called cadence to the Marine Corps hymn. I believe his name was Sgt Baizer. Not real sure of the spelling of his name, but you talk about an eerie scene at dusk on the grinder.
R.Y. Winne Cpl.
Christmas Eve An Hoa VietNam 1968
I had been in An Hoa since Sept., I was with 1st Dental Co. We had old French buildings for our clinic and quarters. The local Vietnamies wall builders had just finished a real nice sand bag wall behind our building that protected us and seperated us from two large gas bags and one large LZ. Christmas eve around 10 or 11 pm flares of all sizes started to light up the night, there were so many it was almost like day time. I was standing on top of the wall taping on my recorder the events as the happend. It was a site to see. My luck, no snipers were out, he would not have had a hard time seeing me. Next day, I was told the Gen. had a fit , some 5,000 lbs worth of flares went up in smoke, not to mention how easy a target we made of our selves. It was said that heads rolled. Also I could have gotten killed by the flare casing falling all around me… what a night.
In Regards to SgtMaj Charles “Rigor” Mortis
SSgt. Charles "Rigor" Mortis was my senior DI at PISC in 1964. He
retired as a Sgt. Maj. with 35 years of service and received the
Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He passed away Feb. 21, 2011. He was
a good man and a good Marine.
Kemp
Texas Veteran
Semper Fi,
Recently you had a couple of news items in the newsletter about
Veteran's discounts and different businesses. Here in Texas any
Honorably Discharged Veteran may take his or her DD-214 down to
their local DMV and show it to the person there. Upon showing
their DD-214 and paying a small fee the term 'VETERAN' will then
be added to your driver's license. I've attached a copy of my
license showing the 'VETERAN' notation. You may use it in the
newsletter if you so desire.
Parade Rest
Maybe three years after having been honorably discharged from the Marines as an E-5 in San Diego, I was attending a 4th of July parade in Pittsburgh's three rivers area. My hair had grown out a bit and I was wearing cut off shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. I was flanked on either side by my two young children, 3 & 5 years old. As the parade approached, it was lead by a limo carrying a Marine full bird colonel in dress blues right behind the color guard detail. I had been sitting on the curb dishing out cotton candy to my kids and waiting for the parade to begin. As the colors approached, without hesitation or conscious thought, I stood to attention. You, that are Marines, will know the posture without explanation… With hair on my shoulders, tattered shorts and shirt… and thumbs on my seams, I'm sure I appeared to have anything but military bearing. Much to my surprise, and pride, the Colonel standing in the back seat of the open limo, recognizing the posture, pivoted precisely on his heals, faced me and popped a perfect salute.
Operation Kingfisher
Don,
This is the first story I ever wrote. I was mad at what the
Marine Corps had written about Kingfisher and I wanted the first
hand truth told. I sent it to a Col. Summers, who used to be the
editor of Vietnam Magazine and he accepted it first shot. He told
me I needed about 200 more words so I e-mailed my BN CO. and he
helped me with things that a L/Cpl Machine-gunner was not privy
to. They published it in the Spring of 2001. I tell it like it
was! Semper Fi!
Senior Class Trip
Plt. 103, MCRD 1967, Honor Platoon. The amazing thing is, our
platoon was made up of reservists and a group of Marines from
Peru. All the drill instructors were Spanish speaking, so most of
our commands were in Spanish. I went on to spend my senior class
trip in Viet Nam (18 months) with 1st Marine Div., 7th. Com.
Support Co.
Camp Fuji McNair, Japan
Your newsletter is GREAT!
I was at Camp Fuji McNair Japan in 1954 to 1955. My outfit was
K-4-12, 3rd Marine Division and I drove a 2-1/2 ton truck. We
conducted maneuvers all over that area. At that time, McNair was
all tents except for the quonset huts which were the head and
showers. All roads leading to Camp McNair was dirt, and we
supplied fuel to Fuji View Hotel in 50 gallon drums.
Once A Marine Always A Marine
I'm a twenty-seven year retiree. I spent a year and a half in the Army, three years and eleven months in the Navy, four years in the Marine Corps, and seventeen and a half years in the National Guard. A few years ago I went on a job interview. This was a trucking company seeking a driver. During the interview the woman frowned upon seeing that I had been a Marine. "Oh, I see you were in the Marine's." She said. "Marine's I have met seem to have attitudes ." I chuckled, "Being a Marine is something you earn." I replied. She fowned once more so I explained it to her. "In Army bootcamp your called a soldier. In Navy bootcamp your a Seaman. In the Airforce one is called an Airman. In Marine Corps bootcamp you are called everything in the book except a Marine. For thirteen weeks you question your ancestery. On the morning you graduate is the first time you are called a Marine. So it's not an attitude. It's something we have earned. So you see I am proud to wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor of the United States Marines." I left the woman speechless and walked out. Needless to say, I didn't take the job.