Category: Proud to be a Marine

Big Influence

To One and All,

I would like to give my thanks to one and all, for your help, friendliness, and dedication to helping your customers. This does not go unnoticed, even when at times I am sure it seems so,
and is greatly appreciated.

I am writing this because this year I decided to attend the Marine Corps Ball in my Dress Blues, while this may be the normal course of action for most Marines, I have been off of active service for 20 years, and have never worn my medals, just the ribbons. I do still fit in my Blues, even though they have seem to have shrunk just a touch between the chest and the waist
over the years. I would not have been able to get my Blues ready without the help of everyone at Sgt. Grit, Semper Fi for everything you do! read more

Leatherneck Tartan

Sgt. Grit,

Enjoyed the photo of the "old guy in a skirt" in your last newsletter. The kilt he's wearing is in the Leatherneck Tartan, which I designed with some input from the Scottish Tartans Society and registered in Scotland back in the 80s. Attached is a photo of my wife and I after the Naperville, IL, USMC Birthday
Ball this year. read more

Area 13 Barrack’s Tree

This group of Marines was destined to spend the next two years together in VMA-212, MAG-13, 1st. Marine Brigade at Kaneohe Bay Hawaii. It would be a nine day voyage on the USS George Clymer from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, but first we had to spend a month or so at Area 13, Camp Pendleton, a staging Battalion for over 600 Marines waiting to be shipped out to Pacific duty stations. It was April, 1961, and Area 13 was hilly, hot, and dry. In order to keep all these young Marines busy the Officers and NCOs had us run up and down those brown hills several times a day whenever we weren't field daying the barracks. read more

Madison Rising

Sgt Grit, brother and sister Marines,

I'm a deputy sheriff and had the fortunate opportunity to work a
security detail for a patriotic rock group, Madison Rising. The
event coordinator knows I am a Marine and told me the lead singer, Dave Bray, was a corpsman. Dave was meeting with fans and when there was a break in the action I approached him and asked if he was a Doc. He said he was and was stationed at Camp
Lejeune, NC. I asked him what outfit he was in and he said 2/2.
Amazingly enough, I was with Regimental Headquarters at that same time he was with 2/2! Such a small world and even smaller Corps. We exchanged stories about our units and places of deployment. read more

Fainting Vapors

"Pickle grass"?… never heard it called that, even when covered
with doughnut puke… more commonly known as 'ice plant'… low-growing, creeping succulent plant, with triangular 'leaves',
probably related to cactus of some kind… widely used by the California DOT on freeway banks as erosion control, comes in a couple of colors when in bloom, makes sure that the entire bank will 'slide' as one mat, when the soil gets wet enough. Long a favorite of DI's, and Company Gunnys at MCRD and Pendleton. Good for collecting butts and trash, eventually looks pretty mangy (well, not at MCRD, now that there are very few Quonset huts to plant it around). read more

The Pride Begins at Conception! Proof Positive!

My Daughter and Son-In-Law announced they were pregnant about 6 yeras ago and were to give birth to my 1st Grandson on 3, Nov. 2006. My response was "He will be born on the 11th. He won't have my last name but he will be born on the Marine Corps Birthday" Months went by teasing my daughter about that and sure as Marines follow orders, Jake was born on 11-11-06. I was in the delivery room with the rest of the family when the statistician Nurse was writing down length, weight etc. She called across the room and said "Doctor, what time was he born?" Doc's reply was "533", which just happened to be the A6A Squadron I was in, in Viet Nam.  (VMA-533, Chu Lai,'67-68) Sgt.Merl "Goodie" Goodmanson" Proud Marine, Proud Grampa. "Semper Fi" read more