After taking my Grandson Vinny to visit a number of Civil War
battlefield sites this past summer here in the MD, VA area, he
asked me if we could visit the grave site of Chesty Puller, whom
he had heard me speak of a number of times. Vinny thought we'd
just take a short trip down the road to Arlington National
Cemetery to visit Chesty's grave site but I told him that Chesty
wasn't buried there, but instead just outside the town where he
retired in Saluda, Virginia in the Christ Church Parish
Cemetery, Christ Church, VA, right on Route 33, named the
General Puller Highway.
Category: Proud to be a Marine
Frigate
My brother's company built the frigate named after Lewis B.
Puller. I was a Marine in 1957 so he sent me this picture. I
thought you guys would be interested in seeing it.
Bob R.
Semper Fi.
Patron Saint of Recruits
Dear Sgt. Grit,
Re: combination locks. At MCRD San Diego (June-Aug 1968) we had two combination locks… one small for our footlocker and one large for our rifle. The rifle was attached to the racks (bunk bed style) through a hole in the rack with a bicycle lock. We were living in Quonset huts at the time.
Handsome Marine
Greetings,
As promised I have enclosed some photos from a lifetime ago.
In my boot camp graduation photo you see SSgt J.M. Scarboro (he is the ugly one that I mentioned yesterday during our conversation), second from the right. I am in the first row, forth from the right, right over his left shoulder.
Pretty Cool
Rec'd this from my daughter down in Pittsburgh:
Dad,
Forgot to send you this! I was at the mall earlier in the week, and this was parked in the lot. Red Hummer with a complete Marines paint job across the entire body, both sides, front and back. And the wheel cover was the emblem. Pretty cool! Must have cost a good buck, too.
Not Bad For
Sgt. Grit,
Thought I'd pass this along to brag about our rifle squad from the Marine Corps League "Sgt.Maj. Linehan" Detachment # 1034. We do the honors for most of the Veterans funerals in our area, which includes the folding of the flag, Taps, & the rifle salute.
Memory Rush
Dear Sgt. Grit,
Found these in the pocket of one of my old uniforms and thought all the old timers might get a memory rush from them. Back in my Marine Corps days (1960-64) the PX and slop chutes all had free matches by the cash register. Although I'm not sure, I would be willing to bet that in todays' politically correct, anti-smoking Corps, there are no matches, much less free ones.
Not Very Cold
Sgt. Grit here I am at base Camp Mt Fuji Japan 1962. Cold weather training. Not very cold that day 30 – 40 degrees.
Semper Fi,
Sgt. Chuck Wanamaker 1960 – 1966
At Least 3 Tours
Sgt. Grit,
In Vietnam, I Celebrated my last Marine Corps Birthday in the Corps. Two Friends of mine and I went to the Vietnamese side of China Beach, ate sea food cooked in front of us served with lime juice and rock salt. While there the lady running the place, rickety bamboo and palm fronds, offered us her baby to take back to the states. Top Barker had been there at least 3 tours by this time and stayed another tour I believe, he was a World War II and Korea Vet and had earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star and several Purple hearts. Lieut. Little came just after I came, he left the same unit I was in at Camp Pen.
The Game Changes
Sgt Grit:
Earlier this month my son's Engineering Battalion left for Afghanistan and brother, I gotta tell you, it was real hard letting him go. The day we found out what their actual deployment date was, there was a different kind of reality that hit me that cannot be explained.