Sgt Grit is a place where Marines can come and meet other Marines, share tattoos and stories, keep up with Marine Corps news, or shop for USMC gear.
Capt. D Krause on Lt, Capt. Jim Lea, middle and yours truly on left. Capt. Lea was a Navy Pharm. mate with the Marines in WWII, got out, went to Med school and went back in serving in Nam. That is a total of 33 ribbons on his shirt!
Cheers, Chuck.
Capt. Lea is 93!
First, let me express my utmost appreciation to all the men and women of the Marine Corps for your service.
I hope it isn't inappropriate to post this here, but I have been reading so many stories on the Sgt. Grit site and just feel something in my gut telling me to give it a try.
Looking for anyone from this photo. Please contact me at: countryridingpreacher@gmail.com
Apprentices of War: Memoir of a Marine Grunt is a book by Gary Tornes, who served as a United States Marine during the Vietnam War. He tells a vivid and memorable account of military life and the struggles of the foot Marine in Viet Nam. His story illustrates the timeless tragedy of combat that faced the American Marine of that generation. It reveals an emotional and compelling side to what a grunt's life was like on a daily basis in the jungles of Nam. And while Gary takes his readers into the combat zone of that particular war, and tells how the average Marine tried to survive the bloody and brutal challenges in southeast Asia, it's a story that any Marine from any conflict can relate to. The power packed, in-depth, detailed action of Apprentices of War will give you an insight into what he and his fellow Marines encountered and makes Gary's book hard to put down.
Regarding the recent picture submitted by "Tee" Turner of four friends reuniting in TX after 46 years, I am the one from CT, wearing the tan "Chu Lai Vietnam" hat supplied by SGT Grit. Just thought I would send along a picture of my car, with Marine Corps pride, also supplied mostly by SGT Grit.
This was our first reunion held in Woodbridge Virginia visted the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico Virginia and The Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC and the the Other War Memorials. 15 Marines came to our first reunion and some of the wives joined the reunion. Planned 2015 reunion in Las Vegas/Henderson, NV October 18th 2015.
The 2014 MACS-2, 5th Reunion was hosted by Cpl & Mrs. Clark McCormack at their Summer Home on the shore of Lake Jefferson, in Cleveland, Minnesota, from 25 thru 27 July 2014… MACS-2, MAG- 13, 1st Marine Brigade, FMFPAC, Kaneohe Bay. We served during 1958-1962.
Those of us of certain ages, and who were mostly, somewhat, or just occasionally 'in the rear with the gear and the beer and the Generals in Viet Nam' may recall, along with the Stars and Stripes, and Navy Times, a freebie 'newspaper' entitled 'The Sea Tiger'… didn't think about it at the time, but the 'Sea' may have been some PAO's cutesy idea for 'South East Asia'. (Marine Corps Times, as a separate entity, didn't come along until later… I'm guessing in the 1980's or later…) This publication was of the same size and format as the others, and covered mostly items for and about IIIMAF (Third Marine Amphibious Force). In any field of endeavor, there are those who 'know'… and those who THINK they know… To the point, in July of '66, we (K/3/5) along with a whole bunch of otherunits, were involved in Operation Hastings. History buffs will recognize the tie to the (English) Battle of Hastings… some 900 years earlier… and either from unintentional irony, or cleverness on some G-3's part, the name was chosen… maybe because the Commanding General of the forces involved was General English…
Last month on August 14th I had the honor and privilege to reunite with three of my Vietnam Marine brothers in Tomball, Texas. We had not seen each other in 46 years! We traveled from Connecticut, Michigan, California, and Texas. After a few tears and mighty bear hugs we started jowl jacking like it had only been a week since we last met. We laughed and told stories about the funny stuff and practical jokes we did to each other in Chu Lai in 1967 and 1968.
