Category: World War II

Brother You Have One Now

I was touched by Henry Hisel's story. He like I, was a reservist 1962–1968. I wonder what boot camp he was in? I was in 1st BN, Plt. 118, MCRD SD.

The thing I wanted to tell was, during a recent static display of uniforms and memorabilia from our time in duty, I set up a clothes rack with my Dress Blues blouse and EGA NCO Guard Belt along with some other items with my Marine buddy Steve Goodman (we were in boot camp together back then…) anyway we have a senior (older than us LOL) Marine who was a corporal (buck Sgt.) in the 6th Marines who was in the fight on several islands of the Pacific in WWII, and one of them was Okinawa. In his collection was a Samurai Sword he took off a Japanese Soldier who when I asked our friend about it, I was told "well, he didn't need it anymore". Jack is about 5'6" tall and weighs about that much, but he is the "real deal" and is a great friend. read more

Sgt. Mom

Sgt Mom thanks you Sgt Grit! She absolutely loves her bumper sticker. She said, "oh, cute. That's cute!" One of the reasons mom has such a huge smile here is because she can actually see the bumper sticker and read it for herself. Her vision is poor but the bumper sticker being so vivid she can actually see it. So she got all excited. read more

Mr. John Wood

I just wanted to send along our sincerest appreciation for all the AWESOME Sgt. Grit items you donated to our benefit auction. We were absolutely blown away by the items you sent, especially the Marine t-shirts that depicted the state of KY. All the items were a big hit. We have raised in excess of $10,000 for our Textbooks For Troops program from the auction. Every dime of that money will go to buy textbooks for our military students and their family members attending classes at WKU. Thank you for making a huge difference in the lives of our students. read more

Because He Was A Marine

In the Jan. 8, Sgt. Grit, Gunny Rousseau's letter concerning leggings prompted me to submit this old photo. The photo is of my Uncle Henry Billert, as a young Marine at Quantico from 1935, wearing his greens and leggings. Talk about one squared away Marine!  I wasn't born when the photo was taken. The only time I ever met him he was already out of the Corps, having served around 8 years. He traveled from Rockford, IL to Boston to visit his sister (my Mother) back in the fifties. I was around 12 or 13 at the time. I always looked up to him because he was a Marine, the same as John Wayne, Randolph Scott and others, who portrayed hard charging Marines on the big screen. What kid back then at that age did not eat up all those movies about WWII? read more

Almost Always Had Good Chow

In my Marine Corps I almost always had good Chow. Now here's the facts, There's Officers Mess, Staff NCO Mess, NCO Mess, and the Mess Hall where we went to eat CHOW, call it what you want, it was Chow. I have to admit I grew up during the Depression and my Mother couldn't afford great lunches, but going into the Corps didn't enlightened my life by finally getting better food. read more

WW2 Era Uniform

Here is a picture of my Grandson in a WW2 era Uniform. It was passed down to me by my Aunt Ruth Hummel (Cpl. USMC) and her husband Paul Hummel (Pfc. USMC) who fought on Guadalcanal. When I enlisted in the Corps in 1966 they were very proud of me. At that time I didn't understand why they made a big deal of my enlistment. When I came home after 2 tours in Vietnam I understood!   My grandson likes seeing me in my Marine Corps League uniform. And likes to salute the American flag and say the pledge of allegiance when we raise it in the morning!   He makes me Proud!   Happy 238th Birthday!   Cpl Dave Franz '66-'72

WW2 & Korea Era Patches for 95th Birthday

Dear Sgt. Grit Staff,

Attached are a couple of photos then and now of my dad Lonnie M. Massey that I would like to share with you.  The badges and devices yo supplied were a big surprise for his birthday.  Thank you for your help.

In the recent photographs taken on his 95th birthsay, he is wearing the devices and patches that you shipped.   He was extremely pleased to recieve the patch of the 3rd Marine Amphibious Corps that you located and sent.  That was the first patch to be sewn on to his jacket for his birthday.  He had been a Gunner in WW2 with the 3rd throughout the South Pacific.  read more

M1 Carbines Cont.

Some M-1 Carbine bayonets even made it to the top of Suribachi.

http://www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingb.htm

I have been following the M-1 Carbine discussion with interest and sharing it with a close friend and WWII arms collector, Richard Jacobson, a retired local police lieutenant. After consulting several collector's websites and other historical references, Rich assures me that there were indeed M-1 Carbine bayonets on Iwo. read more