Full Circle

Soon it will be 50 years since I took the oath to become a Marine.10 Oct 1967 I walked down the sidewalk of my home,got into my Dads car and left for the Federal Building in downtown Pittsburgh and ,along with four other recruits was sworn in.That same afternoon we were on a plane headed south.The first stop was the airport in Charlotte NC. While there we met a Marine that just finished 0311 training and,was heading home on leave then on to WestPac.We went to a bar in the airport and had a few beers while listening to his stories and advice about bootcamp. Some of the stories turned out to be true some not so true.Our next stop was the airport at Charleston SC. We were sent to a kind of staging area of some sort. There we met up with a bus load of other recruits and headed for Parris Island.On the way,someone started passing around a couple bottles of Jack or Jim can’t recall which.By the time we reached “The Island” I had a pretty good buzz.When the,I think,the driver announced that we were approaching gate the bus became a little quieter.Everything after that is a little fuzzy I do remember getting off the bus and standing in some sort of formation,Were there the “Yellow Footprints” maybe I can’t really remember. read more

New recruit motivation 1966

One of my fathers favorite stories to share was about being a DI at MCRD in 1966. The story goes that the new recruits were brought to an assembly area close to the fence facing the San Diego Airport. All the new recruits had their ill-fitting utilities on and shaved heads so everybody looked the same on day one. Mixed in with the recruits was another DI wearing utilities. One of the DI’s was telling the new recruits that going AWOL would get them shot for desertion during a time of War (Viet Nam was going hot and heavy at the time). Well the fake recruit gets up, says he can’t take it anymore and runs for the airport fence. One of the DI’s happens to have an M14 locked and loaded (with blanks) during the desertion speech. The fake recruit starts climbing the fence. The DI with the M14 yells a warning and then Bang Bang, that was the end of that recruit because he falls to the ground and a life changing impression was made on all of these future Marines. S/Sgt Roger D. Marsh (Ret) is now guarding the gates of Heaven. God Bless America and the US Marine Corps. read more

Bushido Warrior Mentality

Sgt. Grit,

I was USMCR ’57 to ’63, a Cold War Marine, later I served as a Los Angeles Co. Sheriff’s Deputy with my last 24 years assigned to SEB/ESD, Special Weapons Team and Paramedic Air Rescue.

My youngest son, Mike, told me when he was 15 y/o, that he wanted what I had, the camaraderie and the brotherhood. (That’s pretty much what he grew up with, the Marine Corps and a SWAT Team). He joined the Marines right out of high school and made it into 3rd ANGLICO, spending six weeks with the SEALs in Coronado to get his MOS and then LASD when he was 19. He went to Iraq with 150 other deputies from the department in January 2003. read more

Amtracs and Ontos

I arrived in K-Bay in January 1961, and after a month on mess duty I reported to the “tractor park” for training in Amtracs. Across the main road from the tractor park was an area used for our driver training, the brush was around 15 feet high with roads running through it. Coming rapidly around a corner one day I was stopped short by a strange vehicle that also came to a sudden stop about 20 feet away facing me. I was looking down the muzzles of six giant (106mm) recoilless rifles. read more

Cease Fire, Cease Fire

I arrived in the RVN on July 24, 1965. I was assigned to work in the 3rd MAF Comm Center on the night watch, 1800 to 0600. After returning to the billeting area after noon chow, in the first week of August, I heard a hand cranked siren start wailing. This was followed by several gunshots. Then a voice came over the PA system and shouted “Cease Fire, Cease Fire” read more

Almost a Squat

Charley was from Oklahoma, and though he didn’t look it, had some American Indian ancestry, or so he claimed… sure didn’t have the high cheekbones of an Elizabeth Warren, for sure, but was rather round-faced. It had fallen his lot to spend 18 months with Marine Barracks, Naha (Okinawa… before we gave it back to Japan), where we were guarding special weapons for the Navy (or so they told us… never saw one of the things). This duty was terminally boring… I mean Boooring! Four on, eight off, day on, day off. Posts were manned by Pvts and PFCs, Lance Corporals and E-3 Corporals stood Corporal of the Guard, and Corporals were section leaders and stood Sgt of the Guard watches. read more

The Most Decorated Marine Officer in World War II

How many Marines remember this Marine who had the Courage to challenge the Enemy in his own town of Occupation?

Peter Ortiz (1913-1988) Colonel Ortiz spoke 5 languages fluently and was the most decorated Marine officer in World War II. He served in the O.S.S. and, before that, was the youngest Sergeant in the French Foreign Legion. In 1940, he was wounded and captured by the German invading army, he escaped and joined the U.S. Marines. Parachuting into France, he became a Maquis (French underground) leader in 1944. He frequented a Lyons nightclub to gain information from the German officers who also frequented the popular club. read more

GySgt Frank Rousseau

It is my sad duty to inform the many readers of his stories over the years, that GySgt Frank Rousseau has passed away. He was a 3-war Marine, but I knew him as a Bermuda marine. We all enjoyed his stories and recollections over the years. He was
a weapons expert, and what most people don’t know is that after retiring from the Corps, Frank started a very successful
business supplying Hollywood with weapons, many of which he designed and built himself, including the rifle that Chuck Norris used in his “Braddock” movies. Also, in “Rambo 2”, he designed the machine gun used in the helicopter scene where Rambo and
the POW’s he rescued are abandoned by the rescue helicopter. Frank told me that nobody in the cast could handle the gun, so he fired it himself. He can be seen in the door of the helicopter firing the gun. His business was carried on by his son Chuck. If you take the time to watch all the credits at the end of “Rambo”, “Missing in Action”, and other films, you will see his name listed as
“weapons consultant”. If there are ever any weapons required behind the Pearly Gates, you can be sure Frank will handle it.
Cpl. Paul W. Lindner 1959-1963 read more