WOMEN MARINES/USMC MOUNTED COLOR GUARD

I was perusing the newsletter tonight and ran across a pix of the Mounted Color Guard at Camp Pendleton. I was married to a career Marine who was on the Color Guard and participated in the Rose Parade back in the mid 60's. We went to many parades and camped out with the horses – including making a "pit" toilet for ourselves and the girls.Our daughter Terri, who was barely 13 months old in 1965, walked beneath the stomachs of the horses … and we held our breaths, but they behaved perfectly; including the one who danced down the street when he believed that the line in the middle was going to get up and bite him! Not so for our doxie Lil- Bit, for she ran out to bark at the horses and he kicked her in the head!  She didn't do that again! Our daughter Melodye had a horse that she raced in the barrel races at Camp Pendleton. I have a picture of her that was in the Pendleton Scout. read more

“HORSE MARINES” @ CAMP PENDLETON

27 JAN 2012:

JUST RECEIVED AN E-MAIL FROM A COMBAT BUDDY THIS DATE, TO HAVE ME LOOK AT "GRIT'S MARINE CORPS STORIES IN WHICH HE KNEW THAT I HAD BEEN A PART OF WHILE IN THE CORPS. I WAS VERY SURPRISED TO SEE YET ANOTHER PHOTO OF THE MARINE CORPS MOUNTED COLOR GUARD @ "STEPP STABLES" MCB CAMP PENDLETON. I WAS ALSO "TAD" WITH THE MOUNTED GUARD UNIT, THE YEAR(S) WERE FROM 1967 THRU 1969. AT THAT TIME, GEN. ROBERTSON WAS IN CHARGE OF MCB PENDLETON, COL. ASA BOWEN, SGT/MAJ. STEPP, SGT/MAJ. McCALLISTER AND GY/SGT W.E. POWELL WAS THE CHAIN OF COMMAND. I RECOGNIZED TWO OF THE MOUNTS IN THE PHOTO SUBMITTED, "EL NOCHE & "BLACK BYRD". DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHEN THE PHOTO SUBMITTED BY "SAM REED" WAS, BUT, IT SHOWS THAT THE VERY SAME "TACK" AND ALL DRESSINGS LOOK TO BE THE VERY SAME AS WHEN I WAS THERE AT "STEPP STABLES" CAM.PEN., 67-69…, read more

Soggy Welcome

I arrived at Danang on the Marine Corps birthday in 1968.  There was a steady rain falling.  We FNG's made our way to the Transit Barracks, and passed by a table, with a half eaten cake, covered by a wind blown canopy.  Once inside we chose our bunks and waited to be assigned to our Units.  An E5 approached me and asked that I get three buddies for a "detail".  He then told the four of us to grab our ponchos and he handed us two broom handles.  He then walked us out to the back side of the "shitters", lifted the hinged hatch and told us to thread the broom handles through the holes which had been cut near the top of the 55 gallon drums (cut in 1/2 for depository purposes).  We  proceeded to slosh our way' to the distant "burn area" and ignited the fuel & feces.  We made several trips.  What a warm welcome it was. read more