Yellow Footprints

Sgt Grit,

To continue my story, Fifty seven years ago I stood on the footprints at MCRD San Diego, seventeen years ago my son stood on those prints,five years ago one of my Grandsons took his turn,five weeks ago another Grandsoon had his turn. The ironic part of this is that all of us will have had their first duty station at 29 Palms, what are the odds? Needless to say am a very proud Marine,Marine father and Marine Grandfather. read more

US Marines and Taliban fight battle of perceptions

  GA_googleFillSlot(“news_story_left_sidebar”); FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan The jarring blast near the American base sent up a mushroom cloud of smoke that drifted silently in the breeze. “Not good,” a U.S. Marine said. Minutes later, vehicles raced through the gates with the wounded, three Marines and half a dozen Afghans.

Some lay bloodied on stretchers as medics worked on them. Soon, a pair of helicopters swept in and scooped up the injured, including a bomb sniffer dog, for delivery to a military hospital.

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Word spread. A suicide bomber in a car packed with explosives had attacked security forces in the Sangin district center, next to the Marine battalion headquarters in an area of southern Afghanistan that has seen some of the war's hardest fighting. Three Afghan police and four civilians were killed. read more

Sgt Grit Newsletter September 22 , 2011

Court Street

Sgt Grit,

Just wanted to write it to ask my fellow Jarheads if they have any fond memories or funny stories of Court Street, Jacksonville, North Carolina?

For those Marines who were not stationed at Camp Geiger, Camp Lejeune or New River Air Station, Court street was a famous (or infamous if you will) street off of Highway 17 that ran through Jacksonville. I talk about it as if it was a city or a major place when in fact it was a just a short dead-end street off of the main drag that was loaded with seedy bars, strip joints and tattoo joints, but it was famous indeed. I have not been back to that area since I was discharged back in 1985, but I am told that the place was closed down several years ago. read more