Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, 21, of Santa Clara; killed in Afghanistan

Harry Lew's Chinese immigrant parents were shocked when he told them he was joining the U.S. military. The 19-year-old, their only son, had just started college; he had told them he wanted to become an animation designer.

“I tried to stop him, I told him the military is very dangerous,” said his father, Allen Lew, who runs a trade show exhibit business in the Santa Clara County community of San Martin.  “He just told us he wanted to serve his country.” read more

1st blood, 1st piss

 i was with bravo company 3rd recon in quang tri when one night in the rear i was getting shit faced on black label beer when we started getting mortered. i ran outsid my tent and crouched down when i felt this warm liquid on my leg. i thought i was hit and was going to bleed to death, but when i looked up there was p.f.c. petty drunk as i was pissing on my leg. whew! thanks petty.  read more

How Sgt. Grit changed my Marine Corps life and Marine Corps family.

I'm a Beirut Marine (Feb.-May'83 & Oct.-Dec.'83)with 2/6 H&S Co. Comm. Plt. I was coming home from work one day and I was behind a truck with a "Beirut Marine" bumper sticker (from Sgt. Grit.com of course). First of all,ever since I've been out of the corps,I have never heard of Sgt. Grit or have I ever met any Beirut vets here in my hometown of Lynn,Mass. As I was saying,I'm behind the truck with the bumper sticker. I hollered out,"when were you in Beirut?",he hollered back at me,"Oct.-Dec.'83". I asked, "who were you with?" he responded,"2/6". Well that blew my mind. I proceeded to tell him that we were there at the same time during my 2nd tour and to follow me to my house,which was right around the corner. His name is Joe Cafferelli and he was a police officer on his way to work. Well, we shot the sh** for what seemed like forever. I told him that we should exchange numbers and talk later so he wouldn"t get in trouble from his boss for being late. He asked me,do you see these bars on my shoulders?…I am the boss (LMAO). It felt so good to finally talk to someone who has seen what I've seen and experienced the same losses as I have. He then told me about the Beirut memorial in N. Carolina and the one here in Boston,Mass. I never knew…please forgive my ignorance. Out of the 241 who gave there all,9 were from Mass. The BVA  Mass. chapter is headed by a remarkable woman by the name of Christine Devlin. Her son,L/cpl. Micheal J. Devlin 1962-1983 of Westwood,Mass. was taken from her on that fateful day of Oct 23,1983. This woman organizes the memorial event every year and should be commended for her own personal sacrifices she makes so that those brave peacekeepers will never be forgotten. Finally,Joe told me about the Sgt. Grit website,where he got that sticker.I tell every marine that I meet now,young and old alike,to grab a couple of six-packs when they go to your web-site…"because you're going to be there awhile." It feels like coming home every time I'm on the site. If it weren't for you Sgt. Grit,I wouldn't have never been able to expand my Marine Corps family (including your Co.) with these wonderful people in it. "Semper Fi" to all. Les we forget,"The first duty is to remember". Sincerely, L/cpl. Darryl J. Bradley Sr. Mar.'82-Mar.'85. read more

Blitz Britain: Amazing colour pictures of London under siege from Nazi bombers during World War II

For many, photographs from the World War II have only been seen in grainy black and white.

But now, new colour images have emerged that show the full horror of the destruction inflicted by Nazi bombings across London.

The powerful images were released to mark the 70th anniversary of the launch of Winston Churchill's 'V for Victory' campaign on July 19, 1941. read more

Up Close And Personal

 July 27, 2011: While the U.S. Army eliminated bayonet drills from basic training last year, the U.S. Marine Corps has not. The marines kept it not so much for developing weapons skills, but for mentally conditioning marines for combat. The bayonet drills are part of larger program emphasizing one-on-one combat. The army does this, to a lesser extent, and now without bayonet training. read more