I was in Boot Camp in August of 1953, and could not remember if there were yellow foot prints there at my arrival…others during the same area couldn’t remember if they were there either. I called MCRD and talked to a nice young lady in the Museum there. She confirmed that the first they could establish that the Yellow Foot Prints were there was in 1963, in fact JFK visited the base and stood in the foot prints. Also she told me that in 1953 the first recruit graduation books came out. Thought others would be interested …. guess we are now ready to report to the museum at 84 years old….
I learned to fear amtracks (Not their firepower but getting stuck in the mud).
April 10,1965 we landed in Vietnam as a member of the 9th MEB, I was a rifleman with Fox 2/3 fast forward a few weeks our reinforced Company had just boarded amtracks for a river landing 15-20 minutes later the operator had been tossing us around underwater when he said were stuck in the mud at the bottom of this muddy river, I can’t remember how many of us for sure were stuck inside 15 or more but it was hot, sweaty, and scary! One of the other amtracks had finally pulled us out.
RETIRED MARINE CORPS AMTRACKER DEVOTES A LIFETIME TO THE ASSAULT AMPHIBIAN COMMUNITY
Tommy “TJ” Pittman’s nearly 50-year dedication to the Marine Corps’ amphibious assault community is personal.
“I’ve loved it; I’ve absolutely loved it,” said Pittman, a logistician who retired in December after working in the Advanced Amphibious Assault program office at Program Executive Officer Land Systems for the past 30 years. “It’s the only thing I’ve done since I was 18 years old.”
Will Rogers’ Wisdom
Will Rogers, who died in a 1935 plane crash, was one of the greatest political sages this country has ever known.
Enjoy the following:
1. Never slap a man who’s chewing tobacco.
2. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.
3. There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.
Rules of Kung Fu
avoid before you block .
block before you hurt.
hurt before you maim.
maim before you kill’
kill before you are killed.
Duck for dinner
I entered the Corps on February 3, 1970, Parris Island, Platoon 218, A few weeks into training, I was introduced to “duck for dinner.” At first I thought wow wonder how these cooks are going to F _ _k up this meal. No not the case at all, the term means, that because the training schedule was tight, the platoon would “rangewalk” through the chow line and what ever each recruit could grab and eat and drink on the way to the exit was what you had for that meal. Our Drill Instructors would herd everyone through the process. What ever happens you wouldn’t want to be the last recruit to make formation. The Drill Instructor would take a quick head count, call everyone to attention, RIGHT FACE, forward march. At this phase there were 82 recruits, the entire event took under 25 minutes. I tell people about “suck for dinner” many can’t believe stuff like this happened.
More to ” The Basic Military Rules”
And then there is always this:
MILITARY DIFFERENCES
The reason the U. S. Armed Forces have
difficulty in coordinating and cooperating
with each other is that they do not use the
same jargon, and misunderstandings
frequently occur. For example:
If you tell the U. S. Navy to SECURE a
building, they will simply turn out the
lights and lock the door.
In response to ; GETTING TO KNOW THE DOG BEHIND THE HANDLER
I have a major concern. What happens when the dog is injured or not able to perform the duties he/she was trained for. Why doesn’t the DOD have a retirement program for the dogs? No injured dog should go with out the proper drugs or Vet support. They are no different than any other Combat Veteran, except they are on 4 legs. They should never be cast aside or destroyed due to inability to perform. Take care of them, find them a home and someone to care for them.
Blood Stripe
Always in uniform.!
Hard way to get to Boot Camp
Six of us flew from Kansas City in the Spring of 1962 on our way to S.D. MCRD. Our flight took us to Los Angeles and we had tickets in our package to catch a bus from there to San Diego. However, we got on the wrong bus and ended up at the Greyhound bus station in downtown L.A. We didn’t know what to do so I looked up the Marine Corps in the phone book and called the number. I explained our problem to the guy who answered and he said he would send someone to give us a ride to MCRD. What they sent was a Navy Shore Patrol paddy wagon! The the Navy cops shoved us in there and drove us to the receiving barracks. The optics were terrible. The D.I.s must have assumed we had gone AWOL and were captured and brought there. It was a very bad start.