December 24 1968

I found this picture that was taken on Dec.24 1968. We were along the border with Laos. I'm the one in the center with glasses. I used to be called Groucho because I smoked cigars. The other guys in the picture are Mike on the left Bill next to me and Tom in the hooch. We were In Alpha Co 1/3. I lost touch with most everyone over the years. The picture brings back a lot of memories.
Some good,some bad.   read more

My time in Beirut

I would like to share some memories of my own, and see if anyone of your readers served in Beirut, especially between August 1982 and February 1984. I was with Bravo Co. 1/8, 24th MAU, incountry May to November 1983. I have good memories and bad, as anyone who has been in combat has. Some of the good ones usually involve the crazy things that we did to keep our sanity, ie practical jokes on each other, or just silly things, like the night we took a close hit at the University, a shell landed outside the area we chose to sleep in, the room was full of choking dust, our ears were ringing, and as they cleared, we could hear the steady snoring of one of the Marines. I still carry the bad memories, and will keep them to myself, we all know about them. Combat, though tragic  in many ways, can bring about the most hilarious things. One night we were taking fire, every one was geared up and in thier positions, when this 2nd Lt came running up with his helmet and flakjacket on over white skivies, did he ever stand out like a sore thumb. But a memorable time was the day all hell broke loose, a Sunday, we were at the University position, and Sunday was traditional Barbecue day. The Company Gunny and 1st Sgt were at the grill, both Vietnam Vets, calmly donned flak jackets and brain buckets, and continued to grill. (at that time most of the incomming rounds appeared not to be directed at us, but soon it was clearly meant to ruin our day). War is hell, and you make the best of a bad situation, SNAFU is the word. Most people outside of the military don't realise that unlike the wars of the past, time out doesn't exist for Christmas and New Years, it continues as routine. read more

Once And Always

Hi Sgt.

Just wanted to thank you for the outstanding custom jacket, it's everything I expected from your company. I always tell people "Once And Always" describes how I feel about being in our Corps. I was born on Nov.10,1941 so you can see I was born to be a Marine, joined as soon as I turned 17 years old and was active from 1958 to 1962. My older brother (Sgt. Michael W. Stack 1469032 Deceased) joined a couple of years ahead of me.  read more

Thank You

Sergeant Grit,

I wanted to say Thank You for providing a place were Marines can gather as a community and order things only Chesty would want!   Thank You.   Regards, Former Sergeant Stephens   Photo description: Riding forward reconnaissance for 1st Marine Division during the Intial Invasion of Iraq (OIF I – 2003 – Miliary Police Company)