Reunion of Platoon 151 vintage 1962

Sgt. Grit, we want to let you know of our recent reunion of Platoon 151, vintage 1962, to encourage others of that vintage to do the same. Following stellar instruction from SSgt. W. E. Dillsaver, Sgt. W. H. Murphy, Sgt J. L. Gartside and Cpl. R. A. Snogles, Parris Island Platoon 151 graduated on September 25, 1962. Forty Six years later, on October 25, 2008 we celebrated our First Reunion just outside Quantico, Virginia attended by twenty platoon members including 1St.Sgt Jan Gartside and 1St.Sgt. Ronald Snoggles. The photo below shows most of the members attending and positions 5 & 6 on the front Row are 1st. Sgts. Gartside and Snoggles. The Internet served us well in locating over half of our platoon and we'll locate additional Marines prior to our Second Reunion scheduled for the Fall of 2009 near Parris Island. read more

71st PLT MCRD SD 1943

Hello again Sgt. Grit…

My FIL's platoon pic from 1943. I believe he said it was April of 43. He does not even remember this picture being taken and was quite surprised that I had gotten my hands on it! My son enlisted in April of 03 under DEP and graduated from MCRD SD in 2004 and we received his platoon picture; I inquired of my FIL if he had a platoon picture and he said no, they didn't do that back then. So armed with the Platoon # and the year and his name, I contacted the museum out in SD and they were able to send me this picture… he is in the center row, 3rd from the left – Amos Konop. After boot he went to Okinawa and was in the thick of things in that invasion (my son also went to [a very different] Okinawa after boot camp!). He says he was in the "Air Corp" and worked on airplanes, rigging them to carry bombs. So I am just wondering if anyone else out there has a family member who served during this time and was in the "Air Corp" – would love to hear from you. Amos is now 84 years old and still kickin'! read more

Where Did The Time Go

Where did the time go? Only yesterday I was a snot nosed kid, deciding to join the Marines after watching the new TV show Gomer Pyle USMC. Well I did boot in San Diego. Platoon 1065 (honor platoon) 1st btn. Then Pendleton for ITR. Memphis (millington, tn) for electronics. Back to Pendleton, then Da Nang at Mag 11 vmo 2 then back here to the world. Anyway to treat myself I rode my scoot all the way to Camp Pendleton and San Diego, about 1300miles (one way). I had a good time overall, brought back a lot of memories, but as usual things had changed. My old squadron HML 267 was still there. Toured the facility. attended the EGA ceremony at Edson Range (didn't have that when I was in). Then headed south to Diego for a graduation ceremony. Probably best thing was, the D I's were calling me SIR! Donated a graduation yearbook to the base museum, and some photos. Anyway here's a picture of me under the REAL NCIS sign at Pendleton and HMLA 267 Didn't see anything on the walls from my era though. read more

Iraqis who fought view U.S. exit with mixed feelings

Sunni fighter Abu Mujahid lost a leg battling U.S. Marines in the Iraqi city of Falluja, scene of some of the fiercest battles of the Iraq war.

Small pieces of shrapnel still pit his skull and scars decorate his body after a missile strike in 2004 by a U.S. warplane on the city in the western province of Anbar — Iraq's Sunni heartland and once a stomping ground for al Qaeda. Full article read more

Military funeral picketing tests free speech

YORK, Pa. — Albert Snyder tears up, then turns angry as he recalls burying his Marine Corps son while members of the anti-gay fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church picketed nearby.

“I can remember being presented the flag at the graveyard. I can remember saluting the coffin,” Snyder says of the unusually balmy day in March 2006 when the family memorialized Matthew, a lance corporal killed in Iraq.   Full Article read more