July 4th idea

July 4th idea

Sgt Grit
MY son, Brian is stationed in Afghanastan and is setting up the new base there. He has asked for us to send chewing tabacco because the kind he likes is hard to come by. His uncle was kind enough to buy the chew and since it’s so cloce to the 4th of july I thought I would wrap the rolls up for him to make him feel a little bit more at home. Attached is a photo of my fire crackers. I call them Polish fire crackers (no offence to anyone Polish it’s a local expression). I thought maybe someone else would like a new idea to cheer up the troops, anything round will work. Maybe you could pass this on for me and also mention that I have found vaccume sealing cookies and brownies (which I heard they use in porker games sometimes) helps keep them fresher. read more

Older to Old

Older to Old

When I sit and have breakfast once a week with a group of 30 old men, I start to wonder where these men came from and what have they done in their lives. The majority of the group were veterans of all our military branches. Of the group, five were Marine Corp veterans. When I questioned them further about their experiences in the Corp, I began to realize that this was a very diversified group of men. The oldest was a WWII vet who was bayoneted on Saipan at 16 years old. The secondest oldest was with the 1st Marine Div at the Chosen Frozen, Korea and walked out with Chesty Puller’s group of tough marines. The third oldest spent two years in Viet Nam from 1965-1967, with three different units, A 1/4, M 3/26, and Third Force Recon. The fourth was Bob Jakucs, who spent 24 years in the Corp Regular and Reserve, obtained the rank of Colonel and went thru three wars, Viet Nam, Desert Storm and Iraq. I was the youngest and yes, proud of it. You might wonder why all these crusty old veterans were having breakfast together? They went on to serve the citizens of Los Angeles for 30 plus years as street cops, detectives and Sergeants. Our past president, “Ronald Regan”, said it best Some people wonder what they’ve done in their lives, Marines don’t have to worry about that. I feel this group of men are truly the image of what this great and beautiful country is all about. read more

Marine Corps Week in Chicago 2009

Marine Corps Week in Chicago 2009

Sgt. Grit, I?d like to send out a thank you to all of the Marines who were working at Marine Corps Week in Chicago, May 11th ? 17th, 2009 at Arlington Park Racetrack and Navy Pier. At Arlington Park, I got a little emotional when my hand found the grip and trigger of an M16 on display, just a little feeling overcoming me of great nostalgia and a little sadness, but it went away fairly soon. The rest of the time, I talked with some 03 Marines, great guys, sharing our stories, ribbing each other, laughing our tails off, etc. I was asking all the questions about how things have changed, and they had all the questions about how the Corps was 20 years ago. One Marine, a new Private First Class, was BORN a couple months before I went to Boot camp! I?m 37 years of age. That?s when I realized that you don?t have to be old to be old. read more

Thank you

Thank you

No real story, I just wanted to say thank you to ALL military veterans and active duty men and women. Im only 17 so of course I wasn’t much concerned about the war and such, until I met my fiance.. He is in the Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune. He will be leaving again in February of 2010 for Iraq or Afghanistan. I never knew how hard it would be with the deployments and being 4 hours away from each other during the weeks. I feel myself to have a very important job now, taking care of my Marine and hoping for a safe trip home. Thank you again 😀 read more

Marine and Army Presence at Wedding

Marine and Army Presence at Wedding

After losing Diane, my wife of over 27 years to cancer, over the past few years, I was able to find and marry a wonderful woman, my new bride Elizabeth. For the wedding, I had my two sons as the Best Men. The younger of the two is my son Corporal Paul Skulas, out of MCAS Cherry Point, NC. We both wore our blues for the wedding and reception. Attached is a picture of us with his beautiful wife Gillian, and another of our covers and sabers on the baby grand piano at the reception. read more

An Encounter with my Former SDI

An Encounter with my Former SDI

Acting SSgt William H. Lewis was our Senior Drill Instructor in Platoon 264 at MCRD San Diego. I was Platoon Guide (sometimes Right Guide but usually Left Guide) from shortly after we left Receiving Barracks in late August 1959 to graduation just before Thanksgiving 1959. As a result, I spent more time in the duty hut than other recruits. I should add that most of that time was spent in the “thinking position” doing penance for our platoon’s transgressions on any given day. Ten years later, in 1969, when I was a Captain and the S-3 for 1st Recruit Training Battalion (1stRTBn), I got a call from the Regimental Adjutant, Capt Frank Waters (an LDO, later as a LtCol to become Admin Officer to CMCs Wilson and Barrow). He asked me if I had anything to keep some former 8511s (DIs) busy for a while. There were some SNCOs in his office that had been sent down from Balboa Naval Hospital where they were recuperating from wounds or other injuries/maladies, were bored to death, and needed something to do to occupy their time. Since they were 8511s they came to the Recruit Training Regiment (RTR). I asked my Ops Chief if he had any special projects that he needed to have done. He said he had one but he would only need one man. I told Frank we could use one, to have him report to me, and I hung up the phone. read more