Marine Corps Stories - Other Eras
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- Maybe Never
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Sgt Grit Here is a copy of my certificate of Amtrac School that I went to in Camp Delmar at Oceanside Ca. And that was before P35 I think that is what they were called. I came there from boot camp leave, then to advanced infantry training. Then to Camp Gifu Japan in a comm. Platoon Anglico for 15 months then back the states, 2531 & 0849 mos. Parris Island for 14 months in the Post Exchange and never seen the inside of an Amtrac again. Discharged in Sept. 1957 …
Read More - End of March again..
- Thinking of C 1/5 circa 1989... I can still recite the names and ssn's after all these years. I must have repeated the kia's 10 times each over BN Net. Mike Kelley Sgt. 88-96 B 1/5 and HQ5MAR and 5th Recon Co and finally 2nd SRIG
- MAG-13
- I was with MAG-13 from 1958-1960. It was not a helicopter outfit then but had HMR (L)-161 as part of its make-up. When we were sent to Atsugi, Japan in 1958, they stayed behind to support the 4th Marines, then part of the 1st MarBrigade. John Foley MAG-13Communications/MABS-13/MAG-13/1st MARBRIG Kaneohe MCAS A/CPL 1563021 June, 1958 to May, 1960
- Kuwait Oil Fires
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To those who are veterans of Desert Shield/Storm, this may be a sight you may remember. I've had it in my dreams for over 20 yrs and needed to "exercise it out of me", or at least make an attempt to paint what I remember. I feel like I succeeded in that it has become a great focal point for me to just sit back and get lost in it. 2'x4' Acryclic on MDF. Semper Fi!
- D.U.K.W.
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Dear Sgt. Grit I was a between the wars Marine and served from 10/55 to 10/58 with 5 years inactive reserve. My first and best duty station, following P.I. (Platoon 164) and I.T.R. at Pendleton, was at Camp McGill Japan. Camp McGill was a former Japanese naval base and my draft wound up in the 1st Amphibian Truck Co., 2nd AMTRAC Batt. 3rd Marines. The company was soon downsized to platoon strength and became the 3rd D.U.K.W. Platoon with Capt. Dave Dichter commanding. D.U.K.W.s are better known as "DUCKS". I believe …
Read More - Old Cold War Marine
- Here I am during war games when stationed with the 4th Marine Regiment 1958 I was in Bravo Anti Tank Co and we had the first Ontos.They were mostly out of commission and not reliable at all. The small engine and transmissions did not hold up. This was post Korean War area and the corps was downsized. We seldom got new equipment but rebuilt and hand me downs from the army. We still had M1 Garands, the Army M14s. In the pic I had a 45 cal submachine gun which was …
Read More - Patrol the Persian Gulf
- Dear Sgt Grit: The "Horns of Hormuz" are in the news again. It appears that the Iranian government are once again threatening to close this critical waterway to shipping. However, also according to the latest news reports, there are two carrier strike groups currently assigned to patrol the Persian Gulf. One of their missions, and the Unites States Navy's mission, is to keep the sea lanes open in defense of freedom of the seas. Another of their tasks is to support ground operations in the southwest Asia theater of operations. That means he'll be supporting the Marines. …
Read More - Friday by Boat
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The way I left MCAS Kaneohe in JANUARY 1963 was, I rescued a tourist surfer in Waikiki. He got hit in the head by another novice surfer, a blond, who just took off. I pulled his head out of the water and asked him his name. No response, outta of it. I put him on his board and toe towed him to the beach yelling for help. A life guard came out and we got him to the beach. A cop saw the number of the board I rented and …
Read More - Camp Hauge and other tidbits
- I was stationed at Camp Hauge Okinawa in 1958-59. We still had Cinderella Liberty then too. However, since Disbursing for the 3rd and 12th Marines was detached from H&S Co and Battalion at Camp Courtney we had illegal liberty cards to get us on and off the base. We were able to stay off base overnight. You only had to worry about a typhoon which would keep all Marines on base after midnight. I fortunately never got caught. I hope the statue of limitations has expired! When I went through …
Read More - Combat to combo master
- So after the long grueling trip back from Kuwait, my platoon arrived back onboard KMCAS Hawaii and we were shown to our respective barracks. It was zero dark thirty and nobody was around as we observed that our rooms had combo locks on the doors. Every single one of us Marines had a room awaiting us with an unknown combo lock keeping us from the comfort of a bed. Something long dreamed of. We had just spent several months in the desert mostly sleeping in the pits of sand we …
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