Hollywood Marine

Hollywood Marine

Sgt. Grit,

First: would like to say that as of February 3, 2010, our youngest, a daughter, is smack in the middle of her training to becoming a U.S. Marine. I?m busting with pride that she chose to go MARINE! We look forward to her letters and to the day when we will see her again, to once again let her know how proud her mom and I are, along with her entire family for her wiliness to earn the right to wear the EGA.

Second: would like to share an example of why some P.I. Marines call S.D. Marines, ?Hollywood Marines?. Enclosed is a picture that might stir up some memories! As you can see in the picture, the ?San Diego Boot? in the front of the line, waiting for one of several vaccination shots, is most definitely wearing sunglasses. Needless to say, he became known as ?HOLLYWOOD?. I don?t recall him wearing his shades during Receiving. The shades popped up during the start of our training. The scuttlebutt was that he forgot his prescription clear glasses, therefore the shades. And most likely was a little hesitant to bring them out earlier! Once he received his USMC corrected eyesight device issue, the shades disappeared. Our D.I.?s had a field-day with him! I can still hear our D.I.?S barking ?HOLLYWOOD, front and CEEN-TERRR!? ?HOLLYWOOD, move your A**!? ?HOLLYWOOD ?? ?HOLLYWOOD ?? Well, you get the idea. So HOLLYWOOD, if you?re out there, back me up with this story!

Third: what?s the issue between MCRD Parris Island vs. MCRD San Diego? One has Sand fleas, mosquitoes, freezing cold, stagnant humidity; the other, jet landings and takeoffs just over the fence, jet engine fumes, foggy mornings, sunny days, and cool nights. I?d have to go with SD, on this one. Of course it?s all in fun. We all know we received the same training, and at the end of it, we all thought we bleed GREEN, and if asked, could bite off the head of a snake!

The time was, 3 September 1969, when HOLLYWOOD, and myself along with about 75 other recruits stepped on those yellow footprints. We started out in tents, with the raised plywood deck. Our platoon area was just a few yards away from the fence line that separated MCRD from the San Diego Airport. A few weeks later we upgraded to Quonset huts. The two weeks at Edson range were great; we actually stayed in a building with indoor plumbing (we drilled and qualified with the M14). And yes, back in our platoon areas, our Marine Corps grass was a nicely manicured lawn of dirt and sand. With rocks we would spell out our platoon number, but heaven help you, if you trespassed over it!

We were called the L.A. platoon, because most of us came from the neighborhoods of Los Angeles. All through our training we displayed the L.A. city flag underneath our guidon. Enclosed is my Platoon picture. I?m on the third row from the top, fifth from the left. We were Plt. 3168, K co, 3thBN. RTR. Our SDI was SSGT Taylor, with SSGT Feyerchak. Just sharing some Marine Corps boot camp issued memories, and letting all know how proud we are of our daughter.

Semper Fi,
Ray Chavez
Former Marine
SSGT, USMC/ USMCR