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January 13, 2017 Grunt.com Admin

Only Difference

I was an early Vietnam Marine (’65-’65). I was a Combat Engineer and worked out of Carmon Bay. To this day I have disagreements with people about Navy Corpsman.

Here is the way I explain it and when they hear this they say no more. The only difference between a Corpsman and a Marine is they wore Navy Rank on a Marine uniform. As far as Marines went they were part of us. They deserve all the honor that goes to the Marines. They fought alongside of Marines, they died with Marines. They are, as far as I am concerned, Marines.

Cpl. E. Morris
11th Engineers TAD

Filed in: Marine Corps Stories
Previous article Lineage of the USMC Eagle, Globe and Anchor

Comments

Harold Davis - March 30, 2020

I will always think of the platoon of Marines I served with as “MY MARINES”. The only pictures I have of myself from my time in service is in MY Marine Uniform!! With Great Pride!!HM 8404 Davis

Woodrow W. Pea, Jr. - March 30, 2020

So what if corpsmen wear funny looking insignia on Marine uniforms? That doesn’t make one any less of a Marine. If it weren’t for them, how many of our brothers would not be around today? Thank God we have them.

Gunny48 - March 30, 2020

Ours went with us everywhere…even into the bars & houses of ill repute that we somehow found no matter where we went. They “saved” a lot of us from the unwanted consequences…LOL. They are part of our Devil Dog pack. We protect our pack – violently and without remorse. Semper fidelis.

John Tep - March 30, 2020

When a brother Yelled Corpman up,and he is there,he may be a navy corpman,but he’s a brother Marine who just ran through shit to get to you. 3rd engineer bn, with 1/9 68-69

Pug - March 30, 2020

The Corpsmen I served with would not stand by to being called Marines. They knew they were one with us though. But proud to be Corpsmen.

Marine mom - March 30, 2020

“God made Corpsmen so Marines would have someone to look up to”

Ed Emanuel - March 30, 2020

I think you will find that any 03 will agree that a Corpsman is a Navy Marine. Corpsman up and they were always on the run, love those guys. As you know not everyone can be a Marine, but a Corpsman can.

aardq - March 30, 2020

In reply to Bob Beckwith.
How about Cam Rahn Bay, RVN; and Camp Lejune, NC.

Don Z’Boray, HM2 - March 30, 2020

Quite similar to your Doc Wilde I rallied against the VN war. But paradoxically, volunteered for the Nav — partly so I could avoid poundin’ ground for the Army as a rifleman, crapping my pants every day of an inevitable tour in the ‘Nam. As my dad was an Army field medic in WW2 and being able to choose HM “A” school after boot camp, I went for it knowing absolutely nothing about where the majority of male HMs were destined to go after graduation. (Are you grinning or laughing out loud about my sorry 23 y/o ass yet?) Yeah, I’ve appreciated the irony all my life. My FMF “C” school training, thank God, was thourough, extensive and intensive. And by the end of it my mindset about my service was radically altered. Given the choice of grooming, I went green without a moment’s hesitation. I lived a hundred stories as a “Devil Doc”. Some of them make my chest swell with pride over what I accomplished for My Marines in that year; many of them just fuckin’ break my heart, and always will. But I am truly grateful for the opportunity I had to serve my fellow Marines, to be a Marine. Equally grateful am I for the reliable courage any man next to me showed and the incredible bravery demonstrated to keep me alive and safe under fire. My wife thanks y’all, as do four daughters, fourteen grandchildren, and two “greats”. Life’s ironies don’t always mean a bad break. It can be the chance of a lifetime. Semper fi, my brothers and sisters. Semper fi.

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