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January 17, 2020 Grunt.com Admin

Yellow Foot Prints -San Diego MCRD

By: Sgt Darrel B Whiting

I was in Boot Camp in August of 1953, and could not remember if there were yellow foot prints there at my arrival…others during the same area couldn’t remember if they were there either. I called MCRD and talked to a nice young lady in the Museum there. She confirmed that the first they could establish that the Yellow Foot Prints were there was in 1963, in fact JFK visited the base and stood in the foot prints. Also she told me that in 1953 the first recruit graduation books came out. Thought others would be interested …. guess we are now ready to report to the museum at 84 years old….

Filed in: Marine Corps Stories
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Comments

RICHARD L. SLATER - December 23, 2023

I enlisted in Our Corps August 1956. Arrived at MCRD San Diego, CA during that same month. There were no yellow foot prints at that time.

Marty Kiepke - May 4, 2023

May 3, 1977 — 21:30 Pacific Time - yellow footprints. 6 hours later - May 4, 1977 -03:30 Pacific Time - “GET UP !!! GET UP !!! GET OUTTA THE RACK !!! WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS ??? A F____ING HOTEL!!!” 60 started / 39 graduated.

Moore,Ronald, Lee - December 28, 2022

Was on yellow foot prints January 1965 plt 103 MCRDSD..SEMPER FI ALL MARINES

Don Montgomery - December 11, 2022

Arrived December 15, 1968 platoon 2255 on the road girls! Never forget those words as the DIs below out deep from their voice for us to fall into those yellow footprints snapping us on the back of the head as we got off the bus from the airport dark cold early in the morning!! Graduated March 16, 1969 Honor Platoon 2255 Semper Fi Bother’s !

Leonard Louder - March 30, 2020

I was standing on the yellow foot prints at 2:30am after arriving at MCRD thinking in my mind oh lord what have I gotten myself into there no way I’m going to get out of this. But 13 weeks later I did graduate from MCRD and became a Marine…………Leonard Louder-Graham, Tx

Cal Hebert - March 30, 2020

Sorry, I was in platoon 27. I was the JDI for platoon 306. 85 year old brain .

SgtGrit - March 30, 2020

Nope been here for a while. But I have started posting more stories recently! Semper Fi Cpl!

Paul Chacho Jr SGT E5 1966-1969 - March 30, 2020

I arrived on a bus at P.I. in the middle of the night. There were yellow footprints because I was standing in a pair. Like a lot of you I was confused, scared, with chaos all around; But we made it. Platoon 2063 July 1966. Semper Fi.

Paul Chacho Jr - March 30, 2020

I arrived on a bus at P.I. in the middle of the night. There were yellow footprints because I was standing in a pair. Like a lot of you I was confused, scared, with chaos all around; But we made it. Platoon 2063 July 1966. Semper Fi.

G Willard 0311, 8651/0321, 8511… - March 30, 2020

The yellow footprints at P.I. came about in 1965. President Kennedy’s “Yellow Footprints” memorialized his visit to MCRD San Diego in 1963, so MCRD obviously had them before that.

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