His Immediate Response

Sgt Grit:
I truly enjoy your newsletters. Thanx for doing them. I write today to tell you of two things that have happened to me recently. I have encountered two brother Marines under different circumstances but both responded to me in ways that continue to give me continued pride in who we are – Marines. My wife and I were at our neighbor's home for a little dinner party at which she was introducing her aging parents to all of us after her parent's move from Oklahoma. Later in the evening our neighbor approached me asking if I had been a Marine. I acknowledge that experience had been in my past and she said that her father (the party guest of honor) was a WWII Marine. My response to her was "I knew there was something I liked about him." She called her father over to our little-standing-around group and introduced me as having been a Marine. His immediate response to our delight was "I knew there was something I liked about him". I could only smile at the surprised look on her face. Her dad and I talked for a long time. What a wonderful evening that was later sitting with this man – this Marine - and swapping stories. He was at Iwo Jima and with artillery. The second encounter with a fellow Marine came in late afternoon rush hour traffic. Kansas City has an interstate highway that circles the city to facilitate vehicular movement. In the four lane flow, I noticed an EGA sticker on the back window and one of Grit's license plate frames on the vehicle that came past me on my starboard side. He became stuck behind some slower vehicles which impeded his continued advance in that lane. I slowed my speed to allow him space to change into my lane. I caught his eye by waving him over in front of me which he appreciated. He gave a friendly wave in thanks to which I responded with one of the snappiest Marine hand salutes I could muster. He returned a properly executed Marine hand salute of his own. I know not his name but we are brothers who take care of our own even in rush hour traffic. That sticker in his window rated a courtesy that I do not normally afford vehicles operated by slimy civilians gaggling about without purpose.
William Ferreter
Marine 1971-20??
PLC '71, '72
TBS '73-74
Active '74-84

Not Enough

Rest assured Cpl, you are not alone.
We are Marines! We are the hardest charging group of women and men our country has to offer. We are drawn to the Corps because we are at heart, warriors. Those of us who did not see combat will probably ALWAYS feel as if we did not do our job, are slacking, unsat etc etc. We are trained and socialized by or time in to look down upon those %10 'ers who are not pulling their weight. I will always feel as if I SHOULD be there with "my" Marines, fighting the good fight ( which means any fight we are told to go to, regardless of politics ).
This feeling is, I guess, pretty common.
After reading another book on Iwo Jima, I noted that a Marine Lt. mentioned in the book lived not too far away from my home town. I googled him, found a retired Dr. and by every measure a very successful and balanced individual. When I mentioned my feelings of inadequacy, of being a slacker, he said he understood. This Marine, who spent some three weeks of combat on Iwo, attacking EVERY day ALL day, said he had the exact same feelings of inadequacy because he spent ONLY three weeks fighting. Imagine that. He lost about %70 of his platoon, led Marines incredibly well, was a hero to his men and he felt as if he did not do enough. NOT ENOUGH!
I realized then, that I will ALWAYS feel this way. I am trained to feel this way. If this hero still feels this way, I should honor my own service, be proud of being a Marine who did not see combat (it was not my fault the winds of war were not blowing at the time) and get on with life with all the gusto and warrior spirit I have. I may be a peacetime Marine, but I am still one hard charging, fired up, willing to give all to my country, individual. Such is my lot in life.
I now live as a Marine in this civilian world. I did more for this country than most did. I was WILLING to fight, WANTING to fight. Sometimes that has to be enough.
Semper Fidelis
Scott E. Gray
Sgt. Lima 3/1 84'-87'

Notice Details

In the beautiful Northwest the days are warm, but the vine maples have begun to turn red and the bracken ferns have begun to die. The weather is still sunny and warm, but the living things know that summer is gone. With the sun lower in the sky, it is possible to see the profusion of spider webs in the morning sun. On certain days, when the west wind blows and the light is just right, I can see the long strands of spiders' webs blowing in silence through the fir trees. The spiders are busy, hunting and setting traps for the coming winter. Hunters know the realities.
On October 7th, The Oregonian newspaper, of Portland, Oregon ran the following column on the far left of the front page: 'Marines killed Iraqi civilian, medic says'. I tend to notice details in life. The Marine Corps taught me that and Vietnam gave me the field experience. The title is incorrect on two counts. First, the Marines don't have medics: the army has medics. Second, to say that a civilian was killed is an irrelevant point because terrorists dress as civilians, live among the civilians, pose as civilians and hide behind civilians. Therefore, to ask a Marine engaged in combat to make a split second decision as to who is a terrorist or who is the innocent civilian is moot. When we send our men and women to war, we should not burden and encumber them with the niceties of civilized society. If the political piece of society had worked, there would not need to be a war. War is a testament to the failure of the body politic: it is the admission that governments did not reach a peaceful resolution. The moral breakdown begins when governments send individuals to fight in a war and demand that they conduct themselves as a civilized being in the most uncivilized human activity.
In his seminal work, The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell states that when individuals join the military, the rules of existence change. "You're giving up your personal life and accepting a socially determined manner of life in the service of society of which you are a member. That is why I think it is obscene to judge people in terms of civil law for performances that they rendered in time of war. They were acting not as individuals, they were acting as agents of something above them and to which they had by dedication given themselves. To judge them as though they were individual human beings is totally improper."
I believe little that I read in the media these days. But I do remember an old grizzled gunnery sergeant outside of Con Thien who once said to our platoon: "Marines there are three rules of war: Rule number one is that the good and innocent will die. Rule number two is that rule number one never changes. Rule number three is that there will always be another war and Marines will be there to fight it."
Semper Fi,
R. A. Wulff,
Guns, Lima Co,
Third Marines
RVN, '68

As An Old Marine

This for that "young Marine" that has that feeling of "not completing his mission". Don't feel alone. That is part of being a Marine! As an old Marine, I offered my services back to the Corps in 1990, but was told that I was too old. When we went into Iraq , I again offered, but again I was told--too old. When I heard that The Marines had landed in Lebanon to protect the Americans, during this last thing with Israel and the hesbolah,I again offered and again was too old. That is what being a Marine is about-THE FEW THE PROUD THE MARINES. To me, even after Cuba in 62, 2 tours in Nam, Taiwan, 22 months as a Drill Instructor at Parris Island, my tour was not over yet. I will always be with you. We, your Drill Instructors, made you a Marine, just like mine did me.
Sgt C.D. Crutchfield B Co. 1st Bn Parris Island 67-68

Straightforward Account

Friday, Oct. 06, 2006
A Letter From Iraq
A Marine's letter home, with its frank description of life in "Dante's inferno," has been circulating through generals' in- boxes.
Note: you have to go to the website to read this, they had to get permission to print it, and I'm not going to infringe on that. It's pretty interesting, you should check it out. Use the link at the top of the page.

Sgt. Grit, we need to tell all of our brothers to save their money on this piece of junk movie. (The Marine) It has little or nothing to do with the Corps. It is a total disaster and not even close to being worth the matinee and senior discount price. It was produced by the WWE, i.e. Vince McMahon of wrestling infamy. Looking forward to the "Flags of our Father" though.
Dwaine Goodwin
1955382 E4, 1960-1964