Before the first Higgins boat hit Tarawas reef, before Semper Fi echoed through Khe Sanh or Helmand,…

There are bars, and then there’s Trader Jon’s, where the floor was sticky, the air was thick…

In the world of the United States Marine Corps, words do not just carry meaning, they carry…

In the United States Marine Corps, every phrase carries weight. Some are barked as commands, others whispered…

Jonathan Martin, also known as Keto, holds the quiet distinction of being the first documented Black Marine…

In the days when I entered the Corps, 782 gear consisted of one short sword, one shield…

John Beeman MCRD San Diego | Sergeant | 6400 | 1964 – 1970 Then Now The Journey…

Wally Beddoe MCRD San Diego, Cpl, 3073, 1981, 1985 Then Now The Journey Begins I joined mostly…

On the humid night of April 8, 1956, Staff Sergeant Matthew McKeon led his platoon of fresh-faced…

Setting: Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, December 1775. It’s the coldest winter in recent memory, but inside, the heat…

Que Son Mountains, South Vietnam, November 1970 The jungle doesn’t whisper, it swallows. Rain clawed at the…

At Parris Island, I was in First Battalion. The First and Second Battalions lived in WWII era,…

The plywood walls of the target shed pressed in around me like a coffin as Staff Sergeant…

Colonel William Richard Higgins was born on January 15, 1945, in Danville, Kentucky, and raised in Louisville,…

MEMORIAL DAY 2025 by Capt. Ben Cascio, USMC Ret. Another Memorial Day is upon us. Not that…

Every day in Vietnam seemed like a Monday, because the weekend good times were over, and you…

Today’s newspaper carried a short obituary about a young Marine who died recently in the Middle East….

Listen, I take Saturday showers like most of you; even use soap and water when I do….

When the muskets fell silent in 1783, and the Treaty of Paris declared American independence a reality,…

The Battle of Guadalcanal (August 7, 1942 – February 9, 1943) was the first major Allied offensive…

The sun broke over the horizon in a brilliant display of orange and gold, painting the clouds…

At dawn on April 29, 1975, the CH-46D Sea Knight, known as YT-14, stood ready on the…

Whenever I am in the back yard and hear the sound of rotor blades, I’m reminded of…

Combat zone, combat pay, no CAR. I always feel weird when asked about being a combat Marine….

Down the street from me is a former WW-II Coast Guard type. He keeps telling me he…

In 1985, I was a young LCpl, 5811 at Camp H. M. Smith, HI (Now Marine Base…

I recently had the opportunity to join Gunny G on his Pit-Talk Podcast, where we discussed a…

When we think of Marines, we often picture the sun, bleached sand of Parris Island or the…

I’m writing this now before the few memory banks I have left slowly turn the ones I…

At the end of 1966 I transferred from 3/5 to 1st MPs at Danang Airbase. The CO…

Do you remember the last time the Skipper requested you front and center yourself in his presence…

During the turbulent years of the Vietnam War, the U.S. Marines were not only called to engage…

When my Momma sent me off to the Vietnam camp-o-ree with a few other MAG-36 folks during…

I have always regarded my 1966-67 Viet Nam combat tour with the Marine Corps as a remarkable…

Recent budget hearings in Washington have led some to believe changes must be made in the Defense…