US Marine ranks.....

I will join those who stated a great respect for Marines. My sister's husband was a Navy Corpsman with the 3rd. Marine Division. He fught, as an infantry Marine, on Bouganville, Guam and Iwo Jima. At Bouganville, they found training charts the Japanese had, depicting the Corpsmen as prime targets. It was then they threw away their Red Cross identifications and picke up a rifle. He was fortunate enough to get an M-1 Rifle.

My nephew was a Marine in Viet Nam. He was at Khe Sanh. During the fighting there one night, a sapper ran into an ammo dump for the 175mm guns and detonated his charges. His head and shoulder landed next to my nephew.

Bob Wright

My great uncle was a Navy corpsman and lost his life working with the Marines on Saipan. Don't know what they called him but I am sure they respected him.

I served with my attack squadron on board the USS Midway aircraft carrier during the Vietnam war. We had a Marine detachment that we jokingly referred to as "Sea going Bell hops". They did a helluva job sinking garbage sacks off the fantail with their .30 cal machine guns. They also guarded the payroll.

All that being said, they were respected for their service.

Heliman said:

My great uncle was a Navy corpsman and lost his life working with the Marines on Saipan. Don't know what they called him but I am sure they respected him...........

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Ask any combat vet - the Army medics and the Navy corpsmen were easily the most respected men in combat.

On the way back this past Sunday from teaching a defensive handgun class in Florida my good friend and a retired Marine Drill Instructor was explaining to me the 3 different ranks and positions of the sergeants for 'boot camp' platoon... He ended up near the end of his 20 years being the 'Big Daddy"... the one who the recruits would come to if they really needed help usually with something at home. I made him tell the students in our class about when he and the marines in his company were snatched up and sent to someplace on a ship... I think it was Dubai? and no one had been able to call home for over a month.... some of these young marines were newly married and some had pregnant wives... What ever country it was there were no tobacco products and my 'Gunny' found a guy in an office who like him liked cigars and this guy had a Satellite phone and wanted some cigars.. my friend had a container with a couple boxes of them, .they made a deal a 5 minute call for one cigar and my buddy stood outside the office with the guy as his men called home and handed the guy a cigar after each call. I later told him .... that is why he is my friend.....

wwb said:

I had always heard that if you gave a crayon to a Marine, he would just eat it... and purple is his favorite flavor.

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I've heard they use the urinal biscuits as breath fresheners

freakindawgen said:

I've heard they use the urinal biscuits as breath fresheners

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2 Marines were fishing on a small lake when one hooked an object and reeled it in. It was a an old lamp that the Marine started to rub to see if there were any markings on it..... Out pops a genie who said
"You get one wish and have to throw the lamp back in the water, make it good." The Marine said that he didn't know what to wish for and the genie again reminded him to make his wish and throw the lamp back in the water...

The Marine said "Turn the lake into beer instead of water"!
POOF!!! The lake turned into beer.... The other Marine said...

"That was a great wish but there is only one problem... Now we gotta pee in the boat"....

What many don't know is that the Pacific theater during WWII, was fought by many more US Army troops then US Marines even though the Marines is most of what you hear about. " ...At full strength, and at its largest size ever, the Marine Corps mobilized six combat divisions, comprising about a quarter million troops in theater..."."....By the summer of 1945, 1,804,408 ground soldiers were serving somewhere in the Pacific or Asia.".

I tried to join the Marine Corps but when they found out my parents were married when I was born the Marine Recruiter told me no can do. So I had to join the Air Force

I will be forever grateful to the Marines who took care of my Aviator Son while he was deployed for 6 months at Camp Blackhorse Afghanistan. He came home with all of his parts attached and has a great respect for Marine Grunts.

All good jokes and the ribbing is part of tradition. I have great respect for anyone that signs on the dotted line. A friend of mine who was my supervisor years ago was the first sergeant between North and South Korea for a couple of years. All of his stories trumped mine from living on a Tin can for a couple of years. He once said that less than 2% of the people in the USA serve in the armed forces. Not sure if that figure is true, but it sure make you feal like your part of a very special group. My hat goes off to all the serve.

redfernclan said:

All good jokes and the ribbing is part of tradition. I have great respect for anyone that signs on the dotted line. A friend of mine who was my supervisor years ago was the first sergeant between North and South Korea for a couple of years. All of his stories trumped mine from living on a Tin can for a couple of years. He once said that less than 2% of the people in the USA serve in the armed forces. Not sure if that figure is true, but it sure make you feal like your part of a very special group. My hat goes off to all the serve.

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Some interesting facts here. 6% is a good number right now.

Governmental websites note that 10% of Marines deployed to the Pacific theater suffered casualties versus 5% for the Army. Now, considering Marines had no "support/supply/logistics" personnel, their higher casualty rates make sense.

Those websites report that Marine KIAs in WW II (all theaters) totaled 19,773.
Army KIAs in the Pacific theater in WW II totaled 35,909 (including about 2,000 Army Air Force personnel).

Posters' comments that WW II Army Pacific theater troops didn't get the PR that was given to Marines appear to be valid. At the same time, it is also true that a higher percentage of Marines were in harm's way than Army troops.

On a personal note, in 2017 my father (USN FC 2C) told me he pulled body bag duty while aboard his destroyer at Guadalcanal in early 1943. With tears in his eyes, he told me he saw many Marines who had been castrated while still alive and their junk stuffed down their throats to choke them to death. My dad had nothing but the highest respect for "those honorable young Marines."

The Marines use Army officer ranks except the Army has Cadets and the Marines have Midshipmen.

Midshipmen are students at the Naval Academy (Annapolis). Midshipmen are nothing unless/until they graduate. Upon graduation some become Marines; the rest become Naval officer. If they don't graduate, some enlist, while others depart the military.

Cadets are students at the US Military Academy (West Point). Upon graduation they become Army officers, those who don't graduate either enlist or depart the military.

Johnny-Baseball said:

Midshipmen are students at the Naval Academy (Annapolis). Midshipmen are nothing unless/until they graduate. Upon graduation some become Marines; the rest become Naval officer. If they don't graduate, some enlist, while others depart the military.

Cadets are students at the US Military Academy (West Point). Upon graduation they become Army officers, those who don't graduate either enlist or depart the military.

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A friend's son went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Upon graduation he became a Marine 2nd Lieutenant. The last I heard he was up for Captain. We are all proud of him.

As a matter of interest while on the subject, a TV news item recently showed ROTC graduates from the University of Memphis being sworn in as commissioned officers. About sixwere in dress whites of Navy officers, one in the dress blue of a Marine offficder.

Which raised the question in my mind: What does a newly commissioned ROTC officer do next? That is, is there some kind of transitional training he must take, or does he go directly into Army/Navy life?

Bob Wright

MHtractorguy said:

If we needed ammo, we could always go over to the Army camp. They always seemed to have a better supply chain than we had.
Either that, or they just didn't like shooting as much as we did.
I remember SEALs bringing grenades back to the armory without the pins in them.
They threw the pins away and carried the grenades, ready to throw.

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I remember one ranger in Somalia who threw two grenades,one after the other, with the pins still in them. He wasn't happy when we made him go get them back.

Bob Wright said:

As a matter of interest while on the subject, a TV news item recently showed ROTC graduates from the University of Memphis being sworn in as commissioned officers. About sixwere in dress whites of Navy officers, one in the dress blue of a Marine offficder.

Which raised the question in my mind: What does a newly commissioned ROTC officer do next? That is, is there some kind of transitional training he must take, or does he go directly into Army/Navy life?

Bob Wright

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I went straight in. You still have had your basic and OTS and all. You will also have spent some summer quarters as a Cadet with the service you are entering. I spent mine at reception and basic training units, mostly Ft. Dix,NJ. ROTC grads have much more experience than people would think

Bob Wright said:

As a matter of interest while on the subject, a TV news item recently showed ROTC graduates from the University of Memphis being sworn in as commissioned officers. About sixwere in dress whites of Navy officers, one in the dress blue of a Marine offficder.

Which raised the question in my mind: What does a newly commissioned ROTC officer do next? That is, is there some kind of transitional training he must take, or does he go directly into Army/Navy life?

Bob Wright

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My Daughter and her future husband both went to the Air Force Academy.
They both cross commissioned and were commissioned into the Navy just before graduation. My Navy Son gave the Oath to Daughter. After graduation they went to Pensacola NAS to learn the ways of the Navy before going to flight school at flying Whiting NAS FL.

As far as ROTC Grads in the Navy they go directly to flight school where they also learn the ways of the Navy.

My DIL went to Navy OTS in RI. after graduation from Texas A&M. After she was commissioned as an Navy Ensign she was sent to Port Hueneme for Seabee training.

I was in the Coast Guard and discharged as a Petty Officer Second Class, (E-5).

NROTC Scholarship Midshipmen go on summer cruises. After freshman year was 3rd class cruise, I spent a month on an ammunition ship with only 2 twin 3"50s for self defense, ugh. 2nd class cruise after sophmore year was the holiday cruise, a week with the Airdales, a week with the Bubbleheads, a week with the Skimmers and a week with the Jarheads. Between junior and senior year I did 1st class cruise on a boomer. Used to be you were obligated to 4 years once junior year started, but sometime after I was commissioned they made the holiday cruise after freshman year and you were obligated starting with sophmore year. If you did not graduate and be commissioned you went to boot camp as an enlisted. Scholarship midshipmen went straight to active duty, in my case Nuclear Power Officer Course. If you went to school on your own or were a NUclear Power Officer Candidate (NUPOC) you went to OCS, also called Knife and Fork School.