THE MAKING OF MARINES: 1956 AND THEREAFTER…

…..The following remarks, I find in the book, The United States Marine Corps In Books And The Performing Arts, by Richard L. Hemenez, Col USMCR (Ret.), McFarland & Company, 2001

Image via Wikipedia

The following, in part, regarding Ermey and FMJ…

(Page 455)…

“…Ermey, a former Marine, is also credited as a technical advisor…a heated side feud with Kubrick over Lee Ermey…labeled him ‘a fucking pogue lifer’…There was some negative reaction to Ermey’s DI speech…It wasn’t until later that Lee Ermey went Hollywood and became R.Lee Ermey…you might think he wrote his own lines, except that much of the dialogue comes directly from Mr. Hasford’s book…”

~~~~~

and, the following, in part, regarding Jack Webb and The D.I.(Page 443)…

“…In a Leatherneck magazine interview, Webb noted that a large part of his admiration for the Corps stemmed from an uncle who enlisted during WW II at age 38. His name–Frank Smith, PFC Smith was later honored as the name of Joe Friday‘s partner…”…..

Gunny G: USMC EMBLEM

NO Marine should refer to our Emblem as an “EGA!” There is no such thing as an EGA. Just as there is neither a Marine Sergeant who is an E-5, nor a Marine Corporal who is an E-4! No E-numeric ranks! Hey, I don’t condone those silly “oohrahs,” either–Semper Fidelis was the motto of the Old Salts I followed into the Corps, and it still is for all Marines now!

-Dick Gaines, GySgt USMC (Ret.)1952-1972

I was inspired to write this short webpage by an article I discovered in a recent issue of Leatherneck magazine. That profoundly significant article by Sergeant Major David W. Sommers, USMC (Ret), was on the topic of the non-existent EGA, You may wish to read the full text of his article in the February 2001 issue of Leatherneck; it is in the Sound Off column, page 63, under the title, “SgtMaj Sommers: No Way To “EGA”

He states, in part:

“…as a newly promoted corporal in 1961, I was taught by my battalion sergeant major

that I was responsible to my commander and the Corps to protect the customs, courtesies

and traditions of our Corps.

To the NCOs and staff NCOs, the protectors of our customs, courtesies and traditions;

you better nip this one in the bud before it gets away from you….The emblem of the Corps is the common thread that binds all Marines together, officer, enlisted, past and present…To reduce our emblem to just initials or an acronym is unforgivable and should not be tolerated. The eagle, globe and anchor tells the world who we are, what we stand for and what we are capable of, in a single glance. This same emblem is a living, breathing symbol of the spirit that is in each of us who are priviliged to wear it. It is a spirit that makes a qualitive difference between a Marine and any other fighting force in the world. It is not the “EGA” but the eagle, globe and anchor, the emblem of the United States Marine Corps.”

-SgtMaj David W. Sommers, USMC (Ret)

11th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps

New Braunfels, Texas

via USMC_EMBLEM.

(“Three of us actually raised the flag–Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, our company executive officer, Sergeant H.O. Hansen of Boston, and myself. “)Gunny G’s….The Flag Raisings – Lest We Forget! (via ~ BLOGGER.GUNNY.G.1984+ ~ (BLOG & EMAIL))

Three of us actually raised the flag–Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, our company executive officer, Sergeant H.O. Hansen of Boston, and myself. But the rest of the men had just as big a part in it as we did."Thomas continued to point out that although he felt "mighty proud," he did not consider himself a hero, or that he had done anything that the others hadn't also done. "PltSgt Thomas, speaking to the media and Navy/Marine Corps top brass just a … Read More

via ~ BLOGGER.GUNNY.G.1984+ ~ (BLOG & EMAIL)

USMC_EMBLEM

“I was inspired to write this short webpage by an article I discovered in a recent issue of Leatherneck magazine.

That profoundly significant article by Sergeant Major David W. Sommers, USMC Ret, was on the topic of the non-existent EGA, You may wish to read the full text of his article in the February 2001 issue of Leatherneck; it is in the Sound Off column, page 63, under the title, “SgtMaj Sommers: No Way To “EGA

“He states, in part:”…as a newly promoted corporal in 1961, I was taught by my battalion sergeant majorthat I was responsible to my commander and the Corps to protect the customs, courtesiesand traditions of our Corps.

To the NCOs and staff NCOs, the protectors of our customs, courtesies and traditions;you better nip this one in the bud before it gets away from you….The emblem of the Corps is the common thread that binds all Marines together, officer, enlisted, past and present…

To reduce our emblem to just initials or an acronym is unforgivable and should not be tolerated. The eagle, globe and anchor tells the world who we are, what we stand for and what we are capable of, in a single glance. This same emblem is a living, breathing symbol of the spirit that is in each of us who are priviliged to wear it.

It is a spirit that makes a qualitive difference between a Marine and any other fighting force in the world. It is not the “EGA” but the eagle, globe and anchor, the emblem of the United States Marine Corps.”

(“Three of us actually raised the flag–Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, our company executive officer, Sergeant H.O. Hansen of Boston, and myself. “)Gunny G’s….The Flag Raisings – Lest We Forget!

beerdrinkundawg (Photo credit: GunnyG1345)

Three of us actually raised the flag–Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, our company executive officer, Sergeant H.O. Hansen of Boston, and myself. But the rest of the men had just as big a part in it as we did.

“Thomas continued to point out that although he felt “mighty proud,” he did not consider himself a hero, or that he had done anything that the others hadn’t also done.

Raising of the second U.S. flag at Iwo Jima (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“PltSgt Thomas, speaking to the media and Navy/Marine Corps top brass just a couple days after the flag raising on Iwo Jima!THE VANDEGRIFT REVELATIONSThe following is from Tedd Thomey’s Immortal Images, A Personal History of Two Photographers and the Flag Raising On Iwo Jima, Naval Institute Press, 1996 “The Vandegrift revelations surfaced in a book about Iwo Jima published in the spring of 1995. Albee and Freeman present evidence that, over a period of 2 1/2 years, from early 1945 to September 1947, General Vandegrift laid down a policy that suppressed issuance or recognitionof any of the Marine Corps’ Iwo Jima photography that might have diminished the uniqueness of the Rosenhtal classic.1″

“…The man most affected by this policy was Sgt Lou Lowery, the Leatherneck magazine photographer who……………………………….

Continued……

Gunny G: Old Posts: Ray Jacobs, Suribachi, Iwo Jima,Flag Raising,Clint Eastwood, etc.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

AN OPEN LETTER TO CLINT EASTWOOD….by Dick Gaines

An Open Letter To Clint Eastwood

I see by recent news articles that you are to be involved in a new film regarding the raising of our flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. I have wondered if this is going to be yet another of the usual party line accounts, or if this one will finally be an in-depth full story and truth of that event in our history.

Since it is you involved this time, I expect the latter could be the case, and I think it’s worth a shot to attempt to bring the following information to your attention in hopes that the story of Marine Ray Jacobs, and others, might finally be brought to the attention of the American public in a way that is worthy of both the event and the men themselves.

Jacobs is one of the known remaining survivors, along with Chuck Lindberg, of Lt. Schrier’s 40-man combat patrol up Suribachi that day to raise our colors over the Japanese homeland. I am referring here to the earlier first (so-called) flag raising–not the later raising of a replacement flag that was photographed by Joe Rosenthal (and was also shot by Sgt Bill Genaust on motion-picture film as well)–and which quickly, and incorrectly, became famous as the Iwo Jima flag raising well-known to all. The actual flag raising was photographed earlier that same day by Marine S/Sgt Lou Lowery, and is not nearly so well-known. Even today, nearly sixty years after the battle for Iwo Jima, a number of facts are still in question, and the emphasis of the flag raising itself remains on the replacement flag and not the original flag raised.

Lest We Forget: TWO PHOTOS: One Well Known…The Other, Not So Well Known…

Lest We Forget!

 

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Of the two photos above, the one of the NYC firemen raising the flag  at the site of the WTC after the 9/11 attack is now well known.

The other photo, however, is not so well known. That photo is one of the photos by Leatherneck magazine photographer, S/Sgt Lou Lowery, taken on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima on 23 February 1945, of the actual flag raising there at about 1020 on that morning.

 

Lowery had accompanied 1/Lt. Harold G. Schrier and his 40-man combat patrol (Easy Company, 2ndBn, 28th Marines), up the hill to raise our national colors; this was the first time in 2,000 years that a foreign flag had been raised on the Japanese homeland.

 

Later that same day, a larger, “replacement” flag was substituted for  the original, and was photographed at that time by Joe Rosenthal; and it was that photo that soon became famous as The Iwo Jima Flag Raising.

 

The WTC Flag picture, above, has recently appeared many times displayed  together with Rosenthal’s photo, but I have never seen it in combination with the genuine article by Lowery, therefore, I think that this combination of photos above is more appropriate, and each photo complements the other most fully…