Marines

Stories

Training and Education Command

Quantico, Virginia

Archive: October, 2004

Depot runners stretch legs for Marine Corps Marathon

Twenty-six point two miles is the number that anyone who participated in the Marine Corps Marathon was thinking about long and hard while they trained and prepared themselves for the race. The Tri-Command area is home to many who participated in the 26.2-mile marathon, including three who work and train at the Depot's Drill Instructor School.

After 18 years, Gunny gets to drill field

The 20-year mark is a destination for many Marines, they seek to reach that plateau and retire. For some Marines, the last couple of years may be the golden opportunity to relax and reflect on a career that lay behind them. For Gunnery Sgt. Solomon J. Reed, lead series gunnery sergeant, Mike Co., 3rd RTBn., the challenge to stay active was never

The meaning of 'Oorah' traced back to its roots

"Oorah!" Marines hear it each and every day. Ingrained into Marine minds since boot camp, this distinctly Marine call is barked back and forth in an almost endless stream of motivation. However, take a step back and ask that Marine, "where did 'Oorah' come from exactly?" The answer is rarely the same. Countless stories abound regarding the

Recruits trace path to Crucible through nightfire training

Training Day 50 - The days have begun to drag on...they never seem to end. Today they made us march all around this island, but now I guess the best thing to do is keep our heads up and our eyes open. The flares fill the night sky with light so bright, I thought it would never fade, but then suddenly it was gone. There is darkness again, and I am

Retired Marines gather for Yemassee Train Depot Reunion

A group of nervous recruits wait at the Yemassee train station, Yemassee, S.C., for the final leg of their journey to Parris Island. The date is 1942, and soon these new recruits will be Marines fighting in the Pacific theater against the Japanese forces in efforts to stop the Japanese advance through the Pacific Islands. Now an Amtrak stop, the

World War II drill instructors reunite at Parris Island for last time

For 23 years, the World War II drill instructors reunion has gathered at Parris Island to remember past accomplishments and revive some of the splendor of their youth. The glory days they spent on the Depot showing young men how to become Marines may long be a thing of the past, but the Marines still remember it as if it were yesterday. Led by

21 years later, Depot Marine recalls experiences of Beirut bombing

While the majority of Marines from 1st Bn., 8th Marines, lied in their racks and slept on the morning of Oct. 23, 1983, none of them could have imagined the horrors that would unfold. At 6:22 a.m., a truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of explosives roared through the gates of the U.S. Marine Corps' barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. Once inside, the truck

Battle Color Detachment dazzles crowd with pop, precision

The Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard, together known as the Battle Colors Detachment from Marine Barracks 8th and I, Washington, performed at the Peatross Parade Deck Oct. 19. As melodious notes flew out of the instruments played by the prestigious Marines, an

Drill instructor awarded for valor in Iraq

When Sgt. Jonathon Novak completed drill instructor school and took on his first platoon of recruits, he knew what was important to stress to them during the training cycle - discipline. He had seen first hand in combat what can happen when discipline slips even for a moment. Distinguishing himself in combat, Novak, a drill instructor with Platoon

Saigon embassy Marines reunite at Parris Island

April 29, 1975, just before daybreak, North Vietnamese Army tanks began to roll into the South Vietnamese city of Saigon, signaling the beginning of the end for American forces in Vietnam. Only a handful of Marine Security Guards were left to defend the American Embassy against the rapidly approaching NVA and Viet Cong forces while Marines, embassy

Marine Corps Training and Education Command