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By Ed Evans If you haven't heard, it is with a heavy heart I share the news that LtGen. "Mick" Trainor passed away June 2, 2018 . Mick was a legendary Marine who served as a Platoon Commander in Korea and a Recon Battalion Commander in Vietnam. He was one of the best military minds in the Marine Corps. A friend and mentor to many. Quick story. LtGen. Trainer was CO of Recon in 1970 when Leatherneck Magazine sent me to Vietnam for coverage. I was with Trainor's Marines w

By Don Knight My platoon-sized, MAG 32 ground defense and guard unit stationed at MAS El Taro got the word: get our tails down to Pendleton for five weeks of combat training. Bring our rifles, helmets and extra clothing. To begin: long hikes at night, including a seven mile climb over "old rocky", part of the terrain on this vast hunk of southern California. Then two mock invasions of the California coast. From a training vessel we pushed off in rubber rafts, five or six

Four of the last surviving active duty Marines who served on Leatherneck Magazine in uniform, gathered at the Globe & Laurel Restaurant outside Quantico on October 24, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the magazine. (L-R) All retirees: CWO4 Bill Parker , Assistant Editor-Publisher; and combat correspondents Capt Bob Bowen , MGySgt Ed Evans , and MSgt Paul Thompson .

There I was with Colonel Jack Lewis , former Hollywood stunt man, Marine Corps veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He was friends with John Wayne, Robert Stack (The Untouchables) and Ed McMahon (Johnny's sidekick), founder of Gun World, Horse & Horseman and Bow & Arrow magazines. He was a large man who chain-smoked Sherman's Cigarillos and demanded everyone around him get off their butts and accomplish the mission. He had no time for slackers, although if you ever got in tro

Life member and Lucas Chapter Treasurer Jim Kyser , SuperTop as he is known in email parlance, underwent a triple by-pass operation several weeks ago. Following the operation he emailed CCHQ that it had taken place and that he was slowly picking up strength.  This past week he began suffering setbacks and is now hospitalized and in critical condition.  According to Don Gee who is in contact with Jim's wife,   "Just spoke with Ginny Kyser. He is still holding his own but they

A bronze plaque honoring Joe Rosenthal , photographer of “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” will be dedicated at the National Museum of the Marine Corps , 18900 Jefferson Davis Highway, Triangle, Virginia, on October 9, 2013, the 102nd anniversary of his birth. The ceremony will begin at 10:00 a.m. The San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (also called the Joe Rosenthal Chapter) of the USMC Combat Correspondents Association is donating the plaque to the Museum’s Semper Fidelis Memoria

http://www.facebook.com/TyronePowerStamp2014 Tyrone Power was not only a mega movie star and stage actor, he was also a WWII Marine Corps Pilot, 1st Lieutenant who flew wounded soldiers out of Okinawa, Hiroshima, and Iwo Jima. He was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, and the World War II Victory Medal. He remained in the Marine Corps Reserves the remainder of his life, ultimately being promoted the rank of Major. H

On the 62 anniversary of my graduation from recruit training at Parris Island ,  I returned as a guest of Brig. Gen. Lori Reynolds for the graduation ceremonies of Company L, 3d Recruit Training Battalion on Friday, February 10.  While I had no graduating recruit in the ceremony you could say each of the young warriors passing in review reflected the pride I had in March of 1950 when Pfc. Paxton proudly marched on the same "grinder" now named in honor of another old friend, M

CC member Frank Walker and his wife, Karen , reside in Costa Rica.  Periodically he sends updates on their lifestyle to friends. He and Karen have been on several of the CC cruises.  In this, he relates the experiences of his Marine dad in World War I. My dad, Anan Orville Walker, as a Sergeant of Marines served with Company “B”, 11 th Marines, American Expeditionary Forces during WWI.  He never talked much about his experiences in the Corps but you could hear the pride in h

Eagle-eyed Don Knight spotted Chuck Beveridge during an ABC news piece about the return of Iwo Jima veterans 65 years later to the the island. Cy O’Brien is also on the tour but not shown on camera. (Note: The video below takes a long time to load. Be patient... I SAID BE PATIENT! If you can't wait, go here: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/memories-war-10003934 )

PBS recently aired an "American Experience" segment entitled "The Kennedy's."   In this particular segment, Ted Kennedy's plane had crashed near Southampton, Mass in 1964.  CC Life Member Frank Real's sons spotted their dad in one portion, taped it and sent several still photos of it to their dad.  Frank tells of his involvement. These pictures were gleaned from the recently aired PBS program American Experience. The segment was "The Kennedy's."  My sons, Kevin and Brian spot

The final edit of the Independent Film Week teaser for the documentary film "Chosin" is now available on YouTube. Produced by Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler. Directed by Brian Iglesias. For more information see www.frozenchosin.com

by Don Knight, Awards Chairman Cy “Obie” O’Brien wrote hundreds of stories about his fellow Marines during combat on Pacific islands during World War II. That was more than 60 years ago. Today, it’s a different story.  It’s all  about this 90-year-old warrior, the former sergeant and newspaperman who carried a  typewriter and rifle to the beaches of Guam and Iwo Jima in 1944 and 1945. O’Brien is not looking for the spotlight but when his hometown newspaper heard about his wa

On Aug. 12th 2009 the Marines Memorial San Francisco hosted the 67 Anniversary of the battle for Guadalcanal.  The keynote speaker was MajGen. Herbert L Wilkerson, USMC Ret . Gen. Wilkerson recollected his memories of the battle as a PFC rifleman in 1/7 (LtCol. "Chesty" Puller, commanding and the eventual capture of Guadalcanal. He subsequentially served in combat again with the 1st Marine Division in both Korea and Vietnam where he commanded the 1st Marines, the oldest Regi

Army Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright By Tom Russell My trip to Houston was a choice assignment. Following the end of WWII, our government passed a law to rebury those who died overseas during the war with Japan if the next of kin requested the reburial. The Marine Corps put out an important bulletin addressed to all commanders. Frankly put, the letter said to send the best Marines for assignment to accompany the dead Marines. My commander, LtCol. L. B. Cresswell , selected me an

A plaque displaying the U.S. Marine Corps emblem now hangs on the wall of a branch headquarters for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in Grand Falls , Newfoundland , Canada . It got there because a former U.S. Marine captain and combat correspondent, Cyril J. O’Brien, of Silver Spring, Md., a member of the Lucas Chapter, USMCCCA, believed it was time to pay formal tribute to members of the Canadian regiment who fought beside Americans in both World Wars and are  fighting today

Very early in my Marine Corps career one of my WWII mentors gave me some great advice:  “Paxton, you can call a man an SOB but you better make sure you spell his name right.” Fortunately for me I remembered it well... Well, at least until a year ago when we ran a great yarn in the newsletter, "Now hear this" about a China Marine CC who worked with the Tsingtao Queen back in 1946.  It was a good story and we even ran the CC’s photo with it  But, unfortunately we made a slight