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Echo Company 2/7
Vietnam
Veterans Chapter
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This is our
25TH
Two-Seven Tooter
Two-Seven Tooter
Message Board
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Famous Quotes |
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"No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now."
President Richard M. Nixon
"The American Marines have it (pride), and benefit from it. They are tough, cocky, sure of themselves and their buddies. They can fight and they know it."
General Mark Clark, U.S. Army
"Marines are extremists and a little bit dangerous."
Sara Lister, Assistant Sec. of the Army
(Lister was fired from her post for her remarks.)
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Did Your
Know??
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Vietnam Women's
Memorial
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The Vietnam
Women's Memorial
is a memorial
dedicated to the
women of the
United States
who served in
the Vietnam War,
most of whom
were nurses. It
serves as a
reminder of the
importance of
women in the
conflict. It
depicts three
uniformed women
with a wounded
soldier. It is
part of the
Vietnam Veterans
Memorial, and is
located on
National Mall in
Washington DC, a
short distance
south of The
Wall, north of
the Reflecting
Pool.
It was
designed by
Glenna Goodacre
and dedicated on
11 November,
1993. There is a
scale model of
the statue at
the Vietnam
Veterans
Memorial State
Park in Angel
Fire, New
Mexico.
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In Case You
Didn't Know...
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Definition:
MARINE
GRUNT: Term
of
affection
for that
tired,
filthy,
thirsty,
hungry,
footsore,
ripped-trousered,
camouflage-painted,
lean,
mean,
beautiful
little
son of a
bitch
who has
kept the
wolf
away
from America's
door for
over two
hundred
years!!!!
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The
Rifleman's Creed
The
Rifleman's
Creed (also
known as My
Rifle and
The Creed of
the United
States
Marine) is a
part of
basic United
States
Marine Corps
doctrine.
Major
General
William H.
Rupertus
wrote it
during World
War II,
probably in
late 1941 or
early 1942.
All Marines
learn the
creed at
recruit
training and
they are
expected to
live by it.
Different,
more concise
versions of
the creed
have
developed
since its
early days,
but those
closest to
the original
version
remain the
most widely
accepted.
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Full Metal
Jacket -
Rifleman's Creed 
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Latest VFW
Membership |
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The latest issue
if the VFW
Magazine shows
membership in
the VFW as
follows:
WORLD WAR II---
28.7%
KOREAN
WAR--- 19.4%
WWII & KOREA ---
48.3%
VIETNAM
WAR--- 36.6%
PERSIAN GULF,
IRAQ, and
AFGHANISTAN(1991)
--- 10.6%
AFGHAN / IRAQ---
4.7%
VIETNAM
AND MIDEAST---
51.9%.
It is
time for
veterans to
stand tall, take
charge, and
build the
veterans
organizations of
the future.
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Enter your
email
address
below to
sign up for
our mailing
list.
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We
look forward
to keeping
you
informed.
Semper
Fidelis!
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"Ready for
Anything
Counting on
Nothing"
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15 October 2009
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Operation
Hastings
Operation
Hastings
Battle Map
Operation
Hastings was
an American
military
operation
in the
Vietnam
War.
Having been
threatened
by numerous
encounters
with enemy
troops in
the Cam Lo
area, on
July 7,
1966, United
States
Marine Corps
General Lew
Walt led a
joint U.S.
Marine and
ARVN force
of 8,500 and
3,000 troops
in a strike
through the
Demilitarized
Zone (DMZ).
Plans to
maintain
U.S.
occupation
of the Cam
Lo area in
the Quang
Tri province
soon became
known as
Operation
Hastings.
Under the
command of
Brigadier
General
Lowell E.
English, the
operation
continued on
July 15. His
responsibility
was to
secure
landing
sites so
that more
U.S. Marines
and ARVN
soldiers
could occupy
the rear of
the
province.
However, the
major goal
of the
operation
was to
thwart the
North
Vietnamese
324 B
Division's
efforts to
take control
of Quang Tri
Province.
The mission
was a
strategic
success in
terms of
driving off
the 324 B
Division,
but the
People's
Army of
Vietnam
(NVA) forces
successfully
withdrew
across the
DMZ. When
the ease
with which
the NVA was
able to move
across the
DMZ became
apparent,
the US
military
leadership
ordered a
steady
build-up of
U.S. Marines
near the DMZ
from 1966 to
1968.
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The
Thousand-Yard
Stare |
The staring
eyes, the
slack lips,
the
sleep
walker's
stance
The
thousand-yard
stare or
two-thousand-yard
stare is
the
unfocused
gaze of
a
battle-weary
Marine.
The
stare is
a 
characteristic
combat
stress
reaction
which
may be a
precursor
to, or
symptom
of,
post-traumatic
stress
disorder.
Photo:
A US
Marine
exhibits
the
thousand
yard
stare
after five
days of
constant
fighting.
Etymology
The
phrase
was
popularized
when, in
1944,
Life
magazine
published
the
painting
Marines
Call It
That
2,000
Yard
Stare
by its
World
War II
artist
and
correspondent
Tom Lea.
The
painting
was a
portrait
of a
young
Marine
at the
Battle
of
Peleliu
in 1944,
and is
now held
by U.S.
Army
Center
of
Military
History,
Fort
Lesley
J.
McNair,
DC.
About
the
real-life
Marine
who was
his
subject,
Lea
wrote:
He left
the
States
31
months
ago. He
was
wounded
in his
first
campaign.
He has
had
tropical
diseases.
He
half-sleeps
at night
and
gouges
Japs out
of holes
all day.
Two-thirds
of his
company
has been
killed
or
wounded.
He will
return
to
attack
this
morning.
How much
can a
human
being
endure?
Frank
Johnston,
a
Vietnam
War
photographer
used the
term in
a 2001
Smithsonian
magazine
interview.
Johnston
says, "I
looked
up and
saw a
Marine
with
what
they
call the
thousand-yard
stare,
and I
lifted
my Leica
and
snapped
his
picture.
The
soldier's
gaze
never
left my
lens."
When
recounting
his
arrival
in
Vietnam
in 1965,
then
Corporal
Joe
Houle,
USMC, said
he saw
no
emotion
in the
eyes of
his new
squad:
"The
look in
their
eyes was
like the
life was
sucked
out of
them."
Later
learning
that the
term for
their
condition
was the
1,000-yard
stare,
Houle
said,
"After I
lost my
first
friend,
I felt
it was
best to
be
detached."
Look
at
a
Marine's eyes
and
you
can
tell
how
much
war
he
has
seen.
One
of
the
most
famous,
of
course,
is
the
Two-Thousand
Yard
Stare
portrait
of a
young
Marine
who
has
had
all,
or
more
than,
he
can
take.
The
staring
eyes,
the
slack
lips,
the
sleepwalker's
stance.
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An American Hero |
PFC
Gary G.
Gray
and two
other
Marines
were killed
in a
fire
fight on
26 Aug
69. Here
is a
copy of
his
Silver
Star
citation.
The
President
of the
United
States
takes
pride in
presenting
the
Silver
Star
Medal
(Posthumously)
to Gary
G. Gray,
(184368782)
Private
First
Class,
United
States
Marine
Corps,
for
conspicuous
gallantry
and
intrepidity
in
action
while
serving
as a
Rifleman
with
Company
E,
Second
Battalion,
Seventh
Marines,
First
Marine
Division,
in
connection
with
combat
operations
against
the
enemy in
the
Republic
of
Vietnam.
On 26
August
1969
while
Company
E was
conducting
a search
and
destroy
operation
in Hiep
Duc
Valley
in Quang
Nam
Province,
the
Marines
came
under
intense
sniper
fire,
from
hostile
soldiers
occupying
well-concealed
emplacements
and
sustained
several
casualties.
Observing
that the
wounded
men were
pinned
down in
an
exposed
area,
Private
First
Class
Gray,
with
complete
disregard
for his
own
safety,
fought
his way
across
the
fire-swept
terrain
and
fearlessly
carried
one of
his
injured
companions
to a
covered
location
where he
could
receive
medical
attention
and
await
evacuation
in
relative
safety.
Again
braving
the
hostile
rounds
impacting
around
him,
Private
First
Class
Gray
reentered
the
dangerous
area and
detecting
one of
the
enemy
snipers'
positions
called
out the
location
to his
comrades
so they
could
concentrate
fire
upon it.
As he
continued
t lass
Gray was
mortally
wounded
by an
enemy
sniper.
His
heroic
actions
and
determined
efforts
inspired
all who
observed
him and
saved
the
life, of
a fellow
Marine.
By his
courage,
bold
initiative,
and
selfless
devotion
to duty,
Private
First
Class
Gray
upheld
the
highest
traditions
of the
Marine
Corps
and of
the
United
States
Naval
Service.
He
gallantly
gave his
life for
his
country.
 A
Plea
from the
Family
of PFC
Gary G.
Gray
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The Choice is
Clear |
The
choice
is made
clear.
You may
join the
Army to
go to
adventure
training,
or join
the Navy
to go
to Bangkok,
or join
the Air
Force to
go to
computer
school.
You join
the
Marine
Corps to
go to
War! But
the mere
act of
signing
the
enlistment
contract
confers
no
status
in the
Corps.
The
Army
recruit
is told
from his
first
minute
in
uniform
that
"you're
in the
Army
now,
soldier".
The Navy
and Air
Force
enlistees
are
sailors
or
airmen
as soon
as they
get off
the bus
at the
training
center.
The
new
arrival
at
Marine
Corps
boot
camp is
called a
recruit,
or worse
(a lot
worse),
but
never a
MARINE.
Not yet,
maybe
never.
He or
she must
earn the
right to
claim
the
title of
UNITED
STATES
MARINE
and
failure
returns
you to
civilian
life
without
hesitation
or
ceremony.
Our Corps
reserves the
right to
pick and
choose it's
own.
Semper
Fi,
Echo
Company
2/7
Vietnam
Veteran's
Chapter
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