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The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

Service Reflections of SGT Timothy Meltabarger, U.S. Marine Corps (1981-1990)

Service Reflections of SGT Timothy Meltabarger, U.S. Marine Corps (1981-1990)

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When I graduated from High School in 1980, I was about four months away from turning 18. I worked in the Oil Field with my brother through the Summer and decided that I needed to get an education, so I enrolled in a Technical College in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. I entered college as the hostages in Iran were being released. I was in a drafting program and sat at a table in a classroom with about 40 people. About 25 percent were veterans, and none were Marines. We had a radio that played in the classroom, and on March 30, 1981, I listened to the news of Reagan being shot. When the semester was over, I decided to quit college and go back home and do something greater. Exactly what, I had not decided.

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Heroes From the Wall by John Douglas Foster

Heroes From the Wall by John Douglas Foster

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When the author John Douglas Foster was wounded while serving in Vietnam during the 1968 Tet Offensive, he received more than a piece of metal in his body - haunting memories of comrades opened his soul in a quest to learn more about those who didn't return. Sketching a fascinating portrait of the lives of those who fought and died valiantly, Foster pens a riveting and gut-wrenching read in Heroes from the Wall, ensuring that these heroes will never be forgotten by future generation who didn't...

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Famous Marine Corps Unit: 2nd Marine Raider Battalion

Famous Marine Corps Unit: 2nd Marine Raider Battalion

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With America thrust into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became interested in creating an American equivalent to the British Commandos; elite, highly mobile, hard-hitting forces, and the Marine Corps was the natural place for this organization. The debate over the creation of these elite units came to a climax when the new commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Chester Nimitz, requested a "commando unit" for raids against lightly defended...

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We’ll All Die As Marines by Colonel Jim Bathurst

We’ll All Die As Marines by Colonel Jim Bathurst

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For seventeen-year-old high school dropout Jim Bathurst, the Marine Corps reputation for making men out of boys was something he desperately needed when he enlisted in March of 1958. What began as a four-year hitch lasted nearly thirty-six years and included an interesting assortment of duty stations and assignments as both enlisted and officer. We'll All Die As Marines narrates a story about a young, free-spirited kid from Dundalk, Maryland, and how the Corps captured his body, mind, and...

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Hidden Army by Lawrence Rock

Hidden Army by Lawrence Rock

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According to Pentagon records, nearly four million personnel served in and around Vietnam; most in Vietnam, others on flight bases in Thailand and ships in adjacent South China Sea. Of those 3,917,400 million men and women ordered to the Southeast Asia Theater, ninety percent were not sent there to fight. They were there to support the ten percent who were. Support troops included pilots, sailors, medics, nurses, cooks, clerks, drivers, engineers, communications people, military police, and...

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Service Reflections of SSGT Ken Christeson, U.S. Marine Corps (1971-1977)

Service Reflections of SSGT Ken Christeson, U.S. Marine Corps (1971-1977)

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My dad and all of my uncles were veterans of WWII. My dad and some uncles served in the Pacific, while others served in Europe. I grew up watching the war programs on TV and playing combat with the kids in the neighborhood. I read Leon Uris’s book BATTLE CRY in high school, which started considering the Marine Corps.

After school, I had a part-time job and worked alongside a couple of active-duty Marines working off duty for extra spending money.

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Service Reflections of GySgt Dan Edick, U.S. Marine Corps (1978-2000)

Service Reflections of GySgt Dan Edick, U.S. Marine Corps (1978-2000)

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I am a fraternal twin. I knew my parents couldn’t afford to send us both to college, and I personally didn’t want to go. I felt as though my whole life had been spent in school already, and I wanted to do something different.

My father and several uncles served in the military. Some of them retired from the service. I respected them for serving and decided that I wanted to serve my country. My original choice was the Army, so I set an appointment with the Recruiter while a sophomore in high school. They showed no interest in me because of my age, so I left. The following year, I tried again. I sat with the Army and Air Force Recruiter. The Army didn’t impress me as much as the Air Force. The A.F. Recruiter said I was still too young and to come back in another year.

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Vietnam War Veterans

Vietnam War Veterans

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Frequently Asked Questions about Vietnam War Veterans There are several misconceptions and assumptions about Vietnam War veterans. This collection of frequently asked questions may help to straighten out any confusion. How Many Vietnam War Veterans are Still Alive? A: In 2020, there are fewer than 850,000 veterans who served in Vietnam still alive. This is down from the 2.7 million service members who were on active duty in Vietnam. How Old are Vietnam War Veterans? A: In 2015, the US...

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Service Reflections of BM2 Wendell Affield, U.S. Navy (1965-1969)

Service Reflections of BM2 Wendell Affield, U.S. Navy (1965-1969)

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I enlisted soon after I turned 17. When I was 12, my mother was committed to a mental hospital. By sixteen, I had been through five foster homes. Spring 1964, I left, rode the rails, and lived in hobo camps in the northwest. An excerpt from my Vietnam War memoir “MUDDY JUNGLE RIVERS.”

That autumn, I returned to high school and stared out the windows? Had I lost all interest? Chinese dynasties, algebra equations, disassembled big blocks, and dissected frogs had no chance against the open spaces and freedom I’d discovered the past summer.

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Gen Louis H. Wilson, U.S.Marine Corps (1941–1979) – Medal of Honor Recipient

Gen Louis H. Wilson, U.S.Marine Corps (1941–1979) – Medal of Honor Recipient

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There have been a few Commandants who had been recipients of the Medal of Honor, but Louis H. Wilson was the last. And given that the entire ranks of the modern Marine Corps are currently devoid of any officers with the nation's highest military honor it could be quite some time before the world would ever see it again. His tenure as the nation's top Marine from 1975 to 1979 would be one of remarkable transitions. The World War II generation had all but faded out, and the Commandant who...

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