Welcome to our web
page.
We
are “The few, The Proud, The United States Marines of Lima 3/9” (67-69)
If you have a moment please
click on this link to sign our "Guest Book".
UPDATED 02/22/10: Event Page - Dates
of reunion "Reunion Spec Sheet" Uploaded.
So
who where the Marines of Lima 3/9?
As the webmaster and editor of this site I was trying to find some history and background on what Lima 3/9 did for
our country, but to be honest when I was reading emails today this E-mail jumped out at me for what a “Lima 3/9”
Marine was in Vietnam and what they embody today.
E-Mail
quote: “The Marines of Lima 3/9 carried P-38 can openers and heat tabs, watches and dog tags, insect repellent, gum,
cigarettes, Zippo lighters, salt tablets, compress bandages, ponchos, Kool-Aid, two or three canteens of water, iodine tablets,
sterno, and C-rations stuffed in socks. They carried jungle fatigues, jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets, their steel pots,
a pair of extra sox, and a towel..
They
carried their M-16, trip flares and Claymore mines, M-60 machine guns, the M-79 grenade launcher, M-14's, CAR-15's,
Stoners, Swedish K's, 66 mm LAWS, shotguns, .45 caliber pistols, silencers, the sound of bullets, rockets, and choppers,
and sometimes the sound of silence.
They
carried C-4 plastic explosives, an assortment of hand grenades, PRC- 25 radios with 25 foot whip antennas and their heavy
batteries, knives and machetes. Some carried napalm, CBU's and large bombs; some risked their lives to rescue others.
Some escaped the fear, but dealt with the death and damage. Some made very hard decisions, and some just tried to survive.
They carried malaria, dysentery, ringworms and leaches. They
carried the land itself as it hardened on their boots. They carried stationery, pencils, and pictures of their loved ones
- real and imagined. They carried love for people in the real world and love for one another and sometimes
they disguised that love: "Don't mean nothin'!" They carried memories for the most part, they carried themselves
with poise and a kind of dignity.
Now
and then, there were times when panic set in, and people squealed or wanted to, but couldn't; when they twitched and made
moaning sounds and covered their heads and said "Dear God" and hugged the earth and fired their weapons blindly
and cringed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and
God and their parents, hoping
not to die.
They
carried the traditions of the United States Marines, and memories and images of those who served before them. They carried
grief, terror, longing and their reputations. They carried the Marine's greatest fear: the embarrassment of dishonor.
They crawled into tunnels, walked point, and advanced under fire, so as not to die of embarrassment. They
were afraid of dying, but too afraid to show it. They carried the emotional baggage of men who might die at any moment. Full
of fear they "saddled up" every time they were asked. They carried the weight of the world.
And by God they carried each other.”
E-Mail End Quote.
Sincerely,
Webmaster@lima39.com
