To All those who have served, now serving and their families....Have a Great One!

Best, Ben

I had the pleasure of visiting the Soldiers Memorial in St. Louis this year. It was my first visit, which is odd, considering that I had lived there for 8 years!
Very cool place. It was built to honor the dead of WW I, but has been updated for later events.

A shot of the front:



along the top are images of the different military jobs and the different services....

the Signal Corps:




the Marine Corps:




and whatever the aviation branch of the Army was known as back then....
I love that mustache, as well as the way that the wind is ruffling the airman's collar.




Steve in Peoria

You're welcome and thank you to others as well. The St Louis memorial is pretty. First glance I wondered why the soldier was wearing Beats headphones but then saw the signalman insignia.

Thanks to all that heeded the call.

Home of the free because of the brave.

Thank you for your service!!!

I'm surprised this thread didn't get much in the range of traction- We've got vets here, I expected to see some pix!!!

Beginning of my Army career to the end of my Army career:

DaveyCruit crop by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

Drill Sergeant Pic by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr



I went through boxes of stuff looking for things- all kinds of things that I've stashed and forgotten all about. After spending an hour or so in the garage going through a couple boxes of junk looking for my basic training platoon photo. I went downstairs to think of where to look for it- and as I dreaded going through more stuff- I saw the envelope on a shelf.

Basic Training Platoon by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


A couple of pix of me during Just Cause in Panama and one in Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia.

Panama by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

Panama Jump by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

Roadmarch by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


I have so many pictures to get scanned in...

My bro is a vet, marine corp. To celebrate we played tennis then did shrooms and drank everclear. Good day, love that idiot. Semper fi

Hard for me to believe this was over 30 years ago (im the one standing ) -- would be neat to see more pics from the rest of you guys and gals - whatever vintage

The proverbial boot camp photo to send home to mom.

I don't have many photos of myself from Back In The Day. I do have a shot of myself in the cockpit of one of our A-4M Skyhawks, although not in uniform. This was after my work hours.



A more recent photo is from the 2019 Hilly Hundred bike ride, in Bloomington, Indiana. I'm the tall guy in full rain gear (it was 50F and rained all day), with with former Marines Allan "NoMadMax" on my left and that former B.F. fellow (who saw some action in the Lebanese civil war) on my right. Dale "Speedevil" was on the ride too. As jarheads, we felt that we shouldn't be stopped by a bit of cold rain when the Marine Corps' main function was amphibious assaults. I would have expected Dale to have better sense, though.



Steve in Peoria

1974 Boot Camp photo.



I ended up a jet mechanic on A-4's at Miramar, California. Fighter Town USA, the home of Top Gun. The Squadron I was assigned to was Top Gun's sister squadron. We were in the same hanger and went on detachments with them.

No “ former“ Marines, Once A Marine, Always A Marine.” Per Commandant’s Directive.😉

I appreciate the spirit, but I thought "former" was the correct usage, and was preferred to the term "ex-Marine"?
Otherwise, I'm not sure how to distinguish folks who have worn the eagle, globe and anchor versus those who are still wearing it.

on a bit of a tangent, the Corps flew a version of the B-25 during WW II. This version was the PBJ-1J, and there is one of these still flying. It shows up at one airshow that I attend regularly, and they sell t-shirts and hats and stuff to raise a few bucks to keep the aircraft fueled and serviced. The aircraft is named "Devil Dog", appropriately enough.
I've got a few of the t-shirts and stuff with the nose art on it, so I get to wear the Devil Dog label quite a bit.

(not a bike, but very C&V)




Steve in Peoria

I don't have much for pictures, as far as military goes. Here's my boot photo.

steelbikeguy👍,

It’s just in jest here, but it gets the Letters section of Leatherneck going every few years. Right now the topic is Gen. Berger’s 2030 Restructure program. Not going down the “Old Corps” rantway😏.

I’ve seen Devil Dawg, at one of the Blue Angels’ air shows. That gunship configuration was effective. Leatherneck did an article on the WW2 VMB squadrons earlier this year, really interesting reading.

Semper Fi Steve, and thanks to all Veterans, of all time periods.

Roger M ,
Had that look down👍👍👍
Bill