Semper Fi

When my Grandpa was living (and still in his right mind) I asked him once what he was doing when he heard that the United States had been attacked in Hawaii.  


He said he remembered the day perfectly - it was snowing.  He had already enlisted in the Marines (before he was 17!), was on leave in New York City, and wearing a long overcoat.  He heard the news and headed right out in the snowstorm to wherever he was stationed at the time without his coat.  


Unflinching, steady devotion to his country and fellow Marines took him to the Pacific Theatre, to Iwo Jima, to victory. He didn't know that he would meet a foxhole buddy named Danny. That Granny would honor Danny's death by naming her 13th child after him.


His country called, and he simply answered: Yes SIR!


Semper Fi indeed.

USMC Company D, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marines (Engineer)

Camp Pendleton, 1943 

PFC Robert A. Patrick, third row, far right

Picture courtesy of YellowFootprints.com