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 10/30/08:
- Live Link to new
pictures from the "REUNION" thank "Bob" for the pics.
If you have pictures you would like
to share please email them to webmaster@lima39.com
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
