pressive fire … from the second story
window of a building, he was suddenly
hurled through the wall into the adjoining room by two … rocket rounds. Wounded
in both legs and … stunned by the force of
the explosion, he was carried downstairs
and placed with six other casualties
awaiting treatment. Realizing the heavy
enemy fire was preventing … evacuation
of the casualties, [Corporal Warren] exposed himself to … enemy fire and brought
accurate M16 fire to bear on the enemy.
“Assured that the more severe casualties had been evacuated, he allowed himself to be evacuated and helped carry a
wounded comrade to the aid station. …
He refused medical evacuation and [re-turned] to his unit due to the shortage of
qualified machine-gunners. [He] … continued to perform his duties until the seriousness of his wounds caused him to be
evacuated” on Feb. 10, 1968.—Sound Off
Ed.
The Original
And Still The Finest
but did not see him in Vietnam as I was
with the Third Marine Division.
Sgt Larry Wiedemann
USMC, 1966-69
Fort Thomas, Ky.
When I set out to design a ring
worthy of a U.S. Marine, I knew it
had to be beyond comparison. It had to be
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ranks and of the highest quality. My USMC
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• I believe you, but at press time we
could not find anyone else to positively
identify the Marine in the photo as Cpl
Warren, whose home of record was listed
as Klamath Falls, Ore. So, readers, if you
can verify, please do so. We really want
to know if it is Cpl Warren and what became of him because we read his Navy
Cross citation, and once you read it, you
will understand our interest in him:
On Feb. 3, 1968, “Corporal Warren’s
platoon was taken under intense enemy
automatic weapons and rocket fire as
they attempted to assault the city’s Treasury Building. As the unit entered a large
courtyard, one Marine was seriously
wounded … and unable to move from his
exposed position. [Corporal] Warren, who
had been wounded, … ignored his own …
injuries and … ran into the … courtyard
under intense enemy fire and placed his
body between the casualty and the hostile
fire. … He commenced firing his machine
gun from the hip,” allowing the casualty
to be evacuated.
On Feb. 5, “as he was delivering … sup-
A Special “Thanks” to Docent Pretus
Please convey to Marine museum docent Jessica Pretus (February “Letter of
the Month”) how much the former members of the exhibit design team appreciated
her compelling description of a veteran’s
response to the “Iwo Jima Remembrance
Wall” in the World War II gallery at the
National Museum of the Marine Corps.
The team had wrestled with the issue
of how best to evoke the sense of sacrifice
and loss incurred at Iwo Jima. The creative idea of displaying small service insignia to represent each of the more than
6,000 Marine, Navy and Coast Guard fa-talities was the inspiration of one quiet
member in the back row. Subsequent refinements by the designer and fabricators
produced the curved wall and “touchable”
insignia. Most of the insignia are already
well-worn. A special thanks to Jessica for
sharing her story.
Col Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret)
Asheville, N.C.
• Col Alexander is the Marine historian
who worked with the exhibit design team
for the National Museum of the Marine
Corps. He also is a regular contributor
to Leatherneck.—Sound Off Ed.
Twenty-Eight Original Eagle Designs
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CARROLL COLLECTION OF US EAGLE RINGS
16144 W. Port Clinton Road, Prairie View, IL 60069
888-512-1333
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The M16 Back Then and the
Rifle Marines Use Today
I cannot believe that in some 40 years
we are still talking about that piece of crap
called the M16. I served with “Hotel” Company, 2d Battalion, Ninth Marine Regiment in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967 and
a second tour with “Lima” Co, 3/5. I saw
Marines getting killed because of jamming.
Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese Army
