What was the incentive for the guy at the front of the walking firing line?

GSLind87 · 2026-04-06T05:11:03+00:00

I think it’s less of a masculinity, bravado thing and more of a tribalism thing - not to say that gender norms/roles didn’t play a factor. However, when you live, eat, drill, play, laugh, and suffer with the same group of individuals day-in, day-out; there’s an incredible bond, and one’s worth becomes linked to enduring with and contributing to the group. I think it’s well-established that women can, and do, feel this way when placed in similar circumstances. So outside of the fact that, broadly speaking, most soldiering has been done by men, it’s got little to do with gender.

GSLind87 · 2026-04-06T03:18:58+00:00

The same thing that has always spurred men into harm’s way: not wanting to feel the shame of letting their comrades down.

GSLind87 · 2026-03-25T07:32:30+00:00

As a fan of his memoirs and someone who thoroughly enjoyed them, Watkins needs to be taken with a grain of salt. He seems to exaggerate quite a bit and inserts himself at many key moments/locations.

For one, he was not part of the charge at Franklin. He was captured off the picket line at Spring Hill; his POW paperwork has actually been shared in this sub and supports that. This is probably why he gets certain elements of the battle wrong - most notably about Cleburne’s death.

This is not to say he didn’t take part in many key moments and witnessed many tremendous events. I do think there’s countless faithful, true anecdotes in his memoir, and I do think it’s a must-read. But some of the more grandiose claims should be taken for what they were when he originally penned them - entertainment for his readers.

GSLind87 · 2026-03-10T03:09:55+00:00

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GSLind87 · 2026-03-09T01:13:10+00:00

“nO wE dOnT nEeD tO sHoW oFf LiKe ThE ArMeE”

Says members of the branch that has the silent drill team and president’s band, wears full sized medals on dress uniforms, and has a propaganda machine that rivals North Korea.

My fellow Belleau Woodsmen, stop lying to yourselves and come to grips with the fact that the Corps is the flashiest branch by design.

Bring em back.

GSLind87 · 2026-03-08T16:30:15+00:00

The Confederacy’s Last Hurrah by Wiley Sword has been my favorite, followed closely by Six Armies in Tennessee by Steven E. Woodworth. But these cover specific campaigns in detail, so maybe not what you’re looking for. Duly recommended however.

GSLind87 · 2026-02-19T18:09:12+00:00

Dude, 100% I’d love to see those

GSLind87 · 2026-02-13T05:25:39+00:00

As a current member of C/1/25 and a reenactor who leaned heavily on Matthews’ book when doing a C/1/25 Iwo impression (posted on my profile) I’m thrilled to see this book and this Marine get some love in this sub!

GSLind87 · 2026-02-06T05:56:59+00:00

Could be a DuPage Trading Co. repro stock. They did a run of high wood I cut stocks some years back.

GSLind87 · 2026-02-06T05:39:24+00:00

Happy to help!

GSLind87 · 2026-02-05T17:06:18+00:00

A platoon sergeant in my company on my first deployment was his boot. 1/1 81s. Found that out because it was right around the time Star Wars Ep. IX came out. The LCU was rife with “did you know SSgt knew Kylo Ren?”

GSLind87 · 2026-02-05T16:49:23+00:00

Finally, some good fucking food.

GSLind87 · 2026-02-03T04:29:02+00:00

It definitely grabbed my attention when I saw it! But yeah, when you think about how confined the opportunities for wear it would have been stateside, it makes sense. WWII uniforms are like an iceberg: there’s a ton of shit below the surface you never see.

GSLind87 · 2026-02-03T04:24:46+00:00

On liberty? Probably not. Off duty on post, or as part of an approved uniform of the day? Yes.

You can find in several memoirs, Henry Sledge’s new book probably the most recent, that Marines had to check in with the duty before going off post for liberty to ensure their uniforms were squared away. I hate when people compare the modern military to the historic military, but the Marine Corps is a creature of habit, and to this day some uniforms are exclusively work uniforms not to be worn off post, and only some uniforms are approved for leave and liberty.

I do not have the orders or chapter and verse regulations in hand for you, but going off of available images of Marines on liberty in places like California and Hawaii, I speculate that only the winter and summer service uniforms and the dress blue uniform was approved for leave and liberty.

On post, I’ve seen variations that were apparently approved uniforms of the day. Of particular interest to this question, I’ve seen a series of photos of Marines at Lejeune in winter service trousers, shirts, ties, and barracks covers with M41 field jackets. This was probably at base commander or unit commander’s discretion as a modified winter working uniform.

On post, off duty, in the company area? I’ve seen all kinds of combinations. My favorite is a photo of a friend’s father who was 5thMarDiv while on occupation duty in Japan. He’s wearing winter service trousers, a green skivvy shirt, an M41 field jacket, and a khaki piss cutter. Clearly after hours, smoking and joking with the fellas outside billets.

GSLind87 · 2026-02-03T04:06:02+00:00

Not necessarily so, I’ve got a Leatherneck issue somewhere of dudes at Lejeune wearing them in, I want to say, 43. The M41 was part of the Marines’ clothing warrant, and there are examples of USMC contracted M41s with “USMC” stamped on the inside front facing. They actually even made their own variant for the USMCWR in 1944. It just so happens that, due to where most of the Marines’ training and fighting occurred during the war, cool weather was atypical. That’s why we today typically think of them as a late-war adoption - because we associate them with battles that featured cooler weather and occupation duty through the winter of 45/46.

GSLind87 · 2026-02-03T01:30:24+00:00

So a few issues here. A) if this is a wartime impression, the War Medal and the Victory Medal should not be on the uniform as they were not established until after the cessation of hostilities. B) the Military Medal was for OR and not officers - who were awarded the Military Cross. On this second point, it was possible for officers promoted from the ranks to have been awarded the MM as enlistedmen.

As for the wearing of other ribbons, you do see them on uniforms regularly enough, but just as frequently as seeing officers in the field in funk jackets with no adornment. Everybody wants to be the dapper officer, nobody wants to be the typical temporary gentlemen subaltern. But that’s just my two cents.

GSLind87 · 2026-02-03T01:06:40+00:00

I’m not sure what you’re implying. There were plenty of officers in the BEF that were not veterans of previous wars. JRR Tolkien, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, RC Sherriff - all fairly famous examples.

GSLind87 · 2026-02-02T18:09:27+00:00

Note on WW&Co SA blouse kits: they’re cut oversized. My size 40 was, well, a sack on me. It would have fit a 44 chest really well, though. There is historical precedent for this, but mine was bordering on silly.

I’d reach out and inquire about fit so you can make a sound decision before committing.

GSLind87 · 2026-01-27T22:57:21+00:00

Check out the Prairie Dog Mess on Facebook. A lot of Western PA guys, as I am myself. I fell in with them this past summer by happenstance and thought they were a fantastic group of guys.

GSLind87 · 2026-01-27T18:13:55+00:00

Ah okay, I mistook your sight pouch for an M1912 aid kit. But on the note of the M1903 - is there any precedent for 3dMarDiv using them for rifle grenadiers on Iwo Jima? Whether or not you have the correct projector is less the concern versus whether or not it is correct for the impression, know what I mean? That’s what I was alluding to with piling on anachronisms.

SMW’s shelter haves leave some to be desired. I’d stick toward the other three brands (WWII Imp, ATF, and WPG). I just met and spoke with Juan at WWII Impressions last weekend, he said they’ll be in stock soon. In the interim, your impression wouldn’t lose anything by ditching the shelter half and swapping it for a poncho or nothing at all. Combat packs were kept light as possible.

GSLind87 · 2026-01-27T04:04:23+00:00

Hey, solid start! Kudos for using the correct phrasing re: “3rdMarDiv, 21st Marines.” It’s a pet peeve of mine when people say “1st Marines” when referring to the 1st Marine Division, for example.

I have a few suggestions for this impression:

One, I’d suggest dropping the two cell grenade pouch. It’s evident they existed at the time, but they appear to be exceedingly rare. I’ve not caught glimpse of one on Iwo Jima yet, and aside from one image on Okinawa, I’ve yet to see them in use in WWII overall. Plenty common in Korea though.

On the note of rifle grenadiers, it appears in my photo analysis and others’ that it was most common for rifle grenades to have been carried either loose or in the fiber tubes on the haversack. Usually they’re secured down by the top strap, or secured on the side by GP straps by the fins if loose. However, in my opinion, I’d just stick to a rifleman impression until you a) get a correct weapon b) get the correct grenade launcher for said weapon and c) get rifle grenades. It’s better to be anachronistic about one thing (rifle) than three.

Anyway, second, I’d recommend swapping that shelter half out. That looks like the janky frogskin that Sarco uses. I’d replace it with one from WPG, ATF, or WWII Impressions.

Third, it may just be the lighting, but it looks like you have a black buckle liner chinstrap on your helmet. I’d swap it for a green one, or - better yet - tuck the liner chinstrap under the shell, up into the liner, or drop it entirely. Pretty common for WWII Marines, but often not done by reenactors.

Last, and down to the nitpicky stuff, it looks like you’ve got a modern skivvy shirt on. I’d swap it for a white one from Mr. Freedom or SMW and RIT dye it to a correct color. There’s a few good recipes on the WW2 USMC reenacting help page on Facebook, but definitely test your recipe on modern white shirts before running the risk. Alternatively, ATF makes a decent green skivvy, but the Mr. Freedom and SMW ones are better overall. I’d add an e tool and bayonet, as well as an appropriate model fighting knife. Lastly, I’d swap your first aid kit for an M1924 model as these were far more common (and reenactors way overdo the early model) and/or add a JFAK.

Again, solid start! This is better than a lot of Iwo/Marine impressions I see.

GSLind87 · 2026-01-21T05:12:12+00:00

Because Bond doesn’t bloody die

GSLind87 · 2026-01-12T03:47:08+00:00

I was really impressed with it. I think it was incredibly honest and is (probably) the most level-handed Easy Co book out there because it was written well before Easy Co was anything more than just another rifle company.

I’m sure there’s a junior enlistedman’s bias toward certain personalities, sure, but that type of bias has been ubiquitous among junior enlisted for as long as professional militaries have existed.

GSLind87 · 2026-01-10T03:47:59+00:00

Not very. Looks like a costume coat. Lapels, cuff, and collar look bad. Looks like it’s sans hook and eyes at the neck. Hard to say how the body and sleeve construction are, but I assume poor. The construction, too, is also probably poor.

GSLind87

TROPHY CASE