M14 Forum

jameslawson71

General question. I thought Marines never wore flags on their uniforms...? Is the flag an addition or do they wear them now...?

SixTGunr

Quote:

I thought Marines never wore flags on their uniforms...?

Thats 'not' a uniform ...
It's a shooting jacket ...

I exited the Corps in 1970 ...
Back then we did'nt have flags on the rags ... (hey .. that rhymes)
Not sure what they are letting them do today but nothing would surprise me from the younger jarhead generation of today

I'm just a dumb-a** Vietnam era machine gunner so I honestly don't have a concrete answer for ya with all that regulation stuff.
I did'nt really care back then either ... only thing I cared about was having a "long enough" starter belt stickin out of the feed plate on my sixty (PIG) when I was outside the wire ...

If I was commandant I'd personally sew em' on for the troops ... they are fightin' and dyin' for it ...

Heres just a 'few' cause theres more ...

1DVMarines from 3rd Bn, 5Marine Regiment & 2nd Bn 9th Regiment
KIA since 1 OCT.

L/CPL Randy R. Braggs, 21, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., Nov. 6
Staff Sgt. Jordan B. Emrick, 26, of Hoyleton, Ill., Nov. 5
L/CPL Brandon W. Pearson, 21, of Arvada, Colo., Nov. 4
L/CPL Matthew J. Broehm, 22, of Flagstaff, Ariz., Nov. 4
Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Cullins, 28, of Simi Valley, Calif., Oct. 1
Sgt. Ian M. Tawney, 25, of Dallas, Ore., Oct. 16
L/CPL Joseph C. Lopez, 26, of Rosamond, Calif., Oct. 14
L/CPL Alec E. Catherwood, 19, of Byron, Ill., Oct. 14
L/CPL Irvin M. Ceniceros, 21, of Clarksville, Ark., Oct. 14
Cpl. Justin J. Cain, 22, of Manitowoc, Wis. Oct. 13
L/CPL Phillip D. Vinnedge, 19, of Saint Charles, Mo. Oct. 13
L/CPL Joseph E. Rodewald, 21, of Albany, Ore. Oct. 13
Pfc. Victor A. Dew, 20, of Granite Bay, Calif. Oct. 13
L/CPL John T. Sparks, 23, of Chicago, Ill., Oct. 8
2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly, 29, of Tallahassee, Fla., Nov. 9
L/CPL James B. Stack, 20, of Arlington Heights, Ill., Nov. 10
L/CPL Dakota R. Huse, 19, of Greenwood, La., died Nov. 9
1st Lt. James R. Zimmerman, 25, of Aroostook, Maine, died Nov. 2
L/CPL Scott A. Lynch, 22, of Greenwood Lake, N.Y., died Oct. 6
L/CPL Terry E. Honeycutt Jr., 19, of Waldorf, Md., died Oct. 27
Sgt. Frank R. Zaehringer III, 23, of Reno, Nev., died Oct. 11
CPL Stephen C. Sockalosky, 21, of Cordele, Ga., died Oct. 6
L/CPL Raymon L. A. Johnson, 22, of Midland, Ga., died Oct. 13
Cpl. Jorge Villarreal Jr., 22, of San Antonio, Texas, died Oct. 17
Hospital Corpsman Edwin Gonzalez, 22, of North Miami Beach, Fla., died Oct. 8

Six

jameslawson71

Not trying to start fuss. I was under the impression that Marines had a certain sense of pride/honor/respect in "not" having flags sewed to their uniforms or utilities or any type of "work-wear". Just like they NEVER wear utilities (BDU's) offbase, like all other branches can and usually do, unless of course there is a specific reason like an emergency or shooting Perry...

I thought is was one of those unique things that set them apart. I know it once was at one time....

carpshooter

First off , when I was in the Corps back during '69-'71 , it was stated that all " Marines are infantry first " ,remember ITR brothers !

Patches were at one time worn in the Corps back in the earlier days like WW2 for example . I don't know the real reason for not doing that anymore , but the Corps wanted every Marine to be the same ( even if we may not ) , in the Corps .In other words if Six and I were next to each other in formation in our Marine uniforms , you couldn't tell the 03 whatever grunt from the 31whatever airwinger . Looking at the ribbons may be your only way to guess whose who , but that may be misleading also !

The flags were put on so you could tell the Americans from the other guys in combat areas regardless of branch of services .

I like the patches better than none , but that's just me !

jameslawson71

I do recall images (TV/Periodicals) of Marines in Lebanon with flag patches. I think there is one of James "Rock" McGlynn with his M40 floating around the internet. I cant remember if he had a patch or not in the photo.

When I was working in Iraq in 03, the Marines I encountered wore no flags on their BDU's (or whatever the new term is now for their battle dress uniforms). Didnt bother me, just thought that Marines thought of it as source of pride in not displaying the flag in a "subdued" way. Kind of like Russian Orthodox Christians are opposed to any kind of image of Christ that is 3 dimensional. That kind of sense of it. Not in a bad way, but in a sense of respect.

Gotta figure, Marine Dress Blues practically are a flag. They have all the colors. What other service does that?

2336USMC

The Marine Corps is willing to revise the uniforms as necessary for a given operation. Like when we went to Desert Shield/Storm, back in the days before we had name tapes on the utilities, we all had name tapes sewed on because it was deemed appropriate for the operation. We removed them when we got home. Some years later it was decided that name tapes were a good idea so Marines now have them on all the time.

It's very possible that in a joint service/international operation the USMC decided it's a good idea to add the flags. They might get removed when the unit rotates home, I don't know, I'm just a retired guy. When I went to OIF in '03 we didn't have flags.

30shtur

All US military units in theather wear the flag on the right shoulder with the stars forward. The US Army soldiers wear the flag on combat uniforms wheather in theather or not.

chomp

Yeah 30shtur has it. I was in until 04. We never had them . Then I was in Kosavo and we had them on our cammies. Took em off when we got home. When Iraq Started up in 03 we didnt have them. But we didnt even have name tapes. We were given desert cammies and away we went. Now they are given the two different patterns. Maybe no time for it. I cant remember. Now I see them all wearing them. I think it has to do if you are working with other countries. I know for sure that the Marines do not have them when they are home.

Dare2Think

The above is true. In 1996 when my old unit (VMU-1) deployed to Bosnia in support of Operation Joint Endeavor, we had to have flags added to our utilities as part of IFOR. We only had those flags on during that deployment and I believe the main reason was that the whole operation was multinational. To my knowledge LSB or “The Red Patchers” are the only ones to wear something extra.

coloradosherpa

Marines wore them on the "old" tri color desert uniform while in theater. They don't on the new digital desert uniform. I wish they did. I also know/understand why the flag is reversed, I just wish it wasn't. I also wish the usmc would wear patches. It provides esprit de corps for a given unit. It would also help differentiate the 03s from non 03s. They deserve the recognition IMHO.

CE1371

I have NEVER seen a single Marine whether it be back in CONUS or in Afghanistan EVER wear a flag or patch on their cammies. It doesn't happen. The only time you'll potentially see patches would be either black IR patches on the shoulder pockets or name patches on the body armor or packs and those usually consist of name, rank, kill code, blood type, MOS, etc.

coloradosherpa

I agree with ce1373, I have never seen a flag on usmc digital uniforms.

Jason0839

Sorry my friend but yes you are wrong, we dont wear US patches on our uniforms. We have one patch that is velcro with unit, blood type, and rank. Thats it.

BrokenVet

You must have been in the wing side and worn the velcro on your coveralls. NOt all Marines wear coveralls.

There is one more patch that Marines do wear.

Marines do wear patches on their camies, mind you not all Marines wear them.

Red patches are worn on camies around the knee area on the side 1" X3" also on the cover 1"X1" front center, just below the emblem. These red patches are worn if you are with "LSB" Landing Support Battalions. The LSB folks are the very first Marines to hit the beaches, they clear them and set up for the amphibious landing party.

The red patches are worn to separate /avoid confusion with regular Marines during beach operation and for them to remain on the beach area. LSB Marines started wearing the red patches during the island hoping campaign back in WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Patch

dare2Think has it right, LSB wears something extra.

Worn those patches for 4 years on my camies with 4th LSB as one of the I&I staff. I retired in 1998 and I have not heard of any changes. Also my son would have told me, he is currently on active duty.

As far as flags are worn in todays uniforms, I have not heard any current news.

CPTKILLER

This is a carryover from the Europeans. When I was in Vietnam, there was no real reason to wear a flag. Everyone knew the Americans from ARVN's. That was even true when I was stationed in Germany.

It is to me a kind of political fad. The unit patch or less was acceptable