I also must say... I love FReepers! :) Ask a question about the US Military and immediately get half a dozen spot-on informative replies. Semper Fi
Posted on 07/18/2012 8:51:56 AM PDT by rem_mitchell
Can some of the Marines in the room please help me. My father passed away on Friday and I am writing his obituary and am having a bit of a conflict with my brother. My fatehr served in Korea. He was always very closed lipped about his service and only gave sparse information, usually while we poured over photographs and we came across one of him in Korea. He told me that he had volunteered for the Marines and went to Basic at Camp Pendleton. He became a medical corpsman, and I believe to do that he was sent to the navy for training, so he said he wore a Marine Uniform with Navy stripes. He always referred to himself as a Marine, but my brother is under the impression that we should state in his obituary that he was in the navy. I say he was a marine. Can the FR Marines help me?
It’s your dad’s obit, you should call him what he would have wanted.
Thewre is no such thing as a “Marine Corpsman”
The NAVY providesa ALL medical for the Marine Corps...a Navy Hospital Corpsman generally attended what is called “8404 school” AKA Field Medical training, and then is assigned to a Marine unit as their “Doc”...Your fater, if he was a corpsman, may have been a Marine in spirit, but not a U S Marine.
Sounds like your Dad was a Navy Corpsman attached to a Marine outfit. He was in the Navy not the Marines. However, I will tell you that we Marines treat our corpsman as if they are Marines. For instance, Navy Corpsman are the only ones other than Marines who are allowed to join the Marine Corps league as full members.
Condolences to you and your family.
I would say he was Navy, as he was a Corpsman. But “Basic” at Camp Pendleton??? I don’t think so. Advanced Infantry, maybe?
My FiL was a Marine who served in Korea ‘52-’53. He did his Advanced Infantry Training at Pendelton before shipping over.
Thanks for your help and kind words.
Do you have a copy of his DD-214? It will have the correct info on there & the funeral home will need a copy if you want military honors at funeral.
My understanding is that the corpsman is technically in the Navy. Keep in mind that the Navy is the parent organization for the Marines and the Navy provides the medical hospitals and care for Marines worldwide. The Navy corpsman should be and is every bit as revered by Marines as any fellow Marine. He is out there on the front lines, in the heat of battle, risking his life to give life saving emergency aid to battle wounded Marines.
The Navy corpsman are not Marines. But the Marines do not have their own medical services. So they use the Navy corpsman. Corpsman are allowed to wear Marine uniforms as long as they follow dress regulation and grooming. Instead of where it says US MARINES it will say US NAVY and they will not have the same enlisted rank chevrons as the marines do. Technically they are not Marines but are a part of the Fleet Marine Force.
Interesting thread.
I’m sorry for your loss.
I also must say... I love FReepers! :) Ask a question about the US Military and immediately get half a dozen spot-on informative replies. Semper Fi
Your dad was in the Navy. However, the Corpsmen too have an extremely proud tradition of service and bravery. Many a Marine, scared and in great pain, has been glad to see a Navy Corpsmen making his way to the Marine under great fire and attack. My cousin owes his life to a Navy corpsmen who performed open chest surgery in firefight conditions, during the second battle of Fallujah. God bless Navy corpsmen, and God bless the U.S. Marines. And God bless your father’s memory.
“He served in Korea with a Fleet Marine Force as a Navy Corpsman.” That might work. God bless your courageous father.
Definitely sounds like he was officially a Navy Corpsman. The Marines don’t have their own Corpsmen.
First of all my condolences to you and your family for the loss of your father.....I agree with everyone else here that he was probably a Navy Corpsman......my sons are Marines and they have nothing but high praise for the Corpsman and consider them Marines.....your father may not have shared many stories but he served his country well and I appreciate and am thankful for men like your father......God Bless
Dittoes on your comments on the DD-214.
Getting one can be complex. If you have trouble getting one, call some VA Veterans assistance offices.
Speaking for myself, I am a prior U.S. Marine, but I inter-service transferred into the Navy to become a Corpsman, (and subsequently retired from the Navy)
Your father was every bit a Marine (more so for his service during Korea) but in reality a FMF (Fleet Marine Force) Corpsman.
The greatest honor for a Corpsman is to be called "Doc" by his Marines.
But as previously suggested find his dd214, that will settle the question.....
Semper Fi!
Thanks again to all who have responded so kindly. Your expertise has been very helpful.
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