1956 Map of Parris Island

[Kentm0300]

Roads were the same but the layout was quite different.
Back then there was five battalions for male recruits plus the female battalion.
Most of us lived in 16-man Nissan huts. Only 1st & 2nd BNs were in the old wooden barracks.

[Cpl Miller]

what year this drawing was made?

[Kentm0300]

I'm guessing it was made around '56. I got it from PI in '86 when I was there for my son's graduation.

[Kentm0300]

Here is an aerial photo I took in '83.

[Larry Shunkwiler]

Tried to view picture but showed garbled. What platoon was your son in, in '56?


I'm guessing it was made around '56. I got it from PI in '86 when I was there for my son's graduation.

[Kentm0300]

My son was there in '86. I was there in '56, Platoon 377, 4th BN

[MIDDY]

Platoon 11: Jan 55, hay Kent, Cpl. Miller still haven't been able to get the drawing nor the aerial of the layout. i was in one of the wooden barracks. seems like it was one or two barracks past the chow hall. speaking of the chow hall that would be a good thread.
" middy "

[Cpl Miller]

Middy,

If the file (picture) is of an unknown format it won't show correctly. The format is best when using .jpeg type files.

Hope that helps

[GunnySan]

The label indicates .jpg but both also are garbled for me.

[Cpl Miller]

He'll need to re-load the pictures again. For some reason they didn't upload correctly.

Gary

[JITB]

Yup! I'm not getting either of the pics posted. Just garbage.

[cmyr]

Here we go, gents....

[GunnySan]

Thanks Nancy, much better. The layout is not recognizable to me. I went through in '46. PLT.159 probably 1st. Bn. if the numbering system was standard. I can't recall. Everyone was in wooden barracks. Ours faced the Sand Pits where we did most of our COD. We rarely went to the hard grinder. That was behind us, across another road. The messhalls were in front to the left. Across the Sand Pits there were some houses which I believe were private qtrs. I was there for my son's graduation in '76 and my barracks building was still there. Went there about two years ago for a retirement ceremony and all I recognized was Iron Mike and the overhead pipes. :confused:

[JITB]

Although the Quonset Hut and the Nissen Hut are pretty much the same design, the accepted term used by the US Navy and US Marine Corps is Quonset Hut. The structure was developed in Great Britain and the first US use of the design was by the Navy in Quonset Point.

When I arrived at Parris Island in 1958, the first platoon I was in was in 1st BN and we stayed in the White Wood Barracks that 1st and 2nd BN's had. A month in, I had to go to the hospital for a couple of weeks so I was set back. I ended up in 3rd BN which was in 16 man Quonset huts. In early 1959, recruits reporting into 3rd BN went to brand new brick barracks as they were built and opened. When they finally built brick barracks in 1st & 2nd BN's, they kept one of the white wood barracks, renovated it and turned it into BN office space.

http://home.att.net/~jitb/pics/061801.jpg

[GunnySan]

There were Quonset Huts in my time, but they were not used for recruits. We stayed in them when we returned from Boot Leave. We were then referred to as 'ATs', (Awaiting Transfer).

[JITB]

When I went through 3rd BN, the recruits were put up in 16 man Quonset huts. Hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Although I do remember that the pot belly stove they had in the middle of the Quonset hut did a pretty good job of heating it up when you kept it going.

[Kentm0300]

RE Quonset and Nissen huts.
They're different. Quonset huts are much larger. Nissen huts can hold about 16 people.
Quonset huts hold many more troops. Much more room. I've lived in both. Nissens on PI and Quonsets at 2nd ITR and Staging Regiment.

[JITB]

Nissen huts is the name given to that type of structure by the British that were the first to use them. The first use of that type of structure in the US was by our Navy at Quonset Point. That's where the name "Quonset hut" came from. I graduated from 3rd BN PI in 1958. The entire time we were there our living quarters were refered to as "16 Man Quonset Huts". In Gene Alvarez's book Parris Island "Cradle of the Corps", Gene refers to the huts in 3rd BN as Quonset huts. Gene was a SDI in 3rd BN when "The DI" was made and one of Gene's JDI's was selected to play in the movie. Gene is probably the most knowledgable person I have ever met on the history of Parris Island and the history of the east coast of South Carolina. If he says they were called "Quonset huts", it has to be true.

[Kentm0300]

My D.I.s called them Nissen huts. Are you saying they were wrong?
Oh, and regarding The D.I., I was in it.

[JITB]

In 1916 Major Peter Norman Nissen of the 29th Company Royal Engineers developed the Nissen hut for the British military. Nissen patented the design and continued manufacturing them for Britain all the way to WWII. During World War II the Nissen hut was produced along with a similar type, the Romney hut. In the United States the Quonset hut and its derivatives were developed and used first by the US Navy and then by the US Marine Corps and US Army. The initial version was a near-copy of Nissen's design. At Parris Island in the 50's, Quonset huts were widely used for recruits (16 man Quonset huts), the gas chamber, storage and offices. The Parris Island Museum refers to the structures that once housed recruits in 3rd BN and at the rifle range as Quonset huts.

[GunnySan]

at Pendleton in 40's and early 50's, Quonsets were used for family housing. There were a bunch of them just inside the Main Gate. I think it was called Homoja Housing or something similar.

[JITB]

In WWII, the United States Navy was interested in how easy the Nissen huts the British used were to put up. But, they were not happy with the fact that Nissen huts were too cold in cold climates and too hot in hot climates. In 1939, Nissen lifted the company's patent rights in the UK and the US which allowed the Navy to develop a more practical version using only the Nissen basic design. The Quonset hut was the result and it was manufactured for a very wide number of uses in a number of sizes.

[JITB]

My D.I.s called them Nissen huts. Are you saying they were wrong?
Oh, and regarding The D.I., I was in it.

I suspect the DI's had been overseas and were familiar with the British Nissen huts. They probably just considered that type of structure a "Nissen Hut".

If you were in "The DI", you must know Cpl E-3 John R. Brown. He played Sergeant O'Neill in the film who was the buddy of Jack Webb's character. When Jack Webb brought him out to Hollywood to play the part, he was one of the JDI's in SDI Gene Alvarez's Parris Island platoon. Jack Webb made him a Sergeant in the movie but he didn't actually attain that rank in the Corps until shortly after he returned to Parris Island.

[Kentm0300]

Our company provided extras. Anytime you saw Marines in large formations with utilities, packs, etc., it was us. I did not know John Brown. Only person I knew by name was Jack Webb because I had seen him on Dragnet.
We were empty-headed boots, didn't know squat. There were a few real Marines who were with Webb's crew for quite a while. One was in 81s-2-9 with me.
We were only in the film making process for about three days, all at Mainside.
\

[JITB]

Jack Webb picked a few certain actual Marines that he felt would be an asset to the movie. Brown was one of them. In 1958, "The DI" was a must see for all recruits going through PI. Of course, we saw it at the Base drive-in and observed the movie at the position of attention through the whole film!

[Kentm0300]

Were you there? Where did you see it? San Diego?
I can't even remember where I saw it. I did, of course. Wanted to see myself in a movie.
I have a video of it and anytime I want to I can see the 18 year old version of my 71 year old self. I'm impressed.

[JITB]

If you are asking that of me, my post pointed out I first saw the movie at Pi. During my enlistment, I saw it again at a number of other duty stations. I learned a lot about the movie from Gene Alvarez who I have stated knows more about Parris Island than any other person I have ever met. Actually, I wasn't overly impressed with the performance of the Marines that played recruits in the platoon training sequences. A lot of them were smiling which I don't think it was common in recruit training. It wasn't a bad movie overall but it lacked a lot of what was common in recruit training at PI in those days. I think if you combined "The DI" with the first half of "Full Metal Jacket" you would come up with a more acurate picture of actual recruit training in the late 50's and early 60's.

[Kentm0300]

I have to agree with you. Only time I remember smiling was when I boarded the bus outta there. First half of FMJ was much more real, but that part about the boot shooting himself in the barracks, it lost me there. I remember how they checked out on the range before we'd go back to the barracks. No way.
And like I've told many friends who saw it and commented on how "real" it was. Yes, it sounded like PI but you had to be at PI 24 hours a day for 13 weeks to REALLY get a feel for it. Describing PI is kind of like trying to describe burning to death. You just have to experience it.

[Cpl Miller]

about the pictures in our database is how many recruits are smiling from the early 50's and back. As the late 50's and 60's pictures reflect, there is very LITTLE smiling going on. I would have never thought of smiling in those picture, the DI's would have killed us.

Just goes to show you older Marines were a HAPPY bunch. ha ha

[silverdollar]

I started boot at PI on 19 may 1954 until 6 aug 1954. was in 2ed bn, stayed on 2ed deck in wooden barracks , I think the senior D I was Sgt Flynn. I am trying to find my plt. number.

[JITB]

I just noticed something about the picture cmyr put up. It shows the "New 3rd BN barracks". When I graduated in December of 1958, only a few of those new brick barracks were up and only one was complete. All of 3rd BN recruits still lived in 16 man Quonset huts. We took a tour of the first brick barracks that was built. It turned out to be the same barracks my son was in when he went through boot in 1998!

I only bring it up because that pic must have been from 1959 when they started moving recruits into the brick barracks as they were ready.

[devildog-64012]

I just noticed something about the picture cmyr put up. It shows the "New 3rd BN barracks".

If you look at the lower left corner there is a date, '1983'. It shows that 4th BN is now over by 3rdBN. When I was there in '65 and then back there in '65/'66 in the Band, 4th BN was on the other side of the base and next to the Dependent Dental Clinic and swimming pool. :GI2:

[LarSim]

I just noticed something about the picture cmyr put up. It shows the "New 3rd BN barracks". When I graduated in December of 1958, only a few of those new brick barracks were up and only one was complete. All of 3rd BN recruits still lived in 16 man Quonset huts. We took a tour of the first brick barracks that was built. It turned out to be the same barracks my son was in when he went through boot in 1998!

I only bring it up because that pic must have been from 1959 when they started moving recruits into the brick barracks as they were ready.

For the record, I graduated MCRD Parris Island with the Third Battalion in December, 1959. We spent our whole time in quonset huts; don't know of any of 3rd Herd living in brick barracks at the time. I remember watching them being built however. Of course, what would I know? I was a "maggot recruit." Some of the battalion might have been housed in them.

- Larsim :cool:

[Glenn]

This is good stuff. When I went to PI in '65 I ended up in Platoon 186 This was 1st Bn, known as "Blood Alley". Same old white wooden barracks referred to in this thread. Don't remember what 2nd BN was called. But 3rd BN was "Disneyland" because of the new brick barracks. Us "Blood alley" guys didn't care much for the "Disneyland" bunch.

[Cpl Miller]

what you PI recruits thought of us Hollywood types? Ha