history and tradition
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  1. #1

    history and tradition

    I'm a 70 year old marine, in watching programs dedicated to the Marine Corps,
    my friends and i have a question. When did the Marine Corps decide to adopt the army's uh-ra and quit teaching and using GUNG_HO. it's a damn shame !!!


  2. #2
    Oorah is the Marines

    There are several potential sources from which the word "oorah" originated.
    The 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Company, FMFPAC can be credited with the introduction of "Ooh-rah!" into the Marine Corps in 1953, shortly after the Korean War. Recon Marines served aboard the USS Perch (ASSP-313), a WWII-era diesel submarineretrofitted to carry Navy UDT and Recon Marines. Whenever the boat was to dive, the 1MC (PA system) would announce "DIVE! DIVE!", followed by the sound of the diving klaxon: "AARUGHA!"
    In 1953 or 1954, while on a conditioning run, former Sergeant Major of the Marine CorpsJohn R. Massaro, while serving as company Gunnery Sergeant of 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion, simulated the "Dive" horn sound "AARUGHA!" as part of the cadence. Legend has it, he took it with him when he went to serve as an instructor at the Drill Instructor school at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. He there passed it on to the Drill Instructor students and they, in turn, passed it on to their recruits where it eventually and naturally became a part of the Recon cadence, and thereafter infiltrated Recon Marine lexicon.[1] Over time, "AARUGHA!" morphed into the shorter, simpler "Oorah!" Today, the official Marine Corps Training Reference Manual on the history of Marine Recon is titled "AARUGHA!"

    Owing to its relatively recent origins, it is less common for Marines who served in Vietnam or earlier to be familiar with "Oorah!", but most post-Vietnam Marines will have learned it throughout their careers.
    A shortened version of "Oorah!" can come out as a short, sharp, monosyllabic guttural "Er!"
    Another phrase similar to "Oorah" is the bark, also commonly used by Marines, due to the nickname "Devil Dogs" from the Battle of Belleau Wood in World War I.




  3. #3
    Thank you. Being a 1966 to 1970 active duty Marine I have wondered how that worked its way in to the lexicon. I agree with ballmagic--I like gung ho.


  4. #4
    We just growled


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