Posted on 11/25/2001 9:39:17 AM PST by real saxophonist
To Oorah or Not to Oorah?
Story by Ed Vasgerdsian
I was a Marine before they got rid of the M1 rifle, .45-caliber pistol and C-rations and, these things not withstanding, there have been other changes in the Corps as well. As a former Marine, try as I may to keep up with change, it is neither easy nor possible. Reunions aren't any help since they reinforce what I already know or remind me of what I've forgotten. Most former Marines can find old duty stations and a few friends and that's about it.
For the most part we're condemned to whimsical attempts of sounding like we know what we're talking about when we are confronted by our modern Marine Corps. Based upon a recent experience, I've now decided to face reality and admit the truth: I don't know what "oorah" means.
I overheard a couple of young Marines talking, and as they parted company one said to the other, "Oorah!" What a strange word! I guessed it was a food, a drink, a new weapon or a foreign word that had a universal meaning. You know, "Hey, don't forget to bring the oorah." "Why don't we barbecue an oorah?" "I broke my oorah." "The gunny wants to see the oorah." "Oorah for the Red, White and Blue." (Maybe the latter was Hooray--for the Red, White and Blue.) I recalled words from my own Marine Corps experience, like slopchute, pogey bait, shelter half and Mickey Mouse boots but never oorah--or is it oorah?
Later, a Marine at Quantico used the word with me during a telephone conversation. "Oorah, sir," he said, as he hung up. I couldn't respond by saying, "Eh, what was that you said?" Out of desperation I almost said, "Haroo," hoping it meant something like, "The same to you, buddy," or "See you later." Over a period of two months I heard oorah used several times. If there was an appropriate response, what was it? Had the Marine Corps been modernized to the point of using an east Indian mantra?
I live in a large metropolitan city where there are several colleges and universities; surely someone could explain oorah. My plan was to simply say, "Oorah" and wait for a reaction.
Winkie's Wine and Spirits Shop told me they were out of oorah but Ouzo, the Greek stuff, was just as good. I asked for an oorah at a coffee shop, and I was told if it wasn't on the menu, then they didn't have it. At a clothing store I was told lambswool held up better than oorah, and an anthropologist said oorahs have been extinct for thousands of years. At home my wife suggested the grass needed cutting, and the kids shrugged their shoulders implying my early senility. I researched volumes of word books and dictionaries, including military, and found nothing.
As the clouds of darkness gave way to a brighter light, I realized oorah must be strictly military. But where did it come from? There had to be an explanation. I was prepared to accept anything because there are other sayings the Marine Corps has accepted without question.
"Semper Fi," short for Semper Fidelis, is Latin and it means "always faithful." To my knowledge there were no Marines attached to the Roman Legion, yet we use it. "Gung ho" is a Chinese expression that translates into "working together." It became popular when movie actor Randolph Scott portrayed Marine Raider Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson in the movie by the same name.
"Saddle up" is a cavalry term that John Wayne overused in a portrayal of a Marine gunnery sergeant in the award-winning movie, "The Sands of Iwo Jima."
Historically, there were Marines on horseback but not on Tarawa or Iwo Jima. These were expressions used as part of the Marine Corps I knew, and I never challenged their origins because they were real words, be they Latin, Chinese or U.S. Cavalry.
Ultimately, I gave up pursuing the origin of oorah. After all, there are other things about life and the Marine Corps I didn't understand, so I need not get hung up on this word. I never knew why I didn't make general, and I don't understand how I never shot expert on the rifle range. Oorah would be another unknown factor in my life.
Meanwhile, I promise never to use oorah before shaving, after driving, while watching TV or after Thanksgiving dinner. Further, I will never speak of oorahs in mixed company, be they men, women, republicans or democrats.
Should I encounter an oorah I will not challenge its authority, intimidate it or imitate its behavior. This I promise, so help me, Chesty Puller.
Editor's note: Ed Vasgerdsian, a retired law enforcement officer who served in the Marine Corps from 1953 to 1959, is a free-lance writer.
However, I, personally, recall that the line Marines were referring to themselves as "grunts" as early as the mid-'50s in 3dMarines at Camp Fuji, Japan.
Sometimes, just when ya think ya got something nailed down, somebody will recall something w/a date to go w/it. Dick Gaines
The term "grunt" had been in use, in the Corps, for a good many years by 63, so I'll defer to your expertise on that one Gunny. Seems to me I saw a link for old Corps slang on a website several years ago. I thought it might have been your site that I saw it on. I had a lot of sites bookmarked, but a nasty virus wiped out my computer and everything on it.
"Oorah" sounds dippy to me, but given the circumstances of the last eight years, we are fortunate "Hi, Ssssailor" isn't the required greeting.
If that's the case, they were using a wimpified version of what we had in infantry units in the 70's.
Today's modest "ooo-ra" is nothing like the uulation we had then. It was akin to a 'barbaric yawp' (Dead Poets Society) and came from the gut out the back of throat. Oh, yeah, I can still do it!
Done right, it brings a priapristic response to the true grunt.
69-73 semper fi
My sites are as follows:
Gunny G's Old Salt Marines Tavern - Sites and Forums
Dick Gaines
Dick Gaines
Very gd simple! No source exists! oohrah is bs w/no source in USMC history at all. That's It!
-Dick Gaines
Oohrah was a standard boot camp call by 81. It was used some in the field, but saying it much in day to day conversation (or any other Marine term for that matter) made you look like a brainwashed boot/newbie.
The story I heard was that it was invented by a Recon and/or Seal team who used it to stay awake and fight off hypothermia while bobbing in a freezing ocean waiting to be picked up after a mission. Odds are that's total fiction, but that's how I heard it.
Want a second opinion? OK, they're ugly MFs too!
Geeze-louise Dick, either you are a grumpy old fart, or you think the Corps is 226 years of tradition unhampered by progress. Which is it?
As for this Marine, I can still project a sound from my gut that reaches straight through the ears and down to the heart of any Marine within hearing distance
Norb
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