Posted on 11/08/2001 6:49:59 PM PST by An Old Man
SEMPER FI and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
David Wright,
Marine Corps Retired
Happy Birthday USMC!
2nd Blt, 1st Mar - 86' to 90'
Marine Security Guard - 90' to 92'
1st Blt, 8th Mar - 92' to 96'
God Bless The Marine Corps.
Marine Inspector,
Sgt. 0311
"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who gave us Freedom of the Press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who gave us Freedom of Speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the Freedom to Demonstrate.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag.
It is the soldier whose bravery and sacrifice made it possible for the protester to burn the flag.
GOD BLESS THE SOLDIER
Semper Fi, Devil Dogs! Happy Birthday!!
It would seem to me Time for our fellow Freepers to read a few Marine Corps Sea Stories!
Being that I am not shy, or Unrepentent I would like to start it off with how I was recruited by those "evil" Marine Recruiters
A Sea Story I call
"The Marine Recruiter"
I always knew I would Join the Military,
As a young boy, my room was always filled with plastic models of aircraft and ships,
in my Dresser were Military patchs and insignia,
Some were My Dad's when he was in the Army, and others were from my Uncles or Cousins,
they had served in the Army, Navy, and Air Force,
and They would always tell me the same thing,
Don't join the Marines,
They are crazy!
and so it was embedded into my brain.....
They didn't warn me about recruiters though,
and Marine Recruiters in particular!
When I finish High school the first place I went in 1975 was to the local recruiting station
I had High hopes of Joining the Air Force,
the only problem was that the Air Force recruiter had made his Quota for the next couple of monthes,
With a number of recent enlistment of some of my classmates under his belt, he just wasn't interested in signing me up and said to come back in a few monthes.
I talked to The Navy recruiter for a spell,
He told me he was "short", Although He towered over me,
I left his office slightly confused but with a handful of of Bumper stickers and a poster.
I remeber peeking into The Marine Recruiter Office,
But No One was There.
On the way out I Bump into the Army Recruiter as he was going in the door I was going out.
With all due respect to Today's Soldiers and Almost all the soldiers I have met since This Army recruiter had just smoked his lunch.
And I went home slightly downcast and digusted.
As was my habit in those days,
I would go out in the woods with a beat up post office van we had bought at an auction,
and generally cut my own trails through the woods looking for trees that had fallen over.
I would bring them back to the house and cut them up for the fireplace in the winter.
on one of these trips, The Marine recruiter had called my house and talked to my Mom,
He told her That he had gotten My name from the Navy Recruiter and he wanted to talk to me
I suspect That My mother had never listened to My Dad, my Uncles, and Cousins when they had talk about Marines Being Crazy,
and becase of it, she made an appointment for him to come over to the house and have a talk with me.
They day he was supposed to come over, I took to the woods with a renewed vigor entending to travel as deep into them as possible,
and hopefully miss the appointment,
Low and behold I buried the van in mud so deep it entered the van,
and was hopelessly stuck!
So I went home to tell my Mom to call a wrecker.
When I got there I told her that the Van was stuck and she told me she had already figured that out and had called the Marine recruiter to tell him I was stuck.
Thanks Mom!
As long as I live I will never forget what This recruiter had on to help me unstick the van from the Mud.
A bright red T-shirt with a devil dog on it and United States Marine Corps encircling it.
Bright white jeans, and by bright white I mean spotless not even a smudge of dirt or ash on them
and a pair of boots with a shine you could shave in.
Some how then and there I knew I was going to be a Marine.
and oh but we had fun getting The Van out of the mud
and in the end each of us was covered from head to toe in mud as we talked about The Corps for hours and soon I joined....
and you know what....he still lied to me!!!! But I forgave him, because as Crazy as my brother and sister Marines are,
I will never forget that I am just as crazy as any of them,
perhaps even more so!
2nd BN, 1st Marines, RVN, 65-66
Semper Fi!!!
Happy Birthday to all my fellow Devil Dogs!
I am proud to be one of the few, the proud,
the Marines!
Ooooorah!!!
Semper Fidelis,
Norb in Jacksonville
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