We had oval dog tags. Marines wore dog tags all the time. We spit-shined shoes and BRUSH-shined boots. We wore boon dockers. We starched field scarves. We worked a five and one-half day week. Everyone attended unit parties. In the field we used straddle trenches instead of "Porta-Potties." Hitchhiking was an offense. We used Morse Code for difficult transmissions. The oil-burning tent stove was the center of social activity in the tent. We had unit mail call. We carried swagger sticks. We had Chesty Puller. Greater privileges for NCOs were not a "right." EM Clubs were where you felt at home...and safe. We sailed on troopships, We rode troop trains. Sentries had some authority. Warrant Officers were not in their teens. Mess hall "Southern cooking" was not called "soul food." Marines went to chapel on Sundays. Weekend liberty to a distant place was a rarity. The color of a Marine's skin was of no consequence. The Marine Corps was a big team made up of thousands of little teams. We landed in LCVPs and always got wet. We debarked from ship by means of nets over the side. We had platoon virgins. We had parades. We had pride. We had Esprit de Corps. Field scarves (neckties) were made of the same material as shirts, and had the same consistencies as a wet noodle. There was no tie clasp to keep it |
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from flapping in the breeze. Shirts were cut down and spit shined shoes were double soled. Khakis were heavily starched, and you had to run your arm through the pants leg to open them up. Shirt pockets could not be opened and you carried cigarettes in your socks. There were no back pockets in uniform trousers. Buttons on your "Blues" were really brass, and you shined them using jewelers rouge and a button shield. Piss-cutters had a single dip in the rear. There were khakis, greens, and blues. Washing dungarees aboard ship was done by running a line through the arms and legs and throwing them over the side. But you never left the attached line. The swabbies would cut the line every time. "Yesterday's Memories are Today's Treasures!" PURPLE HEART STAMP With the recent increase in postal rates, supporters of the Purple Heart Stamp were concerned that the Postal Service might dis-continue the stamp, which honors the heroes who have received the Purple Heart Medal. With support from a petition and letter writing campaign launched by Sen. Hillary Clinton's office and the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Postal Service has announced that the Purple Heart stamp is coming back as a 39-cent version. There was clearly a tremendous amount of public support for keeping the stamp in circulation. WAR IN THEIR FUTURE War in their future, Mids choose Marines as more Naval Academy seniors are making the Corps their |
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first preference, lately more than it can take.
When it came time for Jake Dove, a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, to decide how he would fulfill his required military duty after graduation, there was no question about it: Marine Corps all the way. "In my eyes it's a perfect community," said Dove, an Annapolis High School graduate. "The idea of being a platoon leader in charge of guys that have done two, three tours in Iraq already, when I haven't been over there - that's an awesome responsibility. I'm eager to take it on." Despite a war that has entered its fourth year with mounting casualties and waning public support, more and more midshipmen at the Annapolis military college are volunteering for the Marines when asked to choose how they will fulfill the five-year commitment required of all academy graduates. When the assignments were made official last month for the 992 members of the class of 2006, 209 were placed as officers with the Corps - the most in the school's 161-year history. And more would have done so if there were enough openings: an additional 45 who sought the Marines were assigned to other duty when the allotment was filled. Naval aviation remains the most popular choice among midshipmen, but a growing interest in Marine duty - in spite of its dangers - has been under way for several years, even as applications to the academy have dropped sharply in recent years, a |
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Semper Fi |