Keeping Faith
Thank you, Cap’n.
Posted by Oink
11/07/2005 at 08:26 AM
Oinkie-you KNOW how I feel about ANYTHING USMC(being the wife of a former Marine, mom of a future Marine, and who came within two weeks of graduating boot csmp myself)-but I’ve gots you a slightly loaded question:
How ‘Sgt Mary’ get her purple heart?
aren’t most-excuse me- aren’t ALL WM’s rear echelon.
Yes, I know in the Mid East the rear can become the front at any time-I ‘m just checking to see if my Belove Corps is now allowing women into ‘offical’ combat positions.
I’d really hate to see the greatest branch of the US Armed Services go PC on me.
Btw-after almost 17 years I STILL can’t ‘look’ at a WM because I’m still ashamed that I wasn’t able to become ‘Pvt. Barb’. 
Posted by Annoying Little Twerp
11/07/2005 at 09:07 AM
Barb My Luv: No more “Women Marines”—just “Marines”. That does not mean that females are assigned combat infantry. Sgt. Mary carried herself with stern dignity and was not the sort of person that a stranger walked up to and asked how she got wounded and where.
The Marines do not allow men and women to go thru boot camp together. Remember the results when the Army tried that?
As to your history. You control the input—God controls the results. Nothing to be ashamed of. I do not have any Purple Hearts—only because I had the luck of a devil. Nothing to be ashamed of.
Posted by Oink
11/07/2005 at 09:37 AM
It’s the same with OCM and The Skipper—my disagreements are not due to fundamental values, but with specific applications. War is the second worst activity human beings do. The worst is cooperating with those who enslave our families. And I was very happy when I received my honorable discharge.
Posted by Oink
11/07/2005 at 10:39 AM
If there was common sense there would be no slavery or race riots.
Posted by Oink
11/07/2005 at 11:10 AM
There were numerous inter-racial couples I’m proud to say. Including two of the less common white man - black woman. Nobody gave a rat’s ass, and I only noticed because I’m old enough to remember the Civil Rights struggle. And I have three kids married/involved with Asian partners.
Unlike a couple of remarks I’ve heard at the VFW, IF there were any old crocks who felt uncomfortable (I doubt it) they knew to keep their mouths shut—or else. Another good thing about the military and the Marines in particular.
Posted by Oink
11/07/2005 at 01:20 PM
I commend to your attention this short flash movie.
http://www.thetrenchmovie.com/R
Rick: Thanks for the info. Sad to say, never heard of it. But as a bloody, useless debacle, WW1 puts Vietnam* in the shade. No wonder so many Americans wanted US to stay the hell out of WW2. Our country screwed up twice—WW1. getting involved 2. WW2 not
* particularly the latter half of VNam, when we lost our purpose, plan, will to win but re-doubled our body count mentality
Posted by Oink
11/07/2005 at 03:32 PM
Being an AF retiree, I always stand at attention and show miles of respect for our Marines. THEY are those who can and do! OOOH-RAH!
Posted by flyboy3872
11/07/2005 at 05:04 PM
Thanx, flyboy, I appreciate that. So much so that I promise to refrain from telling Air Force jokes for a month!
Joke. I respect the Air Force. They do stuff our guys couldn’t figure out this century.
Thanks to all. It’s one of the few writings of mine that I enjoy reading.
Posted by Oink
11/07/2005 at 05:29 PM
The only thing I miss about my ex-husband are the Marine Balls and other Marines! Thanks for the walk down Memory Lane.
Posted by DagneyT
11/07/2005 at 05:55 PM
Ms Taggart: I’m sure you’d still be welcome to attend. Call the local Marine Corps League and tell them the situation.
Posted by Oink
11/07/2005 at 06:26 PM
Bob, Thank you! I missed the news on the coin. Have you seen the outstanding stamps?
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/11/26/military/18_23_5211_25_04.txt
Posted by Oink
11/07/2005 at 08:51 PM
I love people stories Oink. Thanks for a nice post, very nice indeed.
I went to the stamp link above, and found that the reporter, one Darrin Mortenson, could not even get his facts straight. He credited Chesty with a Medal of Honor earned at Guadalcanal, and even this non-Marine knows that while Chesty may have deserved the MOH, he never received one and his best known claim to fame was being the only man to receive five Navy Crosses. He also screwed up Sgt. Dan Daly’s bio, not mentioning that Daly received two Medals of Honor, and worst of all, did not quote the famous words attributed to him at Belleau Wood:"Come on you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?”
Another MSM hatchet job. Effin dweeb.
I shoulda read the copy—just searched the pix. Obvious facts. Except it’s said that Daly’s words were, “Come on you Mother....”.
Posted by Oink
11/08/2005 at 12:26 AM
OCM: “GIANT afro”!! Say it ain’t so! Of course, we’re not gonna believe you till you show us the pics
OCM, that part goes without saying...when it is not capitalized! They’re Marines, after all.
Thanks, Oink. If I’d known, I’d have asked the group of Marines who recently held a car wash to pay for their Ball. Nothing like a hunky young Marine flaggin down cars at Hooters to make me brake and turn in for a clean car...and a bit of reverie.
I could have been any of their mom, but I was young once and my brain still likes to remember.
Posted by DagneyT
11/08/2005 at 01:40 PM
Dag—The actual date, as you know, is Nov 10th. There’ll be several informal parties at local VFWs, etc. (mostly old farts at these) It’s not too late. Tell them the facts and how you feel. I bet they’ll be glad to see you. I would.
Posted by Oink
11/08/2005 at 01:47 PM
Cat—maybe Marines more than most, but there are other groups of Vets who feel the same. My son says he regrets going into the Army, missing the Esprit de Corps between Marines. Also note, the Corps isn’t a rose garden—bad shit happens, there are a few bad actors, and there is a goodly amount of chickenshit.
That aside, I always greet The Brothers, or get HOO-RAH!d on the street when wearing identifiable clothing. “When were you in? When did you get out?” Bystanders probably think we’re ex-convicts.
Posted by Oink
11/08/2005 at 02:08 PM
Hey Oink… where I served my eight years, Marines were refered to as “sea-going bellhops”
Thanks for the piece, brother.Welcome, Carguy, and thank you. Wild guess—Navy?
Posted by Oink
11/08/2005 at 05:59 PM
Oops, I was about to post a link to the USPS showing the new stamps. Good thing I reread the thread, huh? They’ll be available in post offices Thursday 10 November unless there’s a restriction for the First Day of Issue, then they’ll be available Friday for sure. I served on USS Kenneth D. Bailey and USS McCaffery, both named after Marine MOH recipients, so I know who those guys were. I didn’t recognize Daley’s name but I do recognize the phrase.
Happy birthday all you Jarheads.
Do you guys still bid Chesty goodnight?
On the Delta Company Group, we sign off every night, “Goodnight Chesty, you got the watch”.
Posted by Oink
11/08/2005 at 07:00 PM
Yep ...
... ‘62 - ‘70. HS-11 mostly out of Quonset Point abord the Wasp. Occasionally The “USS Lake Damn Shame” (Champlain) or the Essex. All retired now. Later HS-1 in Key West.
Carguy, Twerp, Bob, StinK, and all the rest of you --thank you for your service to our country.
I mean all of youse—sorry I didn’t list your name, but I just looked quickly thru this posting’s commenters.
Posted by Oink
11/09/2005 at 09:15 AM
OCM ... There are lots of way’s to “serve” one’s country. I have nothing but utmost respect for (most) of the medical profession. How many times, in an old war movie, do you hear someone yell ... ”MEDIC!”? You never hear them yell “BOSSON”!
Thanks, Oink. I appreciate that and I thank you for your service and I realize that you were called on to do more than many.
I have more than the usual respect for veterans and tend to trust vets more than regular folks when my
is on the line. I have been privileged to have been accorded the same trust and respect from time to time over the years for the same reason. Bubbleheads get a larger measure (if you know anything about subs you’d know why) but my greatest respect is reserved for those who have “seen the elephant” and done their duty.
My shipmates and I always thought we were ready, lord knows we trained hard enough, but we were never put to the ultimate test. On the whole, I’m grateful for that.
Carguy, you never have to call for a Bo’sun. The
bastardsgood ones are always right where they’re needed.
Sorry for the misspell Stin. Being a “brownshoe”, I failed to grasp some of the terminology of the “blackshoe” world (ABM’s were few and far between). ... even though my older brother was a black shoe for 34 years. (they finally kicked him out!)I never even learned to tell time by listening to then stupid-assed bells. How do you tell AM from PM? My younger brother did two tours in Nam as a SeaBee. How’s that for variety?!
Lots of variety there, Carguy. Looks like you guys had it covered. I did five years in the fleet on four tin-cans. That’s those long gray pointed things with the numbers on both ends. They sniff around behind your birdfarms and pull airdales out of the drink when they’re having a really bad day.
They’re also supposed to protect said birdfarms from the creatures of the deep. (Although there was that one time when we were refueling and the ASW officer was asleep at the stack when the green flares popped out of the water...)
The bells just measure the watch. Add a bell every half hour and start over when you get to eight bells. AM & PM doesn’t matter, you’re either on watch or you’re not. I suspect you knew that, though.
Quonset Point! That’s in R.I. - were you there Oink?
BTW I enjoyed your post.........Posted by Dottie
11/09/2005 at 08:29 PM
Thanks, Dottie. No. After training, I was stationed in Kaneohe Bay Hawaii, Chu Lai Vietnam, Cherry Point NC.
Posted by Oink
11/09/2005 at 09:15 PM
... WHAT ... YOU MEAN THE BLACKSHOES ONLY WORKED 8 HOUR DAYS?!
A typical day at sea for me was: 12 hours in the avionics shop working on the gear, then a 1 hour preflight/brief, 4 hours in the air (looking for subs), 1 hour debrief. Eat, sleep, wright letters, unwind, came whenever.
MAN, I should’a been a blackshoe! Oh well ... Next time ...I probably should Google “brownshoe/blackshoe”. But since there were no brown shoes issued when I was in The Corps, it’s not worth the effort.
In 1965, after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, we spent days restricted to base, sleeping with our packed seabags locked to our racks, continually prepping gear. We were promised some compensatory time off, when this ‘incident’ blew over. Ha!
Cut to Vietnam—we were eating our C-Rats dinner, when one of the NCOs said, “Hey Lieutenant, when we gonna get that time off, Sir?” He answered, “This is it.”
Posted by Oink
11/10/2005 at 09:04 AM
-
“Blackshoe” = Seagoing sailors.( standard issue black shoes only) “Brownshoes” Airdales. Brownshoes referres to the steel-toed flight boots issued to flight crew members, and coveted by everyone else in the squadron. Very often used instead of cash amongist the troops. An even better substitute for cash was our leather flight jackets. You could buy a good used car for a couple of those!
Yes sirree! My wife found an old leather flight jacket at Goodwill, from the Canadian Royal Air Force circa WW2*. All the insignias, zippers, secret pockets, the wool lining and collar, the smell of leather. SIGH I would get a little ‘wood’ every time I put it on.
* As best I recall. One of my sons has long since gaffled it.
Posted by Oink
11/10/2005 at 09:31 AM
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
TODAY is the actual 230th Birthday of The Marine Corps.
Be aware, I’ll be
by 1000 hours.
http://www.moviesounds.com/fmj/forever.wav
Posted by Oink
11/10/2005 at 09:51 AM
... TARGETS ... 
If they are enlisted, with otherwise clean records, who cares? Rome used to award a man citizenship for 20 years service in their army. I have real trouble visualizing many Mexicans sneaking over the border so they can join the USMC. Forty years ago, we had a bunch of Hispanics (not just Mexicans) and American Indians—they were not overly fond of each other, generally. No doubt, there are a few illegal civilian employees—that doesn’t mean it’s USMC policy.
I hear conspiracy theories at the VFW from Lincoln’s assassination, Kennedy’s, Pearl Harbor, Moon landing, 911, etc. ad infinitum. Who knows? One of them may have a basis in fact. BUT, until we see those facts, it’s mental masturbation. Every powerful person made enemies by the act of becoming powerful. Somebody’s going to be happy about their death. Motive, by itself, isn’t enough to convict.
Posted by Oink
11/10/2005 at 11:11 AM
Pardon me for being unclear and forgetting I was talking to an airdale, Carguy. Being on watch meant that we weren’t working. It was often a pleasant break from shipboard routine. We looked forward to going on watch.
Don’t get me wrong. Riding tin-cans was sheer paradise. A veritable amusement park all the time. We had rollercoasters our own yo-yo our zoo was limited to hedgehogs but we took good care of the little critters and of course we had water - rides including the water rollercoaster and we sure were pretty.
Yep, I loved it when I went on watch. A chance to relax.
(An hour debrief? How long does it take to report “Sighted nothing, sank same”?
Nice pictures Stin! I’ll give you “pretty” but you couldn’t pay me enough to ride a “can” for more than an hour at a time! I have been on the flight deck in the north Atlantic and watched them disappear completely underwater.
I’ve also flown “Holly Helio” on Sunday mornings. Try to hit a fantail with a Parde’ hanging on a 40 ft. cable, in a 60 knott gale, sometime. I’m just glad I wasn’t the Padre’!
Nope ... you can have them. Give me the floating city any time.The pictures are good. We’re not really off-topic. The Marine Corps is a Department of the Navy.
The Men’s Department. OOH-Rah
Posted by Oink
11/10/2005 at 05:57 PM
I’ve got a picture somewhere of a padre dangling at the end of one of those cables. The helo had picked him up from our fantail and took him back to a
limeyBritish frigate. Had new respect for the God botherer after seeing that.I still remember the 57 degree roll that almost rolled out of my rack one night in the North Atlantic. I had made up a grab line before hitting the rack that night, but caught the bunk light cord instead. Good enough for me.
On the flight jackets: Many a first division deck-ape volunteered to be a ship’s swimmer because if he rescued a pilot he could claim his flight jacket. On such occasions we’d get a few gallons of ice cream from the birdfarm too. Damn birdfarms had ice cream! When we’d run out of milk after a few days at sea we had to turn to “bug juice"* to float our cheerios.
I once knew a guy who did pull a pilot aboard in the North Atlantic. He told me that he sat on the messdecks shivering and frozen nearly stiff and made his shipmates eat that damn ice cream so that it didn’t all go to the wardroom.
For all that I’m still a destroyerman at heart. The crew all knew each other, their strengths and weaknesses and the price of
didn’t go up when we hit port like it did for the carriers. Not that it made any difference to me, of course. 
My personal charm, good looks, and a well tied neckerchief made ‘em swoon in all languages. [maintains straight face and hits ‘submit’ button]
*bug juice = Kool-Aid
Oooh, Oink slipped one in while I was typing and editing.
Marines? Isn’t that the cargo on a Gator Freighter?
I totally had to Google “Gator Freighter”, StinKerr. I wish.
Offshore VNam, we had to climb down rope nets onto Peter Boats. (the landing craft used at Normandy—the front drops down) The ship heaved up and down with looong swells—the boat bobbed like a cork. WTF! You don’t want a challenge, don’t join the Corps. Nary an incident—training pays off.
I’ve heard tell that some of the modern landing craft tend to plop into the water and float like a set of car keys. This was also said of our Amtracs back then. Many of us favored seats near the hatch.
Posted by Oink
11/10/2005 at 10:01 PM
Yeah, they’ve got LCACs now too. Roar ashore in the relative comfort of an air cushioned vehicle or chopper in off of an LHD
Since the birthday bash isn’t quite over yet, this one‘s for you.
Link to LCAC info. Good pics at the bottom of the page.
Those LCAC’s have to be the coolest boats afloat these days!
Roger the “bug juice”. Been there ... done that ... It usually took us about 2 weeks to run out of fresh milk, then another 3 to throw all the powdered milk overboard! (that stuff was just plain MEAN!) Today is 11/11
............. DONT FORGET ... THANK A VET ................
You guys are great! I wanted to join the Air Force when I graduated from high school, but found out...in the 60’s....that a 5’ tall female was not tall enough! Travel being my ultimate goal, I wanted to be a stewardess [flight attendant for those under the age of 40], sorry, needed to be 5’2”, so I decided a Mom was a great 4th choice [first was a ballerina...too short again!]. I have a long history of pals, lovers, and cousins who served [Happy Veteran’s Day, y’all] and reading your comments make me feel like I have a bit more of a glimpse into the life I missed, and the life they all had. The comaraderie, the esprit d’ corps, the lifelong friendships, were all something to be admired, not to mention the incredible service you served our country. Thanks for sharing your lives, and more importantly, your service.
I invite y’all to read my tribute to you on my blog, Dagney’s Rant. I don’t normally “solicit” readers, but this is a special venue. Thank you all for your service, be it military, law enforcement, medical, or street sweeper...and everything in between, just know that someone appreciates you.
Posted by DagneyT
11/11/2005 at 05:56 PM
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