I was the guest of Honor at the Manatee County Marine Corps Ball.
My speech below:
Good evening, Marines, ladies, and gentlemen.
It is a pleasure and an honor to be speaking to
you tonight. Thank you for inviting me.
Last time I spoke at a Marine Corp Ball was in
Rapid City, South Dakota. My Uncle was an Iwo
Vet and talked me into going out there. I was
honored to do it but it was Very Cold.
Our Marine Corps is doing very well. The old
joke of 239 years of tradition unhampered is
of course not true - we are improving and
enhancing all the time.
Beth and I were in Spain last year
driving around. She said lets get an
American Thanksgiving at the base.
We went to the Moron AFB, a very small
Isolated Air Fore base inside of a Spanish
Air Force Base. We did not know if anyone
would be there.
We were shocked to find 500 Marines in
cammies. Officers serving Dinner and cleaning
the mess hall - I liked that. I had 100 days of
mess duty - I believe I hold the record.
The Marines were part of the Marine Air Ground
Task Force stood up to deal with problems that
can arise like Ben Gazi. They had two Ospreys,
two C-130’sand two KC-135s, ready to go anywhere
the President directs. We bought the bar a couple of
rounds of Thanksgiving cheer. They Marines were
limited to two drinks. They have to be ready to deploy
limited to two drinks. They have to be ready to deploy
right away. They have sent people to Ebola and Iraq.
Bob Fields asked me to do be the speaker. He said
“Youhave a lot in common with most of our members,
in that you graduated from boot camp at MCRD Parris
Island, and we have quite a few Vietnam Veterans and
Veterans from the Vietnam era. You like most of
us “evaded the draft by enlisting in the Marine Corps”.
Show of hands, please? How many Marines went to
Parris Island? To San Diego? Quantico? Did not go?
How many Mustangs? (enlisted Marines who became
officers)
We Parris Island Marines always harass San Diego Marines.
Disneyland. Hollywood.
But after Parris Island and ITR I went to MCRD San Diego.
I was still a Private and always scared the DI’s would
come and get me and take me back into boot camp. And Diego Boot Camp looked plenty tough to me. And
I have never been back to Parris Island. Afraid they might
catch me and drag me back in.
We were tough kids who went to boot camp
and got terrorized by the DI’s. Who could forget
the bald hair cuts, close order drill, side straddle
hops forever?
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to tell
some of your boot camp stories.Better yet, write them down.
You can post them on a blog for free.
My saddest boot camp story for me was I could
not shoot. On qualification day I was doing my best and
shooting bulls eye after bulls eye. Then I shot
on the target of the Marine next to me. Heart attack time for
me.
But the Drill Instructor had that Marine shoot on my target to even things up. He shot a four on my target in exchange for the five bulls eye I shot for hi. My score was thus 189, one below the 190 required for qualification. I was an UNQ (Unqualified) I had to crawl back to barracks. They wrote UNQ on my back.
I had to get up in the middle of the night for the rest of time in
boot camp and walk firewatch. We were pariahs - who would
want and UNQ with them. On the forced marches we had to
run around the entire formation with our rifles overhead singing
“I am and Unq! I am and UNQ!
What can you in the Marines if you can’t shoot?
Might as well be an officer. So you can pose with your .45 in the air while you are surrounded with Marines who can shoot. So when I became old enough to applied for OCS.
This was in 1968 and they needed a lot of Lieutenants.
But the First Sgt saw me hitchhiking, so he chewed me out
royally, put me on another 30 days of mess duty, and tore
up my application.
Anyone else out there get caught for hitchhilking?
Hope it did no cost you as much it did me.
I forgot about the OCS thing and was trying to get
to Vietnam. The Major called me and asked me if I still
wanted to go to Vietnam. Yes Sir!. I was finally getting out of
Yuma Arizona and headed for OCS (Over Swampy Seas - Vietnam).
Sorry about that, the Major said. You are going to OCS. SSgt Sifton told me if I didnot kick my but. So off I went.
Boot camp the second time is really depressing.
I went early to make sure I would not be late. I
checked in on mainside and the First Sgt put me
on duty. “First Sgt, I have to be at OCS at 1600,” I said.
Too bad, he said. I called OCS to tell them and
they said obey the last order given.
So I walked and guarded my post all night and show up
late the next morning to OCS. They cut my stripes off like
in the movie branded. Screaming and yelling. Why was I
late?
The candidates had their OCS bald haircuts - I had my LCpl
hair. And they were bedraggled - I had starched cammies and spit shined boots. Sothe candidates thought I was a spy or a junior drill instructor. Every Sgt Instructor had to come over and chew me out for my prima donna ways. The Sgt Instructors all learned my name and had me marching the candidates around. I was very glad when I could get a bald haircut and hide in the background.
The two boot camps are different. Most of the OCS
guys are just out of college so are 22 or 23, older than
the guys in boot camp who are 17-18-19. A little older, stronger, and had researched what they were getting into so a littlebetter shape. But both Boot Camp and OCS are very tough.
Our two instructors were Sgt Savage and SSgt Vendetta. How is that for great names? And they lived up to their names.
Well, after boot camp all of us went on to our next
duty station - whether it was peacetime or war. And
all of us did the best we could - usually in very tough
situations. Our wars have all been tough, and peacetime
is no picnic either.
In closing I would like to tell you again that our
Marine Corps did very well when we are on
active duty, and it is doing well now.
Happy Birthday, Marines, and Semper Fi