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Gotta Love Marines


Subdeacon Joe

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I just got this email. I have NOT checked it to verify it. I will not check anywhere to verify it. I don't try to verify Aesops Fables either, as they are tools to illustrate a point, not to be a historical narrative. My gut feeling is that it is somewhat stretched, if it happened at all. But, it is a good story.

 

Nice to see my "Corps' hasen't changed, God Bless em!. This General officer was not uncommon during my many years of service, these old "Mustang's" from WW-2 and Korea could be a rough as cobbs and as dependable as the handle on a pot in any situation.

Just a slight bit of Blue languge found here. Don't be offended.

T.

 

Subject: To help you understand...

As some of my friends and family may recall, when I was in Iraq, I had the joy of going to a little party in the city of Fallujah. This was during what ended up being called the 2nd Battle of Fallujah --see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Fallujah

 

My team and I were attached to the First Marine Division (1st Mar Div for short).

They were great to work with and they not only gave my team ammo (which the Army forgot) but they showed me how to move around in a combat zone and not get killed.

I have more respect for the Marines than most Army dudes...they are great.

This little story may help explain how they are trained: Dan The Widge'

 

The wisdom of an old Marine.

Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Al Gray, a crusty old ‘Field Marine’, loved his Marines and often slipped into the mess hall wearing a faded old field jacket without any rank or insignia on it. He would go through the chow line just like a private. In this way, he was assured of being given the same rations that the lowest enlisted man received. Woe be it to the mess officer if the food was found to be unfit in quality or quantity.

Upon becoming Commandant, General Gray was expected to do a great deal of ‘formal entertaining’…fancy dinner parties in full dress blue uniform. Now, the General would rather have been in the field eating cold ‘C-rats’ around a fighting hole with a bunch of young ‘hard charging’ Marines. But the General knew his duty and as a Marine he was determined to do it to the best of his ability.

During these formal parties, a detachment of highly polished Marines from ‘Eighth and Eye’ (Marine Barracks located at 8th and I Streets in Washington, D.C., home of the Silent Drill Team) were detailed to assume the position of ‘parade rest’ at various intervals around the ballroom where the festivities were being held.

At some point during one of these affairs, a very refined, blue-haired lady picked up a tray of pastries and went around the room offering confections to the guests. When she noticed these Marines in dress blues, standing like sculptures all around the room, she was moved with admiration. She knew that several of these men were fresh from our victory in Kuwait. She made a beeline for the closest Lance Corporal,drew near him and asked, ‘Would you like pastry young man?’

The young Marine snapped to ‘attention’ and replied, “I don’t eat that shit, Ma’am.” Just as quickly, he resumed the position of ‘parade rest.’ His gaze remained fixed on some distant point throughout the exchange.

The fancy lady was completely taken aback! She blinked, her eyes widened, her mouth dropped open. So startled was she that she immediately began to doubt what she had heard. In a quivering voice she asked, “W-W-What did you say?”

The Marine snapped back to the position of ‘attention’ (like the arm of a mousetrap smacking its wooden base). Then he said, ‘”I don’t eat that shit, Ma’am.” And just as smartly as before, back to the position of ‘parade rest’ he went.

This time, there was no doubt. The fancy lady immediately became incensed and felt insulted. After all, here she was an important lady, taking the time to offer something nice to this enlisted man (well below her station in life), and he had the nerve to say THAT to HER! She exclaimed “Well! I never…!”

The lady remembered that she had met that military man in charge of all these soldiers’ earlier. She spotted General Gray from across the room. He had a cigar clenched between his teeth and a camouflaged canteen cup full of bourbon in his left hand. He was talking to a group of 1st and 2nd Lieutenants.So blue-haired lady went straight over to the Commandant and interrupted. “General, I offered some pastry to that young man over there, and do you know what he told me?”

General Gray cocked his eyebrow, took the cigar out of his mouth and said, “Well, no Ma’am, I don’t.”

The lady took in a deep breath, confident that she was adequately expressing with her body language her considerable rage and indignation. As she wagged her head in cadence with her words, and she paused between each word for effect, she said, “I – don’t – eat – that – shit – Ma’am!”

The lieutenants were in a state of near apoplexy. A couple of them choked back chuckles, and turned their heads to avoid having their smirks detected. The next thought that most of them had was, ‘God, I hope it wasn’t one of MY Marines!’ and the color left their faces.

General Gray wrinkled his brow, cut his eyes in the direction of the lieutenants, put his free hand to his chin and muttered a subdued, “Hmmm. Which one did you say it was Ma’am?” the General asked.

“That tall sturdy one right over there near the window, General,” the woman said with smug satisfaction. One of the lieutenants began to look sick and put a hand on the wall for support. General Gray, seemed deep in thought, hand still to his chin, wrinkled brow. Suddenly, he looked up and his expression changed to one indicating he had made a decision.

He looked the fancy lady right in the eyes and said, “Well, (blank) him! Don’t give him any.”

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While General Gray certainly had the reputation as a Marine's Marine, this story is at best a "sea story". General Gray retired in 1991, long before there were any Marines in Fallujah.

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When I was a bright Shiny Lance Corporal back in the late 70's, early 80's, Colonel Gray was assigned as commander of the Second Marine Division, Camp Lejune. I was in Weapons Co., 6th Marines at the time.

 

The first thing he did was to replace EVERY weapon in the armory, from M-16A1's, M-60 machine guns, to 81mm mortars with BRAND NEW GEAR!!! We were like kids at Christmas.

The story we are discussing here mentions the General Gray would go to chow like the rest of us. I can't say I ever saw him at chow, but he WAS known for "escaping" his entourage, and wondering into a barracks, (open squad bay, not the later "Holiday Inn" barracks), sitting down on some unsuspecting Marine's bunk, and just starting to shoot the $hit. I know this to be true, because I found him in MY barracks doing just this.

 

When General Gray was made Commandant of the Marine Corps, he immediately had The Manual For Marines rewritten with a LOT of emphasis on personal combat, and less on spit and polish. I would have loved to see him as Secretary of State, or some other high office.

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I read this in a book about the Marines, back around 1991 or so. I doubted its veracity when I read it, but it makes a good story. It was awhile ago, and I'm not a marine, so don't get wrapped around the minutiae

 

A young plt called the gunny into his office. "Gunny, I undertand today you grabbed CPL Schmendrick by the shirt and shoved him against the wall, and then struck him across the face. Is this true?"

"Yes sir."

"For what reason?"

"Sir, I was..."

Gunny, unless he physically attacked you, it is inappropriate to strike another marine."

"Well, sir, I came up through the old corps. Over the past 17 years I have come to understand that sometimes it is necessary to drive home certain points with emphasis."

The LT turns to pick some papers off his desk.

"This has been your experience?"

"Yes sir."

"You have been treated this way in the past?"

"Yes sir."

"And it was acceptable to you?"

"Yes sir."

"You're not seriously suggesting you would want to be dealt with in this manner, are you?"

"Yes sir, I-"

WHUMP! The LT whirled and drilled the Gunny right in the stomach, doubling him over and knocking him backwards.

"Don't ever strike another marine under my command again. Dismissed."

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A friend sent me one that I will not verify either. It was a supposed dialogue between Gunny R Lee Ermey talking to some reporters in a press conference. I was colorful as only the Gunny can make it.

Do Marines really talk like that? :lol:

 

It is a little rich to post here. Ladies and Children you know.

I don't think Gunny understands PC. :lol:

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I do believe the one about The Gunny is very true.

 

I have seen a video where he was speaking to a "Toys 4 Tots" kick-off, and got, shall we say, a tad bit "political"!

 

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Bad Hand, read it again. The supposed teller of the tale had been in Fallujah but he was telling a tale about a dinner party way in the past just after Desert Storm/Iraq I not Irag II/Operation Iraqi Freedom, hence the phrase "our recent victory in Kuwait".

 

The tip off to me was when the supposed teller of the tale referred to the dinner party standees as soldiers. No Marine would EVER under any circumstances make that slip up of the tongue. Two things uncle sam's misguided children HATE being called is soldiers (who they derisively refer to as dogfaces) or sailors (I can't repeat what they call squiddy swabbies). So, for that one little slip up which no Marine would EVER EVER make, yeah I'm calling bs on this one.

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True story about Lee Ermey: In May of 2003 we were sitting in Kuwait, waiting for our trucks to come off the ship. Lee Ermey came through the camp on, I suppose, a USO tour. He was mobbed. He was supposed to be there for an hour, but ended up staying for almost three. His handlers kept trying to move him to the helo to go on to the next camp, but he wasn't having it.

 

He was allowing people to be photographed with him. A PFC from my unit stood next to him, but some officer sort of elbowed his way between the two. Ermey said, "that's no way for an officer to behave!" He literally stiff-armed the guy and pushed him back, grabbed the PFC and pulled him in, almost into a headlock, smiled and gave a thumb-up for the camera.

 

May 26, 2003. Memorial Day, John Wayne's birthday, and I (almost) got to meet Lee Ermey.

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I was colorful as only the Gunny can make it.

Do Marines really talk like that? :lol:

I don't think Gunny understands PC. :lol:

 

 

That one is B.S. too. However..., yes Marines do really talk that way, when the situation calls for it. :D I also believe The Gunny understands P.C. he just doesn't give a $hit about it! :FlagAm: I don't either, and I frequently get in trouble over it.

 

When they hired The Gunny to be the Drill Instructer on "Full Metal Jacket", they didn't write him a script, they just told him to do what he had done when he was a Drill Instructer in The Corps. I can only imagine the reaction of the other actors when they turned him loose.:lol:

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