HB United States Marine Corps, November 10, 1775
The Sanity Inspector
South Carolina, in August 1967. Things sure looked different in San
Diego [Marine Corps Recruit Depot].
First of all, the kids today are volunteers--they want to be Marines,
and they want to be good Marines. They know what they're getting
into, so most of them arrive in reasonably good shape. The ones
looking for brownie points showed up with their hair already in a buzz
cut.
The shock of where they are first hits them when they pile off the bus
the first night, with the drill instructors screaming at them to line
up on the yellow footprints. The adrenaline is rushing and everybody
is racing around trying to do the right thing. Back on my bus in
1967, just about everyone there wanted to be a million miles away. One
guy was so drunk, staggering around, that he couldn't even find the
yellow footprints. You're not going to see that in 2002 at San Diego.
-- Arthur Grace, in _A Day In The Life of the United States Armed
Forces_, 2003
--
bruce
The dignified don't even enter in the game.
-- The Jam
David C Kifer
Oh, the memories you bring back of Parris Island, October-December 1966!
_Semper Fidelis_!
Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference
in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem.
-- Ronald Reagan, U.S. President, 1985
[p&e]
--
Dave
"Tam multi libri, tam breve tempus!"
(Et brevis pecunia.) [Et breve spatium.]
Ed Kranz
"David C Kifer" <dki...@sky-access.com> wrote in message > > Some people
spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference
> in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem.
> -- Ronald Reagan, U.S. President, 1985
>
"I spent 33 years and four months in active service as a member of our
country's most agile military force -- the Marine Corps. I served in all
the
commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to major general. And during that
period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big
business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer,
a gangster for capitalism.
I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of
it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought
of
my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended
animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with
everyone in the military service.
I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests
in
1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City
Bank. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American countries for
the benefit of Wall Street."
-- Major General Smedley Butler, USMC, 1933
Ed Kranz