old times in marines

[DennisStrickland]

joined in 1959 served till 1963. just a tale of how it was back then. boot camp was hell for some ,i had 3 yrs. of A.& M. hazing so severre only 5 of 42 us made it to soph yr. every incoming fish the next yr. had to learn our names. boot for me was easy since they let us eat. we were punched, kicked & made to do extreme painful exercises, never slapped just had the s knocked out of us.we were encouraged to mete out punishment to laggers. once myself & 2 others had a drip [was'nt good at hygiene] meet us at shower, i knocked his teeth thru his lips & we took brushes & comet & scrubbed his body raw. his mouth was dirty & my knuckles got bacteria infect. had to go to sickbay.he kept clean after that.fast forward to main marine scene. we still ate c-rations from korean war on field problems,carried the m1 for 4 yrs, no hearing protection except cotton,ended up in 106 r.r. shells weighed 42 lbs.on fire XS we were told to open mouths when big guns fired to equate press. some guys bled out ears.got a new man in my squad & gave him firing cards to bring up ammo, he could,nt read, called cease fire , took him back & made a cook out of him,never had open combat , was lucky did see marines sleep in prohibited zones one got ran over by tank,looked like a jelly roll stomped with cleats, we were marking dud howitizer & motar rounds , 2 dummies on my right kicked a live round ,blew legs & arms off. this tale is for guy in blade sec. that asked me how it was back then. looking at poor marines now i'm glad i finished in 1963.one thing we learned was retreat was'nt thinkable .if i had to go back i would'nt trust anyone at my back except marines. we did'nt have to worry about sneaky snake cowards leaving bobby trap explosives since they would'nt want to meet us in a stand up fight.we did'nt go longer than 2 wks. without baths most times .those poor guys over there do'nt need baths, they sweat the dirt off their bodies. that is the way it was when not at war.hope you members can respect what the boys have to experience now at war.

 

[mykulmorris]

I've heard my Dad tell the same kinda stories, he was in from '58-'62... They are still tuff but not like back then... BTW, What does 'MARINES' stant for? My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment Sir!
-M

 

[dawsonbob]

I went in at the same time you went out, and served for nine years until I got one too many owies. Served multiple tours in Vietnam and other places. I remember it well. The Corps was different back then, but war really wasn't. I don't think that's changed much since the Romans reinvented warfare.

Love the Corps, and I'd do it again if they'd let me.

 

[UffDa]

I enlisted in tha Air Force in '63. By that time, the TIs (Training Instructors) were not allowed to hit the boots. They could still make your life miserable if you were a screw-up.

In phase 2 of basic I ran into a guy who was a Marine for 6 years. He got tired of being a grunt and got out. Two years later he joined the USAF to learn a trade. Because he had been out for so long he had to go through basic again. He told me that AF basic was a piece of cake physically, but he didn't like the way the TIs messed with your head.

 

[wingsofthunder]

thank you for your service sir...the longest i went without a shower in the sandbox was 6 months, bastids blew up our makeshift showers. i never knew dirty til then, my DI's at PI beat it into us.