A Birthday

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Some of us were not Marines in their youth. Perhaps some of us foolishly joined other branches of the service in those young and tender years. I joined the Army myself. I picked an armed service as a career choice because I knew I couldn’t make it in college and didn’t want to stay anywhere near my hard drinking parents. I picked the Army because I liked the uniforms…so I though. Isn’t that the reason everyone joins a branch of the service.

What I couldn’t see through the golden glitter of the presentations was a recruiter who must have been behind in his quotas. He wined and dined my alcoholic parents until they must have been overjoyed to have their non-scholarly daughter whisked off to basic training in the South. No one ever mentioned segregation.

No one ever mentioned the military mind either. Those who join the Marines become one for life. Gung Ho. Semper Fi. All those of us in the Army are left with are recruiting slogans…….”Be all you can be…” “Go Army.”

We in the OD green of the sixties, worked at office jobs during the day and partied at night. The miracle of the Enlisted Man’s Club, never mentioning the fact that not all of us were men, dawned on me at the same time as Whiskey Sours and 7/7’s did. Yes, the Marines drank a bit too, but they continued training with a passion that was lacking in us partyers..

This morning as we were heading to one of G’s last visits to the doctor’s office, I saw a funny shape on the side of a city bus. “This has to be earned…” said the caption. They gave G one of these when he was in the Army. Officers get sabers. We laughed together and drove on. A Marine wouldn’t laugh.

All I have left after my few years in the service is eight years of college thanks to the GI bill. You bet I am grateful. I also have a passion toward peace. I support the individual soldiers, I support their dreams, I support their passions. I don’t support war.

We have one tow truck driver who has been out of the Marines for years.

“Semper Fi,” he yells as he comes in my office.

What can I say to match this passionate programming that may one day be needed. “Go Army,” I reply. But doesn’t quite make it.

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USMC Birthday:

Marine Corps Birthday

The Marine’s Birthday