http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine en-us http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine N/A admin@leatherneck.com Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:35:28 -0400 20 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/55/1/Where-Were-You-When/Where-Were-You-When.html December 8th 1941Franklin Delano Roosevelt"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." November 22nd 1963Walter Cronkite"In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas...President Kennedy died at 1:00 P.M. Central Standard Time, two o'clock Eastern Standard Time." September 11th 2001Andy Card, White House Chief of Staff"A second plane has hit the tower, America is under attack." September 11th 2001Michelle, My Wife"Wake up honey, a plane crashed into the World Trade Center." michael@ywg-web.com (Michael Kannon) Thu, 10 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/52/1/When-the-Shit-Hits-the-Fan/When-the-Shit-Hits-the-Fan.html You are not alone.When the shit hits the fan, the world becomes a very small place. Imagine if you will, standing on the beach. The incredibly blue Pacific stretched out before you as the sun peeks over the horizon behind you. The sky slowly edges from black to purple to pink. You can smell the coffee brewing as the soft, sweet music from the radio lulls you, caresses you, takes you back home to her, to Mom's bread baking, to Dad's pipe smoke, to Grandpa's farm where the fresh cut alfalfa makes the air even better than this salt-fresh air. Back home, they would all be getting ready for church, this being Sunday morning. As you stare out over the crisp blue ocean at the sea birds flying almost as if in formation, it slowly dawns on you that they really are flying in formation. What kind of birds fly like that? Well, they are flying in to shore, so pretty soon you will be able to identify them. Maybe write back home to let everyone know about them. But they are not birds. They are planes. Japanese Zeros. Deduke@kc.rr.com (Mike Smith) Tue, 11 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/46/1/My-Mistress/My-Mistress.html I have a confession to make to my wife. I have a mistress. 35 years is a long time to spend with a mistress, but that is how long we've been together. And, as long as I'm telling the truth, she hasn't treated me very well. In fact, she is the cause of a lot of sleepless nights. She makes me depressed and angry. She makes me feel isolated and numb and guilty. She is the one who makes me feel like I don't fit in, that I'm not normal, that I'm unlovable and unworthy. She is the reason that I drink too much and hide in my bunker. But let's be fair. She also gave me the best times of my life. She showed me what it means to be so close to someone that I would defend their safety at any cost. She was with me when I became a man. She taught me to share my last cigarette, my last can of beans, my thoughts, and my dreams; all of those things that are so hard for me to share with you, my wife. She taught me to recognize the flavor of what it is like to be alive, and the sound of that roaring silence after a fight. She gave me a thousand things that only she could give me; things that I can never give to you, my wife. And I am happy that I can't give them to you. Deduke@kc.rr.com (Mike Smith) Sun, 18 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/51/1/Did-we-ever-really-get-out/Did-we-ever-really-get-out.html Did we ever really get out? Over 20 years later I still have the Corps deep in my bones. I still get a stirring in my heart when I hear The Marine's Hymn or even when someone mentions Chesty Puller.   My MOS of 4063 Mainframe Programmer is now obsolete. However the essential Corps Values are very much alive.   When I first got out I had some difficulty finding a job. Work wasn't the problem. I had a hard time relating to civilian bosses and coworkers. I was used to the outstanding leadership and Gung-Ho spirit that we find in the Corps. Did you know that civilians will actually quit work after 8 hours, even if the job is still not done! michael@ywg-web.com (Michael Kannon) Fri, 16 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/37/1/Talking-To-A-Wall/Talking-To-A-Wall.html Talking to some people is like talking to a wall: a shiny black wall with names carved into it. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington is a black granite wall engraved with the names of each of the 58,245 U.S. servicemen who were killed in Vietnam from October, 1957 to May, 1975. Each of the 140 granite slabs is polished to a mirror finish so that, as visitors look into the engraved names, they will see the reflection of themselves. The names of the dead are not organized by rank or alphabet. They are listed in chronological order of their deaths. Deduke@kc.rr.com (Mike Smith) Mon, 15 May 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/39/1/ReminiscingLooking-back-with-a-smile/ReminiscingLooking-back-with-a-smile.html Our character as Marines is forged by our training, history and adherence to our core values.  From time to time as Marines, we come across situations where taking care of a Marine and adhering to our values takes on a special meaning; this is one of those times...   I was the S4 at the Basic School (TBS) and was tasked with overseeing the dedication of the new Infantry Officer's Course building (IOC) in honor of a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient 1st Lt Frank Mitchell.  Up to this point, I didn't know anything about Lt Mitchell or the process of getting a government building named in honor of a war hero.  I was just informed that Lt Mitchell's name was selected and I was to take charge of the dedication ceremony; I was handed a file with Lt Mitchell's picture and the documents authorizing that the Infantry Officer' building be named in honor of him.  RA0302@msn.com (Robert Adelhelm) Tue, 25 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/31/1/Lucy-Hears-the-Wolf/Lucy-Hears-the-Wolf.html Lucy demonstrated her memory of the wolf the other day. Lucy came to us from the pound - unwanted, betrayed, beaten-down, disrespected, unloved. She was a tightly wound ball of nervous. She looks like a black fox, except that her tail curls over her back. Wiry and muscular, timid, and very bright, she had a look in her eyes that spoke volumes to me. If Lucy didn't represent PTSD, nothing ever would. When she was on the leash she walked like a lady. When we got her home, though, it took mere seconds for her to escape the fence. For the first weeks we had to tie a long string to her collar in order to catch her to come back in the house. She eventually figured out that I had no intention of eating her, and would cower in the corner of the yard until I could slip a collar and leash over her head. Once the collar was on, she was under my control, and acted appropriately. Deduke@kc.rr.com (Mike Smith) Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/27/1/Yeah-I-Seen-Them/Yeah-I-Seen-Them.html And I see them when I least expect it, one wear a cap saying Vietnam Veteran, another might have a patch on a jacket saying Veteran of World War II or Korea. Many will have a patch saying "veteran" of the war they were part of. Another might seem like he is older than his years.   I remember as a 6 year old awaking in the middle of the night to screams in Spanish by a Marine, "Those carbon's napponese have broken through our lines! Get that SOB!!!" Then one my uncles went to that Marine and told him, "It's all right brother, you're in my house, safe." Millrat_99@go.com (Ricardo Jacques) Wed, 15 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/23/1/Rounds-Coming-Down-Range/Rounds-Coming-Down-Range.html "Man it's hot. It's like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot." - Biloxi Blues   But it wasn't Biloxi. It was high summer at the Fort Benning Georgia rifle range. Being that we had no range of our own in MCLB Albany, the Marine Corps bought us a week of training time on the Army Base.   "Leave a place cleaner that you found it," is one of our Corps' principals. Someone blabbed and told the Army this, so they assigned us the nastiest barracks on the base. Before we even pulled our gear off the bus, we spent 3 hours squaring away our new home for the week. We would spend another 3 hours on field day before we left. Their barracks had never looked so good in twenty years. michael@ywg-web.com (Michael Kannon) Thu, 02 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/20/1/I-Like-John-Wayne/I-Like-John-Wayne.html Yes, I know he wasn't in the military. He wasn't actually Sgt Stryker on Iwo Jima. But he was John By-God Wayne.   I also like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. While we're at it, include Gene Autry, Hoppy, The Lone Ranger, Tom Mix, Red Ryder, Superman, and all the others of their breed. They taught us to shoot straight. Roy and Dale taught us The Cowboy's Prayer. They taught us the difference between right and wrong. They taught us that " Truth, Justice, and the American way " are ideals to emulate. Deduke@kc.rr.com (Mike Smith) Wed, 15 Feb 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.leatherneck.com/ezine/articles/12/1/The-Good-Life/The-Good-Life.html About 25 years ago, I saw a painting that touched a place in me that I thought I had sufficiently protected. It was at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. I don't remember the name of the artist, but I will always remember his work... Deduke@kc.rr.com (Mike Smith) Mon, 13 Feb 2006 00:00:00 -0500