KonaPaul
11-21-16, 04:21 PM
When I was TAD in 29 Palms, CA I worked night and weekends getting Monday and Tuesdays off. Where I slept became a problem so they moved me to new barracks where I did not know anyone and made no formation to keep up with what was going on on the base and by the time I got off work it was about 10:30 to 11:00 p.m. In the mornings after going to the mess hall I’d have to find something to do as I did not start working ’til 1500; sometimes if I had the money for gas I’d go off base, but most week days I’d just go into work early and work on a special project.
One day when I was working on a project I needed something out of my car (a 1949 Mercery) that was parked on the grinder next to the barracks. This was in 1961 so only a few of us Marines had cars back then so they let us park on the grinder, maybe six to ten cars at most. As I got close to the car, it was the only one on the grinder and there was a 2nd Lt. and a Gunnery Sergeant looking in the window. When they saw me, they asked if this was my car. “Yes sir.” “You were supposed to have had this car off the grinder by 0700” said the officer. As I tried to explain, the Gunny said “Just get it the F… out of here; we are having a change of command ceremony in 30 minutes. Do you want our new CO to think we are a bunch of clowns.” At that, I just jumped in my car and as I turned the wheel as I was backing up I heard a thump. I jumped out and looked at the back of my car and saw that I had hit a small USMC flag on an 8’ pole with a stand that was under my car. I tried pulling on it but it was wedged tight under my car. The Gunny ran over and tried pulling too, then suggested pulling the car forward. As I did, I heard a loud “Holly ****.” As I jumped out and ran back, I saw the flag was standing up straight and looked OK. But the medal stand had made a big hole in the gas tank and gas was gushing out. I looked at the 2nd Lt. and Gunny and they were both backing up and their faces were white and their mouths were open. I just jumped in and took off, leaving a trail of gas. I’d seen a movie not that long ago where a tanker truck was leaking gas and leaving a trail of gas and the trail caught fire and followed the tanker and actually caught up and blew up the tanker.
Ending up a fireball was on my mind as I headed for one of the roads that took me off the grinder. As I got almost to the road I saw two platoons of Marines coming up the road, so I made a u-turn going back toward the 2nd Lt. and Gunny. The look on their faces was unforgettable. The road on the other end of the Grinder was clear and I could still see the 2nd Lt. and a Gunnery Sergeant watching me in my rear view mirror as I looked for flames following me. I thought, “now where am I going and will it blow up when I stop?” I remembered that special services had an auto shop for Marines to work on their cars that was not that far away. As I was pulling into the parking lot the car started stalling and as I shut off the ignition half expecting it to explode the big sliding door opened and out came the manager of the auto shop who I happened to know and he asked me what happened. By then there was no more gas leaking from the tank, and he offered to fix it for me by fiberglassing over the hole. By the time I got off work that night, it was ready to go. I kept a very low profile after this and parked my car somewhere else for about a month.
One day when I was working on a project I needed something out of my car (a 1949 Mercery) that was parked on the grinder next to the barracks. This was in 1961 so only a few of us Marines had cars back then so they let us park on the grinder, maybe six to ten cars at most. As I got close to the car, it was the only one on the grinder and there was a 2nd Lt. and a Gunnery Sergeant looking in the window. When they saw me, they asked if this was my car. “Yes sir.” “You were supposed to have had this car off the grinder by 0700” said the officer. As I tried to explain, the Gunny said “Just get it the F… out of here; we are having a change of command ceremony in 30 minutes. Do you want our new CO to think we are a bunch of clowns.” At that, I just jumped in my car and as I turned the wheel as I was backing up I heard a thump. I jumped out and looked at the back of my car and saw that I had hit a small USMC flag on an 8’ pole with a stand that was under my car. I tried pulling on it but it was wedged tight under my car. The Gunny ran over and tried pulling too, then suggested pulling the car forward. As I did, I heard a loud “Holly ****.” As I jumped out and ran back, I saw the flag was standing up straight and looked OK. But the medal stand had made a big hole in the gas tank and gas was gushing out. I looked at the 2nd Lt. and Gunny and they were both backing up and their faces were white and their mouths were open. I just jumped in and took off, leaving a trail of gas. I’d seen a movie not that long ago where a tanker truck was leaking gas and leaving a trail of gas and the trail caught fire and followed the tanker and actually caught up and blew up the tanker.
Ending up a fireball was on my mind as I headed for one of the roads that took me off the grinder. As I got almost to the road I saw two platoons of Marines coming up the road, so I made a u-turn going back toward the 2nd Lt. and Gunny. The look on their faces was unforgettable. The road on the other end of the Grinder was clear and I could still see the 2nd Lt. and a Gunnery Sergeant watching me in my rear view mirror as I looked for flames following me. I thought, “now where am I going and will it blow up when I stop?” I remembered that special services had an auto shop for Marines to work on their cars that was not that far away. As I was pulling into the parking lot the car started stalling and as I shut off the ignition half expecting it to explode the big sliding door opened and out came the manager of the auto shop who I happened to know and he asked me what happened. By then there was no more gas leaking from the tank, and he offered to fix it for me by fiberglassing over the hole. By the time I got off work that night, it was ready to go. I kept a very low profile after this and parked my car somewhere else for about a month.