For you COMBAT vets. ( anyone else can answer too)

[HardJedi]

More of my boredome and curiousity at work tonight.


I was just sitting here, doing nothing, and I came up with this question. I apologise if it has been discussed before.

so here goes.


While you were in the theatre of operations of the war or conflict you served in, did you carry a lucky charm of some sort with you? and if so, what was it?


Me personally, Only time I ever carried anything was when I was sent to Haiti in 1994 ( that hardly qualifies as a war or conflict, but there was SOME shooting) ANYWAY, what I carried for luck was a small braid of my girlfriends hair. She had cut a section about six inches long and braided it, and I carried it with me everywhere. Heck. I actually STILL carry it.



what about you REAL combat vets? any good luck charms from those times?

[Lock-n-Load]

:marineEarly in Boot Camp [20Dec50] my mother sent me a sterling silver medal/w/chain of St. Christopher, who is our patron/saint of safe passage...it was not a lucky charm at all, but a way of Roman Catholic life...it still is brightly gleaming to this day, yes, it helped me immensely to survive the endless gook artillery- mortars-small arms engagements to come home to Uncle Sugar...a survivor!! Semper Fidelis :marine:

[HardJedi]

Thanks Lock-n-Load!

[greensideout]

A fellow Marine in NAM had a St. Christopher medal that was two part. It broke apart and he ask me if I would carry the half piece and he would carry the other. I did. (I'm not Catholic)

I carried a pocket size New Testiment Bible.

[ivalis]

some body (might of been the Red Cross) was handing out rosaries at the air port on the way over. Ain't catholic, took one anyway. Pascal's wager, if ya know what i mean (ya probably don't).

[HardJedi]

Yes, Ivalis, SOME of us ahve a LITTLE education LOL so I know what you mean

[Lock-n-Load]

:marine:You're Welcome and Gung-Ho, Marine :marine:

[hrscowboy]

st christopher medal is what i had and still have to this day

[HardJedi]

Well, apparently ol St. Chris is well represented by the troops. Wonder how he feels about that? ;)

[Namvet67]

St. Chris is what I wore...has the Marine Corps emblem on the back side. My 2nd and 3rd tour I carried the silver dollar may dad carried with him in WWII...1921...his wifes and my mothers b-day.

[Sgt. Smitty]

I wore a half dollar size piece of shrapnel from a gook rocket,that hit less than ten yards away from me, that i had to dig out of a rocket motor box right below my head. I had been in country less than 2 months and figured that if they didn't get me with this piece of shrapnel then they wouldn't get me at all. The shrapnel also had some Russian writing on it!! But according to the latest scuttlebutt we got when entering the Nam, we weren't fighting the Russians!! Trust our leaders? No swingin way in he!! will i ever trust another politician.

[Namvet67]

Sgt. Smitty..the Russians were there. I too wore a little bit of those 140 and 122 rockets.

[yellowwing]

My Apache 'bro, SEAL type, swore that there were quite a few Soviets up North. Then he kind of smirked and said he knew of a few Spetznaz that didn't see any more Christmases.

[catrusler]

I always and still do carry the brass from my first round fired in the ****.

[ridingcrops]

I picked up a little something at the airport in Calif. The religious folks had everything there so I took one of each. Hedged my bets I guess. Still haev them on the dog tags somewhere.
But I also did my little thing for the gods of air, trees, dirt, rocks, and water. Every time I went out. The other guys thought I was crazy but it didn't take them long to come around to my way of thinking. LOL Even the Lt and Capt would ask" has he done his thing yet?" If not we had to hurry so as not to keep the choppers waiting. Of course being officers they didn't believe in that mumbo jumbo but wouldn't go till I had.

[HardJedi]

what did you DO for those air, earth, tress ?

[Sgt0811]

Before I went into MCRDSD I was visiting my grandmother in NJ. She had a Sacred Heart of Jesus blessed by a Catholic priest and she gave it to me. I am not Catholic but she was.
I carried it in my wallet while in Nam and every time I got a new wallet it was put in the new one. I carried it for over 35 years. I lost my wallet in 2002 while in the hospital for by-pass surgery. Guess I should get another one.

[decuervo]

I laminated a picture of my girlfriend (my wife now) to keep it safe from the rain and carried it in my left breast pocket. Still carry it in my wallet today.

[ridingcrops]

Sorry I didn't get back sooner but just saw this HardJedi.
I'm part Native American and we believe everything has a god so I would give a little prayer to the gods of all the elements to look after us when we went out. Don't know if it worked and not sure I believe it myself but it always seemed to help. At least it helped me think straight and gave me hope even it was false.

[crate78]

Been to Joe's Crab Shack lately, Dave?

BTW, our daughter lives in DC and several years ago when she needed a new car, she went to the Saturn dealer in Gaithersburg and bought a Saturn.

SF
crate

[kato811]

yea bullets

[WalkingMan]

More of my boredome and curiousity at work tonight.


I was just sitting here, doing nothing, and I came up with this question. I apologise if it has been discussed before.

so here goes.


While you were in the theatre of operations of the war or conflict you served in, did you carry a lucky charm of some sort with you? and if so, what was it?


Me personally, Only time I ever carried anything was when I was sent to Haiti in 1994 ( that hardly qualifies as a war or conflict, but there was SOME shooting) ANYWAY, what I carried for luck was a small braid of my girlfriends hair. She had cut a section about six inches long and braided it, and I carried it with me everywhere. Heck. I actually STILL carry it.



what about you REAL combat vets? any good luck charms from those times?

No.

When I arrived in-country, Viet Nam, I did have some personal effect with me, but when I left left my rear area (Dong Ha) and headed out into the bush to meet up with Bravo 1/3, who I served my tour with, I took zero personal effects with me, not even letter-writing gear.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

When I graduated Airborne school in 1984, we got little "St Micheal" charms. I wore that, with my dog tags, until it literally wore through the round hook that held it on the chain. Replaced it with another a few years back, which I still wear.

I'm Irish..so naturally supersticious....lol...

[FistFu68]

:evilgrin:I CARRIED THOSE RED~SILK~PANTIE'S,I LIBERATED FROM THAT FINE;ROUND~EYE~DOUGHNUT DOLLY!KEPT THEM IN AN EMPTY~PRC.25~RUBBER BATTERY BAG!WOULD PASS AROUND TO FELLOW SQ.MEMBER'S FOR A LITTLE SCRATCH&SNIFF(LOL) OOHRAH!!!:marine:

[Zulu 36]

My good luck charm was coming home with my ass intact. I still carry that around too. :D

[outlaw3179]

A picture of my newborn son and on the other side a 9line laminated inside my left breast pocket. I guess it worked.

[Preacher]

for Vietnam, I had a Crucifix tattooed on my chest for luck. That's how I got the nickname Preacher.

SF, Preacher

[Sgt0811]

When I joined the Corps in '63 my grandmother, who was catholic, gave me something called the sacred heart. It was a little bigger than a quarter. I am not catholic. I carried it with me in Nam.
In 2002 I had heart surgary and my wallet which the sacred heart was in was lost in the hospital.
My mother-in-law (catholic) got me another on and I still carry it in my wallet.
I believe it not only got me thru Nam but the surgery too.:thumbup:

[HardJedi]

wow. can't believe this thread is still around. I started this thing a LONG time ago.

[BigPhil]

I wore a St. Christopher metal, and also had a small bible that my farther-inlaw had with him when he was a POW in the Philipines.

[ErikHeiker]

Nope. Never even thought about it. I thought about leaving a "dead letter" behind, but never even did that. Besides, it's the other guy that always gets killed anyway.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

LOL....believe it or not, I never did one while on Active duty...but I DID do one when I worked the Metro DC area as a cop...got shot at faaaar more there than I ever did in the Corps.

Destroyed it when I left that agency.