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sgt tony
03-12-08, 09:50 PM
SF
Tony
>
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> THE OLD CORPS!
> Most of you (not all) won't recall a lot of this but if you do, so be
it. If you don't, you missed a good time!The following is a page
found in the book Green Side Out by Major H. G. Duncan, USMC (Ret) and
Captain W. T. Moore, Jr., USMC (Ret).
>
> You kept your rifle in the barracks.
> Your 782 gear did not wear out.
> Mess halls were mess halls (NOT dining facilities).
> No vandalism wrecked the barracks.
> Everyone was a Marine and his ethnic background was unimportant.
> We had heroes.
> Chaplains didn't teach leadership to the experts.
> Getting high meant getting drunk.
> Beer was 25 cents at the slopchute.
> Skivvies had tie-ties.
> We starched our khakis and looked like hell after sitting down the
first time.
> We wore the short green jacket with the winter uniform.
> We wore Sam Browne belts and sharpened one edge of the buckle for the
bad fights.
> We kept our packs made up and hanging on the edge of the rack.
> We spit-shined shoes.
> Brownbaggers' first concern was the Marine Corps.
> Generals cussed.
> Generals paid more attention to the Marine Corps than to politics.
> UA meant being a few minutes late from a great liberty and only
happened once per career.
> Brigs were truly "correctional" facilities.
> Sergeants were gods.
> The tips of the index and middle fingers of one hand were black from
Kiwi shoe polish. (brown)
> We scrubbed the wooden decks of the barracks with creosole.
> We had wooden barracks.
> Privates made less than $100.00 a month.
> Privates always had money.
> You weren't transported to war by Trans World or Pan American
airlines.
> Barracks violence was a fight between two buddies who were buddies
when it was over.
> Larceny was a civilian crime.
> Every trooper had all his gear.
> Marines had more uniforms than civilian clothes.
> Country and western music did not start race riots in the clubs.
> We had no race riots because we had no recognition of races.
> Marine Corps birthdays were celebrated on 10 November no matter what
day of the week it may have been (except Sunday).
> Support units supported.
> The supply tail did not wag the maintenance dog.
> The 734 form was the only supply document. (carried in the hip
pocket)
> You did your own laundry, including ironing.
> You aired bedding.
> Daily police of outside areas was held although they were always
clean.
> Field stripping of cigarette butts was required.
> Everyone helped at field day.
> A tour as Duty NCO was an honor.
> Everyone got up a reveille.
> We had bugle calls.
> Movies were free.
> Movies cost 10 cents, 50 cents, or $1.00...?
> PX items were bargains.
> Parking was the least of problems.
> Troops couldn't afford cars.
> You weren't married unless you could afford it.
> Courts-martial orders were read in battalion formations.
> A bum didn't have a BCD awarded more than once or twice before he
actually got it.
> We had the "Rocks and Shoals."
> Courts-martial were a rarity.
> Marines receiving BCDs were drummed out the gate.
> NCOs and officers were not required to be psychologists.
> The mission was the most important thing.
> Marines could shoot.
> Marines had a decent rifle.
> The BAR was the mainstay of the fire team.
> Machine gunnery was an art.
> Maggie's drawers meant a miss and was considered demeaning as hell to
the dignity of the shooter.
> Carbide lamps blackened sights.
> We wore leggings and herringbone utilities.
> We had machine gun carts.
> We mixed target paste in the butts.
> We had to take and pass promotion tests.
> We really had equal opportunity.
> Sickbays gave APCs for all ailments.
> We had short-arm inspections.
> The flame tank was in the arsenal of weapons.
> We had unit parties overseas with warm beer and no drugs.
> Marines got haircuts.
> Non-judicial punishment was non-judicial.
> The squad bay rich guy was the only one with a radio.
> If a Marine couldn't make it on a hike, his buddies carried his gear
and helped him stumble along so that he wouldn't have to fall out.
> The base legal section was one or two clerks and a lawyer.
> We had oval dog tags.
> Marines wore dog tags all the time.
> We spit-shined shoes and BRUSH-shined boots.
> We wore boondockers.
> We starched field scarves.
> We worked a five and one-half day week.
> Everyone attended unit parties.
> In the field we used straddle trenches instead of "Porta-Potties."
> Hitch-hiking was an offense.
> We used Morse Code for difficult transmissions.
> The oil burning tent stove was the center of social activity in the
tent.
> We had unit mail call.
> We carried swagger sticks.
> We had Chesty Puller.
> Greater privileges for NCOs were not a "right."
> EM Clubs were where you felt at home . . . and safe.
> We sailed on troopships.
> We rode troop trains.
> Sentries had some authority.
> Warrant Officers were not in their teens.
> Mess hall "Southern cooking" was not called "soul food."
> Marines went to chapel on Sundays.
> Weekend liberty to a distant place was a rarity.
> The color of a Marine's skin was of no consequence.
> The Marine Corps was a big team made up of thousands of little teams.
> We landed in LCVPs and always got wet.
> We debarked from ship by means of nets over the side.
> We had platoon virgins.
> We had parades.
> We had pride.
> We had Esprit de Corps.
> Field scarves (neckties) were made of the same material as shirts and
had the same consistencies as a wet noodle. There was no tie clasp to
keep it from flapping in the breeze.
> Shirts were cut down and spit shined shoes were double soled.
> Khakis were heavily starched and you had to run your arm through the
pants leg to open them up. Shirt pockets could not be opened and you
carried cigarettes in your socks.
> There were no back pockets in uniform trousers.
> Buttons on your "Blues" were really brass and you shined them using
jewelers rouge and a button shield.
> ****-cutters had a single dip in the rear.
> There were khakis, greens and blues.
> Washing dungarees aboard ship was done by running a line through the
arms and legs and throwing them over the side. But you never left the
attached line. The swabbies would cut the line every time.
> "Yesterday's Memories are Today's Treasures!"

crate78
03-13-08, 09:42 AM
I won't bother to itemize them, but only about a half dozen were before my time.

crate

Old Marine
03-13-08, 12:18 PM
Most all of these were during my time, but then I pulled mess duty at the Last Supper.

Duke1970
03-13-08, 12:52 PM
I remember most and they were great memories. Leaving your pay on the bunk as you cleaned up for liberty and it was always there. Sharing with buddies if you had a little money left prior to payday. We were all green and proud of it!

:flag:

recon532002
03-13-08, 01:13 PM
Efin A! Brother Those were the Days Semper FI
RECON

CHOPPER7199
03-13-08, 01:39 PM
Ship Stores Had All The Goodies, Plain Cigs For 90 Cents A Cartoon, Filters Were A Buck, Omega Watchs Were The Big Items. Yes The Short Jacket, Believed It Was Called The Ike Jacket. Sand Soap Had Many Uses. Brazzo Was A Top Seller. Wow, The Old Times. Cloths Line Watch And Fire Watch.

Old Marine
03-14-08, 09:02 AM
"Battle Jacket", "Ike Jacket"

Finger
03-14-08, 11:21 AM
Yeah, I remember walking outide to the movie with one of those popcorn buckets full of beer from the slopchute. I might have spent the rest of the dollar on poggy bait and smokes.

Life was not too bad in early '66 for a seventeen year old PFC waiting for his birthday so he could ship out with his fellow Marines.

S/F
Finger

:flag:

bucksgted
03-14-08, 12:04 PM
"Battle Jacket", "Ike Jacket"
Army had "Ike Jackets" , Marines had "Battle Jackets".

One thing I noticed was "brush shining boon dockers". We had to spit shine the toes of our boondockers and combat boots - brush shine the rest of the boot. Double soled, spit shined "brown shoes" for every occasion except "Inspections". Wore them with civies on liberty as well.

Sand soap and scrub brush cleaning of the web belts to make them look "salty", even in boot camp; coarse, everything in boot camp got scrubbed with sand soap, even the skivies, cause we did all our own laundry. Had to keep a good "clothes line watch" as well. Fire watch and clothes line watch meant two of us at a time, up and about thru out the night.

Aaah, the memories!!

michaeleckard
03-14-08, 01:15 PM
How about about meals you carried in you're pack on marches. they were called C-rations Not MRE's and tasted better.came in cans not plastic

CHOPPER7199
03-14-08, 01:18 PM
Stand Corrected On Battle Jacket. Ha Ha. Oh Starched Utilities, Wow, That Starched Utility Cover Was A Must, The More Starched The Salter It Got. Ha Ha, Let Alone Getting Into Them Shirts And Pants Freshly Starched. Them Sure Were The Days. Plus Using A Little Bottle On Getting That Polish In That Boot. You Shined The Polish To Shine, It Seemed.

CHOPPER7199
03-14-08, 01:20 PM
C-rats With A Pack Of Cigs Like 4 In The Box. Coco That You Could Use For A Clay Pigeon. The Rest Goes On. Ha Ha FRANKS AND BEANS. BEST NOT TO EAT AT NIGHT BEFORE SACK TIME, ESPECIALY WHEN ON BIVWACK. STILL, LMFAO

bucksgted
03-14-08, 01:40 PM
C-rats With A Pack Of Cigs Like 4 In The Box. Coco That You Could Use For A Clay Pigeon. The Rest Goes On. Ha Ha FRANKS AND BEANS. BEST NOT TO EAT AT NIGHT BEFORE SACK TIME, ESPECIALY WHEN ON BIVWACK. STILL, LMFAO
The good thing about C-rats, you could always swap off with a bud. I hated the pound cake and had a bud that hated fruit cocktail - - always swapped. Had another bud that didn't smoke, so I aways got his smokes. Course, we had the "steel pots" to heat the water in so we could heat our meals. Just had to make sure the pot was cool before putting it back on your head. Don't really remember, but didn't sterno come in each c -rat box? Or did we have to ration the sterno to last more than a day? Help out this ole phart!! LOL

michaeleckard
03-14-08, 02:01 PM
Yes even the crackers and peanut butter were in tin cans and came with a little can opener .the last I had C-rats was in OKI in 82. When i came state side they fazed them out for the first MRE's. They always gave me heart burn.

bucksgted
03-14-08, 02:33 PM
Yes even the crackers and peanut butter were in tin cans and came with a little can opener .the last I had C-rats was in OKI in 82. When i came state side they fazed them out for the first MRE's. They always gave me heart burn.
I had completely forgotten about the crackers. Don't remember them having peanut butter though. The crackers did taste like they were issued in WWI. I still carry my original P-38 or John Wayne or what ever you call it. I remember it as a P-38 cause supposedly it took 38 "cuts" to open a c-rat can. I never had the good fortune to try/eat the MREs.

When we first got to Taiwan, we were issued C-rats for a few weeks. Then the mess cooks got them and heated them for us (guess it was suppose to make us think we were getting real cooked chow) then when things settled down we got a sure nuff mess hall with green eggs, powdered milk and all the rest of the good stuff. Made ya want the c-rats again. LMAO

Native Warrior
03-14-08, 02:46 PM
In Boot and my first tour in Beirut we had the C-Rats and the crackers and PB also included Jelly, I remember buying pita bread from the HEY JOE stand at the main gate and giving the crackers away to the neighborhood Lebanese kids as well as the chocolate patty. Man, a little tabasco sauce, salt and pepper and a whole lot of imagination made for a great meal. My all time favorite was the stew beef, and the beans and franks. Hated the meat patties. We were forced into MRE's on my second tour there, hated them with a passion, the fruit cocktail that looked like a sponge when you added water and tasted like it too. They later came out with K-Rats, big trays of precooked food that the mess tent would heat up and serve.

michaeleckard
03-14-08, 02:53 PM
Yes even the crackers and peanut butter were in tin cans and came with a little can opener .the last I had C-rats was in OKI in 82. When i came state side they fazed them out for the first MRE's. They always gave me heart burn.http://http//i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh29/zanth_photo/Picture003.jpghttp://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh29/zanth_photo/Picture002.jpg

michaeleckard
03-14-08, 02:54 PM
Yes even the crackers and peanut butter were in tin cans and came with a little can opener .the last I had C-rats was in OKI in 82. When i came state side they fazed them out for the first MRE's. They always gave me heart burn.http://http//i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh29/zanth_photo/Picture003.jpghttp://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh29/zanth_photo/Picture002.jpghttp://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh29/zanth_photo/Picture003.jpg

Native Warrior
03-14-08, 02:55 PM
I still carry my John Wayne on my dog tags, never know when you might have to cut your way out of the can.