Everyday is Saturday

[Sparrowhawk]

Everyday is Saturday




Reflections of Marine Corps Life

Saturday mornings in boot camp were special, the weeks activities were beginning to wind down, and even the D.I.’s seemed to be in a better mood.

Still there were of course some Saturdays that were just as full of activities as the other days of the week. Still on most Saturday’s the base slowed down, it was the beginning of preparing for some down time Sunday morning brought.



All my life I have worked. From age 13, I mowed yawns in the neighborhood for a few bucks that got me into the movie theater in down town Casa Grande, Arizona where I grew up. I remember the sign at the entrance to the city that read; “Welcome to Casa Grande an all American city.”

Boy, we need those types of signs around today. In South El Monte, a small town just a few miles east of Los Angeles, California the population there has become so inundated with Orientals, that the city streets are filled with non-English signs and businesses where an English sign is non-existent. Someone several years ago had a bumper sticker made up that read; “Will the last American to leave El Monte, please take the flag down.”

Our nation has changed, as has the Marine Corps. As I approach my 55 birthday a day after the Corps birthday I realized I have lived a full life. I’ve accomplished things other can only dream about. The Marine Corps of course helped shape me into the individual I am today, as it has all of us here.

Still I can’t help but to feel that I have lived on borrowed time. I should have been killed in the rice paddies of South East Asia, several times in 1967-1968. Some Marines didn’t get the chance to enjoy the life their sacrifices allowed me to have, so in a way I’ve also felt that I owe them that life, to enjoy life for them as if they were at my side.

Over the next few months or at least for a while I want to share with you here some of my experiences, a journey through what we call life. Maybe it’ll help some of you, maybe not. Maybe you’ll see yourself in the shoes I have walked in, or perhaps I have walked in some of your shoes. I may have even steps on some of the brass some Marines here left behind in the jungles of Vietnam.

I retired on July 4th 1992 from work, and while I had planned to start another career, that never happened. So I’ve learned to enjoy life, enjoy what I have and to be satisfied with what life has given me.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff,” is a popular saying, but hey, who ever said, that hadn’t gotten around to see the small things a Marine with time on his hands can get into. LOL

I hope you enjoys these posts, and feel free to join the “Everyday is Saturday” club, admission is free, as Marines we have already paid the price.

Semper Fi, Bros

Cook Barela

[thedrifter]

I don't have the flare that you have in writing Cook....but I will join in the Club.....

You can say even as a kid most of us looked foward to Saturdays...The one day of the week we could sleep in...and maybe relax a little and have a little fun...before the new week started our next level in our life...

I too worked when I was young.......I was a deliveryboy for a small corner grocery store when I was 13, lasted a few months, new laws said I needed to be at least 14..........Did help my friends out with their paper routes(but never could really get into it)........Don't laugh but I was an AltarBoy, almost became a priest but two things happened...........GIRLS AND THE MARINE CORPS........

Joined the Marine Corps Reserve the summer before my Senior year in High School...........Saturday once a month was special, had to attend the monthly drill...........Hated losing my saturday's off so after I Graduated High School, I went active and stayed in.........Cook was right you always looked forward to saturdays as start of time off to relax and enjoy your life, that is unless you had duty........LOL

Saturday is special as I get more time to spend with my family and we still manage to do things together every so often on saturdays.

Looking forward to when everyday is saturday, but I just know that Ellie will find things for me to do........LOL

Sempers,

Roger

[Sparrowhawk]

Dropped off one of my daughters at he train station and will drop off the other in about an hour, then I'm thinking of dropping by at Starbucks for a fresh cup of coffee and to visit with the folks that come in and sit down to chat for awhile.

Dave Barnes a local newspaper reporter and Vietnam vet (army) shows up for a cup as does Stan Boda, (Navy) both in Vietnam 1968-69.

Gosh darn that drifter posted that news story about the Navy docking in Vietnam and that brought back a lot of memories.

The smell, sounds and feeling of complete helplessness at times. But Marines were always there at your side and you knew things were going to be all right.

I guess that's why I come here to read and feel at home among Marines.

Anyways I post this response to the tread drifter posted


U.S. Navy will make port call in Vietnam

http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/sh...8866#post48866


Funny how little headlines can trigger up embedded thoughts, that lay buried deep within our minds in little chambers we never want to visit.

Brings back a lot of memories of Marines I have met in life. I've have met a lot of folks in this world we call earth but its only here and those I served with in Nam that I can find true friends that can be trusted and worth listening to. I guess that why it irritates me so much when a job is never finished, done right or when one of our own does something wrong that brings discredit to the Corps in one way or another.

Too many of us paid a price for that honor.

You all take it easy today, the calendar may say its Monday, but for Marines everyday is Saturday.

Semper Fi Marines

Cook

[MillRatUSMC]

Drifter, I won't laugh, if you don't laugh!!!
I too, was an Altar Boy, till I transfer to public school from Catholic school.
When I was in the 5th grade.
I remember working all my life.
In my grandma's house, everyone did their share and contribute their fair share.
Cut grass for a doctor.
Pior to that I shined shoes for a quarter.
At that time we also worked on a produce truck, in the summer.
Remembering the owner of that truck telling us to fill the bottom with produce that was a "bit stale".
For our friends, we fill the bag with good produce all the away up.
When I was fourteen years old, I was working in a body shop along with a friend.
We both enlisted in the Marine Corps but at different times.
1958, there was four us from East Chicago, Indiana on Okinawa.
I wonder how it survived?
After the Marine Corps, I worked in the steelmills for 31 years.
28 years as a weldor/supervisior.
Till I retired 5 years ago.
So I worked most of what we call life.
Even now, I'm still working around the house.
No rest for these old bones...
Have to go along you, on little things bring back memories.

Semper Fi
Ricardo

[thedrifter]

It's Monday already...Seems to go by faster and faster....LOL
Monday is usually busy with me, playing catch up, from the weekend work activity which continues....and some of us get a break....I was on duty...so my break will come this week....

Watching my 4 adult children...on Mondays is always an adventure....After having the weekend off....the sudden shock of going back to reality....Can bring some funny situations......

MillRat..I won't laugh....It was one of our stepping stones in life...Which gave me the guideness during those difficult times that came during my life.....

Cook some memories we try to keep bottled up....Others...we can talk about.....Good or Bad...We Never Forget....They are as real as if we are re-living it over and over again in our heads.....

I do agree....with you Cook....coming here and sharing our stories, and having fun with other Marines.... Is a good way to work with and, to help each other try to heal our wounds.....
The comfort of Family being Home......


Well All Have A Good Day

Sempers,

Roger

[Red Dragon]

As a youngster remember looking forward to saturday morning. Just had to watch my cartoons for a couple of hours before I had to do my chores. Those were the days.LOL

We all have our memories, some are good, some are bad. Then we have what we learned, what we did, whom we met, from the Marine Corps. As The Drifter, Sparrowhawk and Shaffer have said many times, this is our Home away from Home. Just being here with our Fellow Marines makes it special. Whether we be serious or joking around with each other, makes us all glad we are here. Don't have as much time as I would like to spend on here, but looking forward to the time when everyday is saturday.

Red Dragon aka HL

[Sparrowhawk]

I wouldn't stand still in class so the nuns never recommended me toward that position but they did talk me into being a school crossing guard. Had the white belt across the chest and everything. Do remember stopping traffic so the girls could cross.

Probably one of the reasons I became a cop after all, I had all that training at handling traffic...LOL



Had a girl in fourth grade that sat in front of me, who took her pencil in her right hand and jammed me in my right knee with it. The lead broke off. Don't remember what I did, probably pulled her ponytail. Still have that piece of lead in my knee.

Wonder what ever happened to her, she was a feisty one...

[Osotogary]

There was nothing worse as an alterboy than seeing peoples tongues early in the morning as communion was taking place. Yuk!! And for those folks, among the faithful, that were catching some shut eye during mass, the same mass that I had to get up very early to serve, I made sure that I shook the bells for an extended period of time so that they could enjoy the sacraments as I was. LOL.
Latin? What made the nuns think that a sixth grader could learn to serve mass and learn the latin replies in 2 hours? I believe I broke every rule in the book as I served mass the next day and it had to be a mass given in the nuns chapel exclusively for nuns at 05:30 AM. I'm lucky that I'm still alive.

[Sparrowhawk]

Osotogary

There was nothing worse as an alterboy than seeing peoples tongues early in the morning as communion was taking place.

No wonder you're a cartoonist. LOL

[Sparrowhawk]

Morning Folks


Just made a fresh pot of coffee, sitting back typing a few words and listening to the news. Daughter took herself to the train station this morning, the other one made other arrangements, so today I'm home alone (ain't that nice? )

Of course that means I'm home without a car

I'll have my wife on her way to work, drop me off at Starbucks which is only a few blocks from here and since its Tuesday, I'll sit and enjoy the two dailies, and read the New York Times until about 8:00.

Tuesdays always remind me of Wimpy the cartoon character in the Popeye comic Stripe. Wimpy who would betray his friends in exchange for promises of food or safety, he was forever borrowing the price of a hamburger, promising to pay back the lender on Tuesday. “I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today,” was one of his famous sayings as was, “Gentlemen, you know the rules--there are no rules. This is a fight to the finish. The first man who's dead loses.”




At 8:00 about five old timers began to come into Starbucks. One day one of them came in and saw a pretty lady sitting talking with me. When she left, he made a comment about how good-looking she was, and I mentioned she was my secretary, and from then on, they started joining me. One by one they started coming in, they have all known each other for years. They are in their late 60's, early 70's and colorful. Tuesday is their Saturday.


We sit and talk about politics, religion, women, horses, old cars and what not. I think over the past two years we have solved what is wrong with the world several times over, but we never do anything about it because when a nice good looking women comes in they forget all about what we were talking about, and talk about her for the next 10-15 minutes. Then another one comes in and it starts up all over again, until one of them has to leave because he has a doctor's appointment or one has to go to the dentist. LOL

Think I'll write a sit-com about their lives and how they view the world and how they judge people that come into Starbucks.

The show would start, with them sitting talking and when a person comes in and they would talk about them and who they are judging them according to their mannerisms, what they order and how they dress. The show would then go on to tell the true story of that individual and every week a new episode would be about the five old men and the people they judge, good or bad.

They remind me of the Old Vietnamese civilians that used to sit along side village roads or along Convoy Road that ran between Da Nang and Liberty Bridge. They would just sit there and talk while chewing on beetle nut.

They just sat there in their own corner of the world, chewing and talking, indifferent to the world and the war going on all around them. They just talked and chewed because that was what was important then.


I guess to them, Everyday was Saturday, you all take care today.

[thedrifter]

It's Tuesday....The house is quiet....Only Ellie and I are home...since all the kids left for work.....I can't say too quiet since the phone is always ringing off the hook in my house...and when the kids are home......forget trying to call me....You need to make appointments to talk to me....LOL.....

Everyday is different for me....Being a Sr Tech....in the Electronic/Electrical Field....I never know what I will be doing....Sometimes I need to go on a call....other days...I can sit back and work on the boards ....that need to be fixed....Today I can sit back and relax and fix some boards....and bother Ellie.....but I do have to watch that I don't bug her too much because she will hit back and not give me any more coffee....LOL.....

I will be stepping out a little later today...to enjoy this bright fall day.....we have...since they are calling for a storm this evening...which will bring back the rain with the temperatures dropping.....and getting cooler....Well I guess I will be snuggling next to Ellie tonight.....LOL..

Cook my favorite comic...is Snoopy....Always enjoyed him fighting the Red Baron......

All Have A Good Day......

Sempers,

Roger

[Sparrowhawk]

Now, I know what to get you for Christmas.


Heck, why wait for Christams, I'll just e-mail it to you...LOL

[kubba]

Just thinking while I was reading these post and how we all seam to travel in the same direction. Except for being an alter boy, started working young, joined the corp on reserve status my senior year. Two weeks after graduation I was at PI.
52 years young now and only regret is I did not get to hit the patties with my brother Marines in Nam. Did get out when ever I could which was not often. So for this I am sorry.
Plan on working as long as I can and then I plan to die at age 100.
This is a great place for Marines to hang and I do not get here as often as I want. You guys and gals are great and it is my honor to be here with you.
God bless our fallen brothers and sisters.
The one thing I remember the most is that the only color in the corp for everyone was green. And as some may remember that was not easy in the 70's. Now I am starting to ramble gonna go.
Stan

[Sparrowhawk]

Cleaning out my office in the afternoon, enjoy doing both. One of these Saturdays I'm gona get organized.

Started reading a book today. James Bradley's new book, "Flyboys."

I don't read many books, hardly any that are fiction, the non-fiction I do read, I read because of the author’s style and what the story is all about. I guess they also have changed my life and how I look at things.

When I was in high school my art teacher Karen Kuykendale gave me a book to read, "The Illusionless Man, by Allen Wheelis, its still around. The book was the source of Crazy Guilt, a movie released in 1966, which I have never seen.

I used part of that book on my first wife when we were married, when she said, we'll always be together, and I answered, "In our community, age, and economic bracket we have a 47.3% chance of staying together two months." We lasted two weeks before we were apart.

When I came back from Vietnam, I read "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West,” and "Black Like Me," I think I may have been dating a hippie about that time, but they influence my mind in how I saw things from another’s perspective.

Then, it was, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” that captured my attention. Tortilla Flat was next, I believed both of those books helped me escape into a different world, a break from the memories of Vietnam.

A few more books followed and most recently I read, Bradley's book, "Flag of our Father's.




James Bradley is the son of Iwo Jima flag raiser John Bradley. After his father's death James discovered three boxes of memories his father had saved about Iwo Jima, which launched James on a quest to find more about his father's past and the past of the other five flag raisers. The result is The New York Times #1 Best-seller FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS.

One of those young Americans was John Bradley, a Navy corpsman who a few days before had braved enemy mortar and machine-gun fire to administer first aid to a wounded Marine and then drag him to safety. For this act of heroism Bradley would receive the Navy Cross, an award second only to the Medal of Honor.
Bradley, who died in 1994, never mentioned his feat to his family. Only after his death did Bradley's son James begin to piece together the facts of his father's heroism, which was but one of countless acts of sacrifice made by the young men who fought at Iwo Jima. Flags of Our Fathers recounts the sometimes tragic life stories of the six men who raised the flag that February day--one an Arizona Indian who would die following an alcohol-soaked brawl, another a Kentucky hillbilly, still another a Pennsylvania steel-mill worker--and who became reluctant heroes in the bargain. A strongly felt and well-written entry in a spate of recent books on World War II, Flags gives a you-are-there depiction of that conflict's horrible arenas--and a moving homage to the men whom fate brought there. --Gregory McNamee



In, “Flyboys: A True Story of Courage,” the book focuses on a small group of men: nine American Navy and Marine aviators who were shot down off the Japanese-held island of Chichi Jima in February 1945.


All of them were eventually executed by the Japanese; several of the guilty parties were tried and condemned as war criminals. When the book keeps its eye on the aviators-growing up under a variety of conditions before the war, entering service, serving as the U. S. Navy's spearhead aboard the fast carriers, or facing captivity and death-it is as compelling as its predecessor.

From the Publisher
Flyboys is the true story of young American airmen who were shot down over Chichi Jima. Eight of these young men were captured by Japanese troops and taken prisoner. Another was rescued by an American submarine and went on to become president. The reality of what happened to the eight prisoners has remained a secret for almost 60 years. After the war, the American and Japanese governments conspired to cover up the shocking truth. Not even the families of the airmen were informed what had happened to their sons. It has remained a mystery—until now. Critics called James Bradley's last book "the best book on battle ever written." Flyboys is even better: more ambitious, more powerful, and more moving. On the island of Chichi Jima those young men would face the ultimate test. Their story—a tale of courage and daring, of war and of death, of men and of hope—will make you proud, and it will break your heart.



I saw both books, Flags of our fathers and flyboys available at Amazon.com for $35.64

While I am somewhat critical of the beginning part of the book, I know I will enjoy it, since I have this time on my hands, it being Saturday and all.

Sempers Bros

Cook

[Sparrowhawk]

It's a beautiful brisk morning. Getting ready to take my daughter to the train station, she's taking the late train today.

My neighbor Dave just drove off to work. He always slows down and gives his truck a little toot, to say morning as he takes off. Sometimes, when I'm standing out side drinking my morning coffee, he'll roll down his window and ask me what day f the week it is and of course I'll answer, "Why, Dave, It's Saturday."

He's a surveyor by trade and a good person. Often his garage door is opened and the TV is on, so we’ll gather there to watch sports. He’s a Red Sox fan, since he was born in Mass.

Janet, the lady across the street, left earlier about 4:20, she's an accountant with Albertson, one of the chain of grocery stores that are on strike. When she got home yesterday she was all red faced and tanned from having walked the picket line all day. The day before I had taken water bottled to the picketers picketing at our local store, they found it amusing that I had chosen to take the bottled water in their competitor’s grocery stores bag...LOL

Jack just pulled out; he's an electrician and helped me wire my garage so that all the gadgets I have plugged in out here in my office wouldn't blow a fuse. He’s widower, his wife died about four months ago, and often Jack and I will sit out in front of his garage and drink a beer or coke and watch the neighborhood folks walk by. He was off work Tuesday and was looking for a Halloween costume. I know a place, I told him and we drove off. The place we found it was a Lingerie Shop* which rents customs out. He was hesitant to go in at first but got excited with the costumes on display in the front windows. As he was paying for the rental, I grabbed hold of black thongs that were hanging on a display rack and told him they were part of the outfit. He’s a soft-spoken man, and very gullible so he took them and placed them on the counter, to pay for before he realized what they were. He got red faced but laughed with the female proprietor and I. I don’t think, he’ll take me along to return the costume. LOL

Phantom Blooper’s posting of the “Hippocratic Oath,’
Got me to thinking this morning on how we as Marines are trained . To defend life and fight for it. To take it, when we must. I guess that’s why we value it so much. Long before it appeared on the famous c-rat box top, my fire team leader in Nam, had said, these words to me, “For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the protected will never know.”

I guess that was my first introduction to understanding the value of time and life, my first Saturday.

Sempers, Marines

* I would have posted this tread earlier, but couldn’t spell “Lingerie,” So, I had to click, click all over the web and of course I became entertained by all that Victoria Secret stuff, before I found the word. I guess I should buy myself a dictionary. LOL