On This Day 54 Years Ago

[USMC 2571]

10-31-63----I arrived at wonderful Parris Island. Halloween Night. Trick or Treat. No yellow footprints; they would not be there for a couple of more years.

In those days, no choice of MOS except Aviation Guaranteed. We took Classification Tests at boot camp and those scores plus the ever-present Needs of the Corps determined what MOS would be handed to us. We had no idea that anyone in the Corps was anything other than a Marine. We never thought of them as having specific jobs.

No Internet, no one to ask questions of, we went in with little or no knowledge of what was to come, and we had no idea what job we would be given, nor did we care.

The job I was handed turned out to be the best job I ever had in my entire life, before or after the Corps, including my present one. New MOS designation is 2621, formerly 2571, Morse Code Intercept Operator, 2571 (Special Radio Operator) now 2621.

We joined the Corps to become Marines. To us, everything else was quite secondary, including what MOS we would have.
-----------------------------------------------

Similar Threads:

• 4 years enlisted & 4 years officer
• 28 years ago.......
• After 30 years, there all gone
• 7 years if you kill your spouse, 10 years if you abuse a terrorist.

[FistFu68]

God Duty Country

[USMC 2571]

That's the way it was, Jack. And of course everything was ten thousand times simpler than today. The Corps did not reject applicants who were otherwise qualified but had this or that issue or problem or whatever. Unless you could clearly not hack it, you were much more likely to be allowed to enlist back then than is the case today, where it seems to me that every little thing is a disqualifier.

[USMC 2571]

And, at the time, I had quit high school after my second year. No problem, come on in anyway, get your GED while in, which I did do. Nowadays, 15 college credits if you have a GED and no high school diploma. And so on and so forth ad infinitum.

[FistFu68]

You and Guys like You where Men not Mice S/F

[oldtop]

Semper Fi, Dave.... that was THE OLD CORPS... although at that time, it was still the NEW CORPS... the more things change, the more they stay the same...

[USMC 2571]

Thanks, William....and Jack.

[advanced]

Were you at Bunker Hill Dave? I heard that was pretty bad.

[USMC 2571]

It was awful. We ran out of ammo, Russ, and had to fire pieces of rock and glass, and it was just horrible. The sun reflecting off of our enemy's bright red coats, and, well, I'd rather not talk about it.

[Mongoose]

Russ, you do know Moses was Dave's Company Commander....

[USMC 2571]

That's right, Billy, and going through that desert was bad, too.

[USMC 2571]

Now that was OLD Corps.

[FoxtrotOscar]

Russ, you do know Moses was Dave's Company Commander....

So those rumors are true... Dave was a "Road Guard" at the parting of the Red Sea..

I also heard he was on mess duty for Christ's Last Supper as well....

[FoxtrotOscar]

Entering Boot on Halloween is about the best your going to get, Congratulations Dave... Semper Fi Marine...

[USMC 2571]

Thanks, Mike....Semper Fi back to you.