"THE GRUNT" (USMC - 1965)
("I" Corps, Republic of South Vietnam)
"VIETNAM - This may be your finest hour, for youâ€â
¢re about to meet a Marine "Grunt." Doff your cap, if you will; wave a flag; choke back a sob in your throat; wipe a tear from your eye, for this is a man who is fighting your war. He is the Marine up front, the one that sees the enemy at twenty-five yards. He is the one who knows what it is like to be shot at at close range by small arms, to feel the searing pain and smell of the burning flesh of a wound.
He is the one that dies a thousand times when the night is dark and the moon is gone. And he is the one who dies once and forever when an enemy rifle belches flame. If you have ever slogged through sticky rice paddies or waded a stream carrying 200+ rounds of ammunition, two canteens, a rifle, and a pack with enough field rations and spare clothing to last a week, then you know why they call him "A Grunt" ... it is fairly obvious.
But look at him well and know him, for he is really something; he wears in dirty dignity, a helmet and flak jacket and faded uniform. His hands are ripped and torn from contact with barbed wire and elephant grass. His wrists are swollen from mosquito bites and his legs bear the scars of leech bites. His pockets are full and his boots are mud-caked and his eyes never stand still; they move and squint and twitch. He is nervous, aware of every sound, for he operates in a never-never world where the difference between death and one more tomorrow often depends on what he sees or does not see, what he hears or does not hear.
A Grunt is the man who lives as close to war as it is possible to get. His rank varies, he may be a Lt. Col., a major, a captain, or a lieutenant, but mostly, he is a private, a lance corporal, a corporal, or a sergeant. He likes pilots because the planes give him a measure of protection. He likes artillery outfits because they can knock the bejabbers out of an enemy unit. He cares about supply units only to the extent that they can provide him with something to eat and more ammunition to shoot.
He lives first for the day his tour will be up and he can go back to "the World." He lives next for an R & R (Rest and Relaxation). Heâ€â
¢d like to get his hands on a cold beer because it would drive the heat from his throat and ease the corroding pain in his gut. Heâ€â¢d like to feel the softness of a woman. But he is a "Grunt" and if he can live through today, then there will be tomorrow. And if there are enough tomorrows, there will be R & R, the cold beer, the feel of a woman, the end of his tour.
The "Grunt" as he stands in dirty, muddy majesty, is as fine a fighting man as the United States has ever produced. He is tough, intelligent and knows how to kill the enemy. But he is a lot more than that ... there is something of a builder in these young men. They speak, sometimes of what must be done to South Vietnam, to make it right and workable; they speak of the government and how it must work and, if you are lucky, you may get a "Grunt" to speak his mind about the war. He may tell you things in a language that is largely unprintable. But it may not be surprising to learn that, for the most part, he understands why he is here and believes in the purpose that put him where he is today. ... He is hard and calloused; he grits his teeth and curses as he assaults the enemy but is also a warm and tender person as he hangs his head and lets the tears roll down his cheeks as he lifts the lifeless body of his buddy into the medevac helicopter for the last ride.
This man is really something, for if you take a "Grunt" out of his muddy, water filled bunker, remove his helmet, his flak jacket, his field uniform, take away his rifle, clean him up and dress him in a sports shirt, slacks and loafers, youâ€â
¢ve got a kid who was playing on last years high school football team. He is a national asset to be cherished; he is the difference between freedom and communist slavery. He is a United States Marine and because he has fought for it, life has a special flavor the cowards will never know."