Message to Garcia
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  1. #1
    Marine Free Member TJR1070's Avatar
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    Message to Garcia

    I just read a comic at ****************** that mentioned "A Message to Garcia". I had a Warrant Officer (Widdelsey?) that anytime he would give you a task to complete if you asked just one question he would hand you a soft cover version of "A message to Garcia" and then without another word would expect you to complete the task he had ordered without further direction. I was just wondering if anyone else had any experiences with NCO's, SNCO's or Officers requiring their Marines to read it.

    The only thing I got out of reading that book (several times) was not to ask questions.


  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by TJR1070 View Post
    I just read a comic at ****************** that mentioned "A Message to Garcia". I had a Warrant Officer (Widdelsey?) that anytime he would give you a task to complete if you asked just one question he would hand you a soft cover version of "A message to Garcia" and then without another word would expect you to complete the task he had ordered without further direction. I was just wondering if anyone else had any experiences with NCO's, SNCO's or Officers requiring their Marines to read it.

    The only thing I got out of reading that book (several times) was not to ask questions.
    It was given to us in Bootcamp. I'm not exactly sure why, since it's not like we had time to read it then. I had actually read it before I left for bootcamp but from time to time, I still pull it out and read it. At least the actual letter. Most 'books' you get have 50 pages of prologue and then 3 pages of the actual letter.


  3. #3
    Hahaha I love ******************


  4. #4
    Me too. **** is funny.


  5. #5
    Marine Free Member Quinbo's Avatar
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    Hell yea I read message to garcia. It was on the mandatory commandants reading list. Cpls had to read at least two books a year off the list.

    Message to Garcia is what??? 40 pages. Hell yea I'll read that one. Seriously are you gonna read sun tsus art of war 200 plus pages or 40 pages about a guy that got lost wandering around in france. We all opted for the 40 pager.

    I also enjoy terminal lance. I don't check it every day but when he puts something new up it is always good.


  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Bulkyker View Post
    Hell yea I read message to garcia. It was on the mandatory commandants reading list. Cpls had to read at least two books a year off the list.

    Message to Garcia is what??? 40 pages. Hell yea I'll read that one. Seriously are you gonna read sun tsus art of war 200 plus pages or 40 pages about a guy that got lost wandering around in france. We all opted for the 40 pager.

    I also enjoy terminal lance. I don't check it every day but when he puts something new up it is always good.
    Actually, now that I think of it, we were NOT given A Message To Garcia in boot, it was Rifleman Dodd, which I believe is the book you're referring to, Sgt.


  7. #7
    Marine Free Member Quinbo's Avatar
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    I don't know if I got me or got you Hanzo. Yea it was rifleman dodd that wandered all over france. Now I'm drawing a blank on what message to garcia was about besides it was a short book.


  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Bulkyker View Post
    I don't know if I got me or got you Hanzo. Yea it was rifleman dodd that wandered all over france. Now I'm drawing a blank on what message to garcia was about besides it was a short book.
    Yeah, Message To Garcia was about a guy in a jungle (Phillapines maybe?) who was given a letter to deliver to a guerilla leader named Garcia. His orders were simply "deliver this" without any information about how to find him. He didn't question it, just took off into the jungle and found a way to accomplish the mission he was assigned.


  9. #9
    Hahaha I love ******************



  10. #10
    It was in the jungles of Cuba where it transpired. My gunny made all of us read the book and write a paper on it. The moral of the book is instant obedience to orders without hesitation, and to think outside the box on your own to get a task accomplished.


  11. #11
    Marine Free Member Wyoming's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Socal2361 View Post
    It was in the jungles of Cuba where it transpired. My gunny made all of us read the book and write a paper on it. The moral of the book is instant obedience to orders without hesitation, and to think outside the box on your own to get a task accomplished.
    Exactly!




  12. #12
    That reminds me of an old joke, I don't remember it exactly, but I'll do the best I can.

    A Marine officer, Army officer and Air Force officer were all tasked with erecting a flagpole.
    The Air Force officer put together a committee to research the history of flagpoles and an engineering crew to determine if the ground was solid enough and then priced out independant contractors to bring in the survey equipment and erect the flagpole.
    The Army officer grabbed 5 Staff Sergeants and told them to erect a flag pole being sure to fill out all appropriate paperwork and submit SITREPs to him every three minutes, which would be easy, because he was going to supervise the project.
    The Marine officer saw a Corporal walking by and says "Hey Marine, build me a flagpole", and walked away.


  13. #13
    Marine Free Member Wyoming's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hanzo View Post
    That reminds me of an old joke, I don't remember it exactly, but I'll do the best I can.

    A Marine officer, Army officer and Air Force officer were all tasked with erecting a flagpole.
    The Air Force officer put together a committee to research the history of flagpoles and an engineering crew to determine if the ground was solid enough and then priced out independant contractors to bring in the survey equipment and erect the flagpole.
    The Army officer grabbed 5 Staff Sergeants and told them to erect a flag pole being sure to fill out all appropriate paperwork and submit SITREPs to him every three minutes, which would be easy, because he was going to supervise the project.
    The Marine officer saw a Corporal walking by and says "Hey Marine, build me a flagpole", and walked away.
    Exactly!



    X 2


  14. #14
    -Never heard of ther book think maybe when I went to boot camp not to many could read. The Corp didn't want us to look bad by asking us to read something thant long 40 pages you said ?


  15. #15
    My reserve Company does a book study every quarter and last quarter's was Message to Garcia. The idea behind the story has less to do with instant obedience to orders and has more to do with dependability and accepting the fact that while you may not understand your mission, that mission is important to the war effort as a whole. It's about doing what you were asked without supervision and trusting that your superiors have a good plan. At least that is what our squad got our of it.
    This quarter's book study is Starship Troopers.


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