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Tuesday, November 10. 2009
The Few and the Proud
Today is the 234th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. There is that old saying, “Once a Marine, Always a Marine.” Years ago that seemed silly. You do your time, four years maybe a little more and then you get out and carry on with life. Well, the experience never leaves us. I’m sure it’s the same with the other branches of the military.Once a Marine, always a Marine and every time I visit the V.A. Hospital (or clinic) I’m reminded of it as I see veterans of every age and era walking in proudly wearing their Marine Corps apparel. Mine is either a green sweatshirt with “USMC” emblazoned in gold, a gray t-shirt with the red and gold USMC logo, or the hat I wear nearly every day from training squadron VMFAT-101.
Their call sign is “S.H.” — “Sierra Hotel.” Back in the day when we were stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (Arizona), we from the 2nd LAAM Battalion would get together with some of our flight line buddies and get to drinking (often too much) and start calling them “Shit House.” Get it?There were a couple of my buds who worked in the tower and they claim — and this has never been verified — that someone calling the flights in and out of the air station referred to one of the arriving pilots as “Shit House 1-2-3” or whatever was the plane’s number.
Now, one can imagine the shit storm that breach of protocol would stir up, but it’s part of the folklore. Maybe it’s entrenched Marine Corps folklore, or at least Air Wing folklore. I don’t really know, but I’ve never forgotten the Shit House Sharpshooters. But I really doubt someone would actually call — over the radio — “you’re cleared to land Shit House 1-2-3.” Well, that was the 70’s and we were just starting to end our time in Vietnam so everyone had a bit of a sense of humor.
The way I got the hat in fact is interesting, Three years ago at the MCAS Miramar Air Show the squadron, which is now based at Miramar, had a booth. I saw the hat and had to have it. This blew my mind: I was talking to one of the officers, a pilot no less, about the history of VMFAT-101 and he didn’t know the squadron had once been based in Yuma!You gotta be shittin’ me sir! You don’t know the history of your unit? Get the fuck outa this man’s Marine Corps! Well, he’s an officer and what the fuck do they know anyway?
So, I started up a conversation with some of the enlisted Marines at the booth, as I was buying the hat, and got to talking about the squadron, the good old days when they flew F-4 Phantoms (now they fly F-18 Super Hornets) and I had to ask: Do they still — occasionally at least — jokingly refer to the squadron as “Shit House” instead of “Sierra Hotel?”
The young corporal gave me a wink and a nod and said, “Of course not!” Ah, all’s right in the world!
My units were: the Headquarters and Service Company, Second Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion; Headquarter and Service Company, H&S Battalion, Third Engineers, which eventually became the 3rd Force Service Support Group. Somehow, 3rd FSSG doesn’t have quite the romantic ring to it as 3rd Engineers. After 30-plus years that still bothers me.We had a lot of fun, especially in Okinawa, which, in the 1970’s was like one big Marine Corps installation. I forget how many bases the Marine Corps had on the island at the time, maybe eight or more along with one base each for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Kadena Air Force Base had the best chow hall I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. Sunday morning brunch — yee-ha!
But, the indigenous personnel didn’t consider it a military installation, it was their home and the occasional defilement of their home was not appreciated. Marines can be an unruly bunch, especially with a little alcohol added to the mix. So, occasionally, things would happen. We had to pay for any damages of course. I used to say, “You haven’t lived until you’ve spent a night in Futenma jail!”
Wouldn’t you know it, I met a sailor years ago who said he spent three nights in Futenma jail! Fuckin’ sailors! That was a civilian facility, not a military brig. The Marine Corps did have a brig installation on Oki, but hard to say of it’s still there. The Marine Corps, like the other four branches, has downsized since the 1970’s. Looks like the brig is now on Camp Butler.
That’s my short history of the Marine Corps, but it’s hallowed past is filled with moments of sheer terror marked by acts of incredible heroism. As the Marine Corps monument says, referring to the Battle for Iwo Jima in World War II, “Uncommon Valor Was a Common Virtue.” Admiral Chester Nimitz said those words after the Navy and Marines wrested that island from the Japanese in February and March of 1945. My Dad was there, serving in the Navy aboard the U.S.S. Wyman — DE-38.Seventy thousand Marines went ashore in those 36 days of battle and over 12,000 gave their Last Full Measure of Devotion in the effort; a third of all Marine Corps casualties during WWII. The Marine Corps’ finest hour.
That can pretty much sum up the history of the United States Marine Corps: Uncommon valor is a common virtue. Today we have Marines fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan and I would bet my life that is still the standard today.
So, to all my fellow Marines, serving or not, alive or otherwise, Semper Fidelis. We are the few and the proud.
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