BMT (RIP)
07-05-2014, 09:58
Your boss’s first name was his rank.
Your first aerobics class was a mandatory P.T. formation.
Your first portable boom-box radio was the AN/PRC-25.
Your first government-approved diet plan was cold C-rations.
Your an Auzzie and your first taste of turkey came from a ration pack.
Your first gastronomic adventure was a “Noggie Roll” with Nuoc-Mam sauce.
Your first occasion to wear formal attire was a parade.
Your first custom-made personalized jewelry was dog-tags.
You have never forgotten your serial number.
You can’t stand sand or red mud between your toes.
You know you can’t make a local call on a “piss-a-phone.”
You still roll your sleeves down at night.
You know that intestinal fortitude isn’t a health-food supplement.
You know that the military invented “one size fits all.”
You know that “dust-off” is not a miraculous cleaning solvent.
You know that an “air-burst” has nothing to do with comical farts.
You know that “white mice” were the host constabulary.
You know that a Sky Pilot is a Soldier in the God Squad.
You know that MPC is legitimate “funny money.”
You know that a military “Tattoo” is more than just skin art.
You know the Starlight Scope has nothing to do with astronomy.
You know the difference between rifles and guns.
You know that “Four-Deuce” is not a dice game.
You know that “Deuce-and-a-Half” is not a card game.
You know the difference between “Repeat” and “Say Again.”
You know that “Military Intelligence” is a contradiction in terms.
You know that a “Free-Fire Zone” was not the designated smoking area.
You know a walk through the “green” isn’t a walk across the top paddock.
You know that “Rolling Thunder” is more than an electrical storm.
You know that “Friendly Fire,” isn’t.
You know that “Mission Impossible” was much more than a TV show.
You learned locals saying “Be Nice” meant many different things.
You learned locals saying “Buy Me One Saigon Tea” meant many different things.
You learned locals saying “Number Ten” could mean many different things.
You learned locals saying “Short Time” meant many different things.
You discovered the M-60 isn’t a freeway in the United Kingdom.
You discovered that “Rock ‘N Roll” could be belt-fed.
You believe troops infected with incurable VD are still held as MIA.
You thought “We Gotta Get Outta This Place” was the new national anthem.
You thought the “Freedom Bird” was mythical . . . until you boarded.
You’d rather sit on, than wear, your Flak Jacket. Also makes a good pillow.
You still don’t wear underwear on hot, summer days.
You believe Woodstock was a side-show.
You still remember taking your salt tablets daily and the horrendous after-taste of Malaria pills.
Centipedes! . . . What can I say?
Rats! . . . Ditto!?!
Strange “varmints” and snakes!
You know that nine million men served in the military during the Vietnam war, three million of whom went to the Vietnam theater (and their desertion rate was less than Soldiers and Marines in WW II).
You know that 73 percent of those who died in French Indo-China were American volunteers.
You know that French Indo-China was 12,000 miles away from America and America’s Marines and Soldiers performed with a tenacity and quality that may never be truly understood. (Hanoi has admitted that 1.4 million of its soldiers died on the battlefield, compared to 58,000 total U.S. dead.)
You know that frequently the reward for a young man’s having gone through the trauma of combat was to be greeted at home by his fellow citizens and peers with studied indifference or outright hostility.
You know that Marines and Soldiers faced the issues of war and possible death, and then weighed those concerns against obligations to their country and suffered loneliness, disease, and wounds with an often contagious illnesses.
For you, combat is an unpredictable and inexact environment, and you remember moving through the boiling heat with 60 pounds of weapons and gear, causing a typical Marine or Soldier to drop 20 percent of his body weight while in the bush.
You know that mud-filled, regimental, combat bases like An Hoa were not a “fun” places where Marines joked about “legendary” giant rats like “Big Al.”
You remember “Rockets, Rockets, Rockets!” was not about a 4th of July fireworks celebration.
You are still amazed, that Marines and Soldiers, barely out of high school, were called up from the cities and the farms to do their year in Hell and then returned without real complaint.
You are still astounded at the willingness of these Marines and Soldiers to risk their lives to save other Marines and Soldiers in peril.
You believe these Marines and Soldiers were some of the finest people you have ever known.
You know that one finds in them very little bitterness about the war in which they fought. The most common regret, almost to a man, is that they were not able to do more – for each other and for the people they came to help.
Your first aerobics class was a mandatory P.T. formation.
Your first portable boom-box radio was the AN/PRC-25.
Your first government-approved diet plan was cold C-rations.
Your an Auzzie and your first taste of turkey came from a ration pack.
Your first gastronomic adventure was a “Noggie Roll” with Nuoc-Mam sauce.
Your first occasion to wear formal attire was a parade.
Your first custom-made personalized jewelry was dog-tags.
You have never forgotten your serial number.
You can’t stand sand or red mud between your toes.
You know you can’t make a local call on a “piss-a-phone.”
You still roll your sleeves down at night.
You know that intestinal fortitude isn’t a health-food supplement.
You know that the military invented “one size fits all.”
You know that “dust-off” is not a miraculous cleaning solvent.
You know that an “air-burst” has nothing to do with comical farts.
You know that “white mice” were the host constabulary.
You know that a Sky Pilot is a Soldier in the God Squad.
You know that MPC is legitimate “funny money.”
You know that a military “Tattoo” is more than just skin art.
You know the Starlight Scope has nothing to do with astronomy.
You know the difference between rifles and guns.
You know that “Four-Deuce” is not a dice game.
You know that “Deuce-and-a-Half” is not a card game.
You know the difference between “Repeat” and “Say Again.”
You know that “Military Intelligence” is a contradiction in terms.
You know that a “Free-Fire Zone” was not the designated smoking area.
You know a walk through the “green” isn’t a walk across the top paddock.
You know that “Rolling Thunder” is more than an electrical storm.
You know that “Friendly Fire,” isn’t.
You know that “Mission Impossible” was much more than a TV show.
You learned locals saying “Be Nice” meant many different things.
You learned locals saying “Buy Me One Saigon Tea” meant many different things.
You learned locals saying “Number Ten” could mean many different things.
You learned locals saying “Short Time” meant many different things.
You discovered the M-60 isn’t a freeway in the United Kingdom.
You discovered that “Rock ‘N Roll” could be belt-fed.
You believe troops infected with incurable VD are still held as MIA.
You thought “We Gotta Get Outta This Place” was the new national anthem.
You thought the “Freedom Bird” was mythical . . . until you boarded.
You’d rather sit on, than wear, your Flak Jacket. Also makes a good pillow.
You still don’t wear underwear on hot, summer days.
You believe Woodstock was a side-show.
You still remember taking your salt tablets daily and the horrendous after-taste of Malaria pills.
Centipedes! . . . What can I say?
Rats! . . . Ditto!?!
Strange “varmints” and snakes!
You know that nine million men served in the military during the Vietnam war, three million of whom went to the Vietnam theater (and their desertion rate was less than Soldiers and Marines in WW II).
You know that 73 percent of those who died in French Indo-China were American volunteers.
You know that French Indo-China was 12,000 miles away from America and America’s Marines and Soldiers performed with a tenacity and quality that may never be truly understood. (Hanoi has admitted that 1.4 million of its soldiers died on the battlefield, compared to 58,000 total U.S. dead.)
You know that frequently the reward for a young man’s having gone through the trauma of combat was to be greeted at home by his fellow citizens and peers with studied indifference or outright hostility.
You know that Marines and Soldiers faced the issues of war and possible death, and then weighed those concerns against obligations to their country and suffered loneliness, disease, and wounds with an often contagious illnesses.
For you, combat is an unpredictable and inexact environment, and you remember moving through the boiling heat with 60 pounds of weapons and gear, causing a typical Marine or Soldier to drop 20 percent of his body weight while in the bush.
You know that mud-filled, regimental, combat bases like An Hoa were not a “fun” places where Marines joked about “legendary” giant rats like “Big Al.”
You remember “Rockets, Rockets, Rockets!” was not about a 4th of July fireworks celebration.
You are still amazed, that Marines and Soldiers, barely out of high school, were called up from the cities and the farms to do their year in Hell and then returned without real complaint.
You are still astounded at the willingness of these Marines and Soldiers to risk their lives to save other Marines and Soldiers in peril.
You believe these Marines and Soldiers were some of the finest people you have ever known.
You know that one finds in them very little bitterness about the war in which they fought. The most common regret, almost to a man, is that they were not able to do more – for each other and for the people they came to help.