View Full Version : SGM Richmond Nail
RIP
https://soldiersystems.net/2020/09/13/in-memoriam-sgmr-richmond-j-nail/
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/fayettevilleobserver/obituary.aspx?n=richmond-nail&pid=196780676
Rest in Peace SGM thank you for your service!
Badger52
09-13-2020, 16:29
What a life lived that others should contemplate his example and what he's left behind.
RIP, Sergeant Major. Well done.
SGM Richmond Nail was a hoot...and a damned fine soldier... he, and his unique kind, are missed.
Roguish Lawyer
09-13-2020, 22:40
RIP DOL
Dean Jarvis
09-14-2020, 09:43
I worked out at Camp MacKall for a short time when he was there. He had a small Chihuahua that was paralyzed and he made a harness with wheels on it so the little guy could get around. He was a good man and a professional. RIP
Rest In Peace SGM. You will never be forgotten.
doctom54
09-14-2020, 20:28
Requiescat in pace SGM
All I can say is Holy Fucking Shit this dude was awesome. I was a 19 year old super wannabe in 1986 at Phase 1, I failed out of landnav and was recycled by COL Potter (only 8 of us were recycled for some reason) and I ended up as slave labor at McCall rebuilding those old red tarpaper huts. This old one eyed guy would come into the huts during lunch with Nick Rowe (both in black pajamas and I had no idea who they were) and see who wanted to put money up on a chicken shit contest. You put a dollar up, wrote your name on a small piece of paper, put it in a small pen with a chicken, and whoever s name was shit on first got the pot of money. This was my intro to SF and it was SGM Nail's bad ass persona that inspired me to stop bitching about failing landnav and make it through the Q course eventually. I remember him pulling his eyeball out and talking about fucking fat girls he called roadhogs I think.
He was the example I used when I explained the kind of men that really created our Regiment. Very sad he passed but he is an example of a man that REALLY lived.
All I can say is Holy Fucking Shit this dude was awesome. I was a 19 year old super wannabe in 1986 at Phase 1, I failed out of landnav and was recycled by COL Potter (only 8 of us were recycled for some reason) and I ended up as slave labor at McCall rebuilding those old red tarpaper huts. This old one eyed guy would come into the huts during lunch with Nick Rowe (both in black pajamas and I had no idea who they were) and see who wanted to put money up on a chicken shit contest. You put a dollar up, wrote your name on a small piece of paper, put it in a small pen with a chicken, and whoever s name was shit on first got the pot of money. This was my intro to SF and it was SGM Nail's bad ass persona that inspired me to stop bitching about failing landnav and make it through the Q course eventually. I remember him pulling his eyeball out and talking about fucking fat girls he called roadhogs I think.
He was the example I used when I explained the kind of men that really created our Regiment. Very sad he passed but he is an example of a man that REALLY lived.
He had us make a huge pile of pine needles so he could cook his chicken under a can this was during SERE so we did not get any. :)
RIP SGM Nail
He had us make a huge pile of pine needles so he could cook his chicken under a can...
I remember him showing us that technique (and us not getting any of the chicken) as well.
Rest in Peace, SGM Nail!
The stories of the men who knew and served with you are a tremendous tribute to you and a service to those of us who didn't.
RIP SGM Nail!
Vaya con Dios
The way he told the story of losing his eye was so dead pan everybody was like "Holy Shit".
RIP SGM
mark46th
09-18-2020, 09:05
Rest in Peace SGM. He was one of my TAC's in Phase I in Feb 1971. He kept us on our toes.
dannyleo
12-13-2020, 08:03
SGM Nail was there in SERE the whole time I ran the survival team. I didn't know him from his 'action' days, but at SERE? What a legend. Guys like him and CSM (Ret) Gordon Smith (Smitty) made the students realize this was the real deal and we were preparing them not just graduate a school, but to survive and return with honor. He was definitely a straight shooter and really carried the torch so the new guys saw they were qualifying themselves not only to go Special Forces, but into a part of history. THANKS SGM for all the memories and experiences. RIP.
RIP SGM Nail: I can only say that there are some men destined to be giants and some destined to follow them. SGM was a giant. After reading some of the stories posted about him I want to add my own. While going thru MacKall I did the slide for life over a creek. I climbed up a tree to reach the slide, standing on that platform was SGM Nail. He told me 'son you better let go of that thing before the middle of the creek or it'll knock your ass off the slide. I did as I was told, the guy following me didn't and it knocked him for a fricken double gainer before he hit the water. Once in a class he was giving, he said if we didn't pay attention, our mama's would find our sorry dead asses on some mountain with a green beret stuck in our back pocket. I spent a whole career in SF, half as an enlisted, half as an officer. Sometimes I had found myself in dire straights esp overseas and his admonishments would play over and over in my head. Infrequently I would be at MacKall and once as an O, we both were entering a building simultaneously, he looked at me and said "you look like a fu....en officer. He didn't realize it but I was laughing inside. He was a hoot but a serious hoot. There are very few men that are legends, SGM Nail took point on that team.