free website stats program Florida members | Page 13 | Harley Davidson Forums

Florida members

Rubyred said:
"ex Marine friend " - hey Dave there is no such thing as an ex-Marine. My son filled me in on that.
Click to expand...

Yea, he and I (me being ex-Army) have talked about that, my mistake. He and I were both in Nam the same year (1970) but he was more north than me. We also talked about the superiority complex that Marines 'tend' to have over other service branches. I mean we have our mutual respect, but there is that aspect there that 'they' need to 'show' the Army how to take care of some things.

It's an old thing. We had it in Nam. First off the Army promotes based on the job (something I agree with in theory), but the Marines do not. There were marine corporal tank commanders in Nam. An Army tank commander (section leader) in Nam, would have held the rank of a staff Sergeant (E-6). I had two childhood friends (not in my unit) that were killed in Nam. One was a Marine who died as a corporal. The other was Army who died as a Spec 4. Both had been in comparable times. The Marines are a proud bunch.

Course a lot of folks might be surprised that there were tanks in Nam. But there were, and I'm not talking about those dual 40 mm barrel dusters either. But the old M48 Patton tanks. Granted most of them were up North nearer to the DMZ, but I've personally seen them in the lower highlands. I was sitting at the river one morning filling up a water tanker truck. There were 3 of us standing guard but the pump motor was so loud we never heard the tank coming. It blasted right out of the 8 feet high bamboo brush and scared the living whatevers out of me. It dove right into the 3 feet river and out the other side. They had the lid shut, not even sure if they even saw us. It was all over except left over adrenlin in 15 seconds.

Yep I get the Marine thing on some PGR rides too. The later Irag war ones still talk the same way. Course bottom line is American blood flows purple not blue or red or Olive Drab. It's a well maintained thing, but none the less there. I'm still a Veteran of the Army but don't really consider myself Army. Not the same with a Marine. My friend is a great guy. I need to go see him again.

Sorry bout the ramble, I return this Florida thread to it's previous state.
 
(edit)
error posted above->(One was a Marine who died as a 'corporal')
Sorry meant to type PFC (E-3) but had corporal on the mind from the tank subject.

Johnnie Harold Beasley, Private First Class
D CO, 1ST BN, 3RD MARINES, 3RD MARDIV, III MAF
United States Marine Corps
Hometown, Lakeland, Florida
Life span, January 19, 1950 to May 05, 1968
======================================
Here's to you Johnnie and all you gave. I still remember all the camping trips we took, the city bus trips to the downtown theater and when we all cut ourselves to be blood brothers.

If he were alive today, I'm sure he would be a Florida Member.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top