How many of the few and proud (USMC, obviously) on Tundras.com?

Compared to the other "branches" (with all due respect of course) represented here, the USMC although small in numbers, is still #1. How many Jar Heads want to chime in? You may not want to since we are so bashful.

 

My dad was in for almost 22 years

 

First response only took 20 seconds. My dad was in 20+. One bronze, two silver stars. China 1947 to 1949 F4-U Corsair, 120+ missions in Korea, 1950 to 1953, First Marine combat helicopter unit ever. Flew in food and ammo, brought back wounded, (the dead can wait). He went on to fly F-5F Panthers photo recon jets out of Florida for a while and then on to Beaufort, SC where he flew A-4 Skyhawks until 1962 and then on to El Toro MCAS in what is now Kommiefornia where he flew the SAR (Search and rescue) CH-46 chopper until forced to retire in 1965 by my mom.. Vietnam came and my Mom said enough is enough. My older brother mark went to Nam in 68. Grunt on a 4 man fire team. 18 years old. He carried the M-60, 50 cal. Came back alive after 2 tours. I was in from 1978 to 1984. Air Winger. Series Honor man in boot camp out of 211 recruits. (Still shot expert every year) Lowest PFT score was 292). By the way , for the Air Force vets here, I was trained at Lowry AFB in1979, in other words I had the best of both worlds. Got to wear the USMC uniform and trained by USAF. (USAF uniform sort of like a Greyhound bus-driver, heh heh )
Forgot to mention my dad also flew F-4/B's at El Toro before SAR bird assignment. I remember my dad telling me about his last SAR mission. A C-130 slammed into Saddleback Mountain near El Toro. Was pretty much picking up body parts and putting them into a bag to be identified later. Pilots nowadays are trained to fly a certain aircraft. My dad flew whatever they put him in. Times have certainly changed/ I'm ready for a reprise to the good ole days when we were respected across the planet. USA needs to lead again. I'm still proud of my country.

 

All that i can remember about my dad being in is that he went in when he was 18 and he retired medically when he was 40. While he was in he went on float twice for desert storm. My dad was a cook and my mom was a baker. He is retired i think 55 or 60 percent medically as he tore his miniscus doing pt one day. He did meet my mom, as my mom was also a marine. Both my sisters and me lived the marine lifestlye for our whole lives while we were in school. It was tough doing all the moving but it was necessary.

 

Do you realize the most important MOS, (job) in the USMC is the cook/baker!! And the thing is your mom/dad could still shoot the lights out of the enemy if needed. Marines operate much better with a full stomach. My Navy/USAF co- workers will all admit that they qualified with .22's in their respective boot camps. I owned my first .22 when I was 10. ( A .22 can kill a squirrel at close range)

 

I do realize how important they both were.. I remember my mom telling mw when she was in boot camp how afraid she was when they had to do the gun training. She has to be told that she cant close her eyes because she needs to be able to see where she is shooting to

 

Ooh rah!

 

Eyes wide and hold your breath, site on target (preferably the head), "even" squeeze on trigger:
My first range qual, I had a DI yelling in my ear the whole time and still aced out. By the time your mom did final range qualification she was no doubt ready, since she was trained by the best and still is the best (your mom). Tell her (and Dad, Semper Fi) All my four siblings were USMC brats.( Now you know why my mom finally put her foot down to get my dad to retire. At least his(our) enemies never shot him down. My Mom is a different story.

 

SEMPER FI

 

YUT!
Currently in Oki. Headed home for a month of leave in a few days before going to 29 Palms again.

 

Thanks to all for your service U S Navy Vet USS Ike