Gunny A. J. Squaredaway USMC

Show Me My Money

July 28th, 2009 by Jack Orth | FLASHBACKS | | 0 Comments

There’s something about an ATM machine that I don’t like!  Yeah, I know …  it’s handy and saves a lot of time, etc.  But, there’s also something to be said about saying “Good Morning!” to a bank teller, and not pushing a bunch of numbers on a machine to get cash. 

So, I’m in a short line inside the bank, and a guy says, “That’s a great-looking shirt!”  I thank the man, and he says, “Semper Fi! Where can I get a shirt like that?!”  

Well, I told him it was a Five-Ring and that he could get one of his own atLeatherneck Square.  Then, he says, “Ya know, I love coming into the bank, and I never care how long the line is!  It always reminds me of when I had the duty every two weeks at Camp Lejeune in the 6th Marines as the paymaster!” 

BOOM! I had a “flashback” to the pay line …

We got paid in cash, and a lieutenant sat at a table with an enlisted man next him with his sidearm at the ready!  Monthly pay was around $80.00, with a savings account reduction, etc., so you got about $25.00 to last you two weeks!  The “slopchute” took most of it, and many a jarhead would borrow a few bucks from another jarhead until the next payday.  So, twenty feet away from the table were the “vultures” waiting for their payback … which included interest!  If you borrowed five bucks, you’d pay back six bucks, sometimes more.  I borrowed one time and that was enough for me, but many Marines did it just about every two weeks!  My parents would slip a couple of bucks in an envelope, along with a letter, and mail call was always a joy … especially when a couple of one dollar bills were included!

Off to the slopchute to toast Mom and Dad, and dream about making Corporal so you could take about thirty bucks every two weeks from the paymaster!

Well, the other old Marine was waiting outside, and come to find out he was on Guadalcanal, as I was.  The Marine Corps is a small world, and here were two old jarheads who hit the beach at “The Canal” just about 70 years ago!  We made plans to meet soon at The Marine Corps League. I’m sure we’ll exaggerate about our many years in The Corps, and we’ll both have many flashbacks that day!
    
Oh, I told my new Marine friend to stand by for the great new HBO series early next year. “The Pacific” will cover the 1st Marine Division during WWII in their ten-part series.  I’m sure it will be great because Capt. Dale Dye, a highly-decorated Marine from The Viet Nam War, is the senior military advisor for the series.  He was the advisor for “Band of Brothers” for HBO, and the advisor on the movie “Platoon”, and wrote the novel based on that film script. 

Since Guadalcanal was our first big push in the Pacific, I’m sure it will be covered. 

Can’t wait!

Keep your interval … and … stay away from those damn ATM machines!

                                                          Semper Fi ….. The Gunny

AKA The Slaughtering Second

July 21st, 2009 by Jack Orth | FLASHBACKS | | 0 Comments

Trigger woke me up at 0330 the other day, at least an hour before he usually does.  I figured it was because when we came back from our forced march of a few miles yesterday, he was too tired to eat his dinner and sacked out early.  So, I mixed up my own special dog recipe for S.O.S., and he went crazy when he saw it!  Like any Marine, he licked the plate clean! 

A couple of hours later, I took him out for a little “troop & stomp”, and put on my new LSquare Signature Polo, a no-nonsense polo that feels great, looks great, and wears great.  Brought me right back to when…

I was back on board the President Jackson headed for Guadalcanal with the 1st Bn., 2nd Marines of the 2nd Mar.Div.  We knew we’d he climbing down the nets into a landing craft in two days, and some ingenious jarhead came up with a new twist.  He had some coffee bean sacks, and made helmet covers out of them … and we followed suit!  This may not be gospel, but I’m pretty sure that was the first time a Marine had a helmet cover in WWII!

So I left the barracks (I mean house!) with Trigger.  A half-mile into our patrol, a smile came from within as I thought of our old outfit, “The Slaughtering Second”…  
 

 

We were dug in along the Lunga Track Jeep Road on “The Canal”, and a unit of the 1st Marines came past.  A member of my machine gun squad, “Old Man” Kober (he was 30-years-old, so old to us!), asked one of the passing Marines, “What outfit is that?”

The jarhead replied, “’Fighting First!’ What’s your outfit?”  “We’re “The Slaughtering Second”! said Kober … and that’s who we were from then on!

Let’s head back to the barracks, Trigger. Maybe I’ll remember why we were called, “The Take No Prisoners 7th”!   

 
    Semper Fi … The Gunny

Beer in the Boondocks

July 14th, 2009 by Jack Orth | FLASHBACKS | | 0 Comments

After a few hours on patrol at the memorials, I headed over to my favorite “slopchute” in D.C. on Wisconsin Avenue … “The Dancing Crab”.  Ordered an ice-cold draft, and their famous crab cakes.  Slipped off my L.S. jacket, drained half of the frozen mug of beer, and had a “Flashback” … I was a corporal back at Camp Lejeune on a five-day operation in the boondocks with our eight-man S-2 Section.

Our officer in charge, Lt. Kimball, was one of the greatest Marines I ever served with … but at the time, since he had run us into the ground for ten or twelve hours, he wasn’t our hero!  We set up our shelter-halves, got out our C-rations, and were about to chow down, when dust rose from an old dirt road intersection way out there in no-man’s land.  The Lieutenant ran over to the Studebaker automobile, and a very attractive woman open the door so he could lug two cases of cold beer back to his troops!

“I’ll be back at 0500 tomorrow.  If you think today was fun, wait until tomorrow!”

Lt. K. must have given his wife the co-ordinates on the map of where we’d be, and there she was with two cases of cold ones!  From that moment on, Lt. Kimball was ingrained in our hearts as one great Marine!  He drove off with his wife, and was back at 0500 ready to move out!  The two empty cases went back into the car, and our Lieutenant never said a word about them … it was back to business as usual.

Pick up some gear from Leatherneck Square, and have your own “Flashbacks”!!
                                                 Semper Fi … The Gunny

Dog Walking Marine Meets Marine Walking Dog

July 5th, 2009 by Jack Orth | FLASHBACKS | | 0 Comments

Spring was in the air and “Trigger”, my favorite bulldog ever, had a different jauntiness to his step. Sort of like when you pass in review with the Marine Corps hymn playing … sends that feeling down you spine that says to your feet, “This is extra special. Do your stuff!” Trigger and I were on our favorite wooded trail, and I could let him off his leash because no one was around at 0:630.

Had on my Leatherneck Square Road Runner Shell, as the slight chill would be with us for the next half- hour or so. The lightweight pullover, with large pockets and the classiest Marine Corps emblem you’ve ever seen, was perfect for the trail. Had an apple in one pocket and a dog bone for Trigger in the other pocket, and all was well as we moved out.

Four or five hundred yards away in an open area came another dog walker, and Trigger got all excited about it! If we had been on patrol in no-man’s land, you wouldn’t have needed a “scope” to hit the target. H’mmm … why do old ground pounders still think in terms of combat situations? Well, Trigger took off to check out the approaching dog very carefully, as our four-legged friends always do.

The woman with the dog was no spring chicken, but neither am I, and she moved out at a fast clip. Her eyesight had to be 20/20, for at a fairly good distance she said, “Semper Fi!”

In my best Gunny voice I sent back the same greeting. A ten-minute conversation is more than enough time for two Marines to get practically a life history. She had joined the Marine Corps eight years after I did, and served honorably for twenty years … then, became a schoolteacher, and was now retired. Marines aren’t bashful, and before parting we set up a dinner date, which added a new jauntiness to my step to match Trigger’s!

Then, I had a “Flashback” … to many years ago when I met another wonderful woman. Our relationship lasted for over fifty happy years. Who knows … perhaps it’s time for two old Marines to join the same outfit, walk our dogs together, and exaggerate about our days in The Corps. I’ll keep you posted!

Oh, … have a “Flashback” of your own! The new summer line is ready. You’ll look great in all our gear, and who knows what that L.S. look will lead to?

Semper Fi … The Gunny