OT: Memorial Day (Today)

May 24, 2009 25 Replies
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I was too young, but from tales of Marines I was stationed with, and from reading, every time I read of Korea, I think of winter and the Chosin Reservoir. Shivers and admiration. My best friend dropped me a note yesterday, saying he was lifting a stout drink in memory of the jarheads he knew who didn't make it back from 'Nam. I made my drink Coke, but made the same toast, to the jarheads I knew who missed the last 40 years.

My guess is that on this day in '67 and '68 I was probably in 2 different rice patties or forests in an "undisclosed location", usually because it was in Laos or Cambodia and we weren't operating outside of Vietnam..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

We were near Unsan, N. Korea at about that time. It was miserable; the cold penetrated your soul. It sapped your will. I grew up in Michigan and I thank God I was at least familiar with extreme cold. In later years, when I read of the Marines at Chosin, I wondered if I could have survived their ordeal.

Max (Glad to be "old")

Me, too. As usual, that ordeal came about because of poor planning higher up. Piss poor planning demands a step, or two, above perfect performance from the military, time after time.

Probably the most important thing a Marine learns at Parris Island is that you can do what you have to do if you don't quit. Those guys had learned that lesson well.`

Hat??? Didn't even get a friggin' t-shirt...

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

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