doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com WOUNDED WARRIOR PAWNS HIS PURPLE HEARTS O/T

Have to agree with Mike as well. Although I used post housing as much as possible, we made it a point to thoroughly explore the area surrounding us. We were moved so many times to so many different states and countries it really took some doing to get an in depth look before we were gone again, but we did get to know many different cultures and counted that as part of our pay. It made us feel a lot richer than so many we know, not in the military, who have never had a real adventure their entire lives. And my kids know what a third world country looks and smells like so they have a greater perspective on this great country they should safeguard so carefully.

An old friend who served in the USN in the 60's told me a story of the kindness of a stranger when he was in training at Naval Station Great Lakes. It was Christmas and all were given a three day pass. He went to the bus station with a group of friends who were closer to home and could travel during the three day pass. Dicky was too far from Georgia to do anything except hang out in the Chicago area with little money. While at the bus station, a uniformed Sheriff approached him and two other seamen. He asked what they were doing over the holiday and they told him. "Well, you are coming home with me for Christmas dinner." The man did this every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Dicky never forgot the kindness of that stranger or the Christmas dinner.

I was a Corporal dressed in my Marine Corps Alpha uniform (Class A for you Soldiers) standing with three fellow Marines in an airport lobby in 1980. We were all on our first all expenses paid vacation to Okinawa Japan. We were telling sea stories and the like when an older gentleman approached and asked if he could speak to us. The well versed man wove a thread of youth transitioning into life. He spoke in a way that perhaps mesmerized us. After a few minutes one of our group interrupted the spokesman of living a virtuous life and ask, �Sir, aren�t you Woody Hayes?� To that he acknowledged his name and continued to tell us of why we should get an education. I do not remember all of his words and it did take a few years for them to penetrate my thick skull but finally I understood what he meant.

Nearly two decades of service followed that brief interchange with someone famous. Upon retirement I had become a Marine Officer. I entered the civilian phase of my life with a world of experience and an MBA. Combined they landed me an interview with a large company. I think the interviewers liked me because I�m still working for them.

A lot is asked of us as Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines. Some faced the horrors of combat and others the never-ending boredom of the supporting specialties. My favorites were of course the Navy (hospital) Corpsmen. Coming to, flat on my back and immobile, I remember some young Marines kneeling over me and calling, �Sir, sir,�� My response was �Get a Corpsman!� Most Marines hold Corpsmen in high regard. We do however forget about the cooks and others in unglamorous jobs like that. While home on leave from boot camp my father asked me to drive to pick up some parts for the farm. The trip was a couple hours drive but I didn�t mind. He told me to ask for the owner, Merv Haines. When I arrived I met Mr. Haines and he had my dad�s order ready. I was 17 and Merv must have been about 50. At the time that seemed so old� Anyway, Merv Haines asked me many questions about boot camp and the Marines before he acknowledged that he had served. He said, �I was a cook at a place called the Chosen Reservoir. They told me that everyone could cook for themselves. I picked up my rifle and went to the line.� I do not know much about Merv except that he had built a good sized farm implement business and that my father respected him.

Our country asked much of us and more of others. What military service gave and continues to give in return is experience, training, education if one takes advantage of it, and opportunity! I think that many of us who served are better persons because of what we gave and perhaps even more so because of what was taken from us. We would say of during the worst of times that it was, "Good Training!". "Everyday a holiday, every meal a feast!"

To all service men and women, past and present on this Christmas day, I am very proud to have humbly served with you. No matter your service or specialty, thank you for doing your duty.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

61 years ago this month at the Reservoir, the PLA learned the hard way the credo of the Corps "Every man a rifleman" when they concentrated attack on what they thought was the soft underbelly--heavy equipment operators, supply, cooks, clerks. My last living uncle was a machine gunner at Chosin with the 1st Marine Division, 5th Marines under Col. Raymond Murray. He's 86, proudly wears a burr cut and is old boot tough.

the german town looked alot like Amberg, but it has been a long long time?

It has been a long time, the city is called Zirndorf which is by furth.

I was stationed at Pinder barracks an old German antiaircraft barracks. This picture was taken shortly after the Americans occupied the base and long before my time but gives a good view of the Place. The guard house on the left of the main tower still stand all the rest was torn down for an industrial park.

True story about our legendary USMC General Lewis B. Puller Jr- the ONLY Marine in our long history to have been awarded FIVE Navy Crosses (one click below the CMH for you non-qals)At the Chosen in Korea, one of his staff reported to Puller- Sir, the Gooks have us surrounded-- what is our plan?" Chesty looked right at him and said- "Attack- and this time the little yellow bastards won't get away from us, will they?"" I think he may have taken that remark from the great Adm. William "Haul-Ass" Halsey- who said, loud and clearly for all hands on deck to hear, after the victory at Midway- that broke Yamamoto's fleet--
"When we are finished with the little yellow bastards, the only place their language will ever be spoken again will be in the bowels of Hades"-- Halsey was instrumental in getting the Navajo "Wind Talkers" code operation underway- a key point in WW2 PTO, just as the intact capture from a Kraut U-Boat in the North Sea by the Limeys- the Captain's enigma code book was a deal breaker for the ETO-- life indeed, turns on a dime--

RWTF: Kind of reminds me of what was quoted by General George Patton when asked what he would do if caught between the Germans and the Russians? "I would attack in both directions!"

Best Regards & Happy New Year......George