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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIn 1964 My Dad Sold His Car So He Could Go To a Marine's Funeral
My Dad was just-divorced and, to say it gently, not well off. But he was a Marine (retired.)
He'd been through basic with this particular guy. I was too young to know many details of their friendship but it wasn't the only funeral of a buddy my Dad attended. But I remember this one because my grandparents were so disapproving of him selling his car so he could travel to San Diego for the funeral.
Dad, however, felt obligated. Not just because it was a buddy, but because THIS buddy had told Dad to take his "married with family" exemption from deployment to Korea.
Piecing it together much later, I think he was really conflicted about that, although a guy with two children under the age of two and a wife in poor health after the second birth was an easy Honorable Discharge for the Corps, in those very early days of the Korean conflict.
Anyway, the buddy told him "Get out, Skip. I'll sort these (::sigh:: racist slur, because that's how American Marines talked about the North Koreans back then...) for you."
A year later the buddy was Stateside, in a wheelchair. He never walked again, and in 1964 the cumulative effects of his wounds finally ended his life. He was 35 years old, never married, no kids.
My Dad visited him only once, before I was born, but kept in regular touch. When he got back from the funeral he told my Mom that there were nearly forty other Marines there.
Oh, here's the kicker-- How the buddy got his wounds?
He went to pull a ROK troop who was pinned under half a jeep in a live-fire zone to safety.
Not anyone he knew. Just a South Korean guy who was fighting the same fight, whose unit had covered for his and fought side by side with his.
But that was worth it to the Marine because THAT'S WHAT MARINES DO.
If you're fighting their fight with them, you're their buddy, too. They won't leave you, they won't let you down.
Thinking about what the Corps morale must be like right now makes me cry.
sadly,
Bright
braddy
(3,585 posts)most of all, we shouldn't always pretend that the warrior class of America is in play. What little support we find in the military is mostly in support units and among the non-combat jobs.
TygrBright
(20,772 posts)Aristus
(66,478 posts)I was combat arms - a tank crewman. I know for a fact that at least two of the guys I served with are Trumpsters.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)My Dad was a Marine stationed in the South Pacific during WWII. He was a lifelong Democrat and and a politics and history were among his passions. He got more liberal the older he got.
Aristus
(66,478 posts)I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven.
mahina
(17,715 posts)Army, Special Forces.
TomSlick
(11,114 posts)I was not combat arms but I spent my Army career working for and with combat arms types.
For the combat arms guys I knew, nothing - nothing - was more important than their honor. Trump has trashed the honor of the entire military. At least some of them will not take that well.
TidalWave46
(2,061 posts)Than for previous Republican Presidents.
braddy
(3,585 posts)TidalWave46
(2,061 posts)soldierant
(6,938 posts)but them sounds like fighting words to me.
A generalization like that includes Ted Lieu. Mikie Sherrill. Chrissie Houlihan. Elaine Luria. Jason Kander. And many more. Are you consciously trying to insult them? Or are they (and I) just collateral damage.
braddy
(3,585 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,484 posts)braddy
(3,585 posts)from the last month or so.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,484 posts)Remember, a retired Lt. Col. Black Hawk pilot gave him than moniker, and a retired General recently used it as a punch line in a joke.
braddy
(3,585 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,484 posts)Hekate
(90,865 posts)Atticus
(15,124 posts)to see what Trump has done to "Semper Fi".
demigoddess
(6,645 posts)lpbk2713
(42,769 posts)That was when no one had any remote idea of the internet. Imagine how many would have shown up if they had the kind of communications we have today. That was quite a tribute.
mahina
(17,715 posts)Just watched Last Flag Flying on Netflix. You might like it too.
Peace to your Dad.