Tracks of the StoneBear Copyright MMXV ALL Rights reserved
ROF= Ring of fire journey
CL = Camp LeJeune, NC All StoneBear/ Uncle Hargus blog posts and photographs are Copyright - ALL rights reserved These photos are from the Parris Island journey when Trevor graduated and was born a US Marine.
Monday August ~, 1971 morning formation 0700
another blast from the past...
1971, Camp LeJeune/ Camp Geiger. After graduating Marine Corp boot camp at PI - Parris Island - we went back home on 10 days leave. Reporting back in at Camp Geiger/ Camp LeJeune, NC for ITR - Infantry Training Regiment= infantry/ grunt training before going into the fleet/ Corps.
We got assigned to a holding company/ platoon for about a week to 10 days to form up a battalion of 400 Marines for infantry training. The days work was doing base maintenance, details assigned to permanent personnel operations/ platoons. Any day could be Painting, policing up areas around the base, cleaning garbage cans at the mess hall. ... just general work details of 5 to 10 Marines. The Marine Corps doesn't let you just sit down and do nothing; there's plenty of things to do, paint and polish.
Then we went through ITR- Infantry Training Regiment- US Marine Corps infantry grunt training, which was an ordeal in itself and then went to our respective MOS- Military Occupational Specialty- school; our training for our assigned job in the Marine Corps.
I was designated MOS 1371- Combat Engineer. And reported to MCES- Marine corps Engineer School, courthouse Bay, Camp LeJeune, NC. Again, we reported in and were in a holding platoon until enough Marines mustered to form a platoon class.
about the 4th day, morning formation 0700. We'd already been to the mess hall at 0600. We form up in our assigned platoons ... there were about 2 company's of Marines now. Marines reporting in back from leave were reporting in every day.
One of the Marine stragglers had come in the afternoon the day before,... and evidently had gotten a bad case of the crabs while on leave,... and went to sick bay with the bad case of the crabs... tiny lice like bugs.
Next morning formation, 0700, this guys falls in formation... Blue! Blue face, blue ears, blue hair, blue hands, blue eyebrows... every square inch of this guy had been painted with blue ointment from sick bay from head to toe.
You talk about getting the horselaugh... it was an uproar of giggling and laughing. The platoon Sergeant couldn't keep a straight face. You couldn't look at this guy and not start to laugh so hard you'd cry or wet your pants... that kinda laughing. A platoon of Marines giggling...
And this was before there were smurfs. the little blue cartoon characters.
Gunny couldn't even hold it & told him to get the hell in the back where he was out of sight. Top spotted.
Couple of Marines started the Elvis song Blue Christmas. Am sure that was not the 1st or last time that occurred but it was was an event. There's nothing like the Marines. Sempre Fi 'Til I Die
... but my unit it was Semper FUBAR
You never drink twice from the same stream.
