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Fictional letter home from a marine
StuartJ:
I borrowed it to post elsewhere. And was chewed out for not spelling spelling Marine with a capital M in my message title. Apparenlty that's wrong. The poster said its okay for the army but not the Marines.
SemperFiGuy:
Well, Here We Go:
Technically, the usage of soldier, sailor, airman, coast guardsman, and marine without capitalization is correct.
But in all other cases, it's actually:
MARINE............!!!
Just Sayin'...
and Modestly So.
BTW: Swabbies Must Genuflect Upon Encountering This Expression.
sfg
rnbones:
God created all men equal. The best he made Marines!! The very best he made
CORPSMEN
OOH RAA
Doc out
SemperFiGuy:
Where do we start.......??
First, by stipulating that Fleet Marine Force US Navy Hospital Corpsmen (HMCs) are not Swabbies. Certainly not your ordinary, everyday regular navy-issue Swabbies. Regular HMCs are sent to Field Medical Service School (FMSS) for an operation under sedation where the Swabbie part is surgically removed from them. The resultant body parts left over then are assembled into one of the bravest forms of humanity that can be found anywhere on this planet: FMF Hospital Corpsman (HMC).
These FMF HMCs are then issued their Unit 1 Medical Kit and are ready for combat. Whatever their actual names may be, they are now "Doc" to all marines.
In infantry combat when marines are shot or wounded, the call goes out, "Corpsman....!!" and Doc grabs his bag, runs to the wounded marine, and puts Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again. While Bad Guys are shooting at him, trying to kill him, all that.
The Camp Del Mar annex to Camp Pendleton was the Field Medical Service School (West) while I was stationed there. Corpsmen running around all over the place. And there were more personal awards for heroism and bravery (Silver Stars, Bronze Stars, Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and multiple Purple Hearts) per man than you'll ever see anywhere else, even in a regular marine infantry regiment. Even an occasional Navy Cross.
Don't ever mess with them. Ever. Now, most of them are easy-going, likeable, affable types, by themselves. But the marines who honor them will let no one mess with Doc. He wears Marine Green just like they do.
And that's what I've observed about FMF HMCs.
sfg
rnbones:
The four rules of war:
1. good men will die.
2. Doc can't save them all.
3. Doc will die trying to break rule 2.
4 Doc's Marines will fight the very forces of hell to give Doc the chance to break rules 1,2,and 3!
The relationship between an FMF Corpsman and the Marines is a complex one. They are much like siblings and yet it is much stronger.
I have had many titles in my life. The one I'm most proud of is Dad. The next one is Doc.
The conversation between Semper Fi guy and I is typical Marine/FMF Corpsman.
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