>>6603457
Heartfelt thanks for the sentiment, but I couldn't get thru the whole thing. Aside from the normal foibles that come with service in war time, I got a bonus helping. I was an honorman out of boot camp. Honor men in those days graduated in a brand new set of Dress Blue's. It was quite an honor, believe me, one of the high points of my life.
But those Blue's came with a price. From 1966 to 1971 I was privileged to be a participant in over 300 burial details. Pall bearer, firing squad, flag detail, honor guard. The worst was escort. Usually in undress Blues, you get to accompany the casket from wherever the fallen Marine was "processed" until delivered to the family or funeral home. Sometimes it was a stinking body bag, sometimes a proper casket. The smell is with me always. We, the owners of the Blue's, became calloused emotionally. We rated widows on a 1-10 scale on the sincerity of their mourning. We hit on members of the grieving family (respectfully, but we still did it), and we went to some slop chute of a bar afterward to drown our emotions and try to find some long haired puke to bad mouth us so we could pound the living fuck out of them. Very cathartic. Friends, family, wonder why we drink. Well, this is why. Despite what I know now of how we were used my faith in America is undiminished. I am still, Semper Fi.
Pic not me, 1st Battalion maggots.