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TygrBright

(20,733 posts)
Mon Oct 21, 2019, 04:27 PM Oct 2019

In 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

24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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In 1964 My Dad Sold His Car So He Could Go To a Marine's Funeral (Original Post) TygrBright Oct 2019 OP
You are mistaken if you think that the Marines don't love Trump, and the ones in combat arms the braddy Oct 2019 #1
I know at least three Marines who would happily see him in an orange jumpsuit. n/t TygrBright Oct 2019 #2
I met so many racist assholes when I was in the Army. Aristus Oct 2019 #3
Thankfully there are guys like you that serve as well. CentralMass Oct 2019 #6
I can't tell you how grateful I was to find some pages on Facebook for liberal veterans. Aristus Oct 2019 #7
+1 CentralMass Oct 2019 #8
Mine was a lifelong Dem too. mahina Oct 2019 #20
Perhaps, but I'm unconvinced. TomSlick Oct 2019 #10
Military Times polls show less support for Trump... TidalWave46 Oct 2019 #11
Wait until the election, the Marines and all the rest will vote for him,as will vets. braddy Oct 2019 #12
Yes, some will. NT TidalWave46 Oct 2019 #13
I was a noncombatant myself soldierant Oct 2019 #23
Look up the last military polls before presidential elections, the Marines are the most GOP of all. braddy Oct 2019 #24
any polls to back that up? preferably from since the coward's betrayal of Kurds Hermit-The-Prog Oct 2019 #14
Polls going back for years and years, all the way back to WWII, but I haven't seen any braddy Oct 2019 #15
those will NOT cover Cowardly Cadet Bone Spurs Hermit-The-Prog Oct 2019 #16
I'm just telling you how the majority of the warrior class votes and how they will in 2020. braddy Oct 2019 #18
glad you can read minds. I'll wait for them to speak for themselves. Hermit-The-Prog Oct 2019 #19
5th Rec Hekate Oct 2019 #4
My Dad was a jarhead, too, and he would be pissed, saddened and ashamed if he was here Atticus Oct 2019 #5
I think my Dad is rolling over in his grave. Plus a few uncles. demigoddess Oct 2019 #9
Forty other Marines there. lpbk2713 Oct 2019 #17
Aloha and thank you for telling his story. mahina Oct 2019 #21
Thank you for that... looks good, we'll put it in our queue! n/t TygrBright Oct 2019 #22
 

braddy

(3,585 posts)
1. You are mistaken if you think that the Marines don't love Trump, and the ones in combat arms the
Mon Oct 21, 2019, 04:37 PM
Oct 2019

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.

Aristus

(66,096 posts)
3. I met so many racist assholes when I was in the Army.
Mon Oct 21, 2019, 04:43 PM
Oct 2019

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)
6. Thankfully there are guys like you that serve as well.
Mon Oct 21, 2019, 05:13 PM
Oct 2019

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

(66,096 posts)
7. I can't tell you how grateful I was to find some pages on Facebook for liberal veterans.
Mon Oct 21, 2019, 05:14 PM
Oct 2019

I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven.

TomSlick

(11,035 posts)
10. Perhaps, but I'm unconvinced.
Mon Oct 21, 2019, 08:40 PM
Oct 2019

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.

soldierant

(6,648 posts)
23. I was a noncombatant myself
Tue Oct 22, 2019, 11:53 PM
Oct 2019

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)
24. Look up the last military polls before presidential elections, the Marines are the most GOP of all.
Wed Oct 23, 2019, 12:30 AM
Oct 2019
 

braddy

(3,585 posts)
15. Polls going back for years and years, all the way back to WWII, but I haven't seen any
Tue Oct 22, 2019, 12:07 AM
Oct 2019

from the last month or so.

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,041 posts)
16. those will NOT cover Cowardly Cadet Bone Spurs
Tue Oct 22, 2019, 12:15 AM
Oct 2019

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.

Atticus

(15,124 posts)
5. My Dad was a jarhead, too, and he would be pissed, saddened and ashamed if he was here
Mon Oct 21, 2019, 05:00 PM
Oct 2019

to see what Trump has done to "Semper Fi".

lpbk2713

(42,696 posts)
17. Forty other Marines there.
Tue Oct 22, 2019, 12:22 AM
Oct 2019



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

(17,506 posts)
21. Aloha and thank you for telling his story.
Tue Oct 22, 2019, 08:33 PM
Oct 2019

Just watched Last Flag Flying on Netflix. You might like it too.
Peace to your Dad.

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