The Song Each Bullet Sings

Rideacarr, thanks for putting up that link, good read for sure. I agree with you on the Pogue issue(people other than grunt). But my mos was artillery, i wasn't technically a grunt, but after 2 months firing a cannon that killed 50 people after every 3 minute fire mission, my unit became a rifle company for the next 4 months of Oif 1. Doing house to house searches and foot patrols, we became secondary infantryman.When I was deployed it was the initial surge and nobody had internet access. I slept on my ISO mat on the desert floor or next to a fighting hole. Oif 2 had air conditioned trailers and chow halls with freaking taco bells in them. But, it was still dangerous and deadly for the Marines who slept in those ac trailers. Its all perspective i guess. I used to be hostile because the army seemingly handed out ribbons and as Marines you had to be a killer to receive combat awards, which is the way it should be. But then i think about Vietnam vets and ww2 vets, and i feel like a Jennifer. They were a different breed. So its all perspective. And if people don't know that some rear bunny who made sure your paycheck had hostile territory benefits and never left the safety of the theater-acts tough because he was technically deployed to Iraq...then let him. I think you and him know the difference between the real heroes and the support team. But without him we wouldn't have had water to fill our camel packs. Its all perspective. But I still agree with you.
Thanks all SI dudes for your support

 

do you have a copy of you book i can buy directlyfrom you rather than go through the amazon hassle? id love to pick it up man. love reading about the experiences of different Marines. My favorites are Semper Cool, Into the Fire, the Coldest War, and With the Old Breed.

 

Yeah pm me

 

You can get it through barnesandnoble.com too and have them send it to your local BN store, grab it there. But I have a few copies left from a speaking engagement I did last month at red bank regional. I have to buy my own book (at wholesale but still) and sell em just to break even. But I am thankful for the small company that helped me get it distributed at Amazon, barnesandnoble.com. Still trying to spread awareness for veterans and maybe someday get the support of a big publisher and promoter. With good reviews and good dudes like the SI supporters, maybe I will reach that goal. Either way, the book has helped me become a little bit less crazy.

 

I couldn't believe that this dude who I had just surfed the same break with and was super cool and sincere was SI's Doug. Im still laughing about it. Thanks DawnPatrolSUP, if you get a copy and enjoy it, please let me know. Hearing positive feedback helps me on tougher days when I wonder if I picked the wrong career path...which is all too often when bills are due. Hah.

 

It would keep me laughing too. All I'd ever be able to picture while talking to him would be his avatars and I'd try to keep my vocabulary to 2 syllable words.

Doug: Hi I'm doug from SI
Me: Wassup Dou...bwahahahah

 

Absolutely, will do, keep doing it if it's what's making you feel better, if that's all you get from this you've already won, and the rest is just icing on the cake

 

Matt: Just ordered 2 copies from Amazon. Thanks for your service to our country.

 

I think it's pretty sweet too that y'all met and didn't realize you were both on here. I have only met one swell-info er and I hadn't seen his posts at that time. Thanks for your service Mattyb. I tried to get in several times but had a juvenile record and they kept having trouble so I never made it.

 

Nice Dosxx. Thank you. I hear you Natkitchen I barely got in. But in 2001 they had a waiver for everything and arrest records were overlooked a bit as long as no felonies were on there. I heard they are crazy strict now because a bunch of gangsters and drug dealers were found in my recruiting generation. I think around 9-11 they just handed you a pen and then an M16, then asked questions later. As a result-Marines got tighter recruiting regs.

 

Yeah they kept trying to get me waivers and it was only a little graffiti incident and a broken car window. I took the wrap for the both, didn't even touch the car window. Not like I was in a gang or anything. Just misguided skater punk stuff. But they kept having to call me back and the last time they didn't call me back I took it as a sign.

 

Maybe it was a blessing. The fact that you made the attempt to commit, still shows heart.

 

Based on what my son has been finding out and from what I've been hearing, all the services have gotten more selective in recent times - some more so than others. I hear that the Air Force and Coast Guard (not part of DoD but Homeland Security) are very selective now. If you get into the Marines, it's more often as a Reservist. Budget cuts and troop reductions (budget and mission related) are also factors. For example, the Navy Sea Bees are not building deployed bases, facilities, and whatnot like they had been, so their need for personnel has dropped considerably.

 

Some of my friends are telling me they bought the book from Amazon, only to find out a week later that the purchase was cancelled because their account was attached to an expired credit card. By the time they realize, they are over ordering it from Amazon again. So if that happens to anybody, please don't let it deter you. Just use barnesandnoble.com. Im a bit shocked at how cool and supportive the SI community has been. I was surfing in Deal the morning of the 9-11 tragedy, after seeing the smoke coming down the coastline and the anger and fear that came with that day, I signed up to join the delayed entry program the next day. During my enlistment I stopped surfing almost entirely. But a few years ago I got back in the water and its become my medicine and drive towards healthy living. Its just cool to see surfing playing an integral part on joining the Marines and then helping me adjust after completing my enlistment.

 

that's because they're cutting troops to save bucks. The military industrial complex still getting 60% of all our money, but people trying to make a living, serving, are cut loose. THEY're getting ready to replace all the jets in all the branches.

 

Wow chicharrone, I hope Russia doesn't test us, Im hoping to not see America involved in any more conflicts. But Putin is a bit crazy.

 

Now that Russia has regained all the treasure they lost in Afghanistan, their a threat. We don't have to worry. Our soldiers may be out of a job, but the nukes still work.

 

the infantry Marine lifestyle is completely disconnected from society. Theres Marines and then theres combat veteran Marines. Maybe I'm some sort of nutcase - but I ****in loved it - everything about it. I consider myself unlucky to have served from 92-98 having not had the opportunity to be deployed. So Mattyb no matter what other baggage that comes along with it, you are a combat veteran and thats pretty goddamn ****ing significant accomplishment. Semper Fi

 

Sorry you missed out on killing a bunch of brown people? If Raygunz wasn't such a candy azz chichen scheisse, you'da gotten to slaughter a ton of Lebanese darkies after them blasting our guys while asleep.. But he tucked his tail, ran home and attacked Grenada. You esay!

 

ummm, Reagan was out of office in 88, Bush 1 in 92. I think you are referring to Clinton.