The Azores and Barbados...Adak and Barrow
The Azores and Barbados, real hotbeds of Marine Corps activity back in the 50’s I guess but who knows.
Adak and Barrow… well sometimes you gotta take the bitter with the sweet.
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The Marine Corps has a name for guys who say they wished they’d joined the Coast Guard.
Begins with a P and ends with a Y.
The Azores and Barbados are where his Coast Guard buddy, enlisted the same day dad did, pulled duty, brainchild. The Coasties got pretty good duty stations, Marines ended up in places like that garden spot called Adak, although Dad ended up on Haiti for a short stint.
Didn’t love that, either.
Best,
Ted
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I suppose Adak beats Detroit, but, a smart guy would prefer Key West-and join the Coast Guard.
Smart doesn’t seem to be something that troubles you.
https://www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/District-7/Units/SectorKeyWest/So every time he shipped over he said, goddamn, shoulda joined the Coast Guard? Talk about a dumbfuck.
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You’re a chip off the old blockhead, eh?
No.
He liked Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Cherry Point, California, Alaska proper, Okinawa, and Colorado. A cop in Trenton, NJ would not approve a permit for him to acquire a deer rifle, that turned into a pissing contest between his CO at NARTS, where he was training riflemen on a new platform called the M16, and the police sergeant, that the cop eventually relented on. So, he didn’t like Jersey, either, but, that was a different deal. He knew he could have enlisted in the Coast Guard any time he wanted, if he left the Corps, but, stayed in the USMC for 22 years active and 8 years after that as a reservist. He told people that asked him to join with the idea that this (service) was your career, doing four years and leaving was not in your best interest or the military’s.
He also told people that asked to consider the Coast Guard, as he knew the duty stations were pretty good ( mostly) and he felt some of the tasks the Coasties did would translate better to civilian life.
He advised me to stay out, by the way. 6 months after high school I was an apprentice on folders, cutters and stitchers, making double what an E3 did, driving a new 1979 Z28, with an apartment that I shared with a roommate. He figured enlisting would be going backward at that point, and said he did enough time for all of us.
He impressed somebody. There were a dozen active duty Marines in the honor guard at his funeral. None were lower in rank than Gunnery Sargent.
Best,
Ted
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Chip off a jarhead is more like it.
