During West-Pac '83 we had plenty of Ops. in 1/6.One of Lt. Col. Wes Fox's many "walks in the sun",as he would say,was a Joint Air Transport/Supply kinda deal (can't recall the official acronym) where we supplied troops for the Air Force MAC Pilots.We took 141's to Rota,then 130's to Tinian as the Jets could not handle the old B-29 airfields there.
As far as Marine BLT size Ops. go,it was a pretty good one.If any Field Grade Officer other than Wes Fox had said it,we would have blown it off,but according to him it was the first time the 6th RCT had been on Tinian since it was taken in WWII.He would know,he had started his Marine Corps career as a Pvt.in Korea.
We Trained.Slept.Trained.Ate C's.Trained…….same old deal.Some differences though.The Swabby CB's had painted all our field heads pink.On top of that they had drawn what was supposed to be the Marine Corps Emblem on the sides but had made the Eagle look like a Chicken.Yeah.OK.Har-dee-har-har.Whatever.No problem.But adding insult to injury they had built the things so a Marine's feet were hanging about a foot above the deck.I'm fairly certain Charlie Co.got even though.There was a Deployed S.E.A.L/UDT team just down the beach.Pretty sure their parachute tent, generator and refer. of beer got "raided" a time or two.
We dodged dud arty shells shot from saipan during WWII while running from all the wasp on that Island.The Air Force kept "busting" our supply runs all over the airfield.Grunts running around in various forms of undress grabbing friut,beans n' franks…..all the good c's while the "chocolate bung holes" were left to rust with the dud arty shells."Tinia-Town" pulled out all their furniture into the little street and spent their life savings on beer and pop so we could have liberty."The Old Man" said no at first,but we had not embarrased him too bad so far.It was a fun Op all in all,but Marines,as we know,are very vengeful when provoked,and when we hopped to Guam things heated up a little.
First,the "Air Farce Command" at Anderson billeted us on a nice,soft,grassy field across a huge tarmac from their air conditioned chow hall.Only thing,it was where they emptied the crap from the "porta-potties" on the Base.This was seriuosly messed up man.The Battalions Surgeon and Corpsmen were mad as hell about that.
Then the "Security Police" confiscated what few cameras Marines had in those days.
Russia already knew wehad B-52's on Guam .Anyway,after 2 or 3 days baking in the sun,staring across that hot tarmac at this huge chow hall,and still eating C's after a month in the Mariana's,I feel certain the Staff and Officers knew we were about to "mount an attack" on Anderson.Air Farce Security Forces be Dambed.
On about the 4th day,the Gunny put us in formation and we marched toward the chow hall.It was going to be great.All hands smokin' and jokin' when we got there.We lined up along the big brick wall,waiting on what was going to be a great meal,whatevever it was.
The first punches started getting thrown when 5 or 6 Airmen tried to cut in front of the line.Man,didn't they know Marine's don't play that s***!Then more tried.It was insane.Did they not see a Rifle Company of Fleet Marine's in front of their eyes!Faded cammie's.White boot's…..junior NCO's were raising more hell than the non-rates.It took all the Staff and Officers present a while,yelling and cursing the whole time,just to calm us down.A little.
As the doors to the massive chow hall opened to us ,blasts of cold air put us in a better mood.Then as the line divided wesaw one was for the main meal,the other a burger and hot dog line.Marines trays were piledinches thick with roast beef ,fried chicken….the choice was endless.Then eveyone moved over and laid on one or two burgers for good measure before grabbing cake, ice cream and whatever else from the "desert" line.The dining area was carpeted,had Crystal Chandeliers hanging from the ceiling,and if that were not enough about 6 or 8 large Aquariums with hundreds of varieties of Pacific tropical fish just swimming around.Now I know nowadays that may not be a big deal.But in that era this was just not heard of.To Marine Grunts it was like a fairy tale.It made the chow hall at Schwab look like a greasy dog stand.(which it was).Now as all Marines know,a month on C-rations allows ones stomach to draw up to the size of a lemon,maybe.Nobody could come close to eating all the chow piled on their trays and plates.Now being the good Marines we were,we knew not to "leave chow" uneaten.The only thing we could do was pull a boot camp lesson,and try to hide what was left over .Not very successfully.
I don't know if we "got even" with the Air Force by leaving about 100-150 hamburgers floating in those Aquariums.But the fish were happy.That Air Force Master Sergeant Messman was one unhappy camper.I have seen some pretty mad people during my time in The Corps and as a Retired Law Enforcement Officer,but that guy was in the top ten I think.When I remember these things from time to time,know every Marine has very much the same kind of stories,my Sisters and other Family members,along with most other people just don't believe anything.SometimesI have to get "corroboration" from my Unit Brothers living not so far away.But that's all part of the Marine Corps "mystique",is it not?
Semper Fi Brothers
Cpl. "D.T." Jones,Alpha 1/6,1981-1985