Beirut 83-84

Not much of a story. Just remembering all my buddies that we had trained with from 1/8 and 2/8 during the months leading up to the police action (what they called it) in 82. The word had gone out that 2nd MAR DIV needed Marines to come back to the FMF. So with that call – I gladly gave up my barracks duty (time was up anyway) and headed back down to 3/8 Weapons Co – Old Camp Geiger… Lejeune, home of the tainted water – been there drank that ! The only thing I really missed about Lejeune was Court Street – had a few Asian girlfriends back in the day. But as a SGT I had to stop all that extra activities and train. I loved the ranges because you could drive right on them from the highway and that made it great for when you had to be on the range for more than a week – I'd fill my old 1970 LTD trunk with ice-beer-soda and bring along the bar-b-Q to cook. Yes we got those MRE's but some were good – hotdogs and beans – eggs and ham – bar-b-q pork —- if you cooked them just right (with lots of hot sauce) – they didn't taste that bad… Wash them down with some PBR and you had a treat !

Everyone who was a shooter back then knew everyone. They knew each others family, we visited each others trailer for cookouts on the weekends, we were a family or individuals that had a common bond. I can still remember us all going down to the EG&A for one last call (and some serious carrier qual) – then off to the Root…

I tried to keep up with my buddies, writing them weekly, sending them geedunk (sp?) – getting those post cards from Turkey, Egypt and Israel. Then myself going over and then cross decking to spend more time there in 83 just so I wouldn't lose touch — funny thing is — I never really thought of home unless I got a card or letter in the mail.