The story in the March 28 newsletter, "What Saved Us", reminded me of another "Butterbar" encounter.
I was a wingwiper with VMFAT-101,an F4 Phantom squadron, at MCAS El Toro in '69 during which time a whole lot of Marines fresh from staging at Pendleton were being flown from El Toro to 'Nam. If you were one of the many you remember standing around in formations in parking lots or grassy areas by the barracks across the street from the flight line waiting for your platoons to board the chartered airliners.
Us residents of those barracks were very used to these loose formations and would just simply walk around them on our way to the chow halls or our cars in the parking lot. All was well until one day when two buddies and I were on the way to morning chow and had to walk on the grass because there was a formation taking up the sidewalk and grass next to the barracks.
I should mention here to all those that were not in the wing, that because steel toe "boonedockers" were required on the flight lines, we could not blouse our trousers (boonedockers are low top work boots).
As we walked past this formation we heard a voice behind us yelling,"Hey you Marines get back here now!" We turned to see this starched to the gills Butterbar running toward us. "I want you to blouse those trousers now or be put on report!" he screamed. Well we had no choice but to look at each other, shrug our shoulders, bend down and stuff our trouser legs into our socks! We saluted and walked away at a roust march speed, never looking back as he kept yelling,"Hey, hey"! I swear I can sometimes still hear that voice, sounded like he was still going through puberty.
Ahh good times.
Semper Fi
I had a similar experience in NAS Millington, Tenn. I worked at the Marine Reserve unit on the North side at Millington where we had A4 Shyhawks. One day my buddy and I (both of us sergeants) went to the Southside Navy Exchange where we were confronted by some young Marines. They noticed our un-bloused trousers and told us about them. We looked at out trousers and said we are airwingers and asked them if they liked our white socks also. We started laughing and walked away.
Dec.23, 1965 We landed at MCAS, El Toro CA. We were rotating back from 13 months overseas and 10 months of it in Vietnam. I couldn’t believe how the Corps had changed, nobody bloused their trousers their uniforms were not the proper uniform of the day, utilites were not starched and covers were not blocked, boots not spit-shined and no one saluted officers. A far cry from Camp Schwab Okinawa or Camp Pendleton. We were handed a 3X5 lined card and a pencil and told to choose three duty stations the E-8 in charge said we would be processed with a new duty station and leave papers within 24 hours, he didn’t lie Dec.24, 1965 I was home on leave in Riverside CA. with orders to MP Co. MCRD San Diego CA.