Archive for the 'All Hands' Category

My new friend Joe, known to the world as The Guy From Boston, wants to go to Iraq to visit our troops and pass out some cigars. You may have seen a rant of his on the web somewhere or heard him on satellite radio as he has become quite popular. The first one I had the pleasure of seeing was sent to me by my brother-in-law, a great guy, who is a retired cop. I loved it and immediately contacted the Big Guy himself about using some of his stuff on this site. He was gracious enough to say "it would be an honor to be associated with Marines." That means I have his permission to provide commentary on his rants and supply links to them from my site so that my visitors can enjoy what he has to say and how he says it. His delivery is awesome and what he says will stimulate the thought process as well as entertain.

I think it's a great idea for Joe and friends to go to Iraq and I think the troops would get a kick out of it. In fact, I would love to go with him. (I never could pass up a good cigar!) GFB should put a show together like Bob Hope used to do and travel around to entertain the troops. You know, a few pretty girls, some jokes, etc. Instead of a golf club for a prop GFB would wave around that huge stogie of his. He could do a great stand up routine like he does on his videos (which are hilarious by the way) that the guys on the line would appreciate. Comic relief is always welcome in a combat zone. The big difference between GFB and Bob Hope is that the GFB won't be censored. If he thinks something stinks he is going to tell you about it, after all "he's the guy that has the balls to say what we are thinking." I don't know if our military leaders are ready for this kind of no-holds-barred humor but I know the troops are! Check out the big guy's rant on going to Iraq with a couple of his friends and stay tuned for future oratory from the GFB. I love this guy!

PS. As you can see, part of Joe's shtick is that wheezing delivery of his. But (confidentially) Joe is on a diet and has already lost 30 lbs. He says you can't really tell because "it's like throwing a deck chair off the Titanic." A hilarious analogy, one that I can appreciate myself. But keeping in mind that this site focuses on health, nutrition and weight loss as well as Marines we wish him the best and will provide regular updates as to his progress. Like I told him just today, "The Skinny Guy From Boston" could be even better!

http://theguyfromboston.com/playvideo.asp?video=/videos/2007/june/IRAQ.wmv

Did He Or Didn't He - This was sent to me as the "Jay Leno Letter", you know the one that talks about how we should all be thanking our lucky stars because we live in the USA. I guess it's been floating around in Cyberland for a while but after doing some checking I don't think this can be attributed to Mr. Leno. He might share the sentiment but would have written it better technically and just might have been a bit nicer to his friends in the media. It's fun to think he did write this but, alas,  I think it's just another one of those "Urban Myths" that pop up on the Internet from time to time. This may sound like an oxymoron but it reads to me more like it was written by an intelligent Marine! Personally I don't give a hoot about who wrote that letter, I would like to meet him or her so that I could tell them thanks for presenting me with some good skinny that I could pass along to my fellow Marines. I like to give credit where credit is due and I would thank them for sharing, what could have been, if it was real, a remarkable letter. (more…)

This plan may be a bit drastic but you sure get his point!

This is a video supposedly written and produced by 15 year old Lizzie Palmer (whoever she is) that is receiving millions of hits on YouTube.com. It was sent to me by a close family member who remembers my service in Viet Nam and that I wholeheartedly support our troops. I'm still on the fence as to the reasons we are where we are but wherever our troops go I think of them daily. Any so-called cause should be secondary to their well-being and survival.

This video will hit you where it hurts emotionally and will make you think about things you would rather not think about like death and debilitating injuries but whoever produced it deserves a lot of credit. If it was done by Lizzie Palmer I would like to think she is the whiz-kid daughter of a Marine who understands and appreciates first-hand what her Father or Mother has chosen to do for their country. It is obviously produced out of love but I think fear as well, fear that someday her Mom/Dad may not come home and further motivated by the day-to-day apprehension that a military family goes through when their loved ones are serving overseas in defense of their country. She wants us, the people safe at home, to pay attention and I think she has accomplished this.

Lizzie may have done this out of frustration while watching the world go by "back in the World" as we used to say. When we are being shot at and our buddies are dying it's sometimes hard to understand how anyone could be interested in the Super Bowl, the Mall, Basketball Playoffs or anything else that seems to fly in the face of our situation. I remember thinking during my tour in Viet Nam, do they even care back home? I came to realize that these feelings arose out of the trauma of being scared witless 24/7 for over a year and that life must go on. A free life back home and all that entails are the very things that we are fighting to protect. A Marine in combat eventually gets past this by feeling a sense of satisfaction in protecting the innocent and misguided that are back home doing whatever they do.

This becomes a two-edged sword for non-military families (the people that Lizzie comes in contact with at school or wherever)because it deprives them of the true understanding and correlation of: Mom/Dad at risk = a whole new dynamic in daily life. They tend to follow the political wind without the distraction of worrying about a loved one. Their concerns then become: how much is this war costing us?, why are we there?, can't our President get this thing together and either end it or get the hell out?, etc, etc. You can draw a comparison to Viet Nam if you want, and in many ways I sure do. The big difference today is that 911 was an attack directly against this country and anything that our military leaders think they must do to prevent further attacks must be done. Viet Nam was a million miles away and no one really cared about the mantra: "stop the flow of communism and prevent the domino effect."

Military families are either very close or they become completely dysfunctional due to Mom or Dad being away during the critical years of a child's development. Those families that are close are held together by loving, caring parents who are involved in their child's lives no matter if serving in a foreign land where people are trying to kill them and even the so-called "friendlies" can't be trusted. People like Lizzie have their heads on straight and embrace their cause, the cause of supporting our men and women in the military. 

Expect to see more relevent videos on this site.

Used to be we had to hide the fact that we were former "baby killers" or risk getting spit on. Now it seems fashionable for those that never served in Vietnam to claim they were. Sorta like all the boomers that say they were at Woodstock. (I wasn't) A matter of semantics? - you decide. This article appeared in the Arizona Republic November 20, 2006 and was provided by the Associated Press. I keep waiting for an update on the status of this issue but as of this writing it seems to have been buried. It's a matter of concern for all REAL Vietnam veterans - those that were actually there. When I hear something new about this I will let you know.

New Leader of vet group did not fight in Vietnam - BOSTON - The national commander of the American Legion never served in Vietnam although he describes himself as a "Vietnam veteran," a newspaper reported Sunday. Paul Morin, elected August 31, 2006 to a one-year term as commander of the nation's largest veterans group, spent his time in the Army from 1972 to 1974 at Fort Dix, NJ, the Boston Globe reported.

Neither the government nor the 2.7 million-member American Legion makes a formal distinction between veterans who actually went to Vietnam and the "Vietnam-era" veterans. Not too surprising coming from the U.S. Govt. but the American Legion too?? Come on guys, how about we put the WW II - era vets who fought the Japs from a chair in NJ in the same category as those who actually battled them hand to hand in the Pacific. Would that statement fly?

"I am a Vietnam veteran," Morin, of Chicopee, Mass., told the newspaper. His biography on the Legion's website describes him as a "Vietnam veteran of the U.S. Army." If he said that and he wasn't in Vietnam isn't that a bald faced lie?

The Legion's top spokesman, Joe March, backed Morin. He said any service member now stationed in the U.S. could claim to be an Iraq war veteran. Great analogy Joe! Ask any Iraq vet who served in that country if there is a difference between them and someone who says they were an Iraq vet when they might never have gotten any closer to Baghdad than NJ? If I was an Iraq combat trooper I would be pissed!

But former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia said Moran's claim might undercut veterans groups. No sh..t Max! "For the national commander of the American Legion, who never served in the Vietnam theater, to call himself a Vietnam veteran is a lie," Cleland said. I never put much faith in anything a senator said but this time I would have to agree. This is a travesty to all those veterans who were actually there. I find it hard to believe that anyone who would claim to have served in Vietnam and had been proven that they never saw service there could be elected to lead a veterans group like the American Legion. Only politics can be credited for such a stupid statement and is an insult to combat troops.