Comments

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  Stick October 31, 2009 at 6:12pm

  Yeah Ron..we did the same thing with the urine in the garbage can...but we were NEVER told what it was for...only took 47 years for me to find out...thanks
  Then there was the day my CC said "Tucker you need to start shaving...I seriously went in the head and had my nose almost flat on the mirror....I thought.."shave what?"...but I did anyway...didn't like doin pushups in the snow...had already done that a couple times anyway..
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  Stick October 31, 2009 at 6:08pm

  Damn....Dan you and Johnson really got screwed...we arrived on the TOOTERVILLE TROLLY...@ 4:00am...oops 0400hours..(gotta be PC here)...there was snow and ice wind was blowin..we were met by a service week...he"tried" to get us to march..yeah right...to the gate at Camp Barry..then like my story....goes...down hill
  Airman Johnson you take care...don't give up and never give in...
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  Ron Ruiter October 31, 2009 at 2:26pm

  Ok, while there in boot camp we have to give our first urine in the morning to a huge plastic garbage can. We were told it was picked up to make insulin. Now people think I'm crazy and insane when I tell them we had to do this. Then after that the can had to be brought over to some area where it would be collected, so that meant two guys had to carry it. And I swear that this is true, that one morning the guys dropped it because it was heavy or one of them tripped. URINE all over them. LOL Oh yeah, funny then and still funny today.
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  Dan Tremblay ASM2 October 31, 2009 at 1:30pm

  Philip Tucker, Thank You also for sharing your experiences there as well. It's all TOO fun to think about those days again. I hope we can get many others sharing their stories also.
  There's so many more memories to come I'm sure. I'm picking my brain here, 33 years later....lol.
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  Dan Tremblay ASM2 October 31, 2009 at 1:26pm

  It's so cool to hear about the experiences of others...LOL. So many "Great" memories!!
  I got to Camp Moffett in Apr. 77 on the train from O'Hare, to the base. Naturally we got there around 8pm and NOTHING happens at that time of day. Just like Airman Johnson and Ron Ruiter, we got shuffled all over the place, in the rain, through 3 different barracks all night long. No sleep was allowed, as soon as we got settled in a rack, they rousted us again to move to another location. It was about 10am the next morning that we formed up, dropped our bags (that got sent home), and stood on the blue line..lol. No one went home, that was amazing in itself. We had some savery characters in our group. LOL. We stripped down to nothing, boxed our stuff and sent it home. Got the new issues and seabagged it up. And was sent to our new home. Dropped the seabags and was told to form up outside, then was introduced to "Pork Chop Hill"! Man did we learn to hate that place. LOL. We marched there everyday that I was there I think.
  Someone in the mess hall contracted Hepetitus, and we ALL had ot go to the drill halls to get the "A" shot. Another experience from hell...lol.
  We also got our regular shots with the new air powered shot gun. I actually liked that better than the needles. But some guys got cut by them, and others just fainted before it was their turn...but I breezed through it.
  We had 2 cut ups in out company that got us "mashed", and we ended up having 2 blanket parties. GAWD that was fun. Hehehe. They flew right from then on. But NOT until we had been ordered to polish the floor of our compartment with our TOOTHBRUSHES!
  Thanks to both of you guys for stirring up some great memories. Keep them coming.
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  airman , retired, johnson October 31, 2009 at 12:31pm

  i ment no offence,, hard couple of weeks here,, and only going to get worse, ty for the comment Ron,, i was in hopes of keeping my boot camp story going, and comments help,
  i have to admit that i am totally drained at the moment, it has been a long week, or couple of weeks lol,, i wake up daily and try to think that i did not wake up,, if that makes any sence,, anyways, i will get to boot camp stories when i can
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  Ron Ruiter October 31, 2009 at 12:07pm

  Airman, Johnson... You are right, don't see a thing about Marines. After Hospital Corps School I was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, never did wear another Navy uniform nor serve on a Navy ship or base. Spent my 4 yrs with the 10th Marines. Loved every moment of it though and would not have traded it for anything.
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  airman , retired, johnson October 31, 2009 at 11:39am

  i am glad that in someways my telling of boot etc, has gotten some of you chatting again.
  i am not sure when i will do the next page in the story,,, health is faithing me
  marines have nothing on Navy folk,,
  honor courage commitment
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  Stick October 31, 2009 at 9:41am

  Right outside the 22nd street gate there was "THE STRIP"...you could get tailored uniforms there also..I know this for a fact ...you see, when I got my orders from basic I was sent BACK to Great Lakes and assigned to the ADCOM Security Dept. ...yep GATE WATCHES...We manned ALL the gates except for the 1 at CAMP BARRY...
  At that time...1962...CAMP BARRY was the "INDOCTRINATION PHASE"...that's where we were issued seabags...that's where we got shots n more shots...that's where our Company was formed and we were introduced to our Company Commander..who at that time was CPO Poissant...Barry was where we learned to march...it was surprising to find out some people didn't know their left foot from their right..After indoctrination,,,we went to Camp Moffit...after that we "crossed the road" to Camp Porter...then graduated..the whole time I was in basic I NEVER messed cooked...due to the fact that JUST before we were to go into "SERVICE WEEK" I contacted "3 DAY MEASLES"...so I lucked out on that...
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  Ron Ruiter October 31, 2009 at 9:00am

  Philip Tucker... I think you are right. There was a trolley and I think it went on down to Michigan City, but not sure how far north it went. I do remember the stops along the way from Chicago to GL, like Evanston, Highland Park, and Lake Forest. My memory keeps fading, good grief, it was 45 yrs ago. I recall starting boot camp in Feb 1964, cold, butt hole deep in snow, tired, and the barracks really sucked. I do recall that I started in Camp Moffett. I also remember that after awhile we did get to move into new barracks which were across some road.
  While in Hospital Corps School we did travel to Chicago and Milwaukee a lot. I remember in Waukegan you could buy tailor made blues and a tattoo. The USO in Chicago was really a nice place to go. We could get free movie tickets and if not that we would head to some strip joint down on south State St. Hey, a lot of good memories as I love back on those times.