Comments

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  Lindsey E. Ford HMC (SW) April 19, 2014 at 4:27pm

  lol Thomas, smoke em if u got em!
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  Charles Dennis Sissel March 20, 2014 at 1:22pm

  I was on "worm island" summer of 1972 with Company 157 for part one of boot.  Those regular inspections were done by Chiefs assigned from MED "Military Evaluation Division" at RTC.  I still remember one morning before inspection we were lined up on the grinder with several other companies.  I remember it was about sunrise and the National Anthem was being played. Suddenly there was a very load "SMACK" behind me in rank followed by the most prolific sequence of cursing I had probably ever heard.  The CC from Company 156 had seen the guy behind me scratching his rear during the anthem and he promptly booted him as hard as he could and proceeded to let him know that "many men died for that flag and he better not ever scratch his arse again when it was played".  The guy happened to be the fattest in our company and so was appointed "chow runner" by our company commander, QM1 Stevenson.  I later volunteered to work at MED just to keep from having to go to inspections - tallying inspection scores for all the companies prior to posting.
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  Thomas Collier January 28, 2014 at 6:03pm

  I KNOW I WOULD GO BACK IF I COULD REGAIN THE 53 YEARS! lol 

  BUT ALL AND ALL IT WAS A LIFE EXPERIENCE. ONE I WILL NEVER FORGET.

  WE USED THE TERM AS WAS ON BOARD "THE SMOKING LAMP IS LIT." SOMETIMES I WOULD SEE THE CO HAVING A "BUTT," WITH THE SMOKERS.

  TIMES GONE BY.
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  Larry Penatzer January 28, 2014 at 5:33pm

  We called it "smoke and coke."
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  William A. Whisenant, Jr January 28, 2014 at 5:09pm

  Thank goodness for those saved letters. A friend of mine who became my girl friend and later on became my wife saved the letters I wrote her from RTC.  They have been useful in writing a sort of life history that our daughter-in-law asked us to write for our grandson.

  And Yes Thoma I remember GEEDUNK runs, and GEEDUNK machines.  I get some strange looks today, especially from younger folks when I sometimes refer to a vending machine as a GEEDUNK machine.  It's been over 50 years(1960) and I still inadvertently use the term occasionally. In our company (338) everyone referred to going out to smoke as "going out for a spot of tea".  Anyone else have some strange terminology for what we did back then.
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  Charles D. "Chuck" Harris January 28, 2014 at 4:30pm

  Many memories from those days. Also to my advantage is my parents saved all my letters from RTC to home and gave them to me recently. One letter was about failing an inspection for not shaving correctly and the letter read: gotta go for now and shave so I dont get my a** kicked tomorrow. Another was for taking a brand new tshirt out of the bag and placing it in my locker as an "inspection only shirt". Got wrote up for not washing my clothes. It was a perfect fold. just never washed. I still fold them tee shirts before they go in my drawer.
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  Thomas Collier January 28, 2014 at 4:05pm

  CHARLES I KNEW SOMEONE OUT THERE EXPERIENCED WHAT I SAW.

  ANYONE REMEMBER THE "GEEDUNK RUNS?" I LOVED HAVING TO DOUBLE TIME IN FRONT OF THE MACHINES AND MAKE A SELECTION AND STILL HAVE THE MONEY IN THE MACHINE AND NOT ON THE GROUND, AND GET THE MERCHANDISE.
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  Charles D. "Chuck" Harris January 28, 2014 at 3:53pm

  Got sick one time. RTC SD 1973  :. Left galley after morning chow and ran to formation on grinder. Lost all my cookies but the good thing was it was still dark and I got there first. On some cool mornings when its a little breezy  before sun up I can walk out side and the memory of that moment will still hit me. (Probably was nervous at the time)
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  James W Ward January 28, 2014 at 12:12am

  I must have been lucky, Never got sea sick, and I was on everything from a whale boat to mike boat and PBR and that was just the second tour..I was a Radioman and we had a lot on the Annapolis. about 500 of us.  I was the floater, I would go where ever I was needed.  Sometimes with the Marines with the prc-25.  Not so much fun, but lots of exercise.  Every try to keep up with a Marine when you are carrying a radio?  Yep, would do it again. NTC was the start, Co 402 July 1966, then Radioman School, then TTY school..
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  David W Asche January 27, 2014 at 5:12pm

  LOL!!!  I had Boot in San Diego from July to September 1971.  We marched all around in the heat.  I don't remember anyone puking, but one guy got the drizzling runs and left a trail of crap as we marched along.

  I felt sorry for him.  Luckily, I was not right behind him either.