Wednesday, March 20, 2013
My Brother in Arms
We made eye contact as I exited a family restaurant on a
Sunday morning where Jim Bloomquist and
I had just finished a filling repast.
The place was on Hwy 19 just north of the "Forest" and close
to the town of Palatka, Fl.
He arose as I passed him and he seemed to follow me out to
my bike. As I neared the bike, I heard
him exclaim, "Semper Fi" Marine.
As all Marines do, I turned to face the source of the salutation and
return his Semper Fi. On the outside
chance that some reading may not be familiar with the expression " Semper
Fi", it is a contraction of the Marine Corps' motto, Semper Fideles,
which, when translated from the Latin means, Always Faithful.
This happens all the time when I am on a motorcycle ride
because I wear my summer leather jacket with all the USMC patches and
stuff. This story would not have been
possible without the jacket.
Regardless of the history or circumstance, this human has
successfully completed the requirements of the recruit depot and advanced
infantry training schools and is automatically rendered the respect he or she
deserves unless this concept is proven to the contrary.
My fellow Marine was short, very thin, with reddish gray
hair that was very thin all over. His skin
was the pallor of a smoker and he looked none too healthy. We chatted pleasantly for several minutes and
I then attempted to extract myself from the conversation because my riding
partner was waiting on me.
This man appeared to have endured the travails of rough life. If he told me the correct dates of his
service in the Corps, 1963 to 1967, that would put him in his late
seventies. Although appearances can be
deceiving, I would guess that most of that time he spent doing hard work for
meager wages.
Men like this are visible all over the 50 states and are
lost creatures whose age and health have made them dependent on something or
someone. This man is close to being down
and out. It will probably happen
regardless of his immediate future.
He may or may not have had a wife and kids. He may have
known true love but it does not matter now.
I speak now with the conviction of a prophet. With all that life has thrown at this man he
can still recall that hot, steamy day in the barracks and on the grinder, when
he knew, for the first and possibly the last time in his life, he had just
completed the requirements to belong to an elite group. A group that puts the mission of the group
above all. That electric moment when the
DI puts two Eagle Globe and Anchor emblems in you palm and you close those
moist clammy fingers around the cool black metal that were the object of your
dreams in the squad bay. That his fellow
brothers, who will ultimately end up in harms way, would give up their lives to
protect his and that he can count on their loyalty through out. He has a swollen chest from the pride of his
accomplishments in this caldron and he knows, he feels, he inherits the history
and traditions, he soaks up the culture and he will bleed for the right to
issue a hearty Semper Fi. For after a
lifetime of "nothing special",
he will be able to tell himself that he once was the pride of the nation. He was once a member in good standing in the United
States Marine Corps.
May his creator find a place for him where the streets are
guarded by United States Marines.
