Dateline: Okinawa, Japan,1980-83
Early in the morning, before anyone even thought about waking up, we would get up, gather our gear and head out. Down the street we would go to Checkpoint One. At Checkpoint One, we would conduct a security halt to check out the jungle that laid before us, shoot the azimuth, and step out into the triple canopy jungle in which you could not see much more than 5 feet in front of you. Walking with stealth we navigated our way through what at that time seemed like an hour or so. As we approached Checkpoint Two, we would ready our gear... We were running out of time! With more than a little motivation, we stepped up the pace and carried out our mission with precision.
Many of our superiors were quite impressed with our abilities to carry out the mission at such a young age, with no direct supervision. Once the job was completed, we hauled ass back to the "rear with the gear" to get some chow. On the way back you could hear a faint noise off in the distance as the sun was beginning to rise. It was music to our ears ... Marines singing cadence to PT. We often talked amongst ourselves, as we walked back to the rear, about how one day we would be one of the world's finest ... United States Marines.
Until then, every day, seven days a week, we delivered the newspaper. It wasn't just any newspaper. It was the Pacific Stars and Stripes. It was a job that required a lot of motivation for a set of brothers ages 12, 10, and 8, to deliver the news to everyone on Camp Butler before they would wake up for PT.
I share this story with you because I thought you, the readers, should know that we all grew up to be Marines. We all went to Parris Island. We all earned the rank of Sergeant. We all made our mom & dad proud of us. We all served our country proudly. And, we are all proud of you for serving your country to protect our rights and our way of life.
We at OO-RAH.COM put this web site together for you. Keep the tradition going and share your story with us. Stars & Stripes Forever!!!
Semper Fi!
