An old brig rat talked of Chesty ...

One character at the Lejeune brig, an old Marine who had been around for 12 years or so and had gotten busted from staff sergeant to PFC for who-knows-what, made a game of seeing whether Sam or I was more gullible. He claimed to have served under Chesty Puller right before the general retired. We knew the years didn’t add up, but the old staff was sincere in telling some entertaining stories of Chesty’s escapades. He claimed to have been present when Chesty uttered his most memorable words in the middle of combat: “They’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us … they can’t get away this time.” Who didn’t enjoy hearing about the most decorated Marine in history, even if some old salt was just repeating lore of the Corps? The only thing we had to do is decipher the truth from fiction. Many times we’d get off duty and call B.S. on the line we had just been fed, but we never challenged the old guy.

Those were fun days when we lived lives of everyday Marines. We didn’t see combat; Vietnam was over; and our peacetime life was basically a job. The future was always uncertain, though, and that meant we were expected to blow off steam on liberty. Sam always drank more than I did, but he could handle it. I couldn’t. I’d go from being jovial to fighting mad in no time.

Getting locked up was a common occurrence for Marines on liberty in Jacksonville, and we parted with enough cash before the local magistrates that any semi-smart guys would have learned to leave booze alone. But our motto in those days was a hand-me-down from WWII, illegitimi non carborundum, “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”