The article mentions Eugene Sledge, He wrote a fantastic book called With the Old Breed. I highly recommend it. It is his accounts of the battles he took place in and ends with Okinawa unbelievable the things these guys did

 

Read it! I think that's the book that told about him. Sledge wrote several books about WW2 and Korea. All were good reads.

 

I don't want to turn this into a "Marine badass" discussion thread, but also way up there in my book is "HHH" - Herman Henry Hanneken. He's the only Marine I've ever heard of who was awarded the Medal of Honor for literally shooting someone in the face.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_H._Hanneken

 

Old man my arse! He was a 46 year old Marine Gunnery Sergeant. He was put ashore with a bunch of young Marines on Peleliu in 1944. He lasted three days and was escorted off the island with what we call today PTSD. Most 18 year old kids could not have lasted 3 hours on that island. I read about him in a book but did not know if it was true. On the troop ships he would work out on deck with his bayonet. He was an inspiration to the young Marines. The web site below does not do him justice, but it sheds some light.


http://thepacific.wikia.com/wiki/Elmo_Haney

If you get the opportunity, watch "The Pacific". It has a portrayal of GySgt Haney in it and its pretty accurate according to E.B. Sledges book, "With the old breed at Pelelieu" He was a Marines Marine. After watching The Pacific and doing some research on Haney, he truely was a "old Corps" Marine and character to boot. I loved the scene when they were at a "fam fire"and a Lt got stupid on the firing line, Haney let him have it.

I grew up in the Corps (80 - 05) reading Sledges stuff, I remember when "with the old breed" came out in 81 and remember marveling at those young Marines and the things they did. I suppose its all part of the Marine legacy....living up to the standard that those before us set.

Anyway, great rememberance of a old time Marine.

 

Sledge attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute at the same time as my dad. Dad fought with MAcArthur in the Phillipeans retaking Manila. I had no idea Sledge was a WAR EAGLE! After the war,, the GI bill sent millions of sailors, soldiers and a few Marines to college and even gave them money to live on. Men who would never have been able to afford a college education now had a free ride. NOT becuase they were football stars but because the were soldiers and sailors. These men went to college and America became the greatest nation in history. We should give today's veterans a free ride and see what happens......

 

Sledge attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute at the same time as my dad. Dad fought with MAcArthur in the Phillipeans retaking Manila. I had no idea Sledge was a WAR EAGLE! After the war,, the GI bill sent millions of sailors, soldiers and a few Marines to college and even gave them money to live on. Men who would never have been able to afford a college education now had a free ride. NOT becuase they were football stars but because the were soldiers and sailors. These men went to college and America became the greatest nation in history. We should give today's veterans a free ride and see what happens......

I agree 100% that we should give our veterans a free ride, but with the bleeding heart libatards that we have in office these days, they give away everything to people who never paid a dime in taxes, those who come here illegally, foreign nations, etc. Our Veterans get dumped on with a mountain of paperwork, that is difficult to understand and often are on their own as to figure it out. On top of that it takes years for the claim to get processed and then if there is a mistake, it gets rejected and they have to start all over again. Okay you get the picture, We need to change the priorities of our government to take care of it's own people first and stop playing world cop. Sorry, didn't mean to steal the thread or change the topic.

Now back to the show..

 

Due to the sequester they have cut the Tuition Assistance for active duty personnel as well as dependents. What the sequester has NOT cut out is million dollar vacations for the POS-in-Chief.