THE DAY CHESTY PULLER DIED.

[ The article you are about to read was my first ever written. I wrote it while deployed to Qatar, post 9/11. I spent most of that year in Kuwait or Qatar. when i was writing this My Battle Buddy Scott was waiting patienty for me to finish. I ripped the article from yahoo and decided to leave it the way it was. It wasalso written during my first deployment from my wife.]



>Everybody when they were young had a
> hero. Heros before 9/11 were really scarce, let
> alone survive when people who held them dear "grew
> up". I remember having so much faith in superheros
> until the day I learned that the world is a hollow
> place. Everything changed that day, I never realized
> that a simple fact,even a truth would have such an
> impact in my life. Most of who I became is because
> of that fateful day and it will always remain with
> me.
>
> Actually my hero wasnt a single person
> but a multitude of people. My heros were the United
> States Marines. Marines were my heros, my idols,
> everything I wanted to be. They were like Knights in
> shining armor. Honor, Glory, God was their name,
> Their tradition. I had visions of Marines fighting
> battles, wars to right the wrong , free the
> oppressed. Every Marine to me was a friend, a person
> to respect.
>
> I suppose most of the reason I felt
> that way was because my father was a Marine. Not
> only was he a Marine he was their elite, a super
> Marine. My father as a Gunnery Sergeant in Force
> Recon was "THE" Marine, like Chesty Puller. he was
> [is] tough, mean, nasty, tired , he ate Cassitina
> wire for breakfast and could put a round in a fleas
> ass at 500m. His Companions were all like that, the
> elite, Recon Marines . People who had no fear,
> jumped from the skies, swam through the seas, and
> Died on distance shores to right the wrong and to
> free the oppressed. I ve seen Marines and i held
> them all dear. Marines dont die, the Marine Corp
> lives forever, so they will always live.
>
> THE DAY CHESTY PULLER DIED i was in
> my bedroom. I was 11 at the time, I was reading a
> newspaper having been bored reading the comics
> sometimes I read the news. On that fateful day Two
> marines were found guilty of raping a woman in
> Japan. I was in utter dismay, The most henious crime
> committed by Two of my sacred heros. In my mind it
> wasnt possible for those knights to do that. I felt
> that it was obviously a set up, that justice had
> failed these Marines, that they had came to her
> rescue and had been mistakingly charged with the
> crime. I did the only thing I knew to do, I took the
> newspaper and ran downstairs to my father. My father
> would hear of this outrage jump up get on the phone
> and try to save his brother Marines from this
> tradgedy.
>
> I told my story to my father, but he
> didnt jump up. he just sat there. I still remember
> the look on my mothers face at that moment I was
> trying to bring justice to my brother Marines. My
> father simply replied in a low voice " they did it."
> . Iremember his face and my Mothers as i said "But
> they are Marines ?" like he didnt understand the
> importance of the situation, like I didnt say
> "MARINES" and in the same low voice he replied "
> Tony, They werent real Marines." I remember that
> when he said it, he didnt look at me. In a state of
> shock I took my newspaper and walked slowly back to
> my room, sat down and realized the there are no
> heros left in this world, the only heros left were
> graves with the Marine Corp emblem on them.
>
> I like to think that the reason Dad
> never look at me that day was so that he wouldnt
> have to watch Chesty Puller as he died beside me.
> that fateful day I lost my Faith in the Marine Corp
> and decided that I would never be one. In fact i
> spent 8 or so years running from the military. Thing
> just were not the same with out my heros. I cant say
> that I blame Dad , I never wanted to watch Chesty
> die in my room but i did. Its funny why does growing
> up always require a tradgedy.Its just not fair to
> all the Marines that were my heros, but truth is
> what killed them. I realized that the world is an
> evil place and i grew indifferent to that sense of
> honor that I once had, and being in the modern
> military I wish i still had it. THE DAY CHESTY
> PULLER DIED I learned what it was like to grow up, it takes pain, maybe thats why I >fought it for so long.In the middle of a deployment to preserve freedom after 9/11 all I >can say is I really miss Chesty Puller.
-B