Like many Americans, you've probably at one time or another used the expression "gung ho", which means venturing into an activity with enthusiam and gusto. The term comes from a shortened version of a Mandarin Chinese phrase for "working together". "Gung ho", along with "once a Marine, always a Marine", is one of several Marine Corps mottos.
This morning, Paul and I were "gung ho" about tuning into an HBO made-for-TV movie called "Taking Chance". It is the true story of a Marine Corps Lt/Col. (played by Kevin Bacon) who volunteers for escort duty, accompanying the remains of a fallen Marine PFC home to Wyoming for burial.
It's the sort of docu-drama/movie that could have been very corny and overdone with a smattering of jabs at the military but it was reverent and very moving. Anyone watching with a heart and a brain comes away with a renewed appreciation for the sacrifices made on our behalf by the men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The young fallen Marine, Chance Phelps, was only twenty years old when his convoy in Iraq was hit by an IED. It's a movie that I'm sure will be playing on HBO for some days to come. It's very much worth the approximately 75 minutes it takes to sit down and watch it. Have Kleenex on hand. You'll likely need it.
The movie depicts the incredible care and attention given to our fallen men and women. And if it's an accurate depiction, the love and reverence paid to the remains every step of the way on that final journey home.
Paul (former Marine) made a comment about his experience working at the Alameda Naval Air Station as a civilian aircraft mechanic in 1967 and '68. He remembers seeing the big military cargo planes landing and rolling up to the tarmac to offload the bodies of the Vietnam dead. The metal coffins were laid out on the asphalt, sometimes as many as fifty of them. There was no ceremony and then the individual funeral homes would damn near fight over the bodies.
It's good to see that things have changed and our servicemen and women are getting the praise and attention they deserve.
If you have a few spare dollars lying around, do something good with them. Give to the Semper Fi Fund for wounded Marines and their families and/or to an organization like the Marines' Memorial Club in San Francisco. It's a hotel/club for veterans and active duty servicemen and women that's a few blocks off Union Square. This four-star hotel is among the nicest in the city for the price and provides deep discounts to Marines, sailors, and soldiers who may not be able to afford the regular room rates. Marines' Memorial also has an on-site museum and library. It devotes most of its wall space to honoring our fighting men and women with plaques, photos and other memorabilia. In homage to my dad, Allen L. Gravitt, a Marine Corps Sgt. in World War II and Korea, my family and I dedicated a plaque in his honor.
I love the fact that Marines' Memorial is in that barely livable, socialist/communist nutball, seditious city of San Francisco. The city's a mess while Marines' Memorial is thriving.
Semper fidelis.
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Keep it clean, please. And nice. And complimentary.