Posted by Ernie on 3/24/2007, 9:42 pm I enjoyed Marcus' conversations with God! I think I can honestly say that if I were in that position, I would have had the exact same conversation! Lord have mercy! They had to go back to the Americal division headquarters a Chu Lai to have a "re-up" sergeant in the story. This was well written from the viewpoint of the grunt. Lee Russell was the adviser to this episode and his commentary (on this site) was very interesting to me. Baker and his peas! What can I say? The food fight was only one scene where the guys got to act like a group of school boys. The other was the mock fight between Purcell and Johnson. And another one again when the two sergeants got into a brawl and there was no Captain to stop it! Now I have to say that all these brawls on a military base is not normal! Hello Louise? This was the turning point for Marcus. And the invasion of Charlie in black pajamas in broad daylight was not normal also and seeing his unit in action at a time when he was vulnerable, said a lot for Taylor. Taylor's re-up spiel was mandatory in the military and he handled his well. When my 'Old Man' (Marine Commanding Officer) walked by me and told me that he had to give me a 're-up' talk, I said, "Do I gotta, sir?" He asked, "Do you want to re-enlist?" I said no! I did NOT enlist the first time! They came and got me, kicking and screaming! He chuckled and said, "I'll put it in your record that we had the 'talk' and you said no." The goodbyes were hard to do! You have gotten close to these guys and leaving them there was not as easy as you would think. I insisted that only one person take me to the airport. Because I was Army serving in a Marine unit, all of my paperwork and turning in equipment had to be done back in Saigon with people I did not know! I did not use my little M-1 carbine rifle and frankly did not keep it clean. The Spec. 4 looked at it and said, "You know I can keep you in Vietnam for this!" I said, "...you and a hundred wild specialists like you, maybe! Just sign your name on that form, boy, I outrank you!" He did. I mumbled as I walked off, "Hey they did not give me a WWII carbine rifle with one clip and three rounds of ammo to win this war!" Point to ponder: "How the DIP did that guy (Taylor's friend from the hood) get that Thaiweed all the way back home without getting caught? Inquiring minds want to know. Ernie...
This week's episode is "The Short Timer" and was a great story about the tour of duty coming to an end. It opens with Sarge chiding Taylor for daydreaming on jungle patrol. This unit had become so close that sneezing was a team effort!
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