GB – VMFA VIII
Posted by Lex, on August 11, 2006
Rocky was furious. When Tom walked in, he was slamming things out of his locker, cursing at the world. Browder sat on his bunk, watching. No one else was around, and if the houseboys were hearing them, they were staying away.
“Alright Rocky, calm down. Quit tearing up your stuff. It’s over.”
The profanity laced tirade continued. Tom listened for a while, waiting for Rocky to take a breath.
“Ok, my turn. Looks like it’s my day to give out advice, so listen to me,” Tom raised a hand, “Just shut up and listen.”
“You earned this, you worked for it, and you got it. You aren’t hurt, you aren’t in any real trouble, and you don’t have anything to be mad about. You got drunk, real drunk. Then you left the rest of the guys. You ended up with some girl you never met, and couldn’t identify now if she walked right past you. Then, probably before anything else happened, you passed out. She may have set you up, but either way, she cleaned you out and left you in one of the hotels on MagSaySay. Stupid, and even stupider because I’ve tried to tell you, even back in Korea. How am I doing?”
Rocky opened and closed his mouth, and then nodded, “Yes, that’s close, close as I can remember, anyway. How much trouble am I in?”
“Like I said, none, really, anywhere else and you’d catch an NJP for losing that card. Here, all that’s going to happen is Gunny’s going to chew you out, probably put you in charge of field day tomorrow, and you’ll be stuck with that blue card until the Squadron decides to issue you an new ID, probably sometime next week.”
“Yea, I got a blue card this morning. Man, did Top laugh when he and the Captain picked me up.”
“Ok, pick up your stuff. There’s plenty to do. You too, Browder, you’re not laying in here all day. You guys have never spent a day on base, have you? Except at work? Browder, you got any money? I’ve got 27 bucks, and a bunch of Pisos. We all know Rocky is broke.”
Bill checked his wallet, “Eighteen, Sergeant.”
Tom looked at Rocky, and then at Bill, “Look, like I said, I’m Tom, he’s Rocky. If you can manage to remember we’re NCOs at work, just use our names for now. It’ll make the day easier. I’ve got done what I needed to do, let’s go eat and go to the beach. I promise you it will be worth the walk.”
After noon chow, they picked up masks and fins at Special Services, and walked down to Dungaree Beach. The water was clear, and reflected a brilliant blue out in the bay. Large unbrellas dotted the beach. The mountains in the distance framed the scene. Couples sat on the beach or played in the shallows near water’s edge. Three sailors tossed a Frisbee on the grass near the volleyball net. It looked like a postcard.
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Editor’s Note 08-05-18 – I do not know the identity of the guest blogger, but remember somewhere in the Wayback Machine that he was a Marine Gunnery Sgt.
Acknowledgement given.