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January 8th, 2006
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| Milites Gregarius | Post; A Deadly walk In The Swamp....http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/gunnyg/swamp,html MEMORIES On this day, 45 years ago. Gene Ervin was a Marine recruit on Parris Island. During a night march, something that was never supposed to happen to Marines happened. This is the story of six young Marines and a shock to the nation. A Deadly Walk in the Swamp By Gene Ervin SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL The year is 1956 at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island, off the coast of South Carolina. I arrived with other recruits by train from Connecticut. When Marine sergeants took us across that imaginary Mason-Dixon Line, time took a step backward. There was an ever-present uneasiness on that 18-hour ride through the rural South where white people drank water from different fountains and used separate bathrooms from the blacks. I had read about the separate system in books and newspapers, but never paid much attention. But now, here I was in South Carolina and about to experience first-hand the Marine Corps. The nightmare was about to begin. At boot camp in 1956, a young man was subjected to the most humbling treatment he had ever known. All recruits were treated the same regardless of ethnic background. The name of the game was making a Marine out of raw material. As a platoon of 78 guys, we learned to coexist under adverse conditions, to function as a unit and handle firearms for effect. Days were filled with marching in formation, studying the Marine Corps manual and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We learned to walk guard duty and endured more close-order drill. Everywhere we went, .... http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/gunnyg/swamp.html http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/gunnyg/swamp.html
__________________ R. W. "Dick" Gaines GySgt USMC (Ret.) 1952-72 Last edited by gunnyg; January 10th, 2006 at 01:46. |
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