by eamarquardt » Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:13 pm
Years ago, as a manager, I was required to fill in for "real" telephone operators during a strike. I got a call from a woman who had fallen down and needed help so I connected her (and stayed on the line) to 911 (as I recall). As it happened, she was only a few blocks from the office I was working in and it was within a few minutes of my 12 hour shift ending. So, when I left work, I drove right by the ambulance that had been dispatched to take care of her. Gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.
Recently saw the moving "Taking Chance" and it reminded me of my experience as an "escort". A friend from OCS and beyond was killed in a commercial plane crash outside of DC. His family requested that I serve as his escort from the funeral home to Arlington where he was to be burried. The as we rode to Arlington the funeral director told me that my friend was one of the first to be identified as his dental records were easily obtained from the USMC. He shared with me that my friend was being burried in a set of "casualty blues" (uniforms provided by the USMC). The uniform was really just placed in the casket with him as they couldn't actully put them on for reasons I chose not to investigate/view first hand, although after seeing "Taking Chance" I wish I had verified his presence in the casket and that he was "in" a set of "Officer's Blues" and not in a set of enlisted blues as I had seen in the supply depot years earlier. When I shared this with his mother, she said his blues were in his BOQ (dorm) room (so I told her about how the USMC provides uniforms) and that she had been told the casket was empty as they couldn't identify/find my friends remains. Although I chose not to check out the contents of the casket first hand, I had no reason to doubt the funeral director, and found myself in the akward position of telling my friend's mother that he was "in fact" in the casket.
Strange things sometimes happen.
Sadly,
Gus
The opinions in this post are my own. My comments are directed to those that might like an alternative approach to those already espoused.There is the right way,the wrong way,the USMC way, your way, my way, and the highway.
"I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it." Klaatu-"The Day the Earth Stood Still"
"You can't handle the truth!"-Jack Nicholson "A Few Good Men"
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. The Marines don't have that problem"-Ronald Reagan
Mark (& Cindi) 
