I just finished reading Thomas E. Ricks' "Making the Corps", his 1997 book about USMC boot camp in the mid to late 90's. The book explained that USMC Drill Instructors no longer get 'physical' with recruits like they did back in the 70's and before. I went through boot camp in 1978, but I only recall one time when a D.I. got physical with a member of my platoon. There was a kid named Private Germany in the platoon. Germany was easily the most athletically gifted and physically fit kid in the platoon. He was so fit that pretty much none of the things they did to break us down seemed to phase him in the least. I remember in some of the worst of times, the rest of us were grunting, groaning, sweating, and bulgingly red-eyed, Germany was just having fun, often smiling, almost mockingly.
So one day one of the DI's, a Guy named SSgt Anger (great name for a DI), had had enough. Anger wasn't with us more than about 5-6 weeks, and he disappeared. We saw him next he was a Gunny and was Company Gunny for a different company in our battalion. Anyway, SSgt Anger was PT'ing us for something (whatever, they didn't really wait for an airtight excuse), and Germany was going through the motions like usual, smiling, happy, having a ball. So Anger stopped us and brought Germany up front. "You think this is just a game, do you, Germany?" Long story short, a few minutes later, Anger took of his SSgt chevrons and told Germany they'd settle their differences in the gear locker. We heard some banging and stuff, and when they came out, Germany was beat up pretty good. Unfortunately, Germany washed of boot camp out a few weeks later. The story we heard was about a girl and a baby back home. I don't know if they washed him out because of something to do with her or for something else, but we never did see him again. Oddly, Germany's picture is in my boot camp book, so he must have washed out right at the very end, after the book was finished.
A funny second part to the gear locker incident, is that right afterward Sgt Washington, the meanest sadistic bastard of our DI's, asked if anyone else in the platoon wanted to settle anything with him in the gear locker. Private Ryan immediately stepped forward. "Sir, if the drill instructor wants to settle things with this private, the private would love to go into the gear locker now!" "What's your beef, Ryan?" "Sir, when my girlfriend's picture went onto the hog board, the Drill Instructor said 'Who's Dago is this?', and said the private would have duty on graduation day when she comes to boot camp, and would show her a real man. After we get done in the gear locker, that won't happen." And Washington didn't go in there with Ryan. Germane to the story is the fact that John was a PAL heavyweight boxing champion in New York back before boot camp. He'd have tore Washington's head off, and I'm sure Washington knew it just as well as Ryan and every other recruit in our platoon did, too. Ryan was a damned stud, and was probably 30 or 40 pounds heavier and 4-5 inches taller. I'm not sure 3 or 4 DI's would have been smart to take him in the gear locker, at least not without weapons of some kind.
I wonder where Germany and Ryan are today? I was a little older, so I'm guessing they're both 60. Funny how reading that book brought back memories.
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