Invisible Men

Invisible Men

You see them every weekend walking up and down the streets of the
military towns or up and down the malls across America. Some are sober
and others are carrying large loads of beer to their hotel rooms. Most
do not appear old enough to drink much less be given a weapon and
orders to go fight for their country.

They stroll excitedly wherever they go. Sometimes racing across streets
on foot or piling out of a cab at the movie theater. Wherever they go
they are in a hurry. The must make the most use of their free time,
they have to have maximum fun before going back to intensive and
rigorous military training. It's a need for stress release and a need
to be an innocent teenager again. Most know how to kill with extreme
proficiency but would never use these skills to hurt the civilians they
are sworn to protect. Have you ever wondered what makes them so frantic
looking while out on liberty in our city? Do you even notice them
anymore? Have they become "invisible" to you?

In an effort to make our young men and women in the military more real
for you I have provided a small glimpse into the life of a few
Marines:

"Jackson, I told you we have to get this place cleaned up before Sgt
Thompson gets here!"

"Dude, get off my back&;#8230;I know what I'm doing." He said as he
placed the
large poster of "Chesty" Puller on his barracks room wall so as to be
the first thing
one would see upon entering the room.

"Sgt Thompson will take one look at this and know that we are some
seriously
motivated Marines!" PFC Jackson said.

"Alright, but this better work because our room is a mess!" Private
Jones said
with a lot of worry in his voice as he looked around the room.

"We have 30 minutes before inspection. Let's make the most of it. You
get the
head and I'll clean up out here." PFC Jackson said.

"Yeah, that's right&;#8230;pull that PFC I out rank you crap and
make me clean the toilet, huh? That ain't working this time Jarhead!"
Jones said with determination.

"No problem, you stress grenade. I got the head." Jackson said.

They frantically cleaned their room using as much Pine Sol as possible
to eliminate the
odors of sweat clothes, beer and a toilet that had not been cleaned in
a good while. They could hear the rooms down the hall calling
themselves to attention and the loud growling voice of Sgt Thompson
echoed throughout the barracks. He was getting closer to their
room and still they cleaned. He was next door now and they could hear
his voice clearly.

"You call this clean, Sullivan? I want to see myself in your tile.
When was the last time you cleaned this shower? I could make a quick
batch of penicillin from all the mold in there!" Sgt Thompson
boomed.

The adjacent inspection would have been comical if we had not been next
on his agenda.
We raced around wiping up the last bits of dust from our desks and
saying a few prayers.

Then Sgt Thompson's huge shadow fell into our room.

"Attention on deck!" Private Jones screamed.

"Marine you have a loud voice. Is that because your head is empty and
the sound is amplified before it exits your mouth?" Sgt Thompson said
not even looking at Private Jones not even expecting an
answer&;#8230;his eyes were locked on the poster of "Chesty"
Puller.

"Who owns that poster?" Sgt Thompson inquired.

"It's mine, Sgt Thompson!" Shouted PFC Jackson.

"You like Lieutenant General Puller do you Jackson?" Sgt Thompson
said
looking Jackson in the eyes.

"Yes Sergeant" PFC Jackson said. He chanced a quick glance over to
Jones and
communicated to him with his eyes that he owed him his very life
because of his brilliant
idea to display a poster of this Marine hero.

"What do you know about "Chesty" Puller?" Sgt Thompson asked.

PFC Jackson was taken back a bit by this question but quickly
recovered, "Sergeant he was a great Marine who earned the Navy Cross
five times."

"Impressive PFC Jackson. I see you know your history. Besides fighting
do you
know what Chesty Puller was famous for?" Sgt Thompson asked staring the
young
PFC in the eye.

"No Sergeant." Jackson said.

"He was able to walk into a room during an inspection and immediately
find all the errors. He could instantly see through the clouds of
deception and the heavy stench of Pine Sol. Some say I might even have
the same kind of abilities as our beloved Chesty. But then I wouldn't
want to brag. You boys have fun this weekend? How long
did you spend cleaning your room? 30 minutes? I don't have to look
around in here. I know this place is filthy. I'll be back tomorrow
morning to re-inspect. Just so you learn this lesson you are both on
mess duty for this week." Sgt Thompson said alternating his glaring
eyes from Jones to Jackson.

He turned to leave. At the door he wheeled about.

"Take down that poster until you have earned the right to display it
with pride."
Sgt Thompson barked and moved on to the next room.

Jones and Jackson both slowly slumped down into their chairs and
contemplated their fate. A weekend of fun for a week on mess duty. Not
a really good trade especially when it involves getting Sgt Thompson
upset. On top of all that they used a poster of "Chesty" to try to help
them get over on the inspection. Down right sacrilege. They deserved to
be on mess duty.

"Jones, I'm sorry for getting us into this mess." Jackson said to his
buddy.

"Forget it. We will get through this. After all we made it through
boot camp right?" Jones said.

"Yeah, we did, didn't we? Remember Sgt Chauff? What an evil Drill
Instructor! At least Sgt Thompson is not like him!" Jackson said trying
to lighten things up a bit.

The both reminisced about boot camp and all the crazy things they
experienced as they began to clean their room for real and prepare for
work.

The above story could have happened yesterday or 10 years ago. There
are countless stories like the one told above. Stories of that go
beyond the mundane cleaning of rooms. Stories of real training, real
operations, real events and happenings that would make you feel proud
of your military and especially your Marines. They deserve no special
treatment for their sacrifice and they don't ask for any but they do
not want to be "invisible" in your eyes. They do deserve to be
recognized as fellow citizens and some of America's best
soldiers.

Good night, Chesty&;#8230;wherever you are.