Godspeed Marines

[USMCGrunt]

Marine reservists killed in Afghanistan.

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/ne...ntifies-three-marines-killed-in-bagram-blast/

Back in my day, we active duty Marines didn't give the Reservists much respect. (unfairly, I might add). The Marine Reserves have taken a lot of in-theatre assignments over the last few years and have born the brunt of a lot of the demands. This article does a great job highlighting the type of Marine who make up these Reserve units:

https://thenewsrep.com/116207/op-ed...e-deaths-of-3-reserve-marines-in-afghanistan/

Semper Fi Marines

 

[THParent]

"Those guys we’d rag on for having the audacity to maintain private sector jobs were the same guys who would show up wearing their (not particularly thick) dress blues in three feet of snow to support a full honors funeral for a man they’d never met, on a day they weren’t required to serve. They were the guys who would accept ADOS (Active Duty Operational Support) orders to burn through their two weeks of vacation time this year to help us get through workups for other Marines to deploy. They were the guys who showed up at drill weekend with bloodshot eyes after working 60 hours the week prior as police officers, firefighters, and school teachers. They were the lifeblood of their communities, and in those brief hours that most in their fields would reserve for rest and recuperation, they were lacing up their boots and heading into the field with us for another training rotation."

 

[OldRetSWO]

FWIW, in my world, drill weekends fell into what we called "The twelve day week" because there were no breaks. Most Navy Reserve officers that I know who did not
live close to a fleet concentration area traveled for monthly drills and the higher you rise in the organization, the further it seems to be. I was a member of a very high
profile staff unit where my commute to drills was almost 5 hours and I was BELOW the average for that unit. At on point the JAG for the Readiness command in Newport
lived in Los Angeles and made the trip on his own dime (as we all did) on a monthly basis. I also had a shipmate at a command in Newport who was a farmer in Illinois
and drove the 12 or so hours to and from drills. Single guys whose parents took care of the farm when he drilled or went on Active Duty orders.