Read Online My Men are My Heroes by Nathaniel R. Helms - Free Book Online

envelopmentsusing helicopters, and simply hiked over miles of rugged terrain carrying huge equipment loads to simulate a real combat deployment.
    â€œI liked deploying,” Kasal says. “I like Third World countries. People are really nice to us and welcome us. They are usually very curious and follow us around so close we can’t train. I like being there better than training in more modern countries where everything is the same.”
PARTY TIME
    There was a lot of work, but all work and no play makes “Private Schmuckatelli” a dull Marine indeed. Marines never get too crotchety or too old to remember when they were young Marines. “Sometimes we trained and sometimes we would just pull into liberty ports and party,” Kasal recalls. “Life is simpler in Third World countries. All the time we would be out somewhere and people would just come up and bring us food. They would want to talk. At the end of the day we would just stop and hang around talking to the local people.”
    Partying in exotic ports is always interesting, Kasal says. Everything is different. From street signs to far more mysterious pleasures and pursuits, the sights, tastes, smells, and sounds are completely foreign. New American guys on liberty for the first time in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Subic Bay, or any other Asian port on the Pacific archipelago won’t quickly forget what went on. They might not tell their mothers and sisters, but it is a unique experience.
    In September 1986 Kasal won a Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) of the Quarter award and was meritoriously promoted to Corporal. It was his third meritorious promotion, putting him ahead of the curve for career Marines. More important he was now officially a Marine combat leader. All he needed was some leadership experience to make it all work.
    He quickly found out that being a corporal definitely has its rewards. They are still subtle—it isn’t time to kick back in the sergeant major’s quarters sucking down a cup of coffee while bad-mouthing the boots and making fun of the junior officers—but there are benefits nonetheless. For Kasal the shit details like standing guard, working mess duty, and lifting and toting supplies and equipment diminished, and the first sergeant took an interest in his behavior. Corporals are probationary members of a closed and cloistered system bound by customs and traditions as old as the Corps itself. Entrance is limited to the chosen few so the enlisted leadership has to know if the junior Marine is going to make the cut.
    Getting promoted has other benefits as well. One is having more time in liberty ports for personal pursuits. Young Marines are on a tight leash most of the time and get edgy like overtrained thoroughbreds. For weeks at a time they are confined to eight-man and 10-man spaces that would instigate a lawsuit if they were inmates in a county jail. They are stressed, denied sleep, and roused at all hours of the day and night during training exercises. Sex and food, sex and drinking, sex and training, sex and cars, and just plain sex are the usual topics of conversation. When it comes time for a little relaxation after all this, Marines have a long, proud tradition of how to go about it.
    Depending on what port they pull into and what kind of ship they are on, Marines either go ashore over the brow—a platform from the ship to the pier—or in liberty boats, landing craft designated for transporting Marines ashore from a ship in the harbor. While the ships are in port the Marines receive mail, put aboard supplies, pull guard duty, and prepare for the next port of call. Civilians pulling into the same ports spend thousands of dollars for the opportunity. Marines pay in sweat and toil and deadly serious training.
    â€œWhile we were on my first WESTPAC is when I got introduced to partying,” Kasal says. “I never used to drink until I went to the Philippines the first time. That corrupted me