When President Carter pardoned the draft dodgers that went to Canada I was one of the few marines that supported that decision. I felt that anyone with the convictions to go and live in a foreign country deserved a break. I am often asked how I feel about marines who get bad discharges - then claim it was the stress that made them f*** up? Well, the jury is still out on that one. Marines these days get a lot of support. The military has moved more aggressively in this (Iraq) war to increase awareness and treatment of combat stress than in previous conflicts.

Mental health teams have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers and Marines are asked about their mental and physical health before and after their tours." Thank God that Chesty Puller isn't around to see this! If the Marine Corps wanted you to have a shrink - they would have issued you one!

The argument stresses that either the Pentagon or VA should revise it's policies so that these combat veterans are not stripped of the medical care they need to get better. I can't say whether or not this is a good idea but it doesn't feel right. If these guys are let back into the family what about all the other guys who were discharged for misconduct? How far back do we go? This 1,019 Marines from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are a drop in the bucket! One grain in a bucket of Iwo Jima sand. The VA has to beg for money now, congress can vote themselves generous pay raises but when it comes to vets the money just isn't there. What happens when we add a few million mis-fits to the mix?

It's been said that "PTSD does not force anyone to do an illegal act. The consequences to the Marine Corps of not upholding those standards of behavior would be a much greater tragedy. It would dishonor all those Marines who have not broken the rules." Mental health experts say that this problem certainly occurred in prior wars. But combat-induced mental disorders and how they may contribute to bad behavior were not as well understood. Most Marines do their jobs in a quiet and efficient manner, some just can't hack it.

Allow me to take you back a moment in time, the year; 1972, the place; Camp Pendleton, California. The "war" in Vietnam is still dragging on and will be for another three years. Some 7,000 Americans are yet to die. In what some of us consider to be nothing more than a once- in -every -five year "purge" of the undesirables in the Corps, the Marines announce a "Drug Amnesty" Program. This means that anyone who wants to can get out, no questions asked, just belly up to the company office and file the paperwork. No counseling, no "do you realize what your'e doing?", no mentoring of any kind. 

At the time I happened to be the Personnel Chief of a Company attached to an Engineer Battalion. I was the guy that had to prepare the paperwork to process these discharges. Against orders from my superiors I would talk to some of these guys privately and on my own time to see what was motivating them. I cared about these men as individuals, men I had fought alongside, and I thought it was a terrible thing for them to do just to get away from the problems they were having in the Corps.

I knew most of these marines personally and drugs were not the problem. Stateside crap was killing them. These marines hated their superiors, hated the "Stateside Chickenshit", and just wanted out. Their real reasons ranged from not being able to handle a sadistic NCO to too many inspections. Unfortunately, if admitting to a drug problem could get them out, so much the better.

I can't remember how many marines I processed out during that period but each one broke my heart and there were more than a few. My First Sergeant was a tough old bird and OLD CORPS all the way. He forced me under threat of captains mast to notate on their DD-214 that reason for separation was for "DRUG ADDICTION."

Let me repeat, these marines were not drug addicts. Many of them had served tours in Vietnam and God only knows what may have happened to their health and state of mind since then. But do you think any one of them realized that they could be jeopardizing their future care without an honorable discharge?

The VA has discretion to grant full benefits in other-than-honorable or bad conduct discharge cases. It can still deny them benefits if the agency decides the underlying misconduct was "willful and persistent." A largely subjective decision according to VA officials.

The brass talks about "scores of combat veterans are being dismissed from the Marines without the medical benefits needed to treat combat stress." In recent months the Marine Corps has begun investigating the matter, identifying 1,019 Marines (shitbirds?) who may fall into this group since the war in Iraq began.

This story gets even weirder when a Navy Captain who co-ordinates the Marine Corps' combat stress program goes on to say in a classic example of military double-speak, "That it happens at all is obviously not ideal." Are you kidding me? This Navy Captain, William Nash, says that each case will be examined to learn whether the Marine suffered combat stress and whether that might have contributed to the misconduct.

Again, excuse me but isn't the Marine Corps still considered a branch of the Navy? Let me repeat; The United States Marine Corps has spoken; stress disorder is not a legal defense for misconduct.

The stories you hear about the abuse of drugs was no exaggeration. My buddies and I were "juicers", drank our fair share of Pabst and raised some hell in an attempt to temporarily put aside our fears. But we did nothing more than get loud and obnoxious.

Unlike the "heads" (dope smokers) most of the guys in my unit did not do drugs and go around shooting people. We knew who these druggies were and to a one, they were a bunch of pathetic slackers. The Marines have been known to work miracles at molding character out of total meatheads but even they can't do the impossible. If you have nothing to work with, a personality that only shows meanness and stupidity even a platoon of Marine Corps Drill Instructors can't help you. Just give em all machine guns and hope for the best.

It was always those guys, the ones who got caught doing something illegal who whined about how the stress of combat made them do it. Mostly it was the REMF's who couldn't face the consequences of their actions and fortunately for them grenades were in ready supply. After all, dead men tell no tales. 

I am a disabled vet myself (PTSD) and when I was in stomping around in the jungle of Vietnam as a nineteen year-old Marine in 1969 I was horrified by the things I saw (and did). When I came home I had trouble sleeping and lunged for a weapon every time I heard a loud noise. Took me a long time to get over it.

People talk about performing under pressure in business? That's nothing, try being terrified for a whole year straight sometime and see what that does to your stress levels! That's when your true character comes out. Fight or flight.

But Marine training prepares you for this as much as any outfit can and because of that we are able to put aside our emotions until we have the luxury of thinking them out in a safe place. You bitch about it, punch some sand bags, cry a little, then square yourself away and mark another day off your short-timers calendar. You can mourn your friends when you are back in the world where no one is shooting at you.

I ended up registering for the Camp Lejeune water registry, "whose purpose is to help the Marine Corps find and notify individuals who may have served aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987 of "potential" exposure to contaminated drinking water." Well, knowing the Corps as well as I do when they are forced to admit something bad it usually means we are as good as dead!

Here is a copy of the letter they sent me. Now I lay me down to sleep, my soul for the Corps to keep. Melodramatic, maybe, but here it is almost 40 years later and guess what they are calling this? Are you ready? I wonder how long it took for the government pinheads to come up with this one: Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water! How's that for non-threatening military-speak to tell us that the drinking water was contaminated with TCE and PCE, two very toxic substances. What it really means is bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.

This is the cute little pamphlet they sent me. First they tell me I've been poisoned then they say "The Marine Corps is a good steward of the environment and remains committed to the independent research initiatives associated with this issue." I don't doubt the Corps, it's the brass that spins these things.

I am not an alarmist but I remember how many years it took the government to admit that Agent Orange was harmful. Basically I want any marines who served at Camp Lejuene to get registered and see where all this goes next. I would bet this story gets buried long before I do.

Watch as Steven Segal demonstrates the art and visualize his opponents as the "processed sugar" enemies. There's the pie/cake/donut enemy, the candy enemy and the pasta enemy. Watch as he skillfully diverts them away from his body.

As marines are trained in ju jitsu they may find this method more to their liking but anyone can do it.

That Doesn't Taste Like a Diet Drink

Here is a mouth-watering chocolate milkshake recipe supplied by our friends at South Beach Living. It's low-carb, low-calorie and low-fat. Since I have been making this I have managed to avoid countless calories from the carbs I would have consumed had I not been completely satisfied with this particluar substitution. I used Nature Sweet as my sugar substitute but otherwise followed their recipe. (the secret ingredient here is; a touch of vanilla extract). I have made the same shake using other flavors too: cherry, peppermint, almond and rasberry but I keep coming back to the one with vanilla.

Have this one for desert and savor it like you would a fine brandy or as a snack to ward off the sugar-monster. It's a guilt-free way of satisfying your cravings for sweets and it works for me. I have already lost over 120 pounds while enjoying recipes like this. The key to my weight loss success has been substitution - find a way to replace the bad with the good and if it don't taste good - forget about it!

Here is the actual recipe:

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons granular sugar substitute

Pinch salt

3 cups cold 1% milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ice cubes

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, stir together cocoa powder, sugar substitute, and salt. Slowly pour in 1 cup of the milk. Whisk until smooth, and then whisk in remaining 2 cups milk and vanilla.Fill 4 (8-ounce) glasses with ice. Pour Chilly Chocolate over ice and serve.

The bottom line: Per ¾-cup serving: 90 calories, 2.5 g fat (1.5 g sat), 12 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 95 mg sodium

For more mouth-watering recipes like this visit our friends at South Beach Living  

Life Lessons From A Dog Named Lava

This dog is amazing - and marines are particular suckers for dogs and kids - in that order!