[pct-l] JUST KIDS....Taking Chance

[Reinhold Metzger]

Yes Switchback,
Those were the times before "REI & the ULTRA LIGHT REVOLUTION" when only 
"Hard Core
Mountain Men" like, Switchback and Reinhold, dared to venture into the 
wilderness
hauling everything they needed to survive anything mother nature might 
throw at them
in huge steel frame packs and bears and mountain lions were nervous.

Hey, I remember the first time I hiked Mt. Whitney back in 1968.
I was a recently discharged bad a$$ Marine, used to hauling heavy packs 
and it went
against my grain to burden Karen, my recent bride, with a pack.
So everything went into 2 Marine infantry packs, strapped together, and 
onto my back.
Not only that, but we also brought along "MITZY" our 10 lb darling 
miniature Dachshund.
After a while, with those short legs, she was all covered with dust, 
except for her black
nose and eyes, so I put her also into my monster pack.
So as Karen was skip hoping along singing a song I was moaning and 
groaning stomping
up Mt. Whitney in "Combat Boots" with a Marine first aid pack, four 
water canteens  a
bayonet strapped to my cartridge belt and 2 Marine infantry packs on my 
back.
But with Karen coooooing into my ear "Reinhold you are my HERO" made it 
all worth it
because that is all I ever wanted to be...Karens "HERO".

Let me tell you, I was a sight to behold...Bears would run when they saw 
me but the girls
would giggle.
It seems that hairy legs in combat boots get the girl's romance motor 
running.
Karen did not like that so I gave up hiking in combat boots.

BTW....you guys ain't really..."Hard Core"...unless you hiked Whitney in 
"Combat Boots".

Say Switchback, Ground Pounder,....I understand that "nowadays" the guys 
make their
women carry their own packs.

Yes, things have really changed from the time Switchback and JMT 
Reinhold ruled the trails

JMT Reinhold...Karen's Hero
.....................................................................................................................................
Switchback wrote:
I consider our Vets to be first responders to. Only they responded for 
the whole nation,
including all its various regions and groups. Rare and impressive. That 
is what I like about
the trail.
I remember back in the old days on the PCT, when the last Ice Age snows 
were retreating
from the Sierras. When there were no first responders, when we had to 
deal with renegade
Neanderthal tribes and Saber Tooth Tigers, etc.
This was back when mountain men and women had to fight their way north 
to Canada
through glaciers and hostile natives and no  REI.
I thank you
....................................................................................................................................
Reinhold wrote:

Switchback, Ground Pounder...you guys served and know what I am talking 
about.
******
To my Hiking buddies,....those who served and those who know the "PAIN".

Like always, on Memorial Day, I was watching the movie "Taking Chance"
and it took me back to a time very long ago.
If  "Memorial Day"  means anything to you, you owe it to yourself to watch
the movie "Taking Chance".
It will rip your heart out, make you feel all mushy inside and make you
appreciate and respect the honor bestowed upon our fallen heroes on
Memorial Day.
It is by far the movie that best reflects what Memorial Day stands for.


I don't know what it is about Memorial Day that makes me feel this way
and makes me say the things I am about to say.......
/
We were  "just kids",  in the summer of 1965, when we landed in Vietnam.
//"Just kids", most of us 18-19-20 years old, just barely out of 
High//School,
not yet old enough to drink but old enough to die for our //country. /
/We never could quite understand that....if you are old enough to die //for
your country you should be old enough to drink. /
/With one year of advanced infantry training including jungle, desert, 
//cold
weather, hand to hand combat and raider training we were "Gung-Ho//"
Marines, tough enough to chew nails...I mean we were Captain //Tolleson's
Echo 2/7, the cream of the crop of the Marine Corps' //Raider Battalion and
ready to kick a$$. //
We were "just kids", eager to be Marines, eager to serve during a time //of
war, eager to be heroes. //
That naive fantasy thinking can change mighty quick when the landing //
crafts hit the beach and bullets start flying.
//There is no glory in war, only misery......it is your worst nightmare. //
Our first casualty was by friendly fire....the tragic part was that 
//the bullet
that caused our first casualty was fired by the casualties //best friend.
//In combat, sometimes reflex decisions have to be made in a split second
and //sometimes those decisions turn out not to be the right ones.
//In my mind there is no greater honor than serving your country during 
//a time
of war and no greater sacrifice than a soldier paying the //ultimate 
price while
serving his country during a time of war.
//Take Pat Tillman for instance....Pat was a professional football 
//player who
had fortune and fame yet walked away from a 3.6 million //dollar 
contract to
serve his country and paid the ultimate //price...ironically, also by 
friendly fire.
//But it does not matter, friendly fire, enemy fire, the results are 
//always the
same and Memorial Day is to honor all of our fallen heroes,//for they 
served
their country and paid the ultimate price. //
If it were not for men like that, TRUMP might be our Prime Minister or 
//our
national language might be German and Memorial Day is to remind us //of
that and pay our respect to these fallen heroes who sacrificed //their lives
so that we can enjoy what we have today.

//We did not consider ourselves to be "just kids",...but now that I am 
older //and
wiser I realize, we WERE "just kids".

//Nothing has really changed and many of our troops//are still "just 
kids"....not yet
/

/old enough to drink, //but old enough to die for their country. //
/

/Think about that for a moment, on Memorial Day, and what that day 
//stands for. /

/Reinhold Metzger
//Sgt. USMC 1964-68
//Gunner, Echo Co., 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines

/

/http://imgur.com/aJGLZTh
/





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