This evening, Jordan and I decided to go to the O-Club (Officer's Club) for dinner tonight. There are two sections to the O-Club, the fine dining and the bar, which still has a great selection of delicious meals. Being that it was our first time at the O-Club here, we went into the main dining section to speak to the hostess and make sure we were in proper dress code attire. The base here in Hawaii is extremely strict on dress code with, as we like to call them, bouncers outside the commissary (on-base grocery store) stopping people who are not in proper civilian attire (workout clothes, beach attire, etc). I have already been kicked out of the post office for showing up in gym clothes, and Jordan has been kicked out of the gym for wearing a tank top. Anyway, different stories for a different day. Point being, we wanted to make sure we were within proper civilian dress code attire for dinner at the Officer's Club before we risked the embarrassment of being asked to leave in front of any fellow officers. The hostess cheerfully greeted us and asked if we were here for the event banquet going on this evening; apparently we were looking dressed up enough for the special event going on! The hostess said as long as we weren't wearing "rubber slippahs" we were okay. Apparently slippers are what Hawaiians call flip flops. Luckily we both had on our trusty pair of leather rainbow flip flops, so we were good to go.
We decided to dine in the more casual bar area of the O-club, which was surprisingly empty for 5:30pm hour. After ordering our food (coconut shrimp for me after rave reviews from Brittney), we sat at the table and saw an older gentleman approach the bar and order a Budweiser. The bartender replied that they were out of Budweiser and only had Bud-light or Coors. Not happy with this, the older gentleman said, nope, just regular Budweiser. Sensing her frustration from a distance, I cringed as the bartender not so graciously or politely repeated back to the man, Bud-light or Coors. His response was classic, This is America isn't it? No Budweiser? No wonder you don't have any customers. Jordan was just about to approach the bar himself and order us two waters as we waited for our food, and could not help but laugh at the "awesomeness" of his response. As the man turned around to leave, Jordan was taken aback by something he has only seen in pictures. The gentleman, dressed in a suit jacket and tie, with a marine corps tie clip and various other pins on his lapel, had around his neck a light blue ribbon with a five pointed bronze star at the middle. The Medal of Honor.
Jordan told the bartender, ma'am I think we need to figure out a way to get this man a Budweiser. The annoyance in her third repeated response had grown exponentially since the first time, and she refused to even consider the option of having the next door Sam Adams Grill at the golf club bring one over for this true American hero. Rejected once again, Jordan and the man turned away from the bar and struck up conversation as Jordan, still taken aback by the reality of what was right in front of him, asked him if that was in fact a Medal of Honor and shook the older gentleman's hand. They talked for a few minutes about Jordan being a Marine, and the older gentleman being extremely excited at the knowledge that Jordan was a Cobra pilot and flew "gunships." However, being summoned by his daughter back to the banquet event, the conversation was cut short.
As we sat down to enjoy our meal, Jordan approached the bartender once more to ask for a knife ( if you couldn't already tell, the service was a bit lacking). After asking the bartender for a knife for his steak, he mentioned that the gentleman wanting a Budweiser was a Medal of Honor recipient. His words fell on deaf ears and a turned back, as the bartender completely ignored what Jordan was saying and walked out of the room to retrieve a knife. Wow. We both were so completely blown away by this lady's hostile attitude and flat out rudeness. I was also embarrassed and disgusted that she could ignore what that blue ribbon holding up that bronze star stood for. This man had made the greatest sacrifice ever to be recognized today; the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Forces of the USA. Regardless of her ability to get this man his beer of choice or not, if there were ever a customer to show the utmost customer service, respect and kindness, it would have been this man. And this is the OFFICER'S CLUB, ON A MARINE CORPS BASE, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
As Jordan and I prayed and proceeded to enjoy our dinner, we found ourselves still so upset about this episode. How could it be that we were pinching ourselves in awe of this great man in our very presence, and this woman could not offer him the time of day? It was disgusting. As we were discussing whether or not we should say something to the bartender directly, or instead to the manager, the gentleman came back into the bar area, and resigned himself to order a Bud-light. He walked over to our table and struck up conversation with Jordan once again about those "gunships" that saved his life. Jordan offered him a seat at our table, saying we would be honored to have you join us. From that moment on, I looked on third person, and took in this amazing moment: a Vietnam vet, a retired Sergeant Major in the Marine Corps, a recipient of a Medal of Honor, a Bronze Star with Valor, and 2 Purple Hearts, was sitting here talking to Jordan about the Marine Corps and about war. Over the next 20 minutes I kept telling myself, take this all in, remember this, remember that, this is sooo amazing. His daughter eventually came to retrieve him again to tell him the ceremony was beginning to start. He shrugged her off with a whatever, ya ya I'll be there, and continued talking with us. And since my mind struggled with taking in and being present for this once in a lifetime moment, and mentally recording every word this man spoke, I will not put anything he said in quotes because I do not want to put words in this man's mouth if they aren't true to the recollection I have; however, this is what I remember from the conversation, most of which was delivered with the most intense, wide-eyed stare and very aggressive knife hand within inches of both of our faces:
It was a shit sandwich over there (In Vietnam).
Back in our day those 2nd Lt. pilots were too young to go out in public without their mothers. We needed pilots so bad they were straight out of school and done with flight school in 2-4 months.
Those gunships saved my life out there. Just the sound of them being there scared the enemy away. When those gunships would come in, they would smoke them all, just smoke them.
The worst times I ever had in Vietnam were when the Cobras had unloaded all their ammo and had to go back to the base to reload, before they could fly back out to us again. It felt like they took forever. I don't know what you guys do back there, have a few beers or something, but in the meantime we are fighting hand to hand combat on the ground.
Back then we would stack ammo cans in the form of an arrow. We would rip the tops off of them and light fires inside of the cans ( almost like an sos on the ground) in order to give the air support information on the direction we needed them to fire.
You never know what you will do when faced with a life or death situation. But if you are going to fight, you have to fight without hesitation. You aren't thinking about your family, your kids, or your wife at home, you are thinking about how you are going to live. You will do things you never thought capable in those moments.
I still remember when the medivac helicopters would come in to transport the injured out of warzones, the Cobras would circle like vultures. Circle, circle, circle, like vultures, ready to smoke anyone that attempted to pull anything during this extraction.
When I was a recruiter and a young kid would ask me what the Marine Corps would give to me, I told him a uniform, that's it. A uniform you can wear with PRIDE. If that's not good enough, you can go talk to the Army, Navy, Air Force etc.
(When asked respectfully if he would share how he earned his medal of honor) It was a night ambush, they were all around us. We were a platoon of 45, and left with less than a squad of 15. The only way we could tell who was on our side, was by the night silhouette of their helmets atop their head. We shot at everyone without helmets.
(...after he left the table that evening, we both proceeded to google him. After reading his Medal of Honor citation, we discovered just how humble this account was. During this night attack, a grenade bounced off his chest and he proceeded to bury it in the mud and lay over it, protecting his fellow men from a most certain death. When the grenade exploded, it also detonated all the ammunition on his belt. Despite heavy injuries to his chest and right arm, and he continued to lead his Marines on the ground to safety.)
In Vietnam, 246 Medals of Honor were issued, only 57 of those were to Marines; furthermore, of the total 246, 154 of those were issued posthumously. In total, there were 9,087,000 who served during the Vietnam Era, which would mean .0027% of those served earned a Medal of Honor alive or posthumously, and only .001695% received the honor and lived to accept it. I can't even begin to calculate what the chances are that we, in our lifetime, would be so honored to not only see and meet one of these men, but to also have the opportunity to sit down and speak with him, to hear his story, and to be given words of wisdom. Amazing. I wish I could have recorded the whole thing so as not lose a second of this experience to the abyss of a distant memory.
As this gentleman, who's name I don't feel comfortable putting online because of the lack of detailed accuracy of the memory quotes from above, reluctantly returned to his banquet, we both stood up to shake this true American hero's hand and thank him for giving us the honor and the pleasure of sitting down with us. If you are interested in learning more about this absolutely bad-ass and awesome Marine, text me and I will give you his name so you can google him. He even has his own wikipedia page, he's that awesome ;) .
So that was our amazing night, which I could not wait a second longer to document. I know that the words this man shared and the knowledge he imparted on Jordan will be life altering. One day we will look back on this encounter and realize how it changed Jordan's perspective, his career, and both of our lives. What other 1st Lieutenant gets to speak to a retired Sergeant Major in the Marine Corps (the highest enlisted rank) one-on-one, who is also a Medal of Honor recipient. Crazy. I am still processing everything.
In other news, now that Jordan has checked in to the squadron he is officially the boot. The boot is what they call the new guy, as in he is straight out of boot camp. In Jordan's squadron, 367 Scarface, they make the boot carry around a Cobra Tiki Man at all times. People will try and steal it from him, and it his job to keep the Cobra Tiki safe and secure at all times!
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| Notice the Cobra head coming out of the top of the Tiki Man |
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