The Summer of 69
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f06QZCVUHg&list=RD9f06QZCVUHg
Attending the Evening Parade on Friday nights and the Sunset Parade on Tuesday nights at Iwo Jima became a ritual. It was always made us proud to be down there and be a tiny part of it. I guess you would call us MCgroupies, Marine Corps groupies, Devil Doggetts, Jarheadians, or whatever. We were always invited. We moved from the public bleachers to reserved seats every week at The Evening Parade. We never got tired of going. For those who have never been, the last few minutes are dedicated to all who made the ultimate sacrifice. We always had to wipe our tears away as we watched the finale of the ghostly looking bugler spotlighted on the roof of the barracks, playing taps. It was and still is a tear-jerker, which affected us the same way every time we watched it. After the show was over we would meet up with the guys and walk back down to the Navy Yard. We felt very proud to be walking with these heroes.
We always had to wait for them in the club while they showered and changed, not that we minded that. By now, we knew so many of the guys, and it was always good to find out how they were doing. It was a brotherhood of sorts, where they included us for snippets of their lives. They always seemed grateful to be given a little bit of personal attention, maybe because there was such a negative feeling from many who opposed the Vietnam war. These guys, mostly very young guys, were just as many victims of the war as the people we made them kill. They were tools used as a killing machine caught in a battle of survival. When they came home, they had been spit on, called baby killers, and looked down on by many. I did not like the war, did not think we should be there sacrificing our guys for a war that was not winnable, but I did support the men and women who were forced to carry out the government's stupidity. I never participated in any protests against the war, even though. I opposed it. I would never have done that and disrespected the troops and their families.
When Mike and MD changed, Judy and I would stay at the club for a while, drinking and talking and laughing. It was always a happy place, no mean drunks, no dramatic scenes between the guys or between them and their dates. When we left, we might drive around Crystal City, which was just beginning to be built up or go to Gravelly Point. In those days, there was not much there. Part of it was just gravel and dirt overlooking the Potomac River and directly across and close to the National Airport runways. My uncle used to take me there as a kid, and it is a place that I always return to, even in the present time. It was very dark and usually had a breeze coming across the water. You could almost reach out and touch the planes as they landed or took off, well, almost. I liked being there very much, it was dark and quiet, and then the multi-colored lights coming from the planes and the scream of the engines and vibrating ground would make the place come alive briefly. It was a rush. Then you could go back to necking if that's what you were doing. It also held memories for my uncle and my previous boyfriends that had come there with me. It had a special place in my heart. I felt like that place was my discovery; everyone I took there never knew it existed. We wore that place out in the summer of 69.
In the summer of 69, things were good. I had quit my job for the summer to have one last fling of being a teenager, not quite an adult. Days were spent sleeping late and going to the pool, hanging around with some of my friends like Shelley that were still in school. It was a simple time, and I would miss it later on.
I invited Shelley to go with us to the Friday night performance at the barracks. She had never been before. She was only16 at the time, still hovering on the edge of teen and young adult. She was still a little bit immature, so I had to talk with her about not reverting to the giggly girl behaviors if guys talked to her. I took her because she never seemed to have a boyfriend unless I introduced her to someone. I don't know why because she was charming and social.
We spent most of the afternoon getting ready. Shelley had to try on clothes, "no, Shelley, you CAN NOT wear shorts." Once we got the wardrobe down, we had to get those awful rollers out of her hair that had become an appendage to her body. I told her if she met someone and started dating that she could not wear her hair in curlers around him—what a turn-off. Wardrobe and hair completed, now came the makeup. She had a habit of putting liquid makeup on over liquid makeup, so she had layers of makeup on by the end of the night. I had to explain that she didn't need to hide her face; she had good skin; she just wasn't aware of how bad old makeup looks under new makeup. Now she was almost a woman, and the rest was up to her.
The three of us, Shelley, Judy and I headed down to the Navy Yard. We always went early to avoid the tourist crush and never rode the shuttle buses. We always walked up to the barracks. It was a terrible neighborhood back then, but it was safe because all of the activity related to the night kept the area flooded with people. Going to one of the performances is similar to being in a Catholic church. There was a lot of standing up, sitting, down, standing again, sitting, applause, no applause, and absolute silence. Judy and I knew all the moves, all of the "ups and downs" of it, literally. We had to watch her and grab her hands or tell her to "hush." If she was lucky, she would be coming back and would learn the routine. She was very impressed and tearful at the end, just like us. When we met the guys and walked back, we introduced her to them for the first time. She was agog, yes agog at the way they looked. And then we had to almost pull her along with us because she was eyeballing anything and everything in a uniform. It was cute, such a child, yeah, like I never did that.
When we got to the club, it was almost too much for Shelley. Here we go, a kid in a candy store, I want that piece, and that one and that one over there. She was in man heaven. These were not pimply-faced, scrawny, awkward teen boys. These were KILLERS. And the sight of all these attractive men was killing her. These were guys with clear skin and built-up bodies, deep voices, and deep down inside, they were all animals. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Shelley was a hit, and she was hit on all night. That one night built her confidence up more than her entire life had. The only thing I had to watch her about was drinking too much. My experience with her and my other friends from Virginia had been that she would get way too high. And then she would do stupid things, so we had to watch her. This night was not about the guys or Judy and me; it was about Shelley evolving into who she would become.
There was one guy that kept coming back to Shelley. It seemed like he really liked her. His name was Jim, and he was from Wisconsin. He was 20, like Mike, I think that might have been the average age. He had dark blond fuzz; they didn't really have much hair, you know. A little on top, and that was it. He was a cute guy, and he was polite and nice. She was behaving herself and acting mature. I had told her not to tell anyone she was 16. I told her to say she was a senior and try and change the subject. We didn't want her to scare anyone away. Jim asked her if he could see her again, so we told him we would be at the parade on Tuesday night, and then we would go to the club. She was in the MCgroupies now. And she was going to change in so many ways.
http://www.barracks.marines.mil/Parades/SunsetParade.aspx
http://www.barracks.marines.mil/Parades/EveningParade.aspx
http://www.yelp.com/biz/gravelly-point-park-arlington
http://www.partyearth.com/washington-dc/things-to-do/parks/gravelly-point-park-2/
 |
| Gravelly Point Park overlooking Potomac River |
We always had to wait for them in the club while they showered and changed, not that we minded that. By now, we knew so many of the guys, and it was always good to find out how they were doing. It was a brotherhood of sorts, where they included us for snippets of their lives. They always seemed grateful to be given a little bit of personal attention, maybe because there was such a negative feeling from many who opposed the Vietnam war. These guys, mostly very young guys, were just as many victims of the war as the people we made them kill. They were tools used as a killing machine caught in a battle of survival. When they came home, they had been spit on, called baby killers, and looked down on by many. I did not like the war, did not think we should be there sacrificing our guys for a war that was not winnable, but I did support the men and women who were forced to carry out the government's stupidity. I never participated in any protests against the war, even though. I opposed it. I would never have done that and disrespected the troops and their families.
When Mike and MD changed, Judy and I would stay at the club for a while, drinking and talking and laughing. It was always a happy place, no mean drunks, no dramatic scenes between the guys or between them and their dates. When we left, we might drive around Crystal City, which was just beginning to be built up or go to Gravelly Point. In those days, there was not much there. Part of it was just gravel and dirt overlooking the Potomac River and directly across and close to the National Airport runways. My uncle used to take me there as a kid, and it is a place that I always return to, even in the present time. It was very dark and usually had a breeze coming across the water. You could almost reach out and touch the planes as they landed or took off, well, almost. I liked being there very much, it was dark and quiet, and then the multi-colored lights coming from the planes and the scream of the engines and vibrating ground would make the place come alive briefly. It was a rush. Then you could go back to necking if that's what you were doing. It also held memories for my uncle and my previous boyfriends that had come there with me. It had a special place in my heart. I felt like that place was my discovery; everyone I took there never knew it existed. We wore that place out in the summer of 69.
In the summer of 69, things were good. I had quit my job for the summer to have one last fling of being a teenager, not quite an adult. Days were spent sleeping late and going to the pool, hanging around with some of my friends like Shelley that were still in school. It was a simple time, and I would miss it later on.
I invited Shelley to go with us to the Friday night performance at the barracks. She had never been before. She was only16 at the time, still hovering on the edge of teen and young adult. She was still a little bit immature, so I had to talk with her about not reverting to the giggly girl behaviors if guys talked to her. I took her because she never seemed to have a boyfriend unless I introduced her to someone. I don't know why because she was charming and social.
We spent most of the afternoon getting ready. Shelley had to try on clothes, "no, Shelley, you CAN NOT wear shorts." Once we got the wardrobe down, we had to get those awful rollers out of her hair that had become an appendage to her body. I told her if she met someone and started dating that she could not wear her hair in curlers around him—what a turn-off. Wardrobe and hair completed, now came the makeup. She had a habit of putting liquid makeup on over liquid makeup, so she had layers of makeup on by the end of the night. I had to explain that she didn't need to hide her face; she had good skin; she just wasn't aware of how bad old makeup looks under new makeup. Now she was almost a woman, and the rest was up to her.
The three of us, Shelley, Judy and I headed down to the Navy Yard. We always went early to avoid the tourist crush and never rode the shuttle buses. We always walked up to the barracks. It was a terrible neighborhood back then, but it was safe because all of the activity related to the night kept the area flooded with people. Going to one of the performances is similar to being in a Catholic church. There was a lot of standing up, sitting, down, standing again, sitting, applause, no applause, and absolute silence. Judy and I knew all the moves, all of the "ups and downs" of it, literally. We had to watch her and grab her hands or tell her to "hush." If she was lucky, she would be coming back and would learn the routine. She was very impressed and tearful at the end, just like us. When we met the guys and walked back, we introduced her to them for the first time. She was agog, yes agog at the way they looked. And then we had to almost pull her along with us because she was eyeballing anything and everything in a uniform. It was cute, such a child, yeah, like I never did that.
When we got to the club, it was almost too much for Shelley. Here we go, a kid in a candy store, I want that piece, and that one and that one over there. She was in man heaven. These were not pimply-faced, scrawny, awkward teen boys. These were KILLERS. And the sight of all these attractive men was killing her. These were guys with clear skin and built-up bodies, deep voices, and deep down inside, they were all animals. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Shelley was a hit, and she was hit on all night. That one night built her confidence up more than her entire life had. The only thing I had to watch her about was drinking too much. My experience with her and my other friends from Virginia had been that she would get way too high. And then she would do stupid things, so we had to watch her. This night was not about the guys or Judy and me; it was about Shelley evolving into who she would become.
There was one guy that kept coming back to Shelley. It seemed like he really liked her. His name was Jim, and he was from Wisconsin. He was 20, like Mike, I think that might have been the average age. He had dark blond fuzz; they didn't really have much hair, you know. A little on top, and that was it. He was a cute guy, and he was polite and nice. She was behaving herself and acting mature. I had told her not to tell anyone she was 16. I told her to say she was a senior and try and change the subject. We didn't want her to scare anyone away. Jim asked her if he could see her again, so we told him we would be at the parade on Tuesday night, and then we would go to the club. She was in the MCgroupies now. And she was going to change in so many ways.
http://www.barracks.marines.mil/Parades/SunsetParade.aspx
http://www.barracks.marines.mil/Parades/EveningParade.aspx
http://www.yelp.com/biz/gravelly-point-park-arlington
http://www.partyearth.com/washington-dc/things-to-do/parks/gravelly-point-park-2/
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