100% ONLINE EDUCATION FOR A GLOBAL FORCE
Cal U’s Global Online provides accredited degree
programs in a 100% online format. Asynchronous
courses provide access to classes from anywhere,
at any time and an accelerated schedule allows
you to earn your degree in less time.
We offer support to military students through
the University’s Office of Veterans’ Affairs.
Pennsylvania in-state tuition rates apply for
all active-duty military.
prisoner of war, any homeless veteran, or
any former Marine who has been treated
shabbily by some official agency if they
ever forgot they were once proud Marines, and you will get the same answer, a
swell of the chest and an answer of “No.”
It’s my Marine Corps and it’s your Marine Corps. We can get kicked about, but
we will still come back, always have, and
always will. We can’t just stop being Marines, nor do we want to.
SSgt Don Grantham
USMC, 1952-54
Dearing, Ga.
• Master of Education
Administrative Program for Principals
• Master of Arts Teaching
• Master of Science Exercise Science
and Health Promotion - 4 tracks
• Master of Science Sport Management
• Master of Arts Legal Studies: Homeland Security
• Master of Arts Legal Studies: Law & Public Policy
• Master of Arts Tourism Planning & Development
• Bachelor of Science in Sport Management:
Wellness & Fitness
• Bachelor of Science in Science & Technology:
Legal Studies
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Building Character. Building Careers.
A proud member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
Gyrene Jokes:
There’s a Million of ’Em!
Can We Have Some?
Marines who’ve ever stood a post,
gate or radio watch, and those who
have hurried up only to wait, have
heard hundreds of jokes about their
Corps. Aside from sea stories, Gyrene
jokes have been told and retold since
God said, “Let there be light,” and a
Marine was the NCOIC of the switch.
We want you to tell us your favorite Gyrene joke. We don’t care if
we’ve heard it before. It will be new
to someone. The only thing you have
to do is find a way to tell it that will
cause us to snicker and snort. Good
comedy writing gets extra points. Gut
busters get printed.
Keep it short—300 words or less—
but keep us laughing.
Send it to Gyrene Jokes,
Leatherneck Magazine, Box 1775, Quantico,
VA 22134, or r.keene@mca-marines
.org.
We must receive all jokes by
April 15, 2008. Winners will be
printed in the July 2008 issue and receive a Leatherneck souvenir.
“Take my ‘gunny’ ... please!”
uniform or the rank or have any of the
benefits, but these are all external trappings. No amount of official paperwork
or command decision can take away from
people the mental attitude or skills they
have unless they make their own decision
to give them up.
Honorable discharges are awarded for
many reasons, but not always for truly
honorable reasons. Some may make a mistake or suffer some event that will cause
them to get a less-than-honorable discharge
and remove them from active duty. If their
attitudes were not up to standard, then
they got what was coming to them. They
may no longer be allowed to take part in
official functions or be recognized officially. For many of these people, if you
scrape off the veneer, underneath you will
still find a Marine. The only thing that
can take that away from them is their own
attitude, their own decision.
It is often said, unlike the other military
services: There is no such thing as an ex-Marine; they are former Marines. I got
out of the Marine Corps in 1954 at the
end of my enlistment. The Marine is not
out of me yet, and I’m not alone in this.
Yes, I know there are regulations, rules
and a perceived persona, but there also is
a human factor.
Ask any Marine who has ever been a
John Love’s Poetry “Strikes a Chord
With Our Readers”
For years my first assault on
Leatherneck has been “Gyrene Gyngles,” with
my appreciation of John C. Love, whom
I consider the poet laureate of the U.S.
Marine Corps.
There has been a falling off of John
Love’s published poems, but I found reward in the February issue: “Six Thousand Souls” was its title. It brought Iwo
Jima back to me, and my incredible luck.
Three officers and 54 Marines of 3d Provisional Rocket Detachment, operating
with the Fifth Marine Division, left the island under their own power. We fired
more than 17,000 rockets.
We are thankful for whatever forces
brought us through that “hellish hole.”
Former 1stLt George H. Ward
Soquel, Ga.
• There are many Marines who could
arguably be called “poet laureate of the
Marine Corps,” and John C. Love is one
of them. Our poetry editor, Mary D. Karcher, says: “John has that all-too-rare ability
to strike a chord with our readers, who
often contact us with accolades for his
work.”
We, too, would like to see more, and perhaps John will see fit to accommodate us.
Contributors to “Gyrene Gyngles” are
reminded to submit original poems with
first publishing rights. Many readers send
us good poems that are written by friends,
or poems they’ve read and want to share
with our readers. That’s fine, but written
permission from the author must
accompany the poem.—Sound Off Ed.
A POW/MIA From the Korean War
Years ago, when everyone was purchasing aluminum bracelets in remembrance of missing American prisoners of
war, I purchased one inscribed with the
name: Private First Class Charles A. Taylor, USMC.
It has been more than 50 years since
PFC Taylor has gone missing. I have no
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