M14 Forum

willriskit

True, we never forget the names of DI's but if my senior DI is still alive, he's pushing 90. We had a DI in our series who was a member of an ethnic minority commonly encountered in the southwest. What I remember about him was that he was with our platoon on an intermittent basis and to state the case politely, was thoroughly disliked by everyone, including his own people. About ten years ago, my wife and I were invited to a neighbor's (who was of that ethnic group) birthday party at their ranch. They must have been related to everyone in Texas and they all seemed to be there. One older man would look at me and if I looked back, he'd turn away. Long story short, it was my least favorite DI of all. I asked him if he was Sgt. X and he corrected me that he was retired Gy.X. I realize that we all change as we age, but I wasn't prepared to see that Marine with long white hair in a ponytail and large earrings!

Semper Fi, amigo!

Trac2142

Platoon 2094, Parris Island, October '78 to Jan '79.

Senior DI: SSgt. Houle, solid leadership, retired as a Sgt Major now running a USMC Museum in Jacksonville, NC

Sgt. Cruz, he was from Guam, little guy, but could run us into the ground!

Sgt. Dugan, big guy, mean, ugly, rode us like a broke mule, never let up.

Sgt. Kelly, we were his first platoon, often made mistakes while calling cadence and had to stop himself from laughing in front of us at times. One day while cleaning the underside of the racks, I noticed a pair of shoes appearing on the other side. He called me out on the quarterdeck...just because he hadn't f***'d with me that day.

Really Old Corps

Buck Sgt. Gary Beyer. Jr. DI., MCRD San Diego. Plt. 216 1963.

The best cadence I have ever heard. My buddy Frank said he had better rhythm than Dizzy Gillespie.

Also, his EGA tattoo looked like it was done by Michelangelo.

USMC6094

MCRD Parris Island
July to October 1997
Platoon 2088
Echo Company, Lead Platoon, Lead Series

SDI-Sgt. Simmons-Tall and lanky, level headed and fair, as a platoon we wouldve walked thru the fires of hell for him and felt guilty as hell when we would disappoint him.

Sgt. Febles- Wirey Puerto Rican, could run for days and like to follow every statement with "understand that" in his heavily accented speach. A Desert Storm combat vet, 0311 to the bone. I saw him about 5 years ago at a gunshow in Jacksonville NC and he was recently stationed at Camp Johnson and was a MSgt.

Sgt. Robertson-Was our Heavy, you couldnt EVER do anything right for him, also a Desert Storm combat vet. Last I heard he was getting out due to higher tenure since he was passed over for Staff and was close to the 13 year mark that was the cut-off back then.

Sgt. Wooten-The darkest dark green Marine I ever knew or saw LOL. He was our jokester. His Smokey was too small so he wore it perched on the spot just above his forehead. He was a bulk fuelman and also served in Desert Storm. He was the only one of the four that would laugh at us, and when that happened we knew it was a BAD thing.