Cosmoline
Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out how watching the first half of FMJ would make you WANT to join the Marines. I know R. Lee is entertaining, but only from THIS side of the screen.
FMJ is the closest movie I've seen to what the USMC really is and the movie isn't even close.
In 1956 I went through Parris Island. R.Lee's yelling is somewhat accurate but the physical punishment was extreme in earlier bootcamp. "Thumping" was the name for beating you to the ground. Nothing like a hit in the gut to get your immediate attention.
The common punishments were,
Double-timing while holding your M1 over your head,
"Elbows and toes", where you got down like doing pushups except your fingers are locked behind your neck and you are supporting yourself on your elbows and toes.
Arms outstretched with your M1 on your finger.
Arms overhead holding the M1.
Regular push-ups.
Standing at attention for hours (my favorite because I found that I could go to sleep with my eyes open and rest)
Platoon punishments were continued until someone dropped and they were usually thumped.
The only thing I feared was "dry shaving".
With a bucket over your head you double-timed in place while singing the Marine Corps hymn. While doing this you dry shaved with a double edge razor. When you were done you had cut the hell out of yourself.
Thankfully I never had to do that.
I'm certain that these punishments are no longer done.
While my platoon was at the rifle range, about a week qualification, 500 yards, a DI marched his platoon into the swamp at night.
They were making the march at night with full packs. A number of them died.
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"The event
On April 8, 1956, at 20:00 hours, Staff Sergeant Matthew McKeon, a decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean War, led Platoon 71, his assigned platoon of 74 recruits, on an extra exercise to Ribbon Creek as a disciplinary measure. McKeon led the platoon toward a swampy tidal creek on Parris Island, South Carolina, near the eponymous Marine Corps recruit depot, and, upon arrival 45 minutes later, McKeon jumped into the creek and ordered the platoon to follow. From that point forward, the platoon marched along the creek bed. However, some of the young men could not swim and the platoon marched into deep water. There was a sudden burst of screaming and panic and then a mad dash for the shore. After a short while, it was noticed that some recruits were missing. Six men had drowned.
[edit] Investigation
Staff Sergeant McKeon was brought to a court of inquiry directly on the following day. At first, he was classified mentally and "emotionally stable" and "a mature, stable appearing career Marine." The court recognized that the detailed directives regarding and prohibiting certain Marine training methods were "correct and adequate," and that McKeon had launched an unnecessary and unauthorized disciplinary action. It was also found that he had been drunk and McKeon was recommended to be court-martialled. McKeon himself claimed he held a minor degree of guilt, and suggested only being "part of the system," and that the supervision regarding basic training should be restructured.
[edit] Consequences
Staff Sergeant McKeon was brought to court martial amidst a howl of public condemnation about the "brutality" of Marine Corps training. Many Marines came to McKeon's defense pointing out such training was necessary for survival in combat. McKeon's supervisor, Staff Sergeant E. H. Huff, testified in his defense. He called McKeon an outstanding drill instructor and said that night marches were very common on Parris Island. He said the discipline in the platoon was so poor that he would have taken the recruits on the march himself if he had the time.
McKeon was defended by colorful civilian attorney Emile Zola Berman. Berman would later go on to defend Sirhan Sirhan. Berman put on a vigorous defense that swayed both the court and public opinion. Marine Corps Commandant General Randolph Pate testified. One reporter pointed out this was like "calling J. Edgar Hoover to testify about a problem within the FBI". The trial's most dramatic moment, however, was the arrival of General Lewis "Chesty" Puller, the most decorated Marine in the history of the Corps. Berman called Puller to testify about training methods. Although having some very harsh private words for McKeon, Puller called the incident in Ribbon Creek "a deplorable accident", but one that did not warrant court martial. He said that discipline was the most important factor in military training. He quoted Napoleon in saying that an army becomes a "mob" without it. He mentioned his experiences in the Korean War and one of the reasons troops failed was because of lack of night training. General Puller felt that the press had blown this incident out of proportion because of prejudice they had against the Marine Corps. He mentioned a similar accident at an Army post where ten soldiers drowned and pointed out that none of their superiors had been charged and that it had never made headlines the way Ribbon Creek did.
In the end, McKeon was acquitted of manslaughter and oppression of troops. He was found guilty of negligent homicide and drinking on duty. The sentence was a $270 fine, nine months of confinement at hard labor, rank reduced to private and a bad conduct discharge.
The Secretary of the Navy later reduced the sentence to three months in the brig, reduction to private with no discharge and no fine. McKeon went back on active duty. He was never able to regain his former rank and was forced to medically retire from the Marine Corps with a back injury in 1959. He worked as an inspector of standards for his home state of Massachusetts. In a 1970 Newsweek interview, he talked of his lifelong burden of guilt and how he prayed to God every day to keep the boys in his safekeeping and for forgiveness. Matthew McKeon died on November 11, 2003 at the age of 79."
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Staff Sergeant Matthew McKeon took the fall but everyone in the chain of command knew how tough the training was. It's the Marine Corps, it's supposed to be tough.
what would make you WANT to join the Marines
That's one of those questions, if you don't know why, then I can't tell you.
I was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps for eight years and the next five years a Army Warrant Officer helicopter pilot. Being a Army pilot and Officer was fantastic but I am still a USMC Sergeant at heart.
