"Jarhead" - the Movie
November 4th, 2005I did not run today, totally enjoyed a day of rest. Had a quick visit with Miss S. after work, she dropped off some money and an order from her parents for some wine from the Vineyard that I am going to visit tomorrow. The other thing I did tonight was go to the movies, I went and saw “Jarhead”. It is a movie based on a book written by Anthony Swofford describing his time and experiences in the Marine Corps before and during the Gulf War. I have been anxiously awaiting this movie, wanting to see how it compares to the way I remember the Gulf War. I served in the US Marine Corps from 1988 to 1996, the first four years on active duty and the latter four being on a reserve status. I went to bootcamp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and did my advance training with the Assault Amphibian School at the Camp Del Mar area of Camp Pendleton in California. Now this will sound cushy and to tell the truth it was an amazing experience, I ended up getting stationed in Hawaii at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay. There I joined Alpha Company, 3rd Assault Amphibian Detachment, 3rd Marine Division. During my time in the fleet I did get deployed for both Desert Shield and Desert Storm, spending just over eleven months in Southwest Asia. During Desert Shield I was attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade. In the early part of the deployment our primary task was to unload and prep all the vehicles and equipment that were brought in-country. Later we were more of a full time training/show of force unit to keep the Iraqi’s from moving south out of Kuwait into Saudi Arabia. In Operation Desert Storm I was assigned to the 1st Battalion/5th Marine Division and was a member of Task Force Ripper, the primary maneuver element in the attack to penetrate Iraqi defensive positions located between the Al Wafrali and Umm Gudair Oil fields. There is a great article on Task Force Ripper here: "Sparking the Ripper War Machine". As for my take on the movie, I found it to be a very real depiction of life in the Corps, I could relate to many of the scenes and found that they very closely resembled my experiences and memories of the Marine Corps and the Gulf War.
thirteen comments:
Thanks for the movie review, very interesting. Happy running.
Mark - 04 11 05 - 23:55
Hello and congratulations!
Iren (email) (link) - 16 03 06 - 10:24
Hello and congratulations!
brandy (email) (link) - 18 03 06 - 05:52
Follow your dreams, you can reach your goals.
mackenzie (email) (link) - 19 03 06 - 01:00
Hey man…sorry I missed the party.
carole (email) (link) - 19 03 06 - 14:19
Very interesting and professional site! Good luck!
dianne (email) (link) - 20 03 06 - 07:28
Your pictures are great.
yolonda (email) (link) - 20 03 06 - 08:48
I like this site!
nydia (email) (link) - 20 03 06 - 15:14
I am here to say hello and you have a great site!
felicitas (email) (link) - 21 03 06 - 04:51
Holla and Happy Thanksgiving.
carole (email) (link) - 21 03 06 - 23:22
Hello and congratulations!
jon (email) (link) - 21 03 06 - 23:37
Holla and Happy Thanksgiving.
olga (email) (link) - 22 03 06 - 14:22
A very nice website !! Very well Done !!!
evon (email) (link) - 22 03 06 - 16:26
