As long as the subject of WWII came up.... An interesting read.

Kyle

Beloved Misanthrope
PREMO Member
Veteran’s Way | Paul Douglas: The Oldest Marine to Go Through Boot Camp



A 50-YEAR-OLD WORLD WAR II MARINE IS OVERLOOKED NO MORE.
A well-known friend in our industry, Bob Ingoglia—formerly vice president of corporate communication for Ricoh USA, now retired—recently sent me an article about a Marine named Paul Douglas. I pride myself on being fully aware of Marine history, and Ingoglia reminded me that there’s always more to know.

Matt Fratus, a history writer for Coffee or Die, authored the article. He has a reputation for finding unique stories that haven’t been covered. The original title of the article Ingoglia sent me is “The Marine Who Went to Parris Island At 50.”

Paul Douglas was born in Massachusetts on March 26, 1892, and raised in Maine. After graduating from Columbia University, where he earned a doctorate in economics, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago as an economics professor in 1920. World War II began in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. That same year, Douglas was elected a Chicago alderman. He tried moving up to being a state senator, but that did not work out.

The mere title of Fratus’s article still makes me shake my head in disbelief. As an officer candidate, I did my boot camp at Marine Corps Schools in Quantico, Virginia. We were told it is similar to the Marines’ experience at the Recruit Depot Parris Island. I was 21, fresh out of college, and in fair shape. It is hard for me to imagine how he—at 50 years of age—got through it.

Douglas wore glasses and had gray hair. As a 50-year-old, he was falling in with recruits as young as 17. Fratus underscored this age gap by highlighting that Douglas was one of the few people on the island born in the 19th century. On Parris Island, most people in their fifth decade and older were part of the training staff, particularly in the early years of the war, and had been in the Marine Corps during World War I.

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GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
I barely finished boot camp for the US Army, I am more of a book worm that athlete

For Fox Sake at 50 I was already falling apart from psoriatic arthritis ... but then that is the difference people born in 1895 were in WAY BETTER HEALTH than 1995
 

spr1975wshs

Mostly settled in...
Ad Free Experience
Patron
I went to USAF Basic at 26 1/2.
Near the end, after I smoked my younger colleagues on the confidence course, TI braced me up.
"Robinson, you been holding out on me."
"Yes, sir!"
He gave me a puzzled look: "Okay?"
"I'm old enough to know when it is time to give maximum effort, Sir."
He was a veteran of combat in Vietnam, nodded with a hint of a smile.
 

somdwatch

Well-Known Member
I went to USAF Basic at 26 1/2.
Near the end, after I smoked my younger colleagues on the confidence course, TI braced me up.
"Robinson, you been holding out on me."
"Yes, sir!"
He gave me a puzzled look: "Okay?"
"I'm old enough to know when it is time to give maximum effort, Sir."
He was a veteran of combat in Vietnam, nodded with a hint of a smile.
Oh NO, not the Chair Force! :p
 

WingsOfGold

Well-Known Member
True boot story. We had what was called a "ditty Bag" tied to our rack, contained clean skivvies and maybe a couple other things. CC came in one day and opened a few here and there. poor guy had shiit stains on his skivvies. CC said "Open your mouth maggot", he does. CC shoves the shiity part in his mouth and says "clean em Maggot"! (as he kicked him in the ass) he did, tears running down his face he cleaned the shiit with his mouth. We had no other name other than maggot or phucking maggot and sometimes a shiit bird.
From that day on he was known as "Hash Marks", at least he was no longer a maggot or shiit bird!
 
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CPUSA

Well-Known Member
When I went thru boot in '87, we had a few older guys (27-37) that...although they were going thru the same TRAINING as us younger recruits, they were never singled out for hazing rituals...usually, they were given leadership or mentorship type tasks...they were assigned to the FUBARs to get them straight....
 
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