IN JULY 1941, my newly formed First Marine Division trained along the Atlantic Coast. Life aboard the Navy transports was tough, and morale on the “rust buckets” was rock-bottom. One gray evening, as we stood in ranks, the Marine bugler was ordered to sound “colors.” Tired and seasick, he put his battered instrument to his lips and played a series of barely recognizable notes. “If you can’t play any better than that,” the officer in charge screamed, “then you’d better throw your bugle overboard!” “Sir, yes, sir!” answered the bugler. And with Marine precision, he heaved his instrument into the Atlantic. It cost him a night in the brig and the price of a new bugle, but single handedly that fine Marine restored the ship’s morale.
–Contributed to “Humor In Uniform” by Michael L. Santoro