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training we needed because we simply couldn’t find the time or the circumstance. Marines were encouraged to work on their individual fitness whenever possible with routine exercises—but that was difficult to monitor —so we saw a deterioration in the fitness level of our Marines. At the same time we were working our bodies harder than we ever had in training—digging fox holes, carrying packs up steep terrain, long patrols where we would walk miles and miles each day—still it wasn’t the regulated, disciplined type of physical training that keeps your body firm and reflexes sharp.
Although there was the usual grumbling and mumbling that goes with being in the infantry our Marines would rise like a phoenix and get the job done—I was very proud of them and will be until the day I die!
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