The Right Thing....Marines, Navy, Army, Airforce, You Never Leave The Brotherhood

Comments

ROd Spinks . ROyal Marines Veteran - June 21, 2020

AS a across the pond member I wil go with the flo !!

Sgt R.W. Parr 64-68 RVN 66-67 - June 21, 2020

I must agree that the new format is not nearly as good as the old. I am also saddened to hear that it was sold. Was it ever offered up for sale to the readers? I think there may have been faithful MARINES out there that would have loved to be the owners. After many years as a customer I feel a bit betrayed.

David Nelson Daniel - June 21, 2020

I agree with the previous comments regarding format. I will not denigrate the other services. Jan ’62 3/9 went for ‘cold weather training’ up near Korean DMZ. A really violent north Pacific storm blew in, troop ship rolled from hand rail to keel, almost everyone on board stayed green for days. There were ‘safety lines’ around main deck to which the daring few could tie down. Being a permanent Pfc. I was among the fortunate few w/out any sickness problems. Only part of ship I didn’t explore was ‘Officer Country’. On shore supplies ran out and no way to get in. Korean villagers had cleaned out the ‘C ration cans’. Chow & smokes were gone, 0 degree temps, only thing to do was hunker down in our pup tents & pull guard duty. Helped us realize how bad ’51 & ’52 must have been. When we got back we went to new digs at Camp Hansen. Semper Fi L-3-9

SSgt Karl R Leech,USMC(Ret) - June 21, 2020

Time of my comment should have been 3:47 not 7:47.

SSgt Karl R Leech,USMC(Ret) - June 21, 2020

Like all of the above comments I agree go back to the old format!!!!!!

Jim Isley - June 21, 2020

The old format flowed like a quiet stream on a sunny day, the new format makes you feel like ricoshay rabbit, you’re bouncing all over the place. Please bring back the old format, don’t ruin a good thing. Ziggy, Cpl. U.S.M.C, 1962-68 Viet Nam Vet.

GySgt. C.R. Scroggins, USMC Ret. - June 21, 2020

Crap! I just learned that Grit sold to a stinking “Bug ? Out Charlie Dogface” Sure glad I found out before calling my planned order. I’m vacating the objective on you just like “doggies” did us MARINES so many times in Korea 50-51 and Vietnam 65-66, 68-69. Out!

Fred Gonzales - June 21, 2020

I will agree with all of the above Marines, the new format is not a good change. The old format is much better!

F.J Lindsay - June 21, 2020

I am with the rest of my Brothers, New format SUCKS!!!!

Jack Wise - June 21, 2020

I have to agree with the vast majority. I don’t like the new format.
Why?
The old format flowed smoothly, going from one sea story to the next, like an open forum—or perhaps more like an open barracks. With the new format, the option of being able to post a comment after each article is great, but literally all the closeness and the camaraderie has been lost.
The old format was like some Marines sitting around in a large, open barracks after evening chow, the bullshitting and sea stories, real or imagined, flowing freely, one right after another. It was like being able to “see and hear” everyone and what they had to day. Each week, I felt like I had returned to a crowd of old Marine buddies. Certainly nothing at all formal, we all just grabbed a mug of brew or coffee, pulled out someone’s foot locker to park your ass on and ‘watch and listen’ as the art of bullshitting began.
The new format is like being out in the boondocks in pup tents; the entire Company is still there like they were in the barracks (old format) but we’re all separated; all hands are still accounted for but you can’t “see” or “mentally interact” with anyone. When you decided on the new format to “click on each story” to read it, you sacrificed all the flow, the continuity and the camaraderie for the option of being “compartmentalized”, i.e., you read down the list of article titles and click on the one you want to read. The same way “Sunset”, “Golf” and “Fly Fishing” magazines do it.
This new format might be ideal if you are doing short bios on people or on a product where you can click on the “learn more” if you’re interested. This a good way to go if you’re reading through “Who’s Who” or “Mechanics Illustrated”; where you can finish reading further information on an engine overhaul or how Dillard Creach won the race for mayor in Horsebiscuit, Texas by one vote.
But the readers are all Marines (well, the vast majority I’m sure are) and your old format of the newsletter succeeded in capturing or containing the hearts, minds and souls of all Marines, from the adolescent who just finished boot camp to the old Sergeant Major who was forced to retire after 45 years. The old format was simple; it flowed easily.
The only new addition to the new format that is a great idea is the option to post a comment in response to the article you just read. If you returned to the old format with the addition of a “post a comment” option plus you could also add the ability to post a photo or two, maybe something like Facebook does. Without even asking, I’m willing to bet there are thousands of Marines out there with more thousands of old photos in albums or shoeboxes they’d love to share, and the rest of us would love to see.
To summarize, I seriously hope you will consider returning to the old format to regain the flow, continuity and camaraderie that sadly has been sacrificed in the name of “upgrading to a newer and ‘snappier’ format”.
I cannot explain just exactly how ‘flow, continuity and camaraderie’ could be in any newsletter, but your newsletter certainly had it. It was there, the smooth flow, continuity and camaraderie, the “Semper Fi”, in one big open room, oozing from every paragraph and every comment.
This new format, while ‘handy’, ‘easy to use’, ‘looks sharp’ and perhaps conserved space…I don’t know. All I do know is the new format fatally wounded and/or destroyed every last bit of ‘Semper Fi’ that you had in the old format.
Please, please consider returning to the old format!