Author: Dale "Mad Dog" Messmer
When I was a young Marine Corporal in winter service "A’s," traveling home alone for leave in April of 1969 from across "the big pond" and sitting in an airport waiting for my connection, I decided to try my luck at getting a beer and a cheeseburger in one of the airport restaACurants. I was NOT yet 21. I stepped up to the bar and sat down, dropping my sea bag on the floor next to me. The bartender asked what I wanted and I told him, he looked at me and asked for my I.D. I didn't try to bulls**t him and told him that I was only 20. He smiled apologetically and said "Sorry, what else would you like to drink?" I asked for a soda, which he brought first.
When my burger arrived, he sat it down and then placed a long neck Bud next to the plate. I looked at him and he pointed to an 'older gentleman' (which I now am) sitting at the end of the bar, then placed a napkin in front of me with a note on it, which read; "Noticed your combat action ribbon, thought you deserved a cold one. Semper Fi, Mac." When I looked back up he was walking out of the bar, I assume to his flight. Never knew who he was, just a brother.
Flash forward a few decades to me sitting alone at a table in a bar in the Denver airport, waiting for my connection, and having a meal. There was a pretty long line of folks waiting to get a seat as the place was full. Most folks in line were in groups of two or more. Then I spotted a lone Marine Sergeant standing there and noticed that several folks had been seated ahead of him, because he was alone and no single seats had opened up at the bar, or at any tables.
I told the waitress to invite him to my table, I had an empty seat across from me. He came over and thanked me for letting him set down, as he had about an hour before boarding. He ordered food and a Bud She asked for his I.D. and he just shook his head and said, "I'm not 21 yet." She said she was sorry, but that her manager was pretty strict about the "I.D./21 thing". So, I ordered two Buds.
She looked at me and smiled, winked and said, "I assume you ARE 21?" She delivered his food and my 'two beers', and sat one in front of him, smiled and walked away. We sat and talked for about 30 minutes, where I learned he was going home for a far too short leave from Iraq, then it was time for my flight.
As I was getting up, he said, "Thanks for the beer". Then I told him about that beer I had been given decades before when I was just like him, and said. "One of these days you'll get a chance to repay the favor to some young Marine, that's all the thanks you owe me. Besides, you deserve it.
"I don't know the names of either of these men, but I hope both of those Marines read this and know that I love you like my own, because we ARE all brothers. Just a moment in time when 'what goes around, comes around' had a little different meaning than it usually does. To all my brothers and sisters out there, holding the line and standing tall for America. I salute you for carrying on our glorious traditions, I love you like my own family (because you are), and I wish you all good luck and God Speed. Take care and God Bless. God Bless America, and God Bless our beloved United States Marine Corps. In closing, I remain.
'SEMPER FI'
Dale "Mad Dog" Messmer
(GySgt., USMC, Ret.)
U S Legacies Magazine March 2006
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