u/LiloGeorge

My Korean mom (furthest right) worked at Quantico Marine Corp base in the 90’s and early 2000’s. She left home at 2am to make sure breakfast was ready for the Marines and left notes on the table at home for us to study hard.

I remember when I went to college, she got me a job as a cashier at both TBS and OCS during the summers. Once this candidate at OCS laughed and said, “look at her pretending like she knows how to read” while laughing and eating and I was reading a thick book. I felt so embarrassed and small. My dad was a Chief Petty Officer and a cryptologist in the Navy for 20 years including serving during the last 6 months of Rolling Thunder in North Vietnam. He died when I was 4. And at that moment, I wished he was alive to say something. I said nothing.

On the last day I asked my boss if I could go on the serving line and do the mashed potatoes. It was the most popular. As that candidate approached me and said, “mashed potatoes ma’am” I just stared at him. Three drill sergeants screamed at him so hard to keep moving.

I found this old photo of when President Bush visited OCS. My mom got to serve him on the line. He walked up to the crew and thanked them and said he had a delicious lunch.

I used to think I need a different path. Now I realize I simply need a different perspective.

The road hasn’t changed. What I’m willing to see has.

🇺**🇸Meet one of the last 50 green berets in the Vietn**am War.

John was drafted immediately after dropping out of college, because he couldn’t pay for it. He was 21 when he went to the Army HQ in Saigon. He worked in crypto vaults. He could write 20 words a minute in morse code. He said someone else could do 40 words. He talked about how they changed letters and how it worked and it was really interesting.

Rockets were constantly going off. He has not watched 4th of July fireworks since then. He stays inside, closes all his doors and windows, and pumps up the AC to drown out the sounds.

After the Army, he worked in a steel mill, then built stages and did lighting for theater, then became an accountant, and finally a pit boss at Horseshoe casino.

He once wrote Frank Sinatra a check for $500,000 for a 3-night performance. He said all the seats sold out in 3 days and to remember back then you had to drive to the box office to buy tickets.

He said you can almost never beat the house. He once saw a 21-year kid walk into the casino and win $200,000 in 5 minutes and walk out. 4 months later, they fly the kid to Vegas to try to win the money back and he wins $150,000 in a few minutes and walks out. He said that kind of control no one has. Everyone rides to the end.

He hunts and fishes regularly and volunteers to help veterans with their VA claims.

It was such a great honor flight being his guardian. Thank you for your service.