In working up a uniform list for our MCL members

[JITB]

I realized how changed things are today. When I was in, our shoes and Barracks Cover bill was shined with KIWI USMC Dark Brown shoe polish. Today, they wear black Corfram. We had to take the protective coating off of our brass and shine it with Brasso. Today, they wear Anodized brass.

[Cpl Miller]

Ain't nothing like SPIT shined boots and covers. Even after all these years being out of the green machine I STILL spit shine my dress shoes.

Now I will admit my wife thinks it's gross to see me shine my shoes that way but I know NO other way to make them right, if you know what I mean......

[Iron Mike USMC]

Nothing like a spit shine, jeweler's rouge, brasso, and a bottle of starch. Of course I forget the brand of the black paint we used on our insignia.

[JITB]

We used USMC Dark Brown M-Nu!

[JITB]

They issued you fuzzy combat boots and then gave you various methods to take the fuzz off, dye them dark brown and then spit shine them. They were actually pretty good boots though. Mine lasted a lot of years. I had them reheeled and half soled a number of times before they finally fell apart.

[Cpl Miller]

those boots when we first received them. I can remember our DI saying we WILL make these boots shine so you can see your face in them. I don't however remember how we got the fuzz off them.

I remember our FREE time on the street in front of our quonset huts spent shining our boots, cleaning our rifles, and writting letters home. End of our Finger all black by the end of the free time duo to shining our boots. There was a lot of male bonding during those times.

After 42 years I still remember the smells of boot camp, that first night I pulled fire watch with the smell of the mess hall getting morning breakfast ready.

There are things in life that stick with us, Marine boot camp is one I remember every second of.

Here's me at the wash racks (1964)

[JITB]

In the Quonset huts of 3rd BN, the fire watch had to keep the pot belly stove the Quonset huts used for heat going. It offered an opportunity for a smoker on fire watch to grab a few extra puffs. You would just sit in front of the stove with the coal door open and blow the smoke into the stove. If the DI came by, you just flipped the cigarette butt into the stove and made like you were just adding a couple of more lumps of coal to the fire.

[Cpl Miller]

But after boot and my 30 day liberty I did 30 days mess duty. In our metal shacks we had those coal stoves that really stunk up the place. Another smell I'll never forget. ha

[JITB]

I remember it was hitting over 105 degrees when I got there in September and we had a few below freezing days in December! I remember I was glad that it warmed up a little for graduation day. But, we had our graduation ceremony inside because it was raining.

[Iron Mike USMC]

Originally posted by Cpl Miller
...After 42 years I still remember the smells of boot camp, that first night I pulled fire watch with the smell of the mess hall getting morning breakfast ready. ...

That semll! Sour milk and dirty mop water.