Post by Woodard on Jan 28, 2007 16:37:24 GMT -5
Gungy is the Marine nickname for the Chinese term "Gung Ho" that means work together. A Marines definition of that term includes those who are all for the Corps and the Corps' way of doing things, those who live, look, and perform the positive role of the ideal US Marine. To outsiders, all Marines probably appear Gung Ho; within our ranks, however, only a few measure up to the title. Gungy types see two ways to do things, the wrong way and the Marine Corps way. The title is attached to those who comply with regulation when the opposite is the norm. For example, I was called gungy because I wore my leggings and helmet cover. My view was that those two items made me stand out as a US Marine from among the other uniforms in that war. The practical viewpoint was that the leggings were too much of a bother to lace up daily. Anyway, no one seemed to care whether we wore them or not. Few Marines of any rank wore their leggings, but Davis (Fox's squad leader) wore his.
The same rationale applied to the camouflage helmet cover, which was strictly a Marine item during WWII and up to the later part of the Korean War. Helmets were used almost daily as wash basins and to heat up shaving water. Removing and replacing the cover was too much of a hassle. Therefore the commonsense guys wore a black-smoked steel pot on their heads as did their army brothers.
~From "Marine Rifleman: My forty three years in the Corps" by Col. Wesley L. Fox, USMC (Ret.)
From Cpl. Woodard, reading so you don't have to...
The same rationale applied to the camouflage helmet cover, which was strictly a Marine item during WWII and up to the later part of the Korean War. Helmets were used almost daily as wash basins and to heat up shaving water. Removing and replacing the cover was too much of a hassle. Therefore the commonsense guys wore a black-smoked steel pot on their heads as did their army brothers.
~From "Marine Rifleman: My forty three years in the Corps" by Col. Wesley L. Fox, USMC (Ret.)
From Cpl. Woodard, reading so you don't have to...
