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Marine Corps Stories: Ethos

A chief warrant officer gives her all to save other Marines.

By Skyler SaundersPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Chief Warrant Officer Julianna Dean held the weapon close.

“What we’re going to do is take our 40mm M203 grenade launcher and adjust the range. Desoto?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“I want you to take this weapon and calibrate it to make it the correct range. You got that?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Fenton Desoto efficiently adjusted the weapon’s feature to allow it to fire at a medium distance from its target.

“What does a CWO do anyway?” The question came in like a gust of wind. “I mean are you at the top of SNCOs, or at the bottom of officers, or both?” Lance Corporal Lyle Cuttles blurted out.

Julianna sighed. “In this Marine Corps, we’re kind of like the nuts and bolts that hold a house together. Is that all that you needed to know, Cuttles? Did you even pay attention to the weapons demonstration, or would you like to know the history behind the warrant and chief warrant officers?”

“No. I’m good,” Cuttles said.

After Desoto sufficiently calibrated the weapon, he sat back down amongst the other junior Marines.

Julianna continued. “Now, we will fire live rounds under this California sun. This is your chance to have fun and try to hit that tank out there at about fifty yards away. Sessions, Carhartt, come around and stand in this position.” Her knees were slightly bent, and her arms and hands displayed positive control of the weapon.

“Do you ever get shit from officers, like commissioned officers?” Cuttles asked.

“Cuttles would you like to fall out of this demonstration, because you’re starting to piss me off with your line of questioning? So you can either get your shit together, lock in to what the rest of us are doing, and get a lesson, or you can get off my firing line. It’s your choice.”

“I’m cool, ma’am.”

“Good. You’re next.”

Carhartt and Sessions both successfully discharged the grenade on the tank. Julianna produced another grenade and loaded it into the weapon.

“Cuttles, you’re up.”

Cuttles handled the weapon cockily. He flagged his weapon at the fifteen or so other Marines on the line. Julianna got up in Cuttle’s face and tackled him to the deck. He pulled the trigger in the process. The weapon discharged and the other Marines attempted to dive on the grenade.

Julianna screamed, “Grenade! Grenade!” The blast from the grenade sent a shock wave and shrapnel through some of the other Marines. Julianna perished by trying to block the blast. Still, Sessions, Desoto, and Carhartt stood at the front line to smother the round. They received shrapnel that tore through skin and other organs. they all survived with those injuries.

Staff Sergeant Omillio States who had been walking a few yards away and saw the commotion called, “Corpsman!”

States got down to the place where some Marines lay motionless, and others writhed in pain. Corpsman Second Class Sanford Dillard addressed the wounded.

“Jesus Christ….” States said.

Julianna took the brunt of the blast as she tried to shield the other Marines.

Ambulances pulled up to the scene.

Dillard and States could do only so much, and then the other paramedics took care of the wounded, and tended to the dead.

“Jesus. What the hell happened down here?” One of the corpsmen from the ambulance asked.

“It appears one Marine fired a grenade launcher at point blank range, and wiped out some of his fellow fighters,” the staff sergeant said.

States assisted the corpsmen with lifting and loading the bodies. Some had to be put in body bags and carried via stretcher. He continued to go back after each body and never flinched at the sight or smell of burnt flesh and hair. Dillard assisted in the rescue and retrieval mission. They bonded over caring for the few who still had life in them.

“It was that goddamn Cuttles,” Corporal Sinead Shaw said. She had been one of the Marines who had leapt towards the grenade as well.

States gritted his teeth. “How the hell did he even become a Marine?” The ambulance drove off and the dead were laid out to wait for the coroner’s van.

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