Marine Corps Stories: Speaker, Play

Rap music blared from a nearby wireless speaker, as junior Marines physically trained in the Yuma, Arizona sun. Fifty-five year-old Major General Patrick “Firebrand” O’Hannigan walked towards some of the enlisted Marines with brisk, certain steps. His two stars sparkled on the collars of his camouflage blouse. His uniform was as impeccable as he'd intended when he awoke at zero dark-thirty to prepare it. The rolled sleeves, crisp, clean and perfectly symmetrical, encircled and drew attention to his muscular biceps. In keeping with regulations, he'd left tiny red hairs visible below his cover, still poking through his white scalp. Unlike a baseball cap, the self-respecting Marine's cover had to be canted slightly forward, to block the sun and to improve the edginess of the overall appearance.

Twenty-one-year-old Lance Corporal Delf Allendale turned the rap music up some more, making it easier to hear the word "n—-" chanted over and over. The sun shone off of his skin which looked like a penny that had been in circulation for thirty years, minus the green that comes from oxidation. He trained with his PT shirt, trousers and boots, and a grey MCMAP belt completed his outfit. Folded neatly, with his cover on top, his blouse sat on the bleachers without him. Upon seeing the two-star general, Delf Allendale stood at attention, and rendered the proper greeting of the day in an assertive tone.

“Good afternoon, sir!” Allendale said.

“Good afternoon, Allendale,” O’Hannigan said. The officer waved at him as a sign to carry on his activity.

“Hey, Lance Corporal?”

“Yes, sir?”

Just then, twenty-three year-old Corporal Yul Phung, who was dressed the same as Allendale but for the green MCAP belt instead of gray, snapped to attention upon seeing O'Hannigan. He too broke his stance only when the major general acknowledged him. He broke once O’Hannigan acknowledged him.

“Hey, there Phung, carry on,” The two-star general said. He returned to his query.

“Lance Corporal, who’s singing this song?”

“That’s Lil’ Young One, sir,” Allendale said.

Allendale and Phung continued with their regimen of burpees, side straddle hops, crunches, and push ups. But O’Hannigan started to move closer to the two enlisted Devil Dogs. They snapped to attention again.

“Whoa, whoa you’re alright, carry on, gents.”

Allendale and Phung responded to the major general and returned to their exercises.

“Who is this, again?” O’Hannigan said, cupping his ear with his hand to hear them better.

The two Marines suddenly felt a pang of embarrassment at realizing the music was cranked almost as high as the volume could go. They assumed the major general was asking them to turn it down a bit, so they moved closer to speak and lower the volume, but to their shock and awe, they noticed the major general beginning to dance to the beat. What they saw stirred them. Even more unsettling, he seemed to be listening to and repeating the lyrics.

“That’s right! Lil’ Young One,” O’Hannigan said, performing a little jig in the process.

“Speaker, pause,” Phung yelled over the music and the speaker ceased its functioning.

“Aw, c’mon guys. It was just starting to get good to me.”

“Forgive us, sir. We shouldn’t have been playing that kind of music so loud.”

“Forget it. I just want to know...would either of you get offended if I used the word n——-?”

The lance corporal and corporal winced a bit hearing such a high ranking Marine saying the word. At the same time, they weren't surprised. Standing at rest, they both addressed the commanding officer.

“To tell you the truth, sir, I don’t care,” Allendale said.

Phung chimed in. “No, we don’t care but the twenty or so other Marines behind you might.”

O’Hannigan turned around slowly. There stood Marines of all races and ranks, enlisted and officers as well as female Marines at parade rest who just heard him utter the most taboo word in the English-American lexicon. His face turned into a raspberry. He began moving away from all of them who snapped to the position of attention when he walked near them.

“Speaker, play,” Allendale said and the two Marines resumed their physical training.