A visit to the White House

I went to the White House once.  It was a somber occasion.  The President would be presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to the family of Corporal Jason Dunham.  Many of us, veterans of Kilo Company, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines were present.  Some of us were still on active duty, others were young men who had served their four-year enlistment then returned to civilian life.  We were honored to be in attendance.  In many ways it was healing, but kind of bittersweet.

Although a quite serious affair, there were a few hilarious moments.  It’s interesting how funny things happen even amid hardship.  I’ve seen this in combat too.  We had two Marines under fire once who were on foot, on the move, one behind the other.  One started laughing and yelling at the guy in front of him.  “Move, MOVE! Hurry up!”  When they found a covered position and were able to catch their breath the Marine in the front said “Why did you have to hit me in the head? I was moving quick”.  His buddy, still laughing, informed him that a grenade had bounced off his helmet.  The enemy chucked it at him while they were egressing.  Many rational individuals would see this as frightening.  These brave young warriors thought it was funny, and still laugh about it today.

Back to the White House. 

As we went through security and were guided to the East Room I made an observation.  There were numerous young military officers serving as guides or assistants.  They seemed almost like interns.  I suspect they had completed initial training and were waiting to report for their first duty assignment.  They were all 2d Lieutenants or Ensigns, representing each of the services.  They were all very professional as would be expected of a commissioned officer.  The unusual aspect is that these officers were disproportionately very, very, attractive females.  Seriously…like eighty percent of them.  There certainly weren’t any skinny, average looking dudes there. 

The Lance Corporals also noticed.

At this point I was a Gunnery Sergeant.  The two Lance Corporals I am about to describe were actually NCO’s when this event occurred, but when I served as their Platoon Sergeant a few years earlier in Iraq they were Lance Corporals.  In my mind they will always be Lance Corporals.  Their names were White and Stiver.  They were close buddies, like real close.  When I left 29 Palms the rumor was that they bought a car together…a hearse, so they could crash in the back wherever they might be after a night of partying.  Plus, it had that quirky factor to it.  These guys always had a smile on their face, always made others laugh.  They were a bit mischievous and what we call in the Marine Corps a “libo risk”.  They were good dudes though, for sure.  Earlier there had been a third buddy of their tight knit group.  His name was Torres.  I think Torres was the most tame of the three.  I’ve always found it fascinating how quick and deep friendships develop in the Marine Corps.  Guys from different parts of the country, from different walks of life form profound and lasting bonds.

Initially White and Torres were in my platoon, Stiver was in another platoon.  We lost Torres in Iraq along with two other guys from the platoon in a horrible IED strike.  Everyone took it pretty hard, but especially White and Stiver.  Stiver’s Platoon Sergeant had previously discussed with me some of his “leadership challenges”, among them the mischievous Lance Corporal Stiver.  I don’t remember the details, but it wasn’t anything major.  After we lost Torres I approached the Platoon Sergeant and told him I wanted Stiver in my platoon.  We were reduced in manpower after the three KIA’s and another medevac’ed with the loss an arm, but that wasn’t the reason why.  I knew how close the three amigos were and I thought putting White and Stiver together would help the two of them get through this tough time.  (We still had about two months left on deployment).  And to be honest with you, I really liked this guy.  His charisma, humor, and light heartedness were contagious.  He didn’t know it, but he was good medicine for all of us.  When I brought him over to the platoon, I told him “Look man, I don’t know you that well, but you were tight with Torres, and Torres was solid, so that’s good enough for me.  You’re in Third Platoon now. Don’t screw it up.”  He looked at me seriously and said, “roger Staff Sergeant, thank you.”

I wish I had communicated more to him at the time, but I think he got it.  He understood.  And he did a good job.  We finished the deployment and came home.  I picked up Gunny and moved to Quantico.  White and Stiver picked up Corporal and deployed to Ramadi.  I didn’t see them again until we met at the White House a couple of years later.  They were still thick as thieves, more so I presume now that they were “salty”.

We stood there in the White House, in the back of the East Room, in our Dress Blues as we waited for the President to enter.   As you can imagine there were several dignitaries and VIPs present.  I don’t recall if it was White or Stiver, but one of them says “Dude, did you see all the hotties in this place?”  The other responds “Yeah bro, I feel like I’m trapped in an episode of J.A.G”.  They did not see the blushing 2d Lieutenant standing right behind them.  In a whisper I barked “White, Stiver, lock it up!”  They both responded, “Aye Gunny”.   I glanced back at the Lieutenant with a sorry Ma’am look on my face.  She grinned and mouthed “It’s okay”.  At that exact moment we all heard “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States” as we stood at attention.

Neither White, Stiver, nor I have been invited back to the White House.

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