He was one of my Drill Instructor's. We were his first platoon (3081-1976). He was firm, but fair. That's all a recruit could ask for. RIP. I'm indeed sorry to hear about his death Nancy.
I was in Plt 3030 at San Diego in 1976. 21 years later I took off the uniform. My dad was a DI at San Diego from 65-69 during the height of the Vietnam war
He was my Battalion SgtMaj at Camp Horno 1st BN 4th marines and I couldn't stand him in a very good way! He chewed my ass one day in the Battalion HQ that rattled the walls. I flunked out of rifle coaches school and he was not happy! He got me back in it though and I made damn sure I passed the second time. Sorry to hear he passed on! Rest in power SgtMaj.
SgtMaj Michael E. Bachus USMC retired, the same drill instructor in this video died tragically in a boating accident in May 2010. "And When he gets to heaven, To Saint Peter he will tell; One more Marine reporting, sir. I've served my time in Hell!" Semper Fi
from what I understand he went on to distinguish himself in Beirut and desert storm and retired as a sgt major,only to tragicly die in a boating accident.
We all gotta die sometime. He had a long, honorable, and proud life. I can guarantee you he is happy that it happened in the water, one of the places Marines belong, while having fun. Than to have it happen when you're too old to reach the toilet and too old to live on your own.
This is the man that id like to be like and not the leadership we have now. A SSGT of Marines at 22 yrs old and a Drill Instructor! I went through basic at 22 yrs old. i need to get myself together.
I was in platoon 1071 the year 1984. San Diego. It took me through out the rest of my life surviving 38 years Banging around the world In the D.O.D. CWA
How... 22 years old and already a drill instructor and a damn SSgt? That's insane. I'm 21 and I'm a PFC and I still feel like a I'm in my teen years. Good for that guy.
It felt mighty good after graduating OSUT (A 15 week combat engineer training cycle), falling out and seeing the family and shaking hands with the drill sergeants that I hated at first.
What a man, a son, a husband, a father, a friend, a protector of our country and our rights as United State citizens. A Proud Marine! May he rest in peace, knowing his job on this earth was complete…leaving behind many Marines who all benefited from his knowledge, lots of loving friends and a truly wonderful family! Semper Fidelis!
WENT THRU BOOT CAMP MCRD FALL 72, STAFF SGT WATSON, MEANEST, HARDEST PLATOON COMMANDER (D.I.) ON THE BASE AT THAT TIME,, HE TOLD US STRAIGHT UP FROM THE 1ST DAY ,, THERE IS ONLY 2 WAYS OUT OF THIS PLACE! GRADUATE OR DIE! I LIVED THRU IT, 65 & STILL HERE... SERVED 3 YRS GOT OUT UNSKAITHED! A ROUGH GO, BUT I MADE IT.. "SEMPER FI"!!
Thank you for sharing this. This was eleven years before I graduated at MCRD San Diego. He sure seemed like a hell of a fine man and Marine. I am very sorry for you and your childrens loss. Wish I had known him, RIP SgtMaj and Semper Fi.
He was 22 years as a Staff Sergeant. I never knew you could make E6 that fast in 4 years. It took me 4 years to make Corporal from 1984-1988. But I was Infantry and I made it on the cutting score.
Wartime makes for rapid advancement, between attrition need and increased opportunity for meritorious advancement in combat. I was in during the mid to late 80s. Whole different ballgame. I barely made Corporal in 4 years on cut score, and would probably have not seen Sergeant on my next contract had I re-enlisted. My MOS was full of higher SNCOs from the Vietnam era, and they were nowhere close to retirement due to promoting young, so the NCOs had nowhere to advance. The cutting scores for sergeant were outrageous in the 1371 MOS until the Gulf War.
Agreed and same here. I enlisted when I was 17 y/o in '74 and was 0300 as well. I served 3 years, did my job, caused no trouble and was honorably discharged as a LCpl, E-3. I will say that the career planning NCOIC "dangled" an immediate E-4 promotion and a $2000 re-signing bonus if I agreed to ship over for an additional 3 years for which I said no thanks.
@@barrykidd1977 I had time in grade, Expert rifle, 5 MCI courses, and a 295 PFT. I picked up E4 in Okinawa on January 1, 1988. We flew home February 1, 1988 back to 2/5 at Pendleton. I got out February 12, 1988. They promoted me 1 1/2 months before I got out. The XO asked me in Okinawa if I wanted to reenlist and I said Sure. If you give me choice of duty station, 3 year enlistment and MPs. The XO said No so I said No Thanks on reenlisting. It was the best decision I ever made because a year later I was in the police academy. Now I’m honorably retired.
Shocked to read this news on Staff Sergeant. Marines lost a good man. Man was dedicated and helped many. The DI's were not nice when I went through. Landed on the yellow footprints July 12th, 1971. Platoon 3074. we were in the old metal Quanset huts.
I had a drill instructor,ssgt schneid,who would climb 2 ropes at once.it was a motivator and helped us climb 1.the point was that if he could climb 2,we could climb 1.i remember while I was on leave after boot camp I went to wrestling practice to stay in shape and I clumb 2 ropes using my hands and inner arms as I was taught.they wouldn't let us climb 2 in boot camp however,it was just a demo to motivate us.it worked
Thank you sir, for serving our country. I have comment. The obstacles that are used in Marine boot camp, kind of remind me one big playground, accept bigger, and more organized. :)
This was a story about an admired D.I Marine, show some respect. For its men like these that protect our country and everybody else in the world. Support our military, don't put them down.
Crazy to think he was a SSGT and DI at 22 years old....shit, I was 20 when I enlisted in '97 3rd RTB, Lima Co, Plt 3101 MCRD San Diego. Good times. Would LOVE to go do it again.
There have been some changes. I graduated from boot camp at MCRD San Diego in 1964. At our graduation we weren't called Marines. The next day when we got on the bus to go to ITR (Infantry Training Regiment) our platoon commander said "You aren't Marines yet". When we got to Camp Pendleton, the first words out of out Platoon Sergeant Paterson's mouth were "You Marines". Sergeant Paterson was very good at running up and down hills. I really thought he was going to kill me. Wherever you are today Sgt. Paterson, you are a Marine's Marine!
If he ended up becoming a SGT MAJOR, I guess maybe he changed his mind about becoming an officer. In my opinion, SGT MAJORs are more elite than officers
If this was filmed in 1977, it is surprising. I did basic training at MCRD, San Diego in 1978, and we never had any DI that was that soft on us. In fact we all got slapped, kicked and punched. LOL. The video states that Bachus never saw combat and had been in for 5 years. Vietnam ended in 1975. All of our Drill Instructors in third battalion did at least one tour in Vietnam. This video is interesting. Anyway from one Marine to another Marine..... ooooorah.
I kinda thought the same thing it's boot camp to us. As for Marines in Vietnam I thought they quit sending them to Da Nang~ Icore in 73 ?? I could be wrong.
Brings back some fond memories only regret is I left with traumatic brain injury impulse control disorder PTSD and veterans disability pension board refuses to pay me one red cent lost me to go die in the streets death before dishonor I have pulled myself by the boots and work 40 hours to support a family now after of 20 years trying to get my life straight Semper Fi
@@4threconmarine You're right, the woodlands did come out in '82. Then they phased in the rip-stop utilities, in the woodland pattern in '88. Some of my senior NCOs and Staff NCOs still wore the ERDL jungle pattern utilities, i.e. some of my Troop Handlers at SOI (ITS when you went through) and later in the Fleet also. I used to wear an old ERDL pattern soft cover sometimes in formation, one that I bought unissued at a surplus store in Oceanside. Later on, I bought the utilities also (with the boonie cover), both the late Vietnam and the early '80s straight pockets. I also have some WWII - Korea - Vietnam issue utilities/gear, I've collected over the years.
If you ignore attention seekers they will get bored sooner or later, they want attention and dont care if its negative or positive. In situations like this I'm sure its hard to ignore someone saying awful things about someone you love but Karma is a powerful thing and those people will get whats coming to them sooner or later. Sorry for your loss. :(
I had an M16 A1 in boot camp 1984 and the next 27 months of Barracks Duty in Yorktown VA. I got orders to Camp Pendleton a year before my EAS and was issued an A2 in 1987.
@@4threconmarine In boot camp, ITS and Barracks Duty from 84-87 we had steel pots and the old solid green flak jackets. In barracks duty my A1 had the 3 prong flash suppressor. When I went to 2/5 at Pendleton, we were issue Kevlar helmets and camouflage flak jackets. Went to Okinawa Camp Hansen as well from august 87 to Feb 88. I picked up Corporal on the cutting score January 1, 87 in Okinawa and got home in February. I got out 2 weeks later. They promoted me 1 1/2 months before I got out. LOL. When I got Corporal, back then we had to walk the gauntlet. Every NCO in the company would each hit you as hard as they can in the arms and then knee both your thighs. All corporals and sergeants participated. The staff sergeants and above and officers went into the barracks and looked the other way. Hahaha. The other dude who got promoted was almost crippled. He could barely walk for 2 weeks. I was in pain but I was still able to PT. Best time of my life was in the Corps.
To be a DI at 22, he waivered in at 17 with parental permission, had 5 years time in service, and a meritorious promotion or two. I had a DI at Parris Island that was 23. He had been meritoriously promoted to LCPL as an honor grad at PI, was meritoriously promoted to CPL at 8th and I, and made SGT with a good cutting score in Force Recon as soon as he was eligible. It is possible. I don't think you can get in at 17 anymore, but my EOC was 1992, so don't quote me on that.
Bob Kidd actually,when I attended boot camp at san diego in 1984,we picked up a drill instructor in 3rd phase who had just graduated di school,sgt taylor rice,who only had 3 years in at the time and either made sgt right before,or right after di school.sgt rice was a shit hot marine and a great nco who went on to have a very successful career and retire as a sgt major.he extended to go to the drill field,but reenlisted right after he graduated di school.so I never knew you had to have 5 years in to be a drill instructor.
Eric Ness The only requirement when I was a Drill Instructor as a Sergeant is you had to be 21 years old. No TIG/TIS requirement. Cpl.'s were 4 years TIS and 2 years TIG. I was a 22 year old Sergeant when I graduated from DI School with 4 years TIS. Went to Boot Camp in 1987 at 18, meritorious PFC through Sgt in 3 1/2 years. There were four hats beside myself that were 22-23 when I was on the street, one was in Golf Co. with 3 years TIS in '90. We all came in within a few months of each other.
TheScribe114 di duty is definitely a young man or womans' game.I never was a di,but I am a marine who went through boot camp.the hours plus the physical demands are more for a man or woman in there 20s.i got told by a warrant officer once who was a drill instructor that the best time to go to the drill field is as a sgt with 2 or more years in grade and 23 to 26 years of age.but everyone has a different opinion.I had a friend I served in desert storm with who went to the drill field in 1992.he was a sgt in his early 30s.hed originally went in the corps in 1977,but he had 5 years reserve time plus 3 years broken time,so he was still a sgt. but he was also a constant 300 pfter,and he ran about 8 miles a day.he breezed right through di school and in 1994 made SSgt,and in 1998 gunny.I don't know where he is today,as an older man attending the school in 1992,he graduated higher than some marines 10 years younger than him.he said a 21 year old cpl who was infantry by mos,a high first class pfter,and considered cream of crop by his unit failed the course,yet a 29 year old SSgt who was a cook by mos and a little chunky in the middle made it through.so I guess there is no average age anyway,like everything else its a matter of who wants it. my 33 year old friend really wanted to be a drill instructor,that chubby 29 year old cook apparently wanted it too,but that 21 year old sgt whose command thought was a water walker apparently didn't!
Man you have to get major satisfaction from your job if you work 20 HOURS a day, good god. Something tells me it's not just 'loving the job', it's also 'loving the control & power', even being addicted to it. I'm just a prior serviceman turned psychology student making an observation. P.S.- I hated my drill instructor, I still do
LMFAO! You clearly didn't make it very far in the Marine Corps. You likely didn't even make it a full term. Possibly didn't even make it out of Recruit Training. You know nothing and your "observations" are nearly as stupid as you.
