Sgt. Benjamin T. Upton, USMC
Bagpipes, accordion, electric bass guitar, guitar, harmonica, etc.
In 1994, I was (feeling) stuck in Okinawa. Culture shock didn't treat me too well and I hid in my barracks room away from the drunks that populated Camp Hansen and elsewhere on the island.
Luckily and thankfully, Benny, The Sniper happened along. We met through another malcontent Marine who wanted to put together a punk rock band.
Ben shook me out of my culture shock funk and we started exploring the finer bits of Okinawa (far away from Camp Hansen)! He was/is a very silly man and, like me, seems to have been raised on Monty Python. Life is to be done in a random manner, backwards, upside down, tossed and turned, jumbled, odd, and as absurd as possible. We were fast friends and have been close ever since.
As it goes for me, we were both assigned to the 31st MEU (SOC) as attachments to a platoon of Combat Engineers. Benny and I trained together day and night for that year in Okinawa. If we weren't training together on or off base, we were playing music together for ourselves or in clubs in the City or taking adventures around Okinawa learning its fascinating history and its beautiful culture.
Benny and I have stayed in touch over the years. I'm very proud to call him a close friend. There are very few folks I trust in a pinch, warriors that will watch my back always; Benny is one. I also trust him to speak his mind and share his honest thoughts. And, of course, life is always interesting when Benny is near.
He is a good man, a good warrior, and a great friend!
--------------------------------------------------------------
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
~ Thomas Jefferson
No comments:
Post a Comment