5 wild things enlisted Marines did that can never be repeated

Blake Stilwell
Apr 29, 2020 4:01 PM PDT
1 minute read
Marine Corps photo

SUMMARY

Everyone knows you can’t leave Marines alone to be bored. Idle hands are the devil’s plaything, and no one plays around more than Devil Dogs. If you don’t believe me, just check out

Everyone knows you can't leave Marines alone to be bored. Idle hands are the devil's plaything, and no one plays around more than Devil Dogs. If you don't believe me, just check out Terminal Lance's Instagram page for a few minutes. I'll wait.

While most Marines are content to goof around in the barracks or as a group during some hurry-up-and-wait, there are some examples of Marine Corps behavior that show why you should never leave Uncle Sam's Most Capable troops alone to their own devices. Even for a minute.


(Congressional Medal of Honor Society)

Made a personal weapon from an aircraft machine gun

While fighting in the World War II Battle of Bougainville, Cpl. Tony Stein picked up a .30 caliber ANM2 Browning machine gun from the wrecked wings of a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber. Since he was a toolmaker before the war, he was able to refashion the aircraft weapon – which fired 1200-1500 rounds per minute – into a personal machine gun. He dubbed it "the Stinger" and later carried it into combat on Iwo Jima.

While there, Stein would clear enemy pillboxes with the Stinger, then carry a wounded Marine back to the beach as he picked up more ammunition. Stein did this eight times, and for his efforts, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was later killed by a sniper in the battle for Mount Suribachi – which he only joined after leaving a hospital ship.

Became a Warlord in Somalia

Remember the movie Black Hawk Down, where a group of Army Special Forces operators and Rangers attempt to capture Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid in order to regain the stability of Mogadishu? It's too bad the Army didn't know that all they had to do was wait until 1996 when his son would rise to power.

His son, Hussein Farah Aidid, was just hanging out as a Marine Corps artilleryman in Battery B, 14th Marines at the Marine Corps Reserve base in Pico Rivera, Calif. As a matter of fact, just a few years after the events of Task Force Ranger depicted in Black Hawk Down, the younger Aidid told his reserve unit he was leaving the country for a while. And he did. He went to Somalia to prepare to take his father's place in one of the most powerful militias in Mogadishu. When Mohammed Farah Aidid died, his son was declared his successor. The Corporal was now a General.

Read More: This US Marine went to Somalia and became a warlord

Sgt. Faustin Wirkus' weekend libo is off the chain.

Became the Voodoo King of Haiti

In 1915, Sgt. Faustin Wirkus was one of many United States Marines sent into Haiti to stabilized the American-backed government from succumbing to a German-backed coup. After four years of duty in the Caribbean, the NCO was sent to La Gonâve, an island that, until he came along, no white man had ever set foot on and lived. This worked out for Wirkus because he had been curious about Gonâve for the entire time he was deployed. His first assignment there was to arrest the locals for practicing voodoo.

The local voodoo queen, Ti Memenne, had a ceremony for Faustin, which he thought was a celebration of some kind. And it was. The locals thought their old king had been reincarnated as a white man. They decided that Faustin was their new old king – and he ruled their island until the President of Haiti forced him to go home to Pennsylvania.

Read On: That time a Marine was crowned king of a voodoo island in Haiti

Stole an A-4M Skyhawk. From the flightline. 

Howard Foote always wanted to be a fighter pilot. Sadly, when he was joining the Marine Corps, he could not qualify to be a pilot, so he settled for the next best thing: an airplane mechanic. But just because the Marine Corps said he wasn't allowed to be one of their pilots didn't mean he would never fly a USMC fighter. One night, the mechanic suited up, hopped in his perfectly-maintained A-4M Skyhawk, and took off into the night.

The Corps, to their credit, didn't try to intercept Foote as he flew his way around the skies above California. Foote flew the fighter to his hearts' content and landed safely... into the hands of the waiting police. He was sent to the stockade and served some time before being discharged. Luckily for him, it wasn't a dishonorable one, so Foote was able to realize his dream of becoming a pilot – this time legally. For NASA.

Read on: That time a Marine mechanic took a joyride in a stolen A4M Skyhawk

Married a princess.

Lots of Marines fall in love and get married to a local when they're in the middle of their first assignment. While some aim low and take strippers or lawyers, one enlisted Marine decided that wasn't enough. His deployment to Bahrain was going to be memorable, so he decided to marry into a local family.

The ruling Al-Khalifa family, that is.

In 1999, Lance Cpl. Jason Johnson fell in love with Meriam bint Abdullah al-Khalifa after meeting the princess at a local mall. He helped smuggle her out of Bahrain and into the United States, which is why he later faced a court-martial, not for getting married without the Corps' consent.

The Corps believes in love.

Read More: That time a US Marine eloped with a Princess from Bahrain

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