(Login Dick Gaines) Forum Owner from IP address 209.130.137.173
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This is where you may post your response to the OohRah Information posted on GyG's Legends, Myths, Little-Known Facts of the Old Corps! http://expage.com/nowwhatsthis2>
Since hearing (one of them anyway) of the meaning
I believe I could except it quite well. Over the
recent years I have heard the meaning to be derived
from a "Turkish" battle cry, meaning "kill the enemy".
Good warrior cry in my estimation. Can't vouch for
the authenticity of this meaning, but sure sounds
good when I think about it.
Semper Fidelis
NOMAD
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we have no reason to believe that that story has any basis in fact! Good story, though.
Problem is--if that story gets around enough, some "professional" writer will eventually pick it up and stick it in his/her new book, and we all know the effect once something is in writing!
Hell, I've see stories, obviously nor true, but if believed would even make Klinton look good! Or her husband even.
*****
Old Salt Marines Forum
Dick Gaines
Illegitimus Non Carborundum
Restore The Republic!
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would probably date the obscenity to the Korean war as they served with distinction there. While in Tokyo Army Hospital the Ambassador brought his daughters to visit his troops and told the story of their flag. Had to do with a battle they won years before and the ground was so covered with blood that moon rise was a bloody shade.
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I have been wondering about OOrah. I left the Corps in '52 and had never heard of it until the last couple years. No idea where it originated but presumed it came in with the "New Corps" during the Viet Nam experience. In my day it was "Gung Ho!", which at least is 'interpetable'.
Question, if I may... I'm trying to recapture my memory of the pogey rope, both for 1-5 and for SeaGoing units. Any fresh ideas?
Semper Fi! Sgt Syd
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Nope. Never heard it in Vietnam either. If anybody had said it to a DI or platoon sargent they would have been doing pushups or digging slit trenches. Perobably some rap ****.
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Gunny, somehow I suspect you and I would not agree on a whole hell of a lot. Restore the Republic? What is that crap about? However, I am with you on this "Ooh Rah" guff. The first time I heard it was in the mid eighties while my son was in the Air Wing. Yeah, I know--but kids, what're you gonna do?
Ooh Rah, sounds childish, like some sophomore booster club cheer or prep school rallying cry.
Gung Ho or Semper Fi works for me.
And, I do agree that Marine ranks are the proper address rather than using the pay grade. But, you know that came about, if my memory is correct, in the late fifties when the Marine ranks and pay grades were realigned. People were confused about the new Lance Corporal rank (E-3) which replaced the (E-3) Corporal which became (E-4), and the (E-4) Sergeant who became a Sergeant (E-5). To further build on the confusion, there was a window of time in which there were no insignia (with crossed rifles, etc.) for the new ranks. There were L/Cpls wearing regular corporal two stripes, and newly made corporals wearing sergeant three stripes while real corporals and sergeants were also wearing the same insignia. It was a cluster f**k. Particularly since L/Cpls were not entitled to the NCO Club, but they were wearing the rank. For the sake of clarity, many commands starting using the pay grade as an identifier, as in, "He's a Sergeant E-5." And thus, useage became corrupted to designating personnel by pay grade rather than rank. Or so I think.
But, back to this Restore the Republic stuff, what's that about? Better we should restore swagger sticks, Sam Browne belts, and leather instead of corfam shoes.
Semper Fi? Doesn't that mean, I've got mine, where's yours?
Shane Fox: Lima 3/5, 1st & 3rd Mar Div, FMF, and doesn't FMF really mean Fighting Motherf***er instead of Fleet Marine Force. And yeah, I was proud of my pogey rope--hangs in my office to this day, actually.
See you on the high ground, if you make it!
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I spent 22 years in the Corps and in the Wing. Never oncein my tour of duty have I ever heard a Aviation Marine use that "grunt"sound. I respect all Marines and there medifores, take that back, I don't respect all Marines retired or active just that 10% who couldn't make it in civilian life and surely didn't make it in the Corps. Semper Fi!~ God Bless the Marine Corps!
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I have no idea what you mean by "there medifores". Did you perhaps mean to write, their metaphors? You see, a metaphor is a figure of speech used for drawing a comparison or analogy. Their is a possessive pronoun, the possessive case of they, actually. There is an adverb which can be used as a noun or pronoun and it denotes place or point.
As to "Oooh Rah". It would not be a metaphor. It would be a cheer, a shout or maybe even a battle cry. All would demonstrate unity and pride, perhaps. For me, and others apparently, it is also a bit sophomoric and lame. Like your e-mail to me. (See, I just used a metaphor for you).
Had you not had your ass up in the air you would have read my post for content and have understood that I did not attribute its origin to the Air Wing. I said the first time I heard it was in the eighties and my son was in the the Air Wing.
"Gung-Ho" sufficed for decades. It is too bad that it has joined swagger sticks and Sam Browne belts in obscurity to be replaced by Ooh Rah and Corfam shoes.
I welcome informed debate and challenging dialogue, but you had best stop rolling your brain in the dust and re-insert it in your head pan before firing off such silly bilge in my direction.
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OK. I'm not uncool for not recognizing Ooorah when I was at PI for my son's graduation in '86.
In '56 we'd never heard anything like that.
Things evolve, though.
We were big on Gung Ho.
Old pre-WWII salts probably got a laugh from that.
Using paygrades to address themselves, you had to be there.
They announced one day that us corporals were now acting corporals (acting sgts., etc.).
Adding to the confusion was the fact that grunt outfits mostly wore dungarees (utilities for the new guys) and had metal chevrons.
The new chevrons (the ones they use today) were still in the making somewhere, so a brand new Corporal E-4 wore metal sergeants stripes. He couldn't wear corporal stripes because everyone would think he was an E-3 (Lance Corporal or Corporal E-3).
That caused a stir among the troops that got the officers thinking (imagine officers thinking) and they changed the acting to corporal e-3 and corporal e-4, etc.
We got tired of the bull**** and just said "I'm an E-3, 4, whatever."
It was a crock. When I made corporal--the first time--I believe I had more status than when I went through the Acting, E-3/E-4 crap.
I was a CORPORAL and nobody screwed with me.
With the new ranks, they got even.
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I heard many platoons at MCRD San Diego shouting this during my fun days in Plt.3072 (6/75-9/75). One thing though, not only did it sound like a bunch of candyasses in a glee club but our Platoon Commander SSgt Thymes would have PT'd the crap out of us if he heard it.
Also I spent the rest of my tour running comm with MWCS-28 and while we heard it a few times from boots just coming onboard they quickly saw it carried no weight.
We basically considered "oohrah" to be a term used by brown nosers.
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When did OohRah come into fashion? I still say
Gung Ho. I was a gravel cruncher,or ground pounder,
sometimes a jungle bunny, never was a"Grunt!"
Except when I had dysentary. You haven't lived until
you pooped in your sleeping bag- but that's
another story, and I know how Marines hate Sea
Stories!!
I am skilled in weapons cqb,land mine warefare booby traps bobwire entanglements,tank traps and all heavy equipment operations.I was Honorable discharged and one od yhe survivers of that nasty business in Beruit.I am ready to departch now.I ONLY ASK FOR THE RANK OF E5.Please give this a lot of thought,I know I caan help save many of our Brothers. Semper FI
David A Cassidy SR
091-58-1965
PS:I can still shoot the wings off a flies ass at 200 meters 570-504-8488
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Date:
Sat, 6 Jan 2001 14:12:44 -0800 (PST)
From:
"R.W. Gaines" <gyg1345@yahoo.com> | Block
address
Reply-to:
GunnyG@Retired.USMC.Net
Subject:
Re: [Fwd: (MMO) Where "Oohrah" came
from...]
To:
karoline <kmiller@ecenet.com>
Add
Addresses
Karoline:
Thanx...
Yeah, I've heard this one a few times too.
Like I told NOMAD yesterday regarding this same
"story"--if this one (story) sticks around a few
more years, some "professional" writer will stick
it in his/her next book, and it will then become
gospel thereafter, like the phony Tun Tavern
story, Blood Stripes, etc.
Ah me...and to think Ooh-Rah went right by this
old boot all those years w/o me even suspecting
it existed!
Best
Dick
--- karoline <kmiller@ecenet.com> wrote:
>
>
> ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822
> To: MarineMomsOnline@egroups.com
> From: "Cathy Nevitt" <mongo1mom@yahoo.com>
> Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 20:37:36 -0000
> Subject: (MMO) Where "Oohrah" came from...
>
> Hello everyone!
> Last week, in a post, I asked if anyone knew
> where we get the
> "Oohrah" that many of us have added to our
> vocabularies in recent
> months and years. I received a few responses,
> mostly from other MMOs
> wanting to know, but one from Lyn (Trimmelone)
> who actually found some
> historical info on the subject. Thanks, Lyn,
> and thanks to her son
> for his input. For your information, here's
> what she said:
>
> "I'm sure you'll get PLENTY of responses about
> "ooh-rah!" but here's
> mine.
> "Apparently the Marines picked it up back on
> "the shores of Tripoli."
> Here's my son's response when I asked him:
> 'It's actually a
> derivative (sp?) of the Turkish word for kill,
> adopted by the Marines
> who fought at the side of Prince Hamet's 400
> men in the Barbary
> Pirate's War as a war cry. Prince Hamet was the
> rightful Pasha of
> Tripoli, who, after we won, awarded Lt. Presley
> O'Bannon with the
> Mameluke Sword, which is now given to all
> Marine officers upon their
> commission, etc, etc,'
> "I have not been able to confirm the Turkish
> word for "kill" so I
> can't tell you if this is merely a legend of
> the Corps, or if there
> is a legitimate derivation. (I'm an editor and
> fact-checker, so this
> is the kind of thing I like to know.)"
> Lyn Central Coast California
> Proud mom of LCpl George Mellone
>
> So, there you have it...file it away for the
> next new group of MMOs!
> God bless,
> Cathy
> Proud MMO of PFC Andy Nevitt
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
> to:
> MarineMomsOnline-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>
>
I'll admit it. I am a young Marine, having served in the 90's. Not once from boot camp to my release from active duty did I find oohrah anything but distasteful or silly. A 'Semper Fi' or if more motivated, a good bark always worked for me.
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The first time I heard that ooh-rah thing, I wanted to laugh in the guys' face. The poor bastard actually thought it was some kind of Marine tradition.
I really wasn't sure. Knew I never heard it, but thought maybe I missed it one day in boot camp when my ears were ringing from the Drill Instructor slapping the hell out of me.
Happy to hear someone has the same opinion. It is juvenile bull**** from a bunch of kids that don't learn the discipline and esprit d' corps anymore. Folks raised in a society where war is a video game. I hope they don't have to learn the lesson that ooh-rah wont mean ooh-**** in combat.
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will someone please tell me what ooooraaah!!!!! means?
I have a husband in the marines but he acts like it is a big secret. Please help a confused soul.
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Rod, liked your answer. It may also be the mating call of the new, sensitive military man the Clintons were trying to introduce into the harsh, military climate they loathed. By the way, with that serial no. you must have been around when I was. What, 1947 , 1948 when you visited PI or San Diego
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It is not just the Old Salts that dispies this word. I served from 92 - 98, the Pepsi Generation if you will. The word OohRah is a sound that would make my stomach turn. It was a term that I never used. It always seemed to me as a sense of false motivation or for ass kissers. When I was promoted to Sargeant and got my first platoon, one of my stipulations was, do NOT use that word in my presence. It sounds femenine, gay, idiotic, something that come from Micheal Jackson or Prince. It also seems that when the Marines Hyme is sung, this word has been automaticly inserted at the end as a lyric. When I was a Boot, and received my "green monster" full of Corps knowledge, there was a page with the "official" lyrics of the Hyme. No where did I see this term on that page, or any other for that matter. Its something that I wish would fade from our existance, but no end is in sight. SEMPER FI....
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i recently visited p. i. while on vacation.
havent been there for approx 35 years.
while at the visitor center i was talking to a couple
of jarheads who kept using this ooohhh rrraaaahhh term.
i asked them what it meant and they said it was
like a gung ho thing to say and they asked me if
we used anything like that in my day....i told
them that we didnt need any saying to make
it sound like we were tough.
by the way i have a question-----were the 6th marines at any time ever a regiment?
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I first heard the ooh-rah when I arrived at Camp Pendleton just after the First Marine Division returned from RVN. Being an Air Winger,just out of flight school, I had never heard this and was informed by some of the 21 Area BOQ residents that this was an expression of motivation at that time unique to the Corps. I was informed that it enraged the Army when Marines attended jump school, et.al. This,of course, ensured it's continued usage.
I know I never heard it at Jr. PLC in 1967 and Sr. PLC in 1969.
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In my "Old Corp" I only heard one person, a troop handler, use Ooh-Rah. When Marines returned from RVN, they had to wait a few day on Okinawa before going home. In October 1969 my flight, U274, had a troop handler, Sgt Rodrequiz, who was big, highly motivating, with a great sense of humor, and every other word he said was Ooh-Rah. At our final formation he told us we would have a very long wait at Kadena before boarding our plane. He instructed us to wait inside the Kadena terminal, behave ourselves, and he would notify us by PA system when to board. About 4 long hours later we heard one word, Ooh-Rah, over the PA system. If you could have seen the quizzical look on other's faces as over 100 Marines got up, went to the gate, and boarded the plane. Sgt Rodreguez: Ooh-Rah and thank you for making our stay on Okinawa bearable.
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My time in the Corps during the Korean Police Action Ha. Gung Ho Gung Ho Gung Ho was what we yelled, it seemed more Marine the OohRah they now scream, I guess the new Marine Corps likes it, not me.
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I don't know what the truth of this is, but in a recent novel written by _________Davis, he mentions that the OOORAH was a shout used by the Russian Army during WWII. Sounds like something from there.
SemperFi
Ed
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