[pct-l] Something about Reinhold -: Just Kids...."Taking Chance"....(an old Marine's reflections)

[Edward Anderson]

I have noted that most of those who are so critical of Reinhold are pretty new to this list - (Louise, Terry, Dan, Steve, Judson). You are folks who have never met him, yet are so eager to criticize him. You eagerly jump on the Band Wagon and assume that he must, somehow, be a really bad person. I am someone who has actually met him and did not come away with that feeling. Yes, he is a "Joker" and some of his comments are certainly "Tongue in Cheek" humor. He is really good at that, but I do not consider him to be "sexist". Other of his posts have included good advice to aspiring PCT/JMT hikers. He is known as JMT Reinhold because he is especially in love with that part of the PCT - he once held the JMT speed record and has hiked it more times than anyone else. When I rode the JMT last summer I hoped that I might meet him again. That didn't happen. 

I want to mention that I did read over Reinhold's list of 10 reasons why "Hiker Dudes are Happier than Hiker Babes". I don't agree with #10 - you are wrong there Reinhold.  Guys and gals, unfortunately, can both put our forests at risk while lighting stoves. That's why I have advocated using a canister stove that is equipped with a simple push-button sparker rather than pouring the fuel into the burner and then lighting it.

Yes, Reinhold is "old school", just as I am. I still open doors, pull out chairs, and, if on a bus, will give up my seat to ladies. That's how I was raised - to always try to be a gentleman. Does that make me sexist?  I do realize that women are quite capable of doing all of these things themselves.  I am not at all sexist and have, for decades, been a champion of the Woman's Rights movement. I also put my wife (of 53 years) on a pedestal, just as Reinhold does his. I recognize that she is smarter and more capable than I in many ways. We complement, respect, and support one another.

Back in 1964, Jereen and I drove throughout the Middle East, beginning when we crossed into Turkey and then as we continued across the North Sahara and on to Casa Blanca. We never stayed in hotels, we always camped - and there were no campgrounds. We got to see and meet the people. We had both good and bad - and some even scarey, close-call, experiences. We were young then, wouldn't try it today. What sticks in my memories was the discrimination against women. That was consistently a noticeable reality then, as it continues to be today - a half century later. Here in America, in our current culture, we have made great progress towards eliminating that problem. When will we have a woman president?

To give you some idea of Reinhold's past, I am including (see below) his post from last Memorial Day. He is an American Patriot. Those of us who have served this Nation willhonor and appreciate his service.

I sincerely hope that my post does not offend anyone on this list. That is not my intention.

MendoRider-Hiker


Sent: Monday, May 28, 2012 2:27 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Fwd: Fwd: Just Kids...."Taking Chance"....(an old Marine's reflections)
 

To my hiking buddies who served and those who know the pain
----------------------------------------------
Original Message:
To my Marine buddies,.......those who served and those who know the "PAIN".

I don't know what it is about Memorial Day that makes me feel this way 
and makes
me, once again, want to say the things I am about to say...........

/We were  "just kids",  in the summer of 1965, when we landed in Vietnam.
//"Just kids", most of us 18-19-20 years old, just barely out of 
High//School, not yet
old enough to drink but old enough to die for our //country.
/
/We never could quite understand that....if you are old enough to die 
//for your country
you should be old enough to drink
. /
/With one year of advanced infantry training including jungle, desert, 
//cold
 weather,
hand to hand combat and raider training we were "Gung Ho" //Marines, 
tough enough
to chew nails.....I mean we were Captain //Tolleson's Echo 2/7, the 
cream of the crop
of the Marine Corps' //Raider Battalion and ready to kick ass.
//
We were "just kids" eager to be Marines, eager to serve during a time 
//of war, eager
to be heroes
//
That naive fantasy thinking can change mighty quick when the landing 
//crafts hit the
beach and bullets start flying.

//There is no glory in war, only misery......it is your worst nightmare.
//
Our first casualty was by friendly fire....the tragic part was that 
//the bullet that caused
our first casualty was fired by the casualties //best friend.
//In combat, reflex decisions have to be made in a split second and 
//sometimes those
decisions turn out not to be the right ones.

//In my mind there is no greater honor than serving your
 country during 
//a time of war
and no greater sacrifice than a soldier paying the //ultimate price 
while serving his
country during a time of war.

//Take Pat Tillman for instance....Pat was a professional football 
//player who had fortune
and fame yet walked away from a 3.6 million //dollar contract to serve 
his country and
paid the ultimate //price....ironically, also by friendly fire.

//But it does not matter, friendly fire, enemy fire, the results are 
//always the same and
Memorial Day is to honor all of our fallen heroes,//for they served 
their country and
paid the ultimate price. //
If it were not for men like that, Obama might be our Prime Minister or 
//our national
language might be German and Memorial Day is to remind us //of that and 
pay our
respect to these fallen heroes who sacrificed //their lives so that we 
can enjoy what
we have today.

//We did not
 consider ourselves to be "just kids", but now that I am 
older //and wiser I
realize, we WERE "just kids".

//Nothing has really changed and many of our troops serving in Iraq and 
//Afghanistan
are still "just kids"....not yet old enough to drink, //but old enough 
to die for their country
/
/Think about that for a moment, on Memorial Day, and what that day 
//stands for. /

/Reinhold Metzger
//Sgt. USMC 1964-68
//Gunner, Echo Co., 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines





/
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