My screen name is my actual first name. The story behind that is lame, but true. My parents hated nicknames such as James = Jim, David = Dave, Lawrence = Larry, etc. And, they wanted a one syllable name. Thus, my first name is Dane, which means basically “man from Denmark.” I think they found it in a baby naming book, as it wasn’t some dusty old tradition in the family.
I can relate totally to Jamie and his name. I got ragged a lot years back for having a “girl’s” name. And, no one seems to get it right. 9 times out of 10, it is misspelled or completely changed to something else.
Regarding Grunt’s explanation on the origin of the term Grunt, I served as a grunt, which in Army parlance is an 11 Bravo. The USMC has another designator for that MOS. Everyone not an infantryman is (or was in my day) known as a REMF, but I think the term pougue is now what the guys on AD use. In line units, REMFs are really not well thought of.
No one is sure what the origin of the term is, it probably originated during Vietnam, but we understood it to mean we humped a LOT. Humping is carrying a very heavy load, usually on your back in your handy ruck. Since I was RTO, I also had the PRC77, which alone will make you grunt after a few days in the field. Add the rest, the rats and the M16 or M203 or mortar tube, ammo, two to four canteens, extra socks, all the rest, and you really start to grunt, and eventually, any other form of verbal communication is pretty much impossible, nor desired.
One story says that grunt is an acronym for “government reject, unfit for normal training.”
And considering that there were tons of stupid jokes about things being “infantry proof,” a lot of our non-infantry fellow soldiers maybe did really think infantrymen were stupid or low-speed. More colorful terms really do apply more appropriately to grunts, though.
Some not so flattering, of course.
Which leads me to my little anecdote when I had to go into the local police station to be interviewed as part of the process to get a license to carry in my state. I asked if I was still required to do the firearms class they make you take in MA, and if my time in service could be used to waive that requirement. The LT laughed and said yeah, you do, even though you probably shoot better than all of my guys. I laughed and said probably, but I was trained to waste everything and then hold the position, so the class is probably a good idea.
Dane
