Pat Tillman's Former Teammate Joins Marines

A former college teammate of Pat Tillman – the NFL player who left football to join the Army and was killed in Afghanistan – has followed in his footsteps and joined the Marines.

Jeremy Staat, who also played professional football, left the game at age 29 to endure the rigors of boot camp and life in the military.

Staat was an offensive lineman at Arizona State University while Tillman played there, and the two were roommates.

After college, Staat moved on to the National Football League, playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams, plus one year of arena football with the Los Angeles Avengers.

He had early thoughts of leaving football for military service, but Tillman urged Staat to stay in the league until he could get a retirement plan, the Marine Corps News reports.

Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Tillman decided to leave the NFL to serve in the U.S. Army. He was killed in action in 2004, a reported "friendly fire" death that is now being probed by the Pentagon.

"That was the turning point for Jeremy,” said Janet Goodheart, Staat’s mother. "After Pat was killed, he began to dwell on things. He visited me at home and we had a real serious talk. He told me he was through with football.”

"The big reason was because I was really disgusted with the amount of money entertainers get and what they pay troops overseas,” he told the News.

"It didn’t seem right that we pay all those entertainers millions to catch a football and we pay our Marines pennies to a dollar to catch a bullet.

"I wanted to be a part of something that is going to live forever instead of getting trophies. What are trophies good for – collecting dust?”

"I looked at them as a new uniform. Instead of having a football helmet, I had a Kevlar. Instead of wearing shoulder pads, I wore a flak jacket.”

Tillman’s old buddy said he plans on leaving a lasting impression in the Marine Corps – and maybe watching a few football games on his days off.

One of the "Venerable Ones" here - USMC Korean Conflict Veteran, instructing women recruits in classroom subjects at Parris Island, entering The Corps 25 June 1952...

Hearing the cry there, and seeing it in several references, it was spelled as "Oooh-Rah!!!

The "OOOH" portion is pronounced as it is in "ooze"....

What say you, JoeSixPack1, SandRat, or freema,
daughter/wife/mother/aunt/etc/of Marines?!

My time aboard Parris Island was during THE biggest buildup in Corps History - 35,000 SOB (Souls On Board) according to the History Museum at PI.

It so happened that the Iwo Jima Monument on the Parade Deck there (every dime paid by Marines) had its official Dedication Ceremony soon after I graduated from Boot Camp, in which I had served as Right Guide, and went straight to the podium.

Because of my experience, I was given the high honor and privilege of carrying the American Flag in it, as Guidon Bearer out front with the "A" Company Commander, leading eight full companies of United States Marines.

In 2002, my husband and I took our grandson, then 16 and in JRROTC, to Parris Island for a graduating Company ceremony to receive their emblems and the right to be called MARINE.

Here is my photograph at the 50 years point since dedicating the Monument...

It obviously still is true that if there is a parade on that field, "the wind will come"..:)
The National Anthem is interminably long when you are a small person holding a full-sized American Flag straight out against the wind!!

[My DI from Boot Camp on the sidelines of the Dedication Ceremony raked in lotsa dollars with bets with scoffers on my ability to perform my Guidon Bearer duties to perfection..:)]

New Enlistment Oaths

Discussion Board on this Military Joke

U.S. COAST GUARD ENLISTMENT OATH
"I, (State your name), swear to sign away 4 years of my life to the UNITED STATES COAST GUARD because I know being in the real military scares me. However, I swear to defend our position as the fifth branch of the Armed Services, although at one point we were under the Department of Homeland Security. I understand that atleast twice a day, someone will refer to me a member of the Air Force or Navy, and when I correct them, they will question my military status. I will work on boats the size of kayaks and small yachts during the worst of natures storms, and recieve no thanks or notice form the public. I will fly in helos into the eye of the storm to rescue people dumber then rocks, and then be heckled by the same people when I bust them for transporting drugs two months later.! I will prevent thousands of gallons of pollution, but be accused of impeding the economy when I won't allow vessels to pour oil into the ocean. I will be the red-headed step child to all of the other services, although I know I got the better deal. All of my equipment will be discarded Navy property. I will use most of my time in the Coast Guard to take college classes, and perfect my web surfing abilities, then complain that I work too much. I will perfect avoiding PT at all costs, and do my best to attend training that will give me a great competitive edge in the career field of my choice, making retention efforts of the Coast Guard pointless. I will come in contact with so many pollutants during my tenure, I will glow in the dark for the rest of my natural life and refer to myself as "salty" because of it. I will do my best to work 8 to 3, with a two hour lunch, on normal days, and have my pager and cell phone surgically attached, SO HELP ME GOD.

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US AIR FORCE OATH OF ENLISTMENT
"I, (State your name), swear to sign away 4 years of my life to the UNITED STATES AIR FORCE because I know I couldn't hack it in the Army, because the Marines frighten me, and because I am afraid of water over waist-deep. I swear to sit behind a desk. I also swear not to do any form of real exercise, but promise to defend our bike-riding test as a valid form of exercise. I promise to walk around calling everyone by their first name because I find it amusing to annoy the other services. I will have a better quality of life than those around me and will, at all times, be sure to make them aware of that fact. After completion of "Basic Training", I will be a lean, mean, donut-eating, Lazy-Boy sitting, civilian-wearing-blue-clothes, Chair-borne Ranger. I will believe I am superior to all others and will make an effort to clean the knife before stabbing the next person in the back. I will annoy those around me, and will go home early every day. So Help Me God!"

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US ARMY OATH OF ENLISTMENT
"I, (State your name), swear to sign away 4 years of my otherwise mediocre life to the UNITED STATES ARMY because I couldn't score high enough on the ASVAB to get into the Air Force, I'm not tough enough for the Marines, and the Navy won't take me because I can't swim. I will wear camouflage every day and tuck my trousers into my boots because I can't figure out how to use blousing straps. I promise to wear my uniform 24 hours a day even when I have a date. I will continue to tell myself that I am a fierce killing machine because my Drill Sergeant told me I am, despite the fact that the only action I will see is a court-martial for sexual harassment. I acknowledge the fact that I will make E-8 in my first year of service, and vow to maintain that it is because I scored perfect on my PT test. After completion of my Sexual.....er.....I mean "Basic Training," I will attend a different Army school every other month and return knowing less than I did when I left. On my first trip home after Boot Camp, I will walk around like I am cool and propose to my 9th grade sweetheart. I will make my wife stay home because if I let her out she might leave me for a better-looking Air Force guy. Should she leave me twelve times, I will continue to take her back. While at work I will maintain a look of knowledge while getting absolutely nothing accomplished. I will arrive to work every day at 1000 hrs because of morning PT and leave everyday at 1300 to report back to "COMPANY." I understand that I will undergo no training whatsoever that will help me get a job up! on separation, and will end up working construction with my friends from high school. I will brag to everyone about the Army giving me $30,000 for college, but will be unable to use it because I can't pass a placement exam. So Help Me God!"

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US NAVY OATH OF ENLISTMENT
"I, Top Gun, in lieu of going to prison, swear to sign away 4 years of my life to the UNITED STATES NAVY, because I want to hang out with Marines without actually having to BE one of them, because I thought the Air Force was too "corporate," because I didn't want to actually live in dirt like the Army, and because I thought, "Hey, I like to swim...why not?" I promise to wear clothes that went out of style in 1976 and to have my name stenciled on the butt of every pair of pants I own. I understand that I will be mistaken for the Good Humor Man during summer,! and for Nazi Waffen SS during the winter. I will strive to use a different language than the rest of the English-speaking world, using words like "deck, bulkhead, cover, geedunk, scuttlebutt, scuttle and head," when I really mean "floor, wall, hat, candy, water fountain, hole in wall and toilet." I will take great pride in the fact that all Navy acronyms, rank, and insignia, and everything else for that matter, are completely different from the other services and make absolutely no sense whatsoever. I will muster, whatever that is, at 0700 every morning unless I am buddy-buddy with the Chief, in which case I will show up around 0930. I vow to hone my coffee cup-handling skills to the point that I can stand up in a kayak being tossed around in a typhoon, and still not spill a drop. I consent to being promoted and subsequently busted at least twice per fiscal year. I realize that, once selected for Chief, I am required to submit myself to the sick, and quite possibly illegal, whims of my newfound "colleagues." So Help Me Neptune!"

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US MARINE CORPS OATH OF ENLISTMENT
"I, (pick a name the police won't recognize), swear..uhhhh....high-and-tight.... grunt... cammies....kill....fix bayonets....charge....slash....dig....burn....blowup....ugh...Air Force women....beer.....sailors wives.....air strikes....yes SIR!....whiskey....liberty call....salute....Ooorah Gunny....grenades...women....OORAH! So Help Me Chesty PULLER!"

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