Back in 1997, I was stationed in Virginia Beach, attending school for F-14 avionics. We shared the base and barracks with Marines. The Marines called each other "devil dogs" and one guy in particular, named Scranton, used the phrase constantly. "Dawg, I'm a marine..you know what I'm saying...dawg?" He was young and about 6 feet tall and dumb as a box of rocks.
Between the barracks, we had a raised concrete walkway that had metal handrails that were about 5 feet off the ground below. This was known as "the smoke pit." During evenings, we gathered out there and hung out together. It was usually a bunch of kids drinking and talking about how their day had gone.
One night I was outside smoking and three Marines stepped out onto the grass, drunk as a skunk, arguing about the Jon Benet fiasco and hyping the new show they had been watching...South Park. "Dawg, that show's great, dawg." "I know dawg!"
I was about to go back inside and Scranton bellied up to the rail and asked me, "Where do you think you're going Dawg?" "I'm going to bed, school starts EARLY in the morning." I replied. "DAWG! We're having a discussion, you can't just leave dawg!" "Scranton...I don't have time for this, I'm going to bed."
About that time, 4 Navy friends stepped out to smoke..Kevin "big guy" Ferrero, Chris "Zippy" Zimmerman, Ed "psycho" Brenzo and Eric Harrison said, "Leave Tinner alone, he's old." Scranton replied with "Yeah, that dawg's too old to be in the military." So I snapped him up by his blouse and dragged him over the rail and onto the concrete floor. He scrambled, but I had him pinned down immediately. "Dawg...let me up!" "If you call me a dog just one more time, I'm going to beat your ass until your parents wouldn't recognize you! I ain't too old to kick your ass."
I was there for 2 more months and I never had a problem with anyone. Most of the Marines there called me Mr. Tinner, but they never called me dawg again. I heard that Scranton was KIA in Afghanistan...He was a good guy and I am glad I served with him. As annoying as he was....we're still brothers too.
