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EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK:
Jim Rhein – Bully, Brawler, and Buddy
Jim Rhein was
initially a bully who loved to welcome newcomers to the platoon
in his own special way. He was twenty-eight years old and a huge
brute of a man, topping out at six foot four-inch, two hundred
and fifty pounds. He was a lantern jawed Lee Marvin look-alike
and had the large and able-looking hands of a strangler. He
liked to initiate most of the new guys by picking fights with
them, often beating the shit out of them.
One night,
within the first month that we moved into our new barracks, I
guess he figured it was time for my initiation.
I had just come
back from town after a night of drinking and carousing and as I
came into the barracks I was making vigorous attempt of getting
to the bathroom.
Jim was his
usual loud blustering self and drunk as any bored marine could
be and still be standing. He was holding court with a half dozen
other marines around him.
Each one
appeared as if the grin on their faces was a rictus of fear. I
could tell that they actually wanted to be far away from him,
since he tended to be unstable and violent when he was drinking.
They were too terrified to take any initiative and walk away
from him, since he would probably take offense and then get
physical.
He grabbed my
arm viciously as I walked by him. I ripped my arm out of his
grasp and continued on my mission to empty my bladder. Jim was
not use to anyone shrugging him off.
Angry, he
started to give me shit in his booming voice, and followed me
into the head. All the other guys in the barracks left the scene
so they would not have to be witness to a killing
He came in to
the head while I was trying to urinate and started threatening
me. I felt a clutch of cold fear as I just stared at him. His
face had a look of drunken belligerence. The whites of his eyes
were red, his pupils dilated.
My stream of
urine took a hiatus. I wasn’t just afraid, I was terrified, and
I was overwhelmed with disbelief that Jim felt it was necessary
to incite violence for no apparent rational reason.
I decided that
I would not make any unnecessary moves.
Nevertheless
and despite my fear, I was determined to do everything in my
power to take his eyes out the second he attacked me.
With quickness
that belied his size, he took his massive fist and slammed it
into the tiled wall next to my face while I continued staring at
him. The shards of tile sprayed in my face.
I didn’t
flinch, but just continued staring without speaking a word. He
mistook my paralysis for insane courage. My body was trembling,
on edge and ready for the combat I would have rather avoided.
My body started
to gear up for the fight of my life. Much in the same manner as
the pugil stick fight I had with my squad leaders in boot camp.
As I said, Jim
let a few people go without beating them up, but I was the first
he went after and did not push the issue. He looked at me with
surprise and said in his deep bass voice, “You’re okay,
Chimera.” Then lumbered off. I breathed a long sigh of relief
and started to shake from the adrenaline let down.
Eventually we
became friends and I trained him to lift weights. He was also a
dedicated horn dog, a slave to his penis. Women just loved his
Lee Marvin persona, and he took full advantage of his charms.
He was also
hyper-intelligent and an extremely good artist. With his
stevedore hands he could draw caricatures of anyone in minutes.
I still have a few boxed away to this day.
His drawings
depicted me as the Incredible Hulk, holding a large magnifying
glass in front of my eyes. One drawing was titled “Chimera at
the beach.”
After we became
friends, Jim quit targeting newcomers. He only got physical when
someone decided to test him. To this day I am not sure why he
quit his practice of hazing newcomers, but quit he did.
MOST PEOPLE TALK BULLSHIT:
One Primate's Search For Intelligent Life
(GENESIS)
MOST PEOPLE TALK BULLSHIT:
One Primate's Search For Intelligent Life
(EXODUS)
MOST PEOPLE TALK BULLSHIT:
One Primate's Search For Intelligent Life
(REVELATIONS)
MOST PEOPLE TALK BULLSHIT:
One Primate's Search For Intelligent Life
(JUDGMENT DAY)
THE MARINES: GOD'S CHOSEN
WARRIORS
VINCE'S GYM
CONVERSATIONS WITH NEO
NEO TEACHES ME THE ART OF WAR
& PEACE;
His Version of The Matrix
MEMORIES OF MY FATHERS
ZEN & THE ART OF RESISTANCE
TRAINING:
A Yogic & Scientific Approach To Weight
Lifting
ZEN & THE BIOLOGY OF
TRANSCENDENCE:
The First Matrix of Psychic
Phenomena
ZEN & THE ART OF KINESIOLOGY:
The Yogic & Scientific
Approach To Movement
ZEN & YOUR ENERGY SYSTEMS
ZEN & VARIOUS ASPECTS OF
TRAINING
HOMEPAGE TO ADVENTURES IN MARINE BIOLOGY
HOMEPAGE |
