Words of Others | USPS vs. USMC

I started reading Helmet for my Pillow today. It’s the World War II memoir of Robert Leckie and is one of the books that the HBO miniseries The Pacific was based on.

So far, it is terrific — well-written with a sense of humor and a really good eye for detail. I could probably write daily Words of Others items from it, but I’ll just share the passage that made me laugh the hardest today. Leckie is writing about the U.S. Marine Corps training on Parris Island in South Carolina, and the complete lack of privacy:

Even the food packages from home were seized by the drill instructor. We were informed of their arrival; that the drill instructor had sampled them; that he had found them tasty.

What! Now you are aroused! This is too much. This is tampering with the United States Mails! Ah, my friend, let me ask you this. Between the United States Mails and the United States Marines, who do you say would win?