"If we'd have had ammunition, we could have cleared that building"

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Jon3830

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I remember on 9-10-2001 we could drive on and off of base no problems at all, hell a highway ran through base then on 9-11-2001 we were blocking off all roads to base even the highway. we were stationed all around base in full battle rattle with our m-16's with the mags in them looking like we were ready to go except for one item that we had on base in abundance it just wasn't issued to us and if you guessed that item to be ammo you guessed right.
 

CorpsVet

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I was on active duty at NAS Millington just north of Memphis, TN when Dr. King was killed. They rounded up as many Marines as they could find, issued us M-14's, mags, bayonets and helmets and took us to downtown Memphis, where there was rioting. They stationed a Marine at each intersection, instructed us to fix bayonets and insert EMPTY mags and keep the peace.

We looked like we were ready for battle, but were almost defenseless. There were people on top of buildings firing live rounds at the rioters, and it was scarey as hell!
 

dennishoddy

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The marines guarding the barracks in Beruit Lebanon, in 1983 that got hit with a suicide bomber had empty guns. They were under orders to have empty mags, but they could carry ammo on their belt. They never got off any shots until the bomber was already in the compound.

Very early at 0622 on 23 October 1983, a lone suicide bomber drove a Mercedes truck-packed with the equivalent of 12,000 pounds of TNT-into the building housing many of the Marines of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit (24th MAU) killing 241 Marines and members of other U.S. Services. Most of Headquarters and Services Company of Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines (BLT 1/8) was wiped out. At the same time, another suicide bomber drove a van into the barracks housing the French Foreign Legion killing several dozen Legionnaires

My personal experience with this stupidity was when stationed at Ft. Cambell Ky in the early 70's. We were assigned to patrol the fence perimeter of the nuclear artillery warhead storage area at night. We were issued three live rounds for our M-16's. I didn't understand then, and I don't understand now.
 

Jon3830

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The marines guarding the barracks in Beruit Lebanon, in 1983 that got hit with a suicide bomber had empty guns. They were under orders to have empty mags, but they could carry ammo on their belt. They never got off any shots until the bomber was already in the compound.

Very early at 0622 on 23 October 1983, a lone suicide bomber drove a Mercedes truck-packed with the equivalent of 12,000 pounds of TNT-into the building housing many of the Marines of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit (24th MAU) killing 241 Marines and members of other U.S. Services. Most of Headquarters and Services Company of Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines (BLT 1/8) was wiped out. At the same time, another suicide bomber drove a van into the barracks housing the French Foreign Legion killing several dozen Legionnaires

My personal experience with this stupidity was when stationed at Ft. Cambell Ky in the early 70's. We were assigned to patrol the fence perimeter of the nuclear artillery warhead storage area at night. We were issued three live rounds for our M-16's. I didn't understand then, and I don't understand now.

I don't understand it either I remember a few days after 9/11 when everyone was freaking out and the brass was expecting something to go down on at the training base I was at since to them it seemed like a good target for a terrorist we still weren't given ammo. So we started busting open amnesty boxes looking for usable rounds which we found out nobody uses the amnesty boxes, but one morning the krispy kreme guy who was prior service came by and he gave a few boxes of ammo and said there was no use in dying with an empty weapon if you don't have to.
 

ripnbst

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Or do you think this is planting the seed for the .gov to be buying all the ammo so that the typical consumer has "panic like" access to it?

They said he didn't have ammo. That likely means they weren't allowed to have it, not that there was none to be had. However the way it is worded can be construed to mean the .gov needs to be buying more because these poor guys had none.

They had guns, just no ammo. If you cant limit the guns, limit the ammo.
 

reddog1

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Or do you think this is planting the seed for the .gov to be buying all the ammo so that the typical consumer has "panic like" access to it?

They said he didn't have ammo. That likely means they weren't allowed to have it, not that there was none to be had. However the way it is worded can be construed to mean the .gov needs to be buying more because these poor guys had none.

Thats an angle I did not pick up on... Very good.
 

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