A Bull Named “Fu Man Chu” — Sgt. Tony Ludlow’s blog post for 2/27/2013
When she took my hand and whispered, “you’ll be alright,” I was sure that she was wrong. How could she be certain that I would be okay?
I woke up in a cold sweat and was emotionally spent, like dreams often do to you. You awake from some night terror, happy that it’s over, but still feeling the emotional strain and fallout from the nightmare.
I’ve had that same dream – or ones like it — about twice a year since 1995. For years after, I had one of those dreams a couple of times a month. But they’ve subsided to just a few times a year now. The dreams may be different in the details and scope, but the event is always the same.
At 5:46am on January 17, 1995 I was thrown out of bed by an earthquake that registered 6.9 on the Richter scale. I was literally thrown from my bed as pictures fell off the wall and book shelves fell over, spilling books all over the floor. A ruptured gas line started filling my house with gas as broken water pipes started leaking water into the kitchen and bathrooms.
The great Hanshin earthquake killed over 6,000 people. It injured 25,000 more. And in 20 seconds, 300,000 people were made homeless with nothing but the clothes they were wearing when the earth started shaking violently at 5:46am. It was one of the worst natural disasters in Japanese history. (But it would pale by comparison to the tsunami and earthquake that would strike northern Japan in 2010.)
Damage to my house was minimal, by comparison. I was very lucky. But the destruction and devastation was beyond anyone’s imagination.
The minutes, hours, and days that followed were full of confusion and shock; that gave way to frantic efforts to rescue people trapped under the wreckage of demolished buildings and homes. But the crisis was everywhere and the frustration and panic were overwhelming.
I spent the next two weeks helping to rescue and recover the injured and the dead from the rubble and ruin. We worked around the clock, taking turns to nap for an hour or so before returning to the overwhelming and horrifying work. People were trapped, injured, bleeding, and dying. And time was running out. We had to work as quickly as we could. It was life and death.
I have never publically spoken in any detail about this. I have never described those things to anyone. I’ve never told anyone about it.
I’ve tried once or twice to talk about it, but the words don’t come. In order to talk about it, I have to recall it, and I have to see those things in my mind again. Something I can’t do. I don’t want to do. I don’t want to think about it.
This is the only time I’ve ever written about it.
For days we shuttled clean water and food into the Kobe, Japan area. We strapped containers of water to motorcycles like saddlebags and filled backpacks with food and medical supplies. The motorcycle I used was one that I found abandoned under some debris. Motorcycles were used almost exclusively because the roads were so damaged, making cars and trucks unusable.
For days we worked to rescue the injured under the rubble of their homes and businesses. But after a week, our rescue efforts turned into recovery missions. We recovered the bodies of hundreds of men, women, and children: people who were unable to move quickly enough to survive — the elderly, the infirm, and the children — when the earth violently shifted as most slept in their beds.
It was the worst experience of my life, occurring during the most intense personal struggle of my life, at a time when I was already searching for answers.
I will not tell you the details of those days of rescue and recovery. I try not to think about those things. But a couple of times a year the nightmares take me back to that time and it screws me up for a while.
When I saw the movie, “The Impossible,” I was reminded again of that awful event in 1995. “The Impossible” portrayed the plight of one family on holiday in Thailand when the tsunami came ashore and killed over 250,000 people in December 2004.
That experience in 1995 was gruesome and grotesque and obscene, and horrifying. It’s the sort of thing that leaves you with images, sights, sounds, scenes, and smells that you can’t unknow. An experience that you can’t unfeel. Memories that you can’t not remember. Nothing would ever be the same again after that experience.
These days, every once in a while, I get asked, “Tony, are you ever serious?” Most people know me as a fun loving, positive, and happy person, eager to laugh, and always looking to clown. I usually make jokes about everything, most often at my own expense.
Am I ever serious? More serious than I want to think about.
Everyone that early January morning thought they had time. At 5:45am, one minute before the earthquake, everyone believed that that day would develop in the same way as the day before had. Everyone thought they had plenty of time. At 5:46am the world shook for 20 seconds and thousands of people died in an instant. Others would be injured and suffer under the weight of the destruction and die before help could arrive. Before people like me could reach them.
They thought they had time.
But they didn’t.
And we don’t either.
Or maybe we do.
Maybe you do, but I don’t.
The thing is, no one knows for sure if they do or if they don’t. But this much is true, we don’t have time to waste.
A few years ago, Tim McGraw recorded a song, “Live Like You Were Dying,” urging people not to wait to live, but to live with intention and purpose now! The backstory of the song had to do with a terminally ill man (McGraw’s own father, baseball great, Tug McGraw) deciding to live his life to the fullest and not wait until sometime in the unpredictable and unpromised future. The bucket list wasn’t for someday, it was for this day!
I can’t tell you how that earthquake experience shook the foundation of my life. All bets were off after that. All agreements, creeds, contracts, catechisms, and assumptions were reexamined in light of the questions I was asking and in the face of the horror I had seen right before my eyes. Things that weren’t working in my life, weren’t true, weren’t profitable, weren’t positive, and weren’t worthy were reevaluated, reflected upon, and tested. Ultimately, those things that were found lacking, were discarded or abandoned. It was like Spring cleaning in my heart, mind, and soul. And as you might imagine, not everyone in my life was happy about or supportive of that upheaval.
One of the results of that experience was that I fell in love again with the Japanese people. I saw minute by minute the resilience of their spirit, their love, and their concern for their fellow man. Their unbelievable self-discipline, kindness, generosity, and gratitude were daily examples of how I should live my own life.
They reminded me not to waste my time with things that aren’t true, things that don’t matter, people who don’t count, and dogmas that don’t work.
No more accepting false friends as true. No more accepting superstition masquerading as truth. No more lying to myself about things I’d accepted without proof. No more sickening sycophant behavior toward arrogant, self-centered, narcissistic bosses. Everyone would be treated the same, with respect … and according to merit.
In the long run, it would cost me a lot to be that determined. It would have been easier to have taken the blue pill, close my eyes, and let everything advance just as things always had in my life. But all of these things that were happening to me became the red pill. I couldn’t ignore it and I couldn’t go back to the way that it had been.
The words of Steve Jobs rings true: “Your time is limited; so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
“Tony, are you ever serious?”
I’ve had my “Serious Card” punched over and over again. I’ve had three lifetimes worth of “serious.” I’ve seen enough to live in constant pessimism, depression, and gloom.
Life is like that for a lot of people. We all struggle. We all have expectations that aren’t realized. Everybody hurts. We’ve all been disappointed and let down. We’ve all lost. We’ve all been betrayed and abandoned. We’ve all got reason to be depressed and despondent.
But I believe that happiness is a choice. I can choose to focus on the horror of life or I can discover and find the humor in life. I can affix a smile to my face, choosing to be happy. Or I can focus on the hardships and sadness of life and live under a cloud of darkness and gloom. I can be Pooh or Eeyore.
I like these words from the New Testament book of Philippians: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Surround yourself with goodness, kindness, and compassion for all; associate with people who exude those things. Read things that uplift you, choose friends who encourage you, watch television shows and movies that make you laugh and appeal to the better parts of your nature. Toss everything – and everyone — that doesn’t meet those minimum standards.
Our time is limited, don’t waste it trapped in jobs, relationships, or situations that don’t serve you and make your time here worthwhile, happy, and good. Show Mr. Grumpy or Ms. Psycho the door. If they want to be negative, controlling, and pessimistic let them exercise that right somewhere else and with someone else. If they insist on painting their world with anger, darkness, depression, and negativity, let them paint … alone! They won’t be converted. They won’t. They’ll only make you miserable in the process.
We all have these three things in limited supply: time, energy, and money. Don’t waste your own, don’t waste anyone else’s, and don’t let anyone waste yours.
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TODAY’S NUTRITION TALK
Corporal Ashley Hofeditz, RD LDN, talked about the Mediterranean Diet today. Thank you, Ashley! It was very informative, as always.
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ATTENTION EVENING CREW MEMBERS
The time change is upon us on Sunday, March 10. There’s been a request by a couple of members of the evening class to return to the 5:45pm start time following the time change.
Would that be an agreeable switch? Let me know if that would be a good thing or not for you.
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BUFFALO RUNNERS WE’RE RUNNING ON SUNDAY!
HALF MARATHON TRAINING CONTINUES THIS SUNDAY AT 7AM!
We’ll meet at 7:00am on Sunday, March 2, in front of the Visitor’s Center at Shelby Farms. We’ll be going 2hrs.
Beginning THIS week – for our 2hr run – we’ll start meeting at 7am.
Cost is only $75 for active duty Boot Campers and $125 for non-boot campers for the three-month training.
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M-16 WORKOUT NEXT TUESDAY, MARCH AT 0530 AT CUMC!
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DID YOU START USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP LAST FEBRUARY OR MARCH 2012? Let me know, ASAP!! I want to get your rank t-shirt made ASAP!
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COLD WEATHER POLICY
Anytime the “Feels like” temperature on The Weather Channel – I’ll be using the TWC app for iPhone — drops to 30 or below, we’ll go inside. The 0530 and 0645 classes use the “blue gym” on those days. During basketball season, the evening class will use the exercise room off the main gym.
If the Memphis City Schools close for ice or snow, we will also stand down. If they start, but then dismiss classes early, the evening class will stand down.
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YOU GET OUT WHAT YOU PUT IN!
What you get out of the workouts is determined by you.
How much do you work? How much effort you put into trying to do all of the repetitions with proper form and how much weight you’re using will determine what you get out of each workout.
It’s time for you to go up in weights … that’s what I’m thinking!
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EVERY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY IS T-SHIRT DAY!
WEAR YOUR RANK INSIGNIA SHIRT, SUB 7 SHIRT, OR OTHER USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP SHIRT!
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FACEBOOK REMINDER
When you check-in on Facebook, be sure to check-in on our OFFICIAL PAGE. That would be “USMC Fitness Boot Camp” and it has my picture on the page and boot camp is two words. The other pages are those that other people created without looking for the OFFICIAL PAGE and are duplicates. Those pages refer to us, but aren’t the authorized page.
Thanks, all!
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SUB SEVEN CLUB!
Members of the Sub-7 Club are Boot Campers who’ve run the mile in under 7 minutes under my observation and timing.
Congratulations to the following members of the Sub Seven Club:
Lance Corporal Lee Chase,
Lance Corporal Chris McLelland,
Staff Sergeant Patrick Moore,
Staff Sergeant Rob Johnston,
Staff Sergeant Andrew Stolnicki,
Gunnery Sergeant Bart Thomas,
Staff Sergeant Dory Sellers,
Gunnery Sergeant Henry Kenworthy,
Master Sergeant John Winford,
First Sergeant Matt Green,
And Sergeant Major Andrew Forsdick.
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VETERAN BOOT CAMPERS!
Your rank insignia t-shirts look AWESOME on you! (Don’t forget to wear yours EVERY WEDNESDAY AND/OR THURSDAY, T-SHIRT DAY!
And please go to
http://www.birthdayalarm.com/dob/76952967a424079603b362
And enter your boot camp anniversary date. If that information is already there and correct, you’re good to go.
Every Wednesday is our Official BOOT CAMP T-SHIRT DAY! You can wear your rank insignia shirt anytime you‘d like, of course, but always every Wednesday!
The Rank Structure of the Quarterdeck:
Under 6 months is a Private
Six months to 1 year is a Private First Class.
Over 1 year is a Lance Corporal
– Rachel Phillips 2/2012
– Amber Jackson 4/2011
– Sherri Thompson 4/2011
– Carrie Schule 5/2011
– Mary Bauer 6/2011
– Robin Scott 3/2011
– Chris McLelland 3/2011
– Randal Rhea 4/2011
– Cindy King 4/2011
– Bevan Lee 5/2011
– Melissa Thompson 5/2011
– Wayne Henderson 1/2011 *
– Michelle Moss 5/2011
– Lee Chase 7/2011
– JD Dombroski 8/2011
– Lindsey Stanfill 9/2011
– ShaWanda Upshaw 10/2011
– Tara Ingram 11/2011
– Pam Torres – meritoriously promoted 12/2012
– Tait Keller 12/2012
– Kitty Keller 12/2012
Over 2 years is a Corporal
– Courtney Phillips 2/2011
– Emily Melonas 6/2010
– Beth Mills 5/2010
– Ashley Hofeditz 4/2010
– Anne Marie Wyatt 4/2010
– Jenni Harris 8/2010
– Tim Romanow 8/2010
– Ashley McClure 8/2010
– Wendy Shea 4/2008*
– Jeremy Harris 1/2009*
– Falana Scott 7/2010
– Paul Bauer 11/2010
Over 3 years is a Sergeant
– Cecelia DeLacy 2/2010
– Teresa Faulk 6/2009
– Meg Cannon 3/2009
– Cameron Mosley 11/2009
– Karen Massey 11/2009
– Paul Tronsor 3/2009
– Jonathan Phillips 10/2008
– Sarah Vickers 8/2009
– Shena Clemons 10/2008
– Robert Hunt 8/2009
– Albo Carruthers 8/2008
– Kim Wamble 8/2008*
– Scott Plunkett 10/2008
Over 4 years is a Staff Sergeant
– Jessie Flanders 1/2009
– Andrew Stolnicki 1/2009
– Ben Killerlain 1/2009
– Buddy Daves 5/2008
– Dory Sellers 6/2006*
– Patrick Moore 9/2008
– Anne Kenworthy 8/2008
– Alan Schaeffer 4/2008
– Rob Johnston 4/2008
– Patty Dougherty 3/2008
– Oscar Adams 3/2008
Over 5 years is a Gunnery Sergeant
– Mike Ryan 5/2006*
– Leslie Garey 6/2007
– Henry Kenworthy 5/2007
– Michelle Dunn 3/2007
– Frank Jemison /2007
– Bart Thomas /2007
– Matt Prince /2007
– Beth Rehrig 7/2007
– George Rose /2007
Over 6 years is a Master Sergeant
– Anne Mead 2/2005*
– Kay Ryan 10/2006
– Megan Warr 8/2006
– Leesa Jensen 5/2006
– Rob Norcross 8/2006
– Mike Barta 6/2005*
– Anne Emmerth 6/2005*
– Jeff Lee 1/2006
– Ralph Braden 9/2006
Over 7 years is a First Sergeant
– John Winford 2/2006
– Kay Shelton 1/2006
– Louis Glazer 3/2005
– Matt Green 5/2005
– Gary Thompson 10/2005
– Scot Bearup 10/2005
Over 8 years is a Sergeant Major
– Melissa Moore 2/2005
– Hank Brown 3/2004
– Teri Trotter 4/2004
– Andrew Forsdick 9/2004
Over 9 years is a Warrant Officer 1
– David Townsend 1/2004
– Peter Pettit 5/2003
– Buddy Flinn 7/2003
– Amy Singer 9/2003
Over 10 years is a Chief Warrant Officer 2
– Pat McGhee 1/2003
– John Whittemore 1/2003
Battalion Executive Officer
Major Richard Bourland
* broken time
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ARE WE FACEBOOK FRIENDS?
We should be!
HAVE YOU “LIKED” THE USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP FACEBOOK PAGE?
You should totally do that!
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NEW BOOT CAMP DISCOUNT
If you set up an automatic payment at your bank (Boot Camp mailing address is 4888 Southern, Memphis 38117) you can subtract $10 off your fee! That’s right, instead of $75, you can pay $65!
(This is not an automatic bank draft that I set up with a voided check. This an automatic payment that you yourself set up.)
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USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES – NEW STUFF!
0530 Monday through Friday
(First and second Tuesday of the month are M-16 Workouts at CUMC. Third and fourth Tuesdays are Mt. Fuji Workouts at the U of M)
0645 M-F
5:30 PM: Monday through Friday.
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BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!
First of all, find me on Facebook and make me your friend. (Also, be sure to “like” USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP on Facebook.)
Here’s how the discount works!
It’s simple: make a Facebook status update and get a discount!
For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, (there are fake boot camps out there) you can take $2.50 off your next reenlistment fee for each update!
You can take up to $20 off for any given month!
Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.
BE SURE TO TAG ME!
You can do the same thing by “checking in” at USMC Fitness Boot Camp either by using Facebook “places,” Foursquare, or any of the other “check in” apps that show up on your Facebook News Feed.
So log on and start getting your discounts now!
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FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP FOR YOU!
Remember that when one of your family or friends joins the program at full price because of your recruiting efforts, YOU get a free month of Boot Camp!
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WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF NEXT MONTH?
Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery.
You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/
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CALENDAR
A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.
http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html
For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.
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Q. How can I get up in the morning on a consistent basis?
A. Contrary to what many think, I am NOT a morning person. I have to be “dynamited” out of the bed! Here are some tips to help you get going in the morning:
1. Use two alarm clocks. I have a snooze alarm that starts going off several minutes before I intend to get up. Then I have a “Last Call” alarm clock that is located across the room. This alarm clock is set to go off when I MUST get up.
2. Once the last call alarm goes off, the bed become OFF LIMITS! Get moving!
3. Get out of bed, turn off the alarm clock, and start turning on lights all through the house. Turn on the TV.
4. Lay out your clothes the night before. Don’t go wandering around the house in the morning trying to find your left shoe and your favorite shorts. So, have things ready the night before.
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What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?
To your optimum health and fitness!
SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!
Tony
Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145
