South Pacific Military Protocol

[tmbcktt]

Posted: 3/23/08 at 12:10pm

Hi everyone. We took my father-in-law (a career Marine officer) to South Pacific the other night. He loved the show, but he had some coments about the accuracy of some of the show's military protocol. By the way, my father-in-law and his troops appear in a beach scene in the 1958 film version of SP. Below is his message:
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I read the Playbill's citation of most impressive sources for the show's military research. But they all must have been asleep when Marine Lieutenant Joe Cable appeared on stage wearing a Navy officer's uniform. Glaringly, he wore a black tie (Marines wear khaki ties) and a solid belt buckle (Marines wear a distinctive square frame buckle). Also, there was a lot of hatless saluting which, although quite acceptable in the Army and Air Force, never happens in the Navy and Marine Corps. My sources are pretty good, too. I grew up in the Marine Corps (my father retired as a Marine Major General and WWII veteran), graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, spent two years commanding a Marine detachment aboard a Navy cruiser, and retired myself as a Marine officer and Vietnam veteran.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/23/08 at 12:12pm

Very interesting!

He should write a letter to Bart Sher.