| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq-Jordan |
| Kilt-wearing Marine plays bagpipes at Fallujah |
| 2004-04-16 |
| Hee hee, I suggested this very thing on a string yesterday: Kilt-Wearing Marine Plays Bagpipes in Iraq Thu Apr 15, 5:57 PM ET FALLUJAH, Iraq - Amid the clatter of gunfire and explosions that regularly rock this city, an unexpected sound rises over the front line — bagpipes. Dressed in Marine fatigues with his gun at his side, 1st Sgt. Dwayne Farr, 36, blows into his set of pipes. The plaintive wail is carried by the wind that whips across this dust-blown, war-torn town. "Playing on the battlefield — I never thought that would happen," Farr said. Farr, an African-American from Detroit, was inspired to learn when he saw another player who didn’t match the Scotsman stereotype. "I was at a funeral and I saw a Marine playing the bagpipes, and I thought, this isn’t a big, burly, redheaded guy with a ponytail and a big stomach. He’s a small Hispanic Marine. I said if he can learn to play the bagpipes, I can learn," he said, chuckling. When he is not on the front-line, Farr wears a kilt when playing, and some Marines have been skeptical about a member of one of the toughest fighting forces in the world donning what looks like a skirt. But Farr is unfazed. He’s looking for a desert camouflage kilt he can wear in operations like these. "Kilts are something that fighting men wore many years ago, and we know that the Marines are fighting men. So real men wear kilts. And they are pretty comfortable too," he said. Among his admittedly limited repertoire is "taps," the tune traditionally played by the military when a service member is killed. Farr has played it several times over the past days in Fallujah. Marines say the sound of the bagpipes is a morale booster. "It’s something to hear besides the rockets and gunfire," said Master Sgt. Rowland Salinas, 42, from San Antonio, Texas. "It’s something that soothes the mind." Unless you’re a jidadi. |
| Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy |
| #21 On the subject of kilts, me lads and lasses (I'm of Clan McLaren): Oh a Scotsman tried and true left the bar one evening fair And one could tell by how he walked he'd had more than his share He stumbled round 'til he could no longer keep his feet Then he stumbled off unto the grass to sleep beside a stream. Ring-ding diddle diddle aye-dee-oh Ring di-diddle-aye-oh Oh he stumbled off unto the grass to sleep beside a stream. Well about that time two young and lovely ladies happened by And one said to the other, with a twinkle in her eye "Oh see yon sleepy Scotsman, so strong and handsome built?" "Well I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath their kilts." Ring-ding diddle diddle aye-dee-oh Ring di-diddlee-aye-oh "Oh I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath their kilts." Well they snuck up to that sleeping Scotsman, quiet as could be And they lifted up his kilt a little bit so they might see And there for them to behold, beneath that Scottish skirt, Was nothing more than God had graced him with upon his birth. Ring-ding diddle diddle aye-dee-oh Ring di-diddlee-aye-oh Was nothing more than God had graced him with upon his birth. Well they marveled for a moment, then one said, "We must be gone." "Well let's leave a present for our friend before we move along." As a gift, they left a blue silk ribbon tied into a bow Around the bonnie sword the Scotsman's kilt beneath did show. Ring-ding diddle diddle aye-dee-oh Ring di-diddlee-aye-oh Around the bonnie sword the Scotsman's kilt beneath did show. Well the Scotsman a little later, he awoke to nature's call And as he lifted up his kilt, what he got and what he saw, And in a strangled voice, he said, "I can't believe me eyes!" "I don't know where ye been, me lad, but I see ye took first prize!" Ring-ding diddle diddle aye-dee-oh Ring di-diddlee-aye-oh "I don't know where ye been, me lad, but I see ye took first prize!" |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-04-16 11:40:40 PM |
| #20 The proper answer to "Whats under your kilt?" is... My Boots. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-04-16 11:35:08 PM |
| #19 I was asked once, "what's worn under a kilt?" I said, "ain't nuthin worn under my kilt. It's all in perfect workin' order." |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2004-04-16 8:08:41 PM |
| #18 That's why I love this country. Where else are you gonna find a big black guy wearing a kilt and playing Scotland the Brave? |
| Posted by: Fred 2004-04-16 3:47:08 PM |
| #17 Super Hose - thanks, I'll check the web site. Also, thanks for the story on the "Ladies from Hell" - that's exactly what I was thinking of. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-04-16 2:54:40 PM |
| #16 Most common question asked of pipers late in the evening of St. Patty's Day: What are you wearing under that kilt? (Hahahahaha as spoken in front of the drunken crowd)) And the snappiest piper response? "Why, your wifes lipstick!" HAHAHAHAHAHA... uh oh, Paddy, a fight just broke out...WATCH OUT FOR THAT CHAIR! |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2004-04-16 2:54:33 PM |
| #15 If it works for our folks, use it! Sgt. Farr may be onto something |
| Posted by: Anonymous4052 2004-04-16 2:36:48 PM |
| #14 Saw on Mail Call that the last time that kilts were worn in combat (as far as we know) was in WWI by the "Ladies from Hell." The use of pipes to lead the troops during armed conflict is a history of the Celitc peoples. Scots & Celts share the heritage of the "Great Highland War-Pipe!" Said to be worth a 100 guns, in W W I, armed only with their pipes the bagpipers led British soldiers through murderous fire to reach enemy trenches. Kilted pipers leading the regiments through the smoke and artillery fire of battle, seemed to be emerging from the very depths of Hell itself. The courageous; full, yet errie sounds of the pipes, and the determination of the pipers as they marched into the face of death -- instilled deep fear in the German enemy. The Germans gave these pipers the honored title of "The Ladies from hell." |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-16 2:29:16 PM |
| #13 Barb someone has been posting articles from some media guys embbeded with the marines. They might be interested in staging a photo op for a gag. Staff writer Darrin Mortenson and staff photographer Hayne Palmour are reporting from Iraq, where they are with Camp Pendleton Marines. Their coverage is collected at www.nctimes.com/military/iraq. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-16 1:50:36 PM |
| #12 Cyber Sarge: "It did paint a really disturbing picture in my head." Rent the film "GLADIATOR" with Russel Crowe, (directed by Ridley Scott). In the opening scenes you will see some very intense Roman soldiers wearing the equivalent. If you're still disturbed by "kilts" after that, let us know. LOL! Deacon Blues. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-04-16 1:41:07 PM |
| #11 Unmutual or maybe you hit the wrong key - UnNatural |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-04-16 1:32:29 PM |
| #10 To Unmutual. Wearing a kilt isn't the same as wearing a dress. The last person that called my kilt a dress got kilt. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2004-04-16 1:09:13 PM |
| #9 Is he related to Jaime Farr? /Section 8 |
| Posted by: Unmutual 2004-04-16 12:50:30 PM |
| #8 I wear a kilt and they are comfortable except when it's cold and the wind is blowing in the mountains of east Tennessee. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2004-04-16 12:47:30 PM |
| #7 Fact is that fighting and bagpipes go hand in hand. Scottish highlanders were so feared at one point that the British crown outlawed them as fighting units. And it is also a fact that the Celts did not fight with their kilts on. Picture in your mind large numbers of screaming naked men (many of them painted blue) with claymores charging you to bagpipes... To my fellow 1SG, Keep playing because the boys love anything that irratates the other side, besides when the look up to see what is making that sound, a Marine gets an easy look for a headshot! |
| Posted by: TopMac 2004-04-16 12:25:38 PM |
| #6 Hehehehehehehe. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-04-16 12:18:30 PM |
| #5 "And they are pretty comfortable too" Out of respect for my brothers in arms and Jarhead I will not comment on this part. It did paint a really disturbing picture in my head. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-04-16 12:10:33 PM |
| #4 If anyone knows of a way I can contact 1st Sgt. Farr for his size and address, I'll be glad to buy the kilt and send it to him. (I found a website that carries desert camouflage kilts. This article appears to be a AP wire story, so no hope of contacting the reporter, I think.) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-04-16 12:08:18 PM |
| #3 Hee, hee, hee. You go, 1st Sgt. Farr! That sound must scare the shit out of the jihadis. I think it was in WWI (somebody who knows more than I please correct me) that the Scots marched into battle playing the bagpipes and the enemy ran because they thought the Scots were insane, and therefore terrifying. Glad to see our Marines keeping up the tradition. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-04-16 11:49:58 AM |
| #2 Not to a Marine!!! |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-04-16 11:48:15 AM |
| #1 I'm sorry, but it's just Wrong for the both "bagpipes" and "soothes the mind" to appear in the same article :) -M |
| Posted by: Mark O 2004-04-16 11:46:54 AM |