Hillbilly in the Coast Guard

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On my last physical fitness test, I ran three of them in nineteen minutes. It was in the Marine Corps where I first ordered grown men to do a job and watched them listen; where I learned that leadership depended far more on earning the respect of your subordinates than on bossing them around; where I discovered how to earn that respect; and where I saw that men and women of different social classes and races could work as a team and bond like family.

It was the Marine Corps that first gave me an opportunity to truly fail, made me take that opportunity, and then, when I did fail, gave me another chance anyway. When you work in public affairs, the most senior marines serve as liaisons with the press. The press is the holy grail of Marine Corps public affairs: Though he was a captain—eight pay grades higher than I was—because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there was no ready replacement when he got the ax.

So my boss told me that for the next nine months until my service ended I would be the media relations officer for one of the largest military bases on the East Coast. This was something else entirely. The Marine Corps threw me to the wolves.

Buddy Ebsen

I struggled a bit at first— allowing some photographers to take photos of a classified air- craft; speaking out of turn at a meeting with senior officers—and I got my ass chewed. My boss, Shawn Haney, explained what I needed to do to correct myself. We discussed how to build relationships with the press, how to stay on message, and how to manage my time. I got better, and when hundreds of thousands flocked to our base for a biannual air show, our media relations worked so well that I earned a commendation medal.

The experience taught me a valuable lesson: I could work twenty-hour days when I had to. I could speak clearly and confidently with TV cameras shoved in my face. I could stand in a room with majors, colonels, and generals and hold my own.

Surrounding me was another message: The Marine Corps replaced it with something else, something that loathes excuses. Stop being fucking lazy! Today's Coast Guard is a far cry from those lean years in the 's. The other Guardians who read this memoir will recognize the great differences in technologies between then and now. Life was different when the author served his ten years active duty as a Coast Guardsman.

Airconditioned vessels were few-and-far-between.

Many of the enlisted personnel qualified for food stamps, but very few would apply. Medical care was sparse unless you were stationed near a military installation with those medical facilities or a Public Health Service Hospital. Work uniforms for enlisted up to and including E-6 were chambray shirts, bell-bottomed dungarees, and a blue ball cap or white hat.

Dress uniforms were either dress blues of bell-bottomed trousers and a jumper with white piping or a white uniform of the same except no piping, and a white hat. The author describes a few situations and conditions that give a very small overview of the older Coast Guard. In , the Coast Guard was under the U. Later it was moved to the newly-formed Department of Transportation.

He took up sailing, eventually becoming so proficient in seamanship that he taught the subject to United States Navy officer candidates. In , with the start of U. His application for a United States Coast Guard commission was accepted, and he was promptly given the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade. This wartime rank was one step up from the rank of Ensign , the usual rank given newly appointed naval officers in peacetime.

These patrols consisted of 30 days at sea, followed by 10 days in port at Seattle. Ebsen was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard as a lieutenant in Ebsen made his television debut on an episode of The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre in This led to television appearances in: Ebsen received wide television exposure when he played Georgie Russel, a role based on a historical person [12] [13] and companion to frontiersman Davy Crockett , in the Disneyland television miniseries Davy Crockett — In the — season, Ebsen co-starred in the episode half-hour NBC television adventure series Northwest Passage.

In , Ebsen appeared in episodes of the television series Rawhide , in the episodes "The Pitchwagon" and Tales of Wells Fargo , which he reprised in episodes of both series during in the roles of different characters. From to , Ebsen had a recurring role as Virge Blessing in the ABC drama series Bus Stop , the story of travelers passing through the bus station and diner in the fictitious town of Sunrise, Colorado.

Robert Altman directed several episodes. Arthur O'Connell had played Virge Blessing in the earlier film version on which the series was loosely based. Ebsen also appeared as "Mr. Throughout the s, Ebsen performed in films, mainly Westerns. One notable exception was an acclaimed role as Doc Golightly, an older, rural veterinarian deserted by his young wife played by Audrey Hepburn in 's Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Paul Henning recalls his reason for choosing Ebsen to play Clampett: Ebsen became famous as Jed Clampett , an easygoing backwoods mountaineer who strikes oil and moves with his family to Beverly Hills, California , in the long-running, fish-out-of-water CBS sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. Although scorned by critics, The Beverly Hillbillies attracted as many as 60 million viewers between and and was several times the highest-rated series on television.

The show also spawned similar Paul Henning-produced rural sitcoms such as Green Acres and Petticoat Junction , which were eventually linked in crossover episode arcs. The Beverly Hillbillies was still earning good ratings when it was cancelled by CBS because programmers began shunning shows that attracted a rural audience.

coast guard 018 Hillbilly Ranch

One episode, "The Giant Jack Rabbit", was the highest-rated half-hour on television to that time and remains [ when? Not all was harmonious among cast members on The Beverly Hillbillies set, especially between the politically conservative Ebsen and the more liberal Kulp.

Said Douglas, "They had a different view, so they had some heated discussions about that. They would go at it for weeks.

J.D. Vance: What I Learned in the Marine Corps | www.farmersmarketmusic.com

House of Representatives as a Democrat from Pennsylvania. To her dismay, Ebsen supported her Republican opponent, incumbent Representative Bud Shuster , going so far as to tape an ad for Shuster that labeled Kulp as "too liberal". Ebsen claimed she was exploiting her celebrity status and did not know the issues.

Ebsen returned to television in as the title character of Barnaby Jones , which proved to be his second long-running television series. Barnaby Jones was a milk-drinking detective who came out of retirement to investigate the death of his son. Critics and CBS executives ridiculed the age of the show's audience, but it lasted 8 seasons and episodes.

Ebsen appeared briefly as Barnaby Jones on two other productions: Meriwether said of her on and off screen chemistry with Ebsen, "He really worked at being at the top of his game. I think he had feelings for me, too.

Hillbilly in the Coast Guard

I was so lucky. He was a dream. We had CSI-type equipment in the office on the set and he liked doing his own tests. It was a show the whole family could watch. Ebsen played Matt's uncle, Roy Houston, during the show's third season from to He made his final guest-starring appearance in on an episode of the short-lived television series revival Burke's Law. Although generally retired from acting as he entered his 80s, Ebsen filmed a cameo in the film version of The Beverly Hillbillies as Barnaby Jones.

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