Gunny’s Sea Stories and Smoke Pit Odysseys

This is the same story as the podcast but done as a video this time. It was uploaded to my YouTube channel.

Credit and Attributions

Context for the story

For context to the “I am green belt” reference, the Marines have their own recognized martial arts discipline known as the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). MCMAP is a program that every Marine is required to participate in and information about the program can be found at marines.mil the official program web page.

I also want to offer an explanation as to why the fall season was relevant to the behavior of deer. If you are a hunter or grew up around deer hunting, you would consider this to be common knowledge. But for those who do not; male deer (bucks) in the fall months, Sept-Nov will have higher levels of testosterone. So during their breeding season, bucks will often chase females, sometimes into traffic, in an attempt to mate. For a more detailed explanation of deer behavior, the deeranddeerhunting.com web article Behind the Hide is an excellent source.

Additional Media

The images used will be credited in the order of their appearance. Title screen photo of Marines standing along a ridgeline at dusk is named “Shadows in the Night”. It was taken by Sgt. Martha Linares and was released on 3/23/2026 by the U.S. Marine Corps, it is in the public domain. The second image, a sketch of Marines running away from an over sized tortoise, is a photograph that I took of it. I took it at the range control building at Marine Corps Base 29 Palms, CA on 6/9/2020. The artist signed the drawing but I cannot make out what it says, so I have attached a close up photo of it below. The drawing is making fun of the fact that the base is a wild life sanctuary for that particular breed of endangered tortoise. Training events are often suspended because one of those tortoises wanders too close.

The last image at the end of the video depicts two Marines with their newly awarded green belts. It was taken by the journalist Tyler Harmon and was released by the Marine Corps on 12/28/2021. It is also in the public domain. The music in the video was the free music found on the Canva site in the video editing section, named Background Music, FreeMusicForVideo from pixabay. Lastly, the person driving the blue jeep was my wife, Jessica.

Process

I started this project by thinking about how to take the story from the podcast and turning it into a video. To plan out the shots, I created a shot list in my note book while scouting areas around my neighborhood. Once I had a good feeling about the plan and how certain shots would be made, I set out to collect the gear. I already had a GoPro Hero 8, a handheld stick, and a tripod. Then I dug out an old uniform and recruited my wife to drive her jeep into an archery target shaped as a deer.

Once I was satisfied that I captured all of the shots, I transferred them to my laptop. I created a Canva account, uploaded my videos to it, and started watching instructional videos for how to edit with Canva on YouTube. I started to cut footage, incorporate music, and record narration. Hours later, after I was satisfied with the outcome, I uploaded the video to YouTube. From there I edited the Closed Captions and published the video for public viewing.

Hope you like it! Please leave a comment on the video on YouTube, I would love to hear your feedback.