Acly- Golf 2Bn 4th Marines 1968
For me, serving as an officer of Marines was one of the most influential experiences in my life. Yes, it did help me grow up, and become better disciplined and more self-confident; but it also, perhaps inevitably as a result of my war experiences, made me more skeptical of authority. These were powerful and formative years.
I entered the Corps via NROTC at Yale, where I majored in Southeast Asian Studies. I did summer cruises on USS Intrepid (CVS-11) in the Med; Naval air at Corpus Christi; amphibious operations at Little Creek; and then an OCS-type six weeks at Quantico after junior year. Following Basic School I attended the Army artillery school at Ft. Sill, Okla., and set off for WestPac assigned to 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade – specifically Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, based aboard USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2). My billet was artillery Forward Observer with Golf Co. 2/4.
Paradoxically, we rarely saw the ship, since our rifle companies were firmly committed ashore. We were overextended, covering a vast TAOR north of the Cua Viet river and south of the DMZ. Vietnam combat operations consisted initially of patrolling north of the Cua Viet near Dong Ha. After I had been in-country a mere two weeks, this came to a head with the battle at Dai Do, 4/30 to 5/3/68. Artillery fire was a critical factor for us here; our four companies had to be committed piecemeal and had to operate more or less independently. (If interested, this battle is covered by Keith William Nolan in The Magnificent Bastards: The Joint Army-Marine Defense of Dong Ha, 1968; Presidio Press, 1994.)
After Dai Do we operated north of Route 9 west of Ca Lu, then did a week of perimeter duty at Khe Sanh and then garrisoned the infamous Hill 861 up north (quiet while we were there, other than a gruesome incident involving a patrol that strayed into an uncharted French minefield).
I was then reassigned back to my home 105 battery (Hotel 3/12) at LZ Cates, also north of Route 9. I served there as Fire Direction Officer (working up the gun firing data) and then as Battery XO. Toward the end of my tour I served briefly at 12th Marines (Rear) and then as a platoon commander at MP Company, 3rd MarDiv, at Quang Tri Combat Base. My rotation out of Vietnam from Danang was delayed several days because the ammo dump caught fire and started blowing up, thus shutting down air transport services.
My re-entry into the U.S. was uneventful and I was lucky — I was never subjected to any anger or disrespect on the part of others; instead I remember people trying to buy me a beer at various airports. I finished my four years in the Corps at Base H&S Battalion, Camp Lejeune.
My memories of the Corps remain strong and I cherish many of the relationships I’ve had. I greatly value our sense of tradition, our almost palpable links to the past. The history of my Vietnam unit, 4th Marines, for example, stretches back to Bataan, the Boxer Rebellion, and beyond. And it struck me that some of the instructors I’ve had over the years were true Old Corps veterans of the Pacific war; one elderly major had even been a private on Guadalcanal! Knowing them was a wonderful link to our illustrious past.
I moved to DC to attend Georgetown University in Latin American Studies, eventually parlaying that into a stint in the hotel business, doing marketing for properties in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Barbados. I then put in eight years at the Environmental Protection Agency doing media relations on water pollution control and safe drinking water programs. Some of my work involved handling communications with the media during oil spills and other man-made disasters.
I left for the private sector in 1981, joining General Foods Corp. outside of New York City. I was responsible for media and public communications relating to food science and safety issues. Unavoidably, some of my work was in media relations relating to food tampering incidents. My last corporate slot was with Miller Brewing in Milwaukee in corporate communications.
My wife, Ellen, accepted a senior executive role at Tennessee Valley Authority, prompting a move to Knoxville in 2001. These days, I spend my time working on various non-profit boards (historic preservation; opera). I have chaired a major downtown arts festival, and helped to save one of our city’s arts organizations from oblivion. I’m also pleased to report that I survived a battle with lung cancer ten long years ago; so far, all is well.
East Tennessee is a beautiful area, Knoxville being just the right size. There’s a lot of hustle and bustle, but you still run into people you know on the street almost every day. My hobbies include reading history and operating Lionel electric trains, which I share with kids at the local children’s museum, in addition to trying to “manage” our two Jack Russells.
In closing, I’d like to thank and commend all the guys who spent so much time pulling this Reunion together. Having worked on a similar (but smaller) project a few years ago, I know how much work this can entail.
