On October 10, 1966, over 700 Officer Candidates stepped off the buses at Quantico, VA into the welcoming arms of the equivalent of Boot Camp Drill Instructors to begin the 42nd Officer Candidate's Course. Ten weeks later, approximately 500 were commissioned 2nd Lieutenants. Because of the "needs of the Marine Corps", 144 of those Lieutenants were sent directly to Pensacola for flight training vice The Basic School where all Lieutenants are supposed to be trained to be infantry Platoon commanders. The remainder were divided into the three companies, Golf, Hotel and India of The Basic School Class of 4-67.
Fast forward to October, 2013 when services will be held to dedicate two memorials to the 44 members of that class who fell in Vietnam over the next three years. Eleven of these were aviators from those who went directly to Pensacola and another thirty-three from TBS 4-67. The idea to place these memorials was conceived in early 2012, just prior to the 45th reunion of the class of TBS 4-67 and a request for funding these memorials was sent out to its members. As this goal was reached, there came the realization that instead of a memorial for only 33 of our TBS 4-67 classmates, that the true forging of a Lieutenant of Marines was during the ten weeks of the 42nd OCC, not The Basic School. After some extensive research, we identified the 144 Lieutenants who went directly to flight training and when compared against the names on The Vietnam Wall, we further identified the eleven who were killed, bringing the total to 44.
As planning continued to design and emplace these two memorials, a bronze plaque already in place at the Marine Corps Museum (see attached photo) and a granite monument at The Basic School (will be completed this month), it was further realized that while our 44 classmates have made the supreme sacrifice, it was the families left behind that should know we had not forgotten that sacrifice. Literally hundreds of hours were spent on the computer and telephone tracking down every clue from casualty reports, cemetery records, and other rather novel ideas. We were successful in locating 41 of the 44 families. Over 70 of those family members will attend the services, including 10 from one family and eight from another; another 70 or so of our classmates will also attend. Every immediate family member, child, widow, parent or sibling will receive a personalized plaque similar to the one that was designed for Lt. Cullinan (also attachment) either at the ceremony or mailed to them.
Semper Fi,
Sam