A Guadalcanal Marine
This is my Senior Drill Instructor, S/Sgt (in 1962) William Way and his two Marine brothers. He is on the right, the shorter of the three. He retired as a GySgt in 1968. The picture was taken on the Marine Corps Birthday in 1989.
On the left is his older brother, Ernest Way. Ernest served in the Corps in WWII and received a purple heart.
In the middle is his youngest brother, SgtMaj Robert Way. Gunny Way told me SgtMaj Way was selected to be SgtMaj of the Marine Corps but declined to save his marriage.
On the right is GySgt William Way. Gunny Way was a three war Marine and went to Eniwetok, Guam and China during WWII.
Gunny Way is 82 years old and retired, of course. He lives in Oceanside California.
The second picture, taken in 1998, is one of my Junior Drill Instructors, Sgt (in 1962) Jesse Pacheco. He retired as a SgtMaj in 1979 with a total of 32 years active duty. After boot camp, he went to the 4th Raider Bn which was commanded by Lt. Col. James Roosevelt. SgtMaj Pacheco was also a three war Marine. He was on Emirau Island in 1944, then Guam and Okinawa. SgtMaj Pacheco said he next went to the 6th Marine Division and landed on the Island of Japan on 30Aug1945. He went to Korea in 1950, was at the Chosin Reservoir and returned to CONUS in June of 1951. He did three years on the drill field and three tours in Viet Nam,
SgtMaj Pacheco is 84 years old and lives in Lawrence Kansas.
I didn’t find all this out until recently, when I managed to find them after more than 40 years. While in boot camp, they never talked about their service. The just went about the job of turning a bunch of “maggots” into Marines. What amazes me is they were, respectively, 36 and 38 years old at the time and ran circles around our 17, 18 and 19 year old azzes. What fine Marines. I feel fortunate to have served with them.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.