Over the last month or so, I've read a number of submissions from readers about a "Capt. Hiram Walker", who was reportedly Force Recon, was "a member of the famous Hiram Walker liquor family", "his personal vehicle was Marine Corps green with camo seat covers", and he had a "reputation of being a bit strange". In 1967/68, I served with a Major E. Hockaday Walker who was then CO of 1st Force Recon based at Phu Bai, RVN. The very same stories about this Walker were circulating then and I wonder if we're not talking about the same person? At one point, Major Walker denied the reported relationship with the Hiram Walker liquor family and I believe he said he was a relative but not an immediate family member. He was in fact from a wealthy family in any event and the stories about the vehicle and his dressing his entire platoon in dress blues is supposed to be true. I also heard that as a platoon commander at Lejeune, he had no civilian clothing at all – and at one point was ordered to buy a suit for a special occasion. Supposedly, immediately after the 'special occasion', he dumped the suit in a trash can and burned it.
Category: Vietnam
Looking For Fellow Marines
I just viewed the posted picture of the Lima Company Reunion. I was attached (81 mortars) to Lima Company during Mead River and Operation Taylor Common (1969) and would like to get in touch with fellow Marines that I served with at the time. Could someone please contact me with info as to how I can find out about futureLima Company reunions.
TBS 4-67
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.
Trigger Puller
I was in Washington D.C. the weekend of August 3, 2013, for my niece's wedding. I went to the various memorials with my son and his wife. At the Iwo Jima memorial we were there at the right time. A bunch of Marines of all ranks and grades showed up to promote a Staff Sergeant to Gunny. I introduced myself as a 1966 Vietnam, E5, 0311 Marine. They called me a "Trigger Puller". I liked that. They then requested that I participate in the promotion ceremony. What an honor. Once a Marine, Always a Marine.
Camp Hauge
In response to an article in Aug. 7th, 2013 newsletter from Gy/Sgt. F.L. Rousseau… USMC… My name is Howard W. Kennedy and I served as a Cannoncocker on the 155 howitzer with Kilo Btry, 4th Batt., 12th Marines 3rd Mar. Div. in 1957/58 at Camp Hauge. I am attaching a photo of the front gate and the correct spelling of the name Hauge. To my understanding the name came from Medal of Honor recipient Cpl. Louis James Hauge who was KIA in May 1945 during the battle for Okinawa. After I left Camp Hauge it was used as a staging area for Marines going to Vietnam. Once it was closed, I have no idea what became of the base or if it's under a different name now. I would welcome any information someone might have about the old base and what's there now, and if anyone remembers Gy/Sgt Richard R. "Big Red" Ebert from Headquarters Battalion, 12th Marines…
Mark of the Beast
I was in a bar recently when in walked a young man (to me, anyway; he was in his mid to late 30s, I'd say) who had a Marine Corps tattoo on his left bicep. I was across the bar from him but it jumped right out at me. I told the bartender that I would buy him a beer and when she relayed my offer to him he looked up in surprise, smiled and said he didn't drink. I was a bit annoyed because, after all, that wasn't the point; and never mind that he was bellied up to a bar. WTF? So I told him, patiently, that I'd buy him one of whatever he was drinking and "Semper Fi". He said thanks and "Ooh rah," which I guess is what Marines say today, God only knows why. And he kept calling me "sir," which was disconcerting to a former Sergeant. Do I – perish the thought – look like an officer? Or was it merely the deference that youth owes to experience? I don't know.
Mural in Amherst, OH
A while back I submitted a picture regarding a mural painted on the side of s building in my home town of Amherst, Ohio. That first picture was of the famous photo of the second flag raising on Iwo Jima. The same young artist is almost complete a second mural on the same building of a painting of the Vietnam Memorial. The young man is amazingly talented and those murals deserve to be viewed and admired by as many people as possible.
I Never Did Get My Draft Card
I joined the United States Marine Corps at the age of 17 and went through boot camp at Parris Island, then on to ITR just like the older guys. All of that took about 6 months and upon completion, we all got to take a little vacation (leave) for about 10 days before reporting to our first duty stations. My MOS being 0311, I reported to the FMF at Camp Lejeune, NC. While stationed with the FMF, I went on what was known back then as a “Carib Cruise”. The cruise lasted about 6 months and we returned to Camp Lejeune where many of us received orders for WESPAC or as the older guys put it, “the land of the many rains”, Jarhead jargon for Vietnam. That duty lasted a little over a year and upon returning to “the world”, I got to go home for a 30 day leave before reporting to my next duty station as an Instructor at TBS (The Basic School) in Quantico, VA.
Lima Co, 3rd Bn, 5th Marines
Here is a picture of the group that attended the Lima 3/5 Unit Reunion that served in Vietnam from 1965 – 1971 in Arlington, Texas this year in June.
Mary Anne Hand
aka Flames Diva
They Called Him “Clutch”
Not all life-threatening situations in a combat zone involve being shot at. Some happen just because of the crazy, non-sensical, unpredictable ways that you live under those circumstances. I was assigned to Naval Security Group, attached to 3rd MarDiv in Dong Ha, Quang Tri Province, I Corps, Vietnam, in '68-'69.