US Marine Corps Base - Yearbook (Quantico, VA)

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HIEEEEE EE THE IEEE EESEEEE EEEIEEES' EEESS This is The sTory oT John Doughe. Doughe, like hundreds OT oTher Americans of his age, Tinished college, wanTed To help his counTry win The war, ioined The besT TighTing ouTTiT in The world. Travel- worn buT eagerly expecTanT, he arrived aT QuanTico wiTh 385 oTher Marines-To-be on a sunny day in July, marched under a SergeanT's eagle eye To his new home, immediaTely began his Tour OT duTy as a member oT The NinTh OTTicers' CandidaTes Class. The TirsT Tew days he was conTused, exciTed, bewil- dered. Go up The ladder and geT your lockerbox and your gear, which are sTowed nexT To The bulkhead on The second deck, The SergeanT ordered gruTTly, and PFC Doughe, mouTh open, was compleTely bewildered. Then and There he sTarTed learning Marine Corps Terminology, Tound ThaT a sTairway was a ladder, a wall was a bulk- head, a Tloor was a deck, ln a Tew days, he goT The word Trom candidaTes who had served in The regular Marine Corps, began To geT squared away. BiggesT change in his physical ap- pearance occurred aT The barracks barber shop, where a callous buT eTTicienT barber gave him a Three-minuTe iob, sheared oTT The waving, golden locks, leTT him wiTh a Trim, miliTary, buT hilariously Tunny haircuT. A Trip To The quarTermasTer's Tound him wiTh an arm- Tul oT khaki, sTurdy dress and Tield shoes, Two seTs oT TenT-like dungarees, oTher necessary personal cloThing. Wearing his uniTorm proudly, buT wiTh booT wriTTen all over him, he was iniTiaTed inTo The inTricacies oT close- order drill under The sTeaming July sun, was snapped ouT oT his civilian Toolishnessn by salTy non-com in- sTrucTors. l-le learned The meaning oT by The leTT Tlank, righT oblique, and To The rear, march, learned ThaT doping OTT always goT him inTo Trouble, Tinally began To coordinaTe mind and body in drill. PFC Doughe, rapidly adapTing himselT To his new liTe, soon discovered The Trick oT geTTing all he wanTed oT whaT he wanTed aT The chow Table, Tound ThaT while civilians say, Please pass The meaT, Marines say MeaT down, which is iusT as courTeous, Twice as quick. l'lis ISU reporT To The home-TronT regarding The Tood: Chow plain, plenTiTul, and good! Classes sTarTed, and embryo-Marine Doughe heard lecTures on basic miliTary subiecTs, sTripped and reas- sembled The .45 pisTol, .03 and MI riTles, Browning auTo- maTic riTle and oTher basic inTanTry weapons. l-le as- sembled, aimed, and disassembled The Browning ma- chine gun, caliber .30, snapped To in machine gun drill when The insTrucTor ordered Fall ouT one, squirmed on his belly up To an imaginary Tiring line, helped his per- spiring buddies seT up The gun under simulaTed baTTle condiTions. MorTars, Too, came in Tor Their share oT aTTenTion. Doughe pracTiced duTies oT morTar crew members, de- veloped a subTle Touch To successTully level The Tem- peramenTal sighT bubbles, made a brieT acquainTance wiTh range Tinders and aiming circles. BiggesT bugaboo oT PrivaTe FirsT Class Doughe's ex- isTence was SaTurday inspecTion. Friday nighT was in- congruously called Tield day, when lockers, bunks, and windows were scrubbed, shoes, riTles and collar pins cleaned and polished. AT 2300 ill p. m.l Friday nighT, he was usually sTill shining, polishing, or sTudying Tor in- specTion. BuT inspecTions, wiTh Their concomiTanT pres- sure, invariably occasioned several Tunny anecdoTes. Example: one candidaTe, rigid wiTh TrighT, was asked by The inspecTing oTTicer how his riTle worked, meaning was iT bolT-operaTed or gas-operaTed. Loudly The lad re- sponded, Very well, Sir. AnoTher, asked his birThdaTe, said, April l7, l94l- l beg pardon, Sir, April l7, l942! A large parT oT Doughe's educaTion was due To The hard-boiled, buT conscienTious, eTTorTs oT The doughTy non-commissioned oTTicers. They showed him how To puT a spiT and polish gloss on his shoes, how To roll The haTed heavy marching order, how To make up his bunk, how To move on The double. They TaughT him whaT The word discipline means. l-le dropped his riTle on The deck, was prompTly ordered To carry iT on his person Tor 24 hours, was The buTT oT

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szayy Gygax W. W. WENSINGER Lieufenanf Colonel Commanding Training Regiment IEEE IIEEEEEE EEEIEEIIS' EEESS RALPH C. ROSACKER WILLIAM D. WIGLEY BEN F. SOHN JOHN F. PAUL Second Lieufenanf Second Lieufenanf Second Lieuienani Second Lieufenanf Commanding Company E Commanding Commanding Commanding Second Plafoon, Company E Third Platoon, Company E Fourfh Platoon, Company E ELLIOTT R. DETCHON Firsf Lieufenani Commanding Company H NIEL A. WEATHERS THOMAS A. DURHAM JOHN M, BRITTON JULIUS D. DUSENBURY Second Lieufenanf Second Lieufenanf Second Lieuienam' Second Lieuienanf Commanding Company F Commanding Commanding Commanding Second Plafoon, Company F Third Piaioon, Company F Fourfh Plafoon, Company F W. PERRY, JR. Second Lieufenani Commanding Second Plaioon, Company H

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his bunkmaTes' iokes as he awkwardly aTe chow, riTle on his shoulder, and as he hiT The hay wiTh his riTle as a bed companion. STill noT guiTe orienTed, he was laTe To TormaTion, and spenT his Time ThaT evening rolling a heavy marching order, presenTing iT To The skepTical non-coms Tor approval. MosT eagerly awaiTed Time every week was SaTurday noon, when all Those who had passed saTisTacTorily inspec- Tion were given liberTy. Scores oT candidaTes, anxious To see The brighT lighTs aTTer a solid week on The posT, broke ouT handbags, shoved oTT Tor nearby, crowded, busTling WashingTon. lvlosT managed To hiT The ciTy every oTher week-end: some, commonly known as liberTy hounds, leTT aT l2Ol SaTurday, barely made The 2400 deadline each Sunday. l.iTe was noT all miliTary rouTine Tor Doughe. ParTicu- larly enjoyable were odd moimenTs spenT swapping sTories abouT college, TraTerniTies, girl Triends, eTc., wiTh his bunkies. Leisure Time was spenT wriTing leTTers, reading, or using The ever-presenT shine cloTh. BayoneT drill and The obsTacle course gave Doughe his ToughesT physical workouT as he called on long-unused muscles To help him navigaTe seven-TooT Tences, climb 20-TooT ropes, hoisT weighTed barrels, swing ape-like over a yawning, muddy diTch on a suspended rope. FirsT To hiT The drink was Tunny, likeable Hank, who missed his hold, plopped inTo The muddy waTer, came spluTTering ouT while The company roared. During The breaThers, while They awaiTed Their Turn To run The course again, candidaTes goT experT insTruc- Tion in The arT oT Judo Trom The SergeanTs. Under Their guidance, The new Marines paired oTT, pracTiced personal deTense againsT simulaTed knife and gun aTTacks, learned The neaTesT way To gouge a Jap in The eye. invariably Tollowing The obsTacle course was bayoneT drill. Doughe pracTiced parries, lunges, wiThdrawals, snarled viciously aT imaginary opponenTs. He realized he mighT be snarling aT real opponenTs in a Tew shorT monThs, worked hard aT bayoneT drill, sTrived To develop a genuine SpiriT oT AssaulT. RiTle range work proved To be an inTeresTing and valu- able experience Tor Candida+e Doughe. He learned range procedure, sTruggled To geT himselT in impos- sible shooTing posiTions, concenTraTed on sighTin' 'em IIS21 in and squeezin' 'em oTT. FunniesT incidenT happened when ShorTy, TlyweighT Georgia boy who had a liTTle Trouble geTTing The word, was asked by his coach why he consisTenTly missed his TargeT. Ah cain'T see my own TargeT-numbah 29, he drawled, so I ies' been shooTin' on numbah 28l Doughe shoT The pisTol and auTomaTic riTle Tor record, spenT his Time explaining how unlucky he was on Those parTicular days. ChieT inTeresT on The range, however, was The lvll riTle, commonly called The Garand. Grad- ually, he collecTed his dope in his scorebook, prepared Tor The big record day. IT came, and The air was Tilled wiTh sTories oT almosT scores and Tough breaks, buT mosT oT The class qualiTied, many as sharpshooTers and experTs. Climax oT Doughe's candidaTe career was The I5-mile hike, much-discussed Trip made by each class. Toughened by preparaTory marches, The boys rolled heavy marching orders, seT ouT cheerTully on The Trip. AlThough blisTers and sore TeeT were plenTiTul, The march was made in good Time, The ouTTiT arriving aT The bivouac area by noon. ATTernoon Tound H and l Companies aTTacking Company K's deTensive posiTion. A rousing simulaTed aTTack was meT by a sTubborn deTense as boTh sides deployed, squirmed, and maneu- vered in The besT miliTary manner. Feelings, as well as heads, were bruised when quieT, mild-mannered, soTT- voiced I. Adam KreTowicz Tossed a canTeen, represenT- ing a grenade, inTo a deTensive machineigun nesT. The criTique, however, showed ThaT boTh sides had done well and company rivalry was TorgoTTen liT says herel as all hands shoved oTT Tor chow. Following The hike, Doughe learned how To parade, developed a ceremonial swagger, masTered The general idea oT miliTary ceremonies. Thus, aTTer Two and one-halT monThs OT hard, inTensive Training, a new John Doughe was developed. No longer was he conTused and bewildered. No longer was booT wriTTen all over him. Having learned how To shooT and saluTe, he was well on his way To becoming a real Ma- rine, proud oT his uniTorm, proud oT The Corps, and proud oT his counTry. QuieTly expecTanT, he sal' in The audiTorium during graduaTion ceremonies, heard The graduaTion speakers