US Marine Corps Base - Yearbook (Quantico, VA)

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exTol The hisToric and currenT TeaTs OT The Marine C.orps, lisTened To Their sound advice. ConTidenTly he ascended The plaTTorm as PFC Doughe and proudly he leTT iT, com- mission in hand, as Second l.ieuTenanT John Doughe, USMCR. And ThaT is The sTory oT 385 John Doughes, who were The body and soul oT The NinTh OTTicers CandidaTes Class, July To SepTember, I942. AND THE IZTH R. O. C. IOOO, 26 SepTember I942-The command was, Can- didaTes rise and Take The oaTh, and some 400 oTTicer candidaTes arose and religiously pledged To serve Their corps and Their counTry. This solemnly impressive cere- mony, climaxing IO weeks OT work, hope and dreams, remains unTorgeTable in our memories. ThaT week-end we displayed our new uniTorms To parenTs and Triends, Thinking ThaT The khaki, The bars and The belT made The oTTicer. BuT This impression was soon To be shaTTered, as we learned in our TirsT week, Tor an oTTicer never sTops learning. We discovered ThaT a diploma was noT The goal, buT merely The birTh-record oT an oTTicer, and ThaT his responsibiliTy was conTinuous educaTion in his liTe as a Marine. The TirsT week in R. O. C., as well as Those ThaT Tol- lowed, changed everyThing, including The word. Among The many Things ThaT impressed us in ThaT week was our new TiTle genTlemen g reTurning our TirsT saluTe: our TirsT Trip To The oTTicer's club: nighT waTch: and smoking in The mess hall To menTion buT a Tew. We sTudied in Those TirsT weeks naval law, camouTlage, TacTics, map reading, adminisTraTion and communicaTions. AviaTion, inTanTry weapons, combaT principles oT The plaToon and company Tilled up The remaining hours. We made ouT payrolls ThaT made The Marine The highesT paid TighTing man in all hisTory. We sTared crosseyed Through sTereoscopes aT aerial phoTographs and laid beTs on The number oT Tank cars on a railroad siding, only To Tind ouT ThaT They were noT Tank cars: so all beTs were cancelled. For hour aTTer hour as LieuTenanT FirsT PlaToon we ToughT courageously wiTh The l:irsT BaTTalion, FiTTh Ma- rines, parT oT an inTerior uniT, advancing To The norTh asTride Chopowarnsic Creek. We didn'T puT much cre- dence in The TacTics employed, unTil in our Terrain exer- T531 cises, we discovered whaT was meanT by The school soluTion. We had our doubTs as To iTs TacTical sound- ness, especially on ThaT aTTernoon, when we Tound The Tollowing epiTaph aTTached To an imiTaTive grave aT Minnieville: T-lere lie The bones oT LieuTenanT Jones, A graduaTe oT The insTiTuTion. ln The midsT oT The din, he died wiTh a grin: l-le had used The school soluTion. Harking back To our days as CandidaTes we Took a Terp in The rain and as a resulT Tound ThaT brownies were someThing oTher Than cookies Trom home. BUT soon The R. P. barrage was liTTed Temporarily and The smoke- laden classrooms revealed conscienTious sTudenTs passing on The inTricacies oT TacTics To moThers and sweeThearTs, aT The same Time making sure noT To include any inTorma- Tion oT value To The enemy. Our demonsTraTions were noT limiTed To The field. There was The lecTure on iungle warfare when Maior RoThwell picked oTT a Jap sniper on The blackboard wiTh his TrusTy cap pisTol and modesTly pinned The Chopo- wamsic Campaign Medal To his chesT. Then There was The axiom, iT is Torgiveable To be deTeaTed buT never To be surprised. YeT Major VandergriTT dropped six drowsing boys Trom Their seaTs wiTh a booming Ten- shunl in The middle OT his lecTure one warm aTTernoon. LieuTenanTs Mazzarella and McCall approved oT The The- orem oT seizing The high ground and holding iT and single-handed enveloped The enemy's leTT lwesTl Tlank. Some insTrucTions even came Trom our classmaTes. MiliTary Morgan demonsTraTed command presence, while ThaT HD. l Trom Diego, CheT Rinka held classes in how To inspecT an O3. Shamus PawTuckeTT O'Don- nell demonsTraTed The posiTion oT a soldier aT aTTenTion unTil everyone including himself was blue in The Tace. There was much scuTTlebuT abouT duTies aTTer R. O. C. lT was Derryberry To Londonberry, LippincoTT To London, and Rogers To Navy Pier, Chicago. The obsTacle course again separaTed The men Trom The boys as well as The oTTicers Trorn Their weapons and equipment Glub-glub Perry, The ATlanTic CiTy liTe- guard, prompTed a change in The TablesioT organizaTion. IT was now To read: Two reserve B.A.R.s and one B.A.R.

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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

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man. Had iT noT been Tor John PeTosis, iT mighT have called Tor Two assisTanT B.A.R. men. We requesTed The ineviTable quesTion-asker OT SaTur- day aTTernoon To seek his answer in The book over The week-end, as The Trip in was double The square OT The one OuT. AT leasT iT seemed ThaT way. Amid The husTle and busTle OT The Ten weeks, however, There were impressive momenTs. Who can TorgeT The sunseT parades, especially ThaT aTTernoon when we marched in welcome To The new Commanding General OT The PosT. We were proud Marines ThaT day. On November IO, we celebraTed The l67Th birThday OT The Corps. lT was noT a day OT celebraTiOn or rejoicing, buT iT was none The less Tilled wiTh an aura OT greaTness. The sTory OT The esTablishmenT OT The UniTed STaTes Marines was well known To all OT us, yeT we lisTened quieTly and wiTh sTrong hearTs as ThaT sTory was read To us again. To us iT was noT merely a TesTimony To The pasT buT a vision OT Things To come. We were proud To claim The TiTle OT UniTed STaTes Marines. Like everyThing else, Taps was soon To end The days OT The l2Th Reserve OTTicers Class Torever. As The weeks shorTened inTo days, Tield exercises, nighT raids, dawn aTTacks and landing parTies broughT home To us The desperaTe mission Tor which we were being prepared. The meaning OT The word oTTicer began To Take shape. WhaT did iT mean To us in early December, l942, lT meanT sTrengTh when oThers were weak, TaiTh when oThers were TaiThless, deTerminaTion when all around us had given up hope. This was The inTerpreTaTion we carried wiTh us To puT To The TuTure TesT OT baTTle againsT The back-drop OT Wake, BaTaan, Midway and The Solomons. The command is, Forward, you Marines! AV-S-THE FOURTH CLASS When we arrived here we were as green as a Marine aviaTion uniTorm. NOT Too many OT us knew ThaT AV-S sTood Tor AviaTion Volun+eer SpecialisT, ThaT we were only The TourTh AV-S class, ThaT we Tormed a small parT OT The larger l2Th Reserve OTTicers Class and would sTudy and graduaTe wiTh iTs groups OT newly-Tledged Second LieuTenanTs, ThaT our prime purpose was To do The ground work which would allow acTual and prospecTive Marine U41 aviaTors To concenTraTe on Their iobs in The air, and ThaT our evenTual assignmenTs mighT include any oTTicer's posT in Marine AviaTion-excepT Tlying. Our uniT was assembling, like a movie OT an explosion run Through The machine backwards, Trom all parTs OT The counTry and Trom all walks oT liTe. There were plenTy OT accenTs Trom The FighTing SouTh, and Texas and Cali- Tornia were much in evidence. We had come Trom engineering and archiTecTure and law oTTices, Trom pro- Tessional TooTball and invesTmenT banking, Trom coTTee imporTing and WalT Disney's sTudios. Some OT us had been digniTied and imporTanT: some OT us had been liTTle Tellows. IT looked as if iT would be hopeless To make us inTo one inTegraTed ouTTiT. AT Brown Field The work OT shaking down began. We learned how To sTand in line Tor equipmenT, how To sign our names correcTly, how To buy acres OT duTTle unTil our TooTlockers were cracking, how To sTain leaTher darker and darker unTil iT looked plenTy Marine, how To sleep Through The claTTer and whisTle OT The Trains ThaT seemed To run righT Through our barracks all nighT long. One OT us used To wake up TrighTened, noT because The roar OT The Trains had begun again, buT because iT had Tem- porarily sTopped our disTinguished baTTery OT snorers. Some OT us goT a TasTe OT The air aT Turner Field, wenT up wiTh The piloTs on Their regular TlighTs, or looked down on The searchlighTs OT QuanTico Trom up Top under a lonesome moon. LieuTenanT WisharT acTed as our guard- ian angel in Those TirsT bewildering days, as The money poured ouT OT our pockeTs and The shoTs poured inTo our arms. Then we were up aT Barracks C, second and Third decks, and The real course was beginning. We lisTened To Colonel Ames and Colonel Wensinger and were im- pressed. LieuTenanT DeTchon TaughT us again how To saluTe, and repeaTed and repeaTed close order drill and The manual oT arms wiTh sublime paTience. We were clumsy, awkward, skiTTish, dumb. Each OT us advanced by his own parTicular series OT Talse sTeps. We sTill looked hopeless. lT we were bad aT obeying simple com- mands, we were worse aT giving Them. We did noT like To bark aT our squadroom maTes, and The only maneuver we could be sure OT execuTing was The one ThaT would