Battalion dental officer goes on the hike
91065964-9C16-46CB-93B6-3AFE86B9D1C7.jpg1975.... So 1st Bn 4th Marines was happily ensconced in the MAU camp at Subic Bay, Philippines. We had just had a change of command and returned our old CO, Lt. Col. C.E. Hester, to Conus after his successful leadership in the Cambodia and RVN evacuations, and SS Mayaguez recovery. We had boarded our new LPH the NEW ORLEANS. The new Lt. Col. CO spoke to me and told me that I WOULD be joining the hike so... there I was. He was virtually speed walking and after the first couple of miles I was beginning to fall back in the column. Late comers who had maybe been out in Olongapo sprinted past to join the March. After maybe 5 miles I had drifted to the very end of the column. HM-2 Havens was driving a Gray navy IH Scout which was beginning to fill up with stricken marines who were probably suffering from San Miguel induced dehydration. Ok, just as we got into the first hill of the base housing area, I got into the Scout! (Shame on me!) I rode it until the Bn XO Major Iron Mike McGowan held up his hand to halt us, “We got a lot of very sick Marines we need to get back to the ship so all you people get OUT of that vehicle!!!” I (now fully recovered) sauntered up to the front of the column; one of the company commanders congratulated me commenting that I was not one of “...those non-hackers...” (I did not tell him about my Scout Ride...) the Marine Amphibious Unit Commander (MAU), a very senior full bull Colonel, was seated looking all-in. As I passed the Bn CO he muttered “...do I make a name for myself by walking the MAU into the ground??” Everyone. Except me was out of water - I had an empty and a full canteen. “There’s water at the rear of the column!” came the cry. The MAU dumped his last remaining water on his head and handed a canteen to a marine... minutes later that marine returned and yes, by then the water Buffalo was empty. I offered the MAU my full canteen but he would not take it. So we began the easier March downhill toward the ship...at the pier. I was advised by the lead company commander to hang back and not march with the command group. We were about 500 yards from the ship when a civilian car screeched to a halt and a fellow navy dental Lt in tropical white long uniform jumped out. It was Dr. Craig Wright of San Antonio who was a fellow Army ROTC cadet and Brother Pershing Rifle at Trinity University. Amazingly he had recognized me among the sea of sweating green machine near-death marchers. He had gone to UT dental and I had gone to Baylor dental.
I got back to my stateroom and shucked my utilities which were as wet with sweat as if I’d just been fully immersed in a swimming pool. My dental tech, Ybarra, had dodged the hike and thought it was funny that I was too tired to see any patients.
Anyway being a “guest marine” was on the whole a wonderful experience and I would not take for it! Crazy times, good times...Arrugha!!
The picture shows myself and my dental tech Bart Sudderth of Hickory, NC, on Easter Sunday heading to Vietnam here on the parade deck at Camp Hansen, Okinawa.
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