Babies & Fools

A "baby" at 17, this young bright black man turned down both a track and basketball university scholarship. His decision was to be a Marine. This is part of his story.

Columbus, Ohio 1964

We were good boys growing up in a section of Columbus called “the bottoms”. My twin brother Donald and I were two of few black kids in a poor white neighborhood. I thought they accepted us but later found out they were calling us niggers. We ate sugar butter sandwiches. We didn’t know we were poor.

Kenny and Curtis were our best friends. From age 7 we were together every day. As our high school graduation approached and Donald announced he was joining the Marine Corps, Kenny and I did not hesitate. Curtis did hesitate. He had a scholarship and was going to college. I had a scholarship too, for basketball and track, but my mind was made up. The recruiter told me I could play basketball during training. I was going to be a Marine.

In June of 1964 there was no war in Vietnam or anywhere else. I said goodbye to my family and my girlfriend Virginia and was going out to see the world. First stop-United States Marine Corps Depot- San Diego. My first ever airplane ride, I slept all the way.

It wasn’t until they shaved our heads that I realized what we signed up for. Boot camp was going to be hard. Donald wrote a letter to Mama saying how hard it was and she called the drill sergeant. We caught hell for it, had to scrub the bathroom floor with a toothbrush and do hundreds of push-ups. When boot camp was over we received our orders. Donald was going to Washington to be a bookkeeper. Kenny would be a cook at 29 Palms, an air base in the California desert. I was assigned to advanced training at Camp Pendleton north of San Diego.

August 1965 President Johnson was announcing an escalation of troops in Vietnam. Part of the First Marine Division, I shipped out to Vietnam. Chu Lai means July in English, the beach was named by American General Walt when his troops landed there. We had to advance off the ship onto the beach. In what felt like one motion I slipped, fell and was scooped up by another Marine coming off behind me. Soaking wet in full combat gear I got right to work operating the forklift, unloading the ships.

Various military duties were assigned to me but I volunteered for Combined Action Program. Marines teaming with American civilians and the South Vietnamese Army to supposedly win the hearts minds of the people. They turned out to be search and destroy missions. We encountered people in towns and villages and rounded them up. Men were blindfolded and interrogated by the civilians and the Viet Army. Women and children were yelling and screaming nonstop around me. Our job was to control them and guard them. Those were traumatic situations for me. My orders were to move the people to make room for the base camp. If they didn’t want to leave we would shoot up the place and they all died.