thedrifter
04-14-04, 11:18 AM
Vietnam Vet helping to prepare soldiers for Iraq
Alameda County Sheriff's captain helps train American fighters bound for Iraq
By Simon Read, STAFF WRITER
DUBLIN -- Alameda County Sheriff's Capt. Gary Schellenberg personifies the mantra "Once a Marine, always a Marine."
Imbued with a love and sense of pride for the service, Schellenberg, 57, is using his experiences in Vietnam to prepare a new generation of Marines for duties in Iraq.
Schellenberg -- commanding officer of the sheriff's department's regional training center in Dublin, behind Santa Rita county jail -- joined the Marine Corps in 1966 and served for two years. Before being deployed to Vietnam, Schellenberg took a Marine aptitude test that revealed his penchant for foreign languages.
"I'd always taken Spanish in high school and liked it and did
well in it, but aptitude wasn't even a word in my vocabulary," Schellenberg said. "They put me in a Vietnamese language school."
Taught by Vietnamese instructors, the classes were held six to seven days a week for eight weeks, with some sessions as long as 12 hours a day. Schellenberg excelled at his lessons.
After serving in Vietnam for three months with a reconnaissance unit, Schellenberg, because of his proficiency in Vietnamese, was transferred to a Combined Action Platoon.
"I lived in a village with the people," Schellenberg said. "You teach them how to patrol, provide a certain amount of security and make sure they can do certain things like reap their rice harvest, have their schools and protect themselves. You lived there 24 hours a day and became a villager after a while"
Schellenberg's duties also included training local militia and police forces, the very thing many Marines are doing now in Iraq.
After posting a comment about his experiences on a Web site, Schellenberg was contacted by a Marine gunnery sergeant training Marines for the Combined Action Program at Camp Pendleton in San Diego.
The gunnery sergeant wanted to know if Schellenberg would be interested in talking to young Marines about what they are likely to experience in Iraq.
"I immediately jumped on it," Schellenberg said. "For the Marine Corps, I'll do anything."
The original plan called for Schellenberg to teach three classes. But since December, Schellenberg -- in addition to his duties with the sheriff's department -- has kept himself busy traveling to South Carolina, San Diego and 29 Palms, teaching 12 four- to five-hour classes to young Marines.
The first group he trained is now in the Fallujah area, the scene of intense unrest in recent weeks. The experience is proving to be both rewarding and challenging, Schellenberg said.
"There is a generation gap," Schellenberg said. "I served in the Marines for two years, 38 years ago. I have to overcome that gap so they can relate to me."
The Marines, some only 18 years old, have many questions, Schellenberg said.
"I get asked, 'How can I go there knowing I might die?' to 'How do you talk to girls who don't speak your language?'" Schellenberg said. "For a 19-year-old kid, that's an issue."
Dealing with the prospect of death and the loss of friends is something Marine's have to do, Schellenberg said.
"Iwo Jima, Khe Sanh all these major battles we celebrate, Marines died there by the hundreds," Schellenberg said. "That's what we do, we fight to the death. Some of you are going to die (in Iraq). It's not something we cherish and it's not something we enjoy."
The Marines' mission in Iraq is complex, Schellenberg said. While trying to quell the uprisings by militant elements of the Iraqi population, the Marines are also trying to "win the hearts and minds" of the remaining populace.
"(Marines) are going from house to house trying not to kill this family over there, while they kill these guys over here," he said.
Before their deployment, Marines in the Combined Action Program are schooled in the Muslim religion, introduced to the Iraqi language and lectured on cultural differences.
"The Iraqis may try to kiss you on the cheek," Schellenberg said. "That's an issue for some of these young guys."
And with the media showing pictures of Iraqis cheering the charred corpses of American personnel, and coalition troops losing close friends in combat, Schellenberg said Marines have to discipline themselves not to hate.
"Hate neutralizes your accomplishments," Schellenberg said. "There will be certain thoughts you're going to think, but you can't act on them. You have to maintain a controlled outward appearance. The Marines are there to help people."
Despite the span of time and circumstance between Vietnam and Iraq, Schellenberg said the basic challenges remain the same.
"One place is jungle, one is sand," he said. "One group of people are Middle Eastern, the other Asian. But they all want water, food and protection. That's a universal need in all of us."
Schellenberg said he takes great comfort in teaching the new generation of Marines.
"We're in good hands," he said. "These kids are young and dedicated, and willing to take the ultimate risk for me, my wife, kids and neighbor. They're taking a stand."
http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2082887,00.html
Ellie
Alameda County Sheriff's captain helps train American fighters bound for Iraq
By Simon Read, STAFF WRITER
DUBLIN -- Alameda County Sheriff's Capt. Gary Schellenberg personifies the mantra "Once a Marine, always a Marine."
Imbued with a love and sense of pride for the service, Schellenberg, 57, is using his experiences in Vietnam to prepare a new generation of Marines for duties in Iraq.
Schellenberg -- commanding officer of the sheriff's department's regional training center in Dublin, behind Santa Rita county jail -- joined the Marine Corps in 1966 and served for two years. Before being deployed to Vietnam, Schellenberg took a Marine aptitude test that revealed his penchant for foreign languages.
"I'd always taken Spanish in high school and liked it and did
well in it, but aptitude wasn't even a word in my vocabulary," Schellenberg said. "They put me in a Vietnamese language school."
Taught by Vietnamese instructors, the classes were held six to seven days a week for eight weeks, with some sessions as long as 12 hours a day. Schellenberg excelled at his lessons.
After serving in Vietnam for three months with a reconnaissance unit, Schellenberg, because of his proficiency in Vietnamese, was transferred to a Combined Action Platoon.
"I lived in a village with the people," Schellenberg said. "You teach them how to patrol, provide a certain amount of security and make sure they can do certain things like reap their rice harvest, have their schools and protect themselves. You lived there 24 hours a day and became a villager after a while"
Schellenberg's duties also included training local militia and police forces, the very thing many Marines are doing now in Iraq.
After posting a comment about his experiences on a Web site, Schellenberg was contacted by a Marine gunnery sergeant training Marines for the Combined Action Program at Camp Pendleton in San Diego.
The gunnery sergeant wanted to know if Schellenberg would be interested in talking to young Marines about what they are likely to experience in Iraq.
"I immediately jumped on it," Schellenberg said. "For the Marine Corps, I'll do anything."
The original plan called for Schellenberg to teach three classes. But since December, Schellenberg -- in addition to his duties with the sheriff's department -- has kept himself busy traveling to South Carolina, San Diego and 29 Palms, teaching 12 four- to five-hour classes to young Marines.
The first group he trained is now in the Fallujah area, the scene of intense unrest in recent weeks. The experience is proving to be both rewarding and challenging, Schellenberg said.
"There is a generation gap," Schellenberg said. "I served in the Marines for two years, 38 years ago. I have to overcome that gap so they can relate to me."
The Marines, some only 18 years old, have many questions, Schellenberg said.
"I get asked, 'How can I go there knowing I might die?' to 'How do you talk to girls who don't speak your language?'" Schellenberg said. "For a 19-year-old kid, that's an issue."
Dealing with the prospect of death and the loss of friends is something Marine's have to do, Schellenberg said.
"Iwo Jima, Khe Sanh all these major battles we celebrate, Marines died there by the hundreds," Schellenberg said. "That's what we do, we fight to the death. Some of you are going to die (in Iraq). It's not something we cherish and it's not something we enjoy."
The Marines' mission in Iraq is complex, Schellenberg said. While trying to quell the uprisings by militant elements of the Iraqi population, the Marines are also trying to "win the hearts and minds" of the remaining populace.
"(Marines) are going from house to house trying not to kill this family over there, while they kill these guys over here," he said.
Before their deployment, Marines in the Combined Action Program are schooled in the Muslim religion, introduced to the Iraqi language and lectured on cultural differences.
"The Iraqis may try to kiss you on the cheek," Schellenberg said. "That's an issue for some of these young guys."
And with the media showing pictures of Iraqis cheering the charred corpses of American personnel, and coalition troops losing close friends in combat, Schellenberg said Marines have to discipline themselves not to hate.
"Hate neutralizes your accomplishments," Schellenberg said. "There will be certain thoughts you're going to think, but you can't act on them. You have to maintain a controlled outward appearance. The Marines are there to help people."
Despite the span of time and circumstance between Vietnam and Iraq, Schellenberg said the basic challenges remain the same.
"One place is jungle, one is sand," he said. "One group of people are Middle Eastern, the other Asian. But they all want water, food and protection. That's a universal need in all of us."
Schellenberg said he takes great comfort in teaching the new generation of Marines.
"We're in good hands," he said. "These kids are young and dedicated, and willing to take the ultimate risk for me, my wife, kids and neighbor. They're taking a stand."
http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2082887,00.html
Ellie