Shaffer
10-15-02, 08:22 AM
ALBANY - Past and present collided Friday morning as Marine Corps Logistics
Base-Albany welcomed a group of World War II Marines and their wives for an
all-access tour.
The tour, which included an attack dog demonstration and live weapons
display, was meant to honor the group, one of a select few Marine units to
see duty in both the Pacific and Europe during the war, said Capt. John
Dodd, public affairs officer for the base.
"These men are part of our heritage, a part of the Greatest Generation,"
said Dodd. "They've been through hell and back and we want to honor them any
time and any way we can."
The men served as a special detachment aboard the USS Quincy, a heavy
cruiser that saw action from the Battle of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific
to the Normandy landing in France. The venerable vessel even ferried a
president to one of the war's most important conferences.
But the Marines aboard the Quincy weren't merely along for the ride. These
eager grunts did everything from manning the cruiser's heavy guns to
boarding enemy ships and fighting on land.
"I always liked the Marines," said 84 year-old Bob Weimann, who joined the
Corps in 1937, only to be wounded in the Battle of Bloody Ridge on
Guadalcanal five years later.
Gene Corkery, 81, was just 18 when he first stepped aboard the Quincy in
1940. To Corkery, today's Marines are doing the memory of all those who came
before them proud.
"The fighting spirit is just as good today," said Corkery. "Being here
brings back a lot of memories. The Marine Corps is so mobile these days.
They can go anywhere in the world at a moment's notice."
Mike Nester, 82, then a 21-year-old private aboard the Quincy, met Franklin
Roosevelt, who was being transported to the 1945 Yalta Conference on the
Black Sea, while serving as a special orderly for the president.
"It made me proud," said Nester. "He came out and introduced himself, shook
my hand. He asked me how my family was.
"It means a lot to be able to see these guys again. We're as close as
brothers."
Base-Albany welcomed a group of World War II Marines and their wives for an
all-access tour.
The tour, which included an attack dog demonstration and live weapons
display, was meant to honor the group, one of a select few Marine units to
see duty in both the Pacific and Europe during the war, said Capt. John
Dodd, public affairs officer for the base.
"These men are part of our heritage, a part of the Greatest Generation,"
said Dodd. "They've been through hell and back and we want to honor them any
time and any way we can."
The men served as a special detachment aboard the USS Quincy, a heavy
cruiser that saw action from the Battle of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific
to the Normandy landing in France. The venerable vessel even ferried a
president to one of the war's most important conferences.
But the Marines aboard the Quincy weren't merely along for the ride. These
eager grunts did everything from manning the cruiser's heavy guns to
boarding enemy ships and fighting on land.
"I always liked the Marines," said 84 year-old Bob Weimann, who joined the
Corps in 1937, only to be wounded in the Battle of Bloody Ridge on
Guadalcanal five years later.
Gene Corkery, 81, was just 18 when he first stepped aboard the Quincy in
1940. To Corkery, today's Marines are doing the memory of all those who came
before them proud.
"The fighting spirit is just as good today," said Corkery. "Being here
brings back a lot of memories. The Marine Corps is so mobile these days.
They can go anywhere in the world at a moment's notice."
Mike Nester, 82, then a 21-year-old private aboard the Quincy, met Franklin
Roosevelt, who was being transported to the 1945 Yalta Conference on the
Black Sea, while serving as a special orderly for the president.
"It made me proud," said Nester. "He came out and introduced himself, shook
my hand. He asked me how my family was.
"It means a lot to be able to see these guys again. We're as close as
brothers."