thedrifter
06-04-07, 06:48 AM
Ex-Marine misses brotherhood
By JOE GORMAN Tribune Chronicle
YOUNGSTOWN — City Patrolman Rodney Lewis says he wanted to be a police officer since he was 6 years old.
But he was 16 when he decided to become a Marine, mainly because he said he wanted to get off the streets and to do the opposite of his father, who served in the U.S. Army.
Lewis served five years in the Corps, including a stint from 1969-71 as part of a logistics unit in Vietnam. He said he decided to enlist to stay out of trouble and to help him move towards his career goal of becoming a police officer.
‘‘I didn’t want to get into trouble because I wanted to be the police,’’ Lewis said.
Lewis got his mother to sign for him and he was able to fool his superiors and enter at the age of 16. He was what is known as a ‘‘Hollywood Marine,’’ taking his basic training at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Being a ‘‘boot’’ was not easy, the native of Anmore, W.Va., said.
‘‘It was hard,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘They had a sergeant who acted just like my father.’’
Lewis volunteered for duty in Vietnam to get a brother who was in Army out of the war zone. Regulations say that two brothers do not have to serve in a war zone at the same time, Lewis said. He said when he asked for a transfer, his superiors met his request immediately.
He might have got one brother out of the war, but he was joining hundreds of other brothers, saying that the brotherhood that bonds men in danger and combat is one of the most powerful things he ever experienced, and when the chips were down, it transcended all branches of the military.
‘‘In a combat zone, everybody is everybody’s brother, and everybody’s got everybody’s back,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘All the armed forces were like a bunch of brothers.
‘‘I’ve never seen that again. Everybody stuck together. To me, that was one of the best times in my life.’’
Lewis’ logistics unit was responsible for supplying outlying units in Vietnam. When not dodging the country’s torrential monsoons or enduring its equatorial heat while driving in supply convoys, Lewis and his men were on the lookout for main North Vietnamese Army units and Viet Cong guerrillas.
One of his most vivid memories is of a friend who was cut in half by a mine. Lewis said he was still talking about chasing girls right up until the moment he died.
Lewis credited his training for surviving combat and said he was thankful it was Marine training he received.
‘‘I’m glad I was a Marine because the Marines taught me one thing: It was all right to be scared, but be scared enough to do something. The Marine Corps made you do things over and over again, and the repetition, that’s what brought me home. ’’
The normal Vietnamese citizens he came across were like people he’s met anywhere else, Lewis said.
‘‘They were like everyday people,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘They just wanted to survive. They just wanted to live.’’
Lewis’ mother kept him out of the loop about things happening back home during an unpopular war, but, when he disembarked in San Francisco, Lewis got an idea about how some people felt about him and his comrades. He said they threw rancid food at him and made his return miserable.
‘‘They really dogged us,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘That’s where I was really hurt at.’’
Since his return from service, Lewis has been a city police officer for 35 years and is heavily involved in the Black Knights, an organization for black police officers that also is heavily involved in community projects. Lewis said he now feels for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
‘‘God bless ’em,’’ Lewis said.
jgorman@tribune-chronicle.com
Ellie
By JOE GORMAN Tribune Chronicle
YOUNGSTOWN — City Patrolman Rodney Lewis says he wanted to be a police officer since he was 6 years old.
But he was 16 when he decided to become a Marine, mainly because he said he wanted to get off the streets and to do the opposite of his father, who served in the U.S. Army.
Lewis served five years in the Corps, including a stint from 1969-71 as part of a logistics unit in Vietnam. He said he decided to enlist to stay out of trouble and to help him move towards his career goal of becoming a police officer.
‘‘I didn’t want to get into trouble because I wanted to be the police,’’ Lewis said.
Lewis got his mother to sign for him and he was able to fool his superiors and enter at the age of 16. He was what is known as a ‘‘Hollywood Marine,’’ taking his basic training at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Being a ‘‘boot’’ was not easy, the native of Anmore, W.Va., said.
‘‘It was hard,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘They had a sergeant who acted just like my father.’’
Lewis volunteered for duty in Vietnam to get a brother who was in Army out of the war zone. Regulations say that two brothers do not have to serve in a war zone at the same time, Lewis said. He said when he asked for a transfer, his superiors met his request immediately.
He might have got one brother out of the war, but he was joining hundreds of other brothers, saying that the brotherhood that bonds men in danger and combat is one of the most powerful things he ever experienced, and when the chips were down, it transcended all branches of the military.
‘‘In a combat zone, everybody is everybody’s brother, and everybody’s got everybody’s back,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘All the armed forces were like a bunch of brothers.
‘‘I’ve never seen that again. Everybody stuck together. To me, that was one of the best times in my life.’’
Lewis’ logistics unit was responsible for supplying outlying units in Vietnam. When not dodging the country’s torrential monsoons or enduring its equatorial heat while driving in supply convoys, Lewis and his men were on the lookout for main North Vietnamese Army units and Viet Cong guerrillas.
One of his most vivid memories is of a friend who was cut in half by a mine. Lewis said he was still talking about chasing girls right up until the moment he died.
Lewis credited his training for surviving combat and said he was thankful it was Marine training he received.
‘‘I’m glad I was a Marine because the Marines taught me one thing: It was all right to be scared, but be scared enough to do something. The Marine Corps made you do things over and over again, and the repetition, that’s what brought me home. ’’
The normal Vietnamese citizens he came across were like people he’s met anywhere else, Lewis said.
‘‘They were like everyday people,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘They just wanted to survive. They just wanted to live.’’
Lewis’ mother kept him out of the loop about things happening back home during an unpopular war, but, when he disembarked in San Francisco, Lewis got an idea about how some people felt about him and his comrades. He said they threw rancid food at him and made his return miserable.
‘‘They really dogged us,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘That’s where I was really hurt at.’’
Since his return from service, Lewis has been a city police officer for 35 years and is heavily involved in the Black Knights, an organization for black police officers that also is heavily involved in community projects. Lewis said he now feels for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
‘‘God bless ’em,’’ Lewis said.
jgorman@tribune-chronicle.com
Ellie