thedrifter
11-13-07, 03:42 PM
Vietnam vet inspires, shocks students
Former Marine's visit partners with study of book, movie
By BRENDA J. DONEGAN
The Marion Star
MARION - Students in Amanda McCleary's freshmen English class heard a first-hand report on Vietnam veteran Roger Bock's experiences during a recent visit to Marion Harding High School.
The class had been reading the book "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers and also saw the movie "We Were Soldiers" starring Mel Gibson in preparation for Bock's visit.
"The book and movie are 90 percent correct," Bock told the students, who noted he served in Vietnam during the conflict.
The draft was in place when he turned 18, he told the class, which required that all males register.
"I made the choice to go into the Marines rather than be drafted into the Army," he said, explaining that as additional troops were needed, numbers were drawn and males had no choice but to report when commanded. "Nothing wrong with them (the Army), but I wanted to see if I could endure Marine training."
Bock also noted he had no choice for his MOS (military occupational specialty) but was assigned with an artillery unit as radio communications operator working with a forward observer.
Marines, Bock explained, are called a rapid expeditionary force, and are usually sent to the battlefield ahead of other units.
The motto for the Marine Corps, which was organized Nov. 10, 1775, in Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pa., by a resolution of the Continental Congress, is Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for "all is faithful." In 1834 the Marines became part of the Department of the Navy.
Bock said because of his experience on his return from the war, he put his thoughts in a closet for 40 years.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," he said. "I decided to come out of the closet and am now actively working with a program to support those now serving. Bock is an advocate for the Marine Corps Family Support Community, an organization run by patriotic Americans whose family members and friends proudly serve in the corps. Their purpose, he said, is to support Marines, their friends and families and now has expanded to serve all branches of the military.
"A lot of opposition is being expressed today as during the Vietnam War," Bock said. "The way people reacted to that is different in that individuals were spit upon, ignored and just generally mistreated when we (Vietnam veterans) came home.
Bock's group, headquartered in Columbus, was started to offer that support to today's military.
"We support them with letters and care packages," he said. "None of that existed during the Vietnam War. Still they were valiant and all due respect was needed there. Just remember this, the military does not start wars, the government starts wars."
Harding freshmen Rachel Mitchell and Shane Hoskins were impressed by Bock's presentation and also felt compassion for the misgivings he endured and had harbored for so many years.
"Mr. Bock was very inspiring," Mitchell said. "I enjoyed that very, very much because he didn't want to kill those children. They were just doing what the Army told them to do. I felt so bad that when they
came home people called them baby killers and stuff like that."
"The most shocking for me was when Mr. Bock said that most of them (military) were dying because they had to do what the government told them to do," Hoskins added. "You had young men getting killed in a place where we shouldn't have been because we didn't want communism here."
Hoskins said after reading the book, seeing the movie and then after hearing Bock speak, he has a better understanding of the country of Vietnam than the troops did when they were there.
"Being there was a mystery to them because they didn't know the land, didn't know the terrain, if and where a trap might be set or if they were close enough to bomb companies and platoons," he said.
Mitchell said she found it sad that soldiers had no control on whether they would stay stateside or be sent across the sea.
Hoskins had contemplated joining the Army after graduation but is rethinking that, he said.
"I'm not very athletic and since the Army does most things on foot and are called upon to save people and move quickly, I don't know if I could handle the pressure," he said. "I'm thinking about the Navy. They're more into computers."
Retired Marion City Schools teacher Pat Lynch has a son, Sgt. Christopher Lynch, who is currently serving in the Marine Corps as a RECON (reconnaissance) Marine and is a team leader in Iraq, stationed in Fallujah but also does mission in other areas. Pat Lynch, a member of the Marine Corps Family Support Community, was present for Bock's presentation at Harding.
"The English class at Harding was very enthusiastic with their questions for Mr. Bock, our Vietnam veteran," Lynch said. "I think reading the book and watching the movie made everything real. Mr. Bock also read the book and watched the movie. He said it was very difficult to get through, since it brought back many terrible memories. I think Mr. Bock is trying to give to these Marines, something (support and praise) he never got when he served in Vietnam."
Brenda Donegan 740-375-5150 or bdonegan@marionstar.com
Ellie
Former Marine's visit partners with study of book, movie
By BRENDA J. DONEGAN
The Marion Star
MARION - Students in Amanda McCleary's freshmen English class heard a first-hand report on Vietnam veteran Roger Bock's experiences during a recent visit to Marion Harding High School.
The class had been reading the book "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers and also saw the movie "We Were Soldiers" starring Mel Gibson in preparation for Bock's visit.
"The book and movie are 90 percent correct," Bock told the students, who noted he served in Vietnam during the conflict.
The draft was in place when he turned 18, he told the class, which required that all males register.
"I made the choice to go into the Marines rather than be drafted into the Army," he said, explaining that as additional troops were needed, numbers were drawn and males had no choice but to report when commanded. "Nothing wrong with them (the Army), but I wanted to see if I could endure Marine training."
Bock also noted he had no choice for his MOS (military occupational specialty) but was assigned with an artillery unit as radio communications operator working with a forward observer.
Marines, Bock explained, are called a rapid expeditionary force, and are usually sent to the battlefield ahead of other units.
The motto for the Marine Corps, which was organized Nov. 10, 1775, in Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pa., by a resolution of the Continental Congress, is Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for "all is faithful." In 1834 the Marines became part of the Department of the Navy.
Bock said because of his experience on his return from the war, he put his thoughts in a closet for 40 years.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," he said. "I decided to come out of the closet and am now actively working with a program to support those now serving. Bock is an advocate for the Marine Corps Family Support Community, an organization run by patriotic Americans whose family members and friends proudly serve in the corps. Their purpose, he said, is to support Marines, their friends and families and now has expanded to serve all branches of the military.
"A lot of opposition is being expressed today as during the Vietnam War," Bock said. "The way people reacted to that is different in that individuals were spit upon, ignored and just generally mistreated when we (Vietnam veterans) came home.
Bock's group, headquartered in Columbus, was started to offer that support to today's military.
"We support them with letters and care packages," he said. "None of that existed during the Vietnam War. Still they were valiant and all due respect was needed there. Just remember this, the military does not start wars, the government starts wars."
Harding freshmen Rachel Mitchell and Shane Hoskins were impressed by Bock's presentation and also felt compassion for the misgivings he endured and had harbored for so many years.
"Mr. Bock was very inspiring," Mitchell said. "I enjoyed that very, very much because he didn't want to kill those children. They were just doing what the Army told them to do. I felt so bad that when they
came home people called them baby killers and stuff like that."
"The most shocking for me was when Mr. Bock said that most of them (military) were dying because they had to do what the government told them to do," Hoskins added. "You had young men getting killed in a place where we shouldn't have been because we didn't want communism here."
Hoskins said after reading the book, seeing the movie and then after hearing Bock speak, he has a better understanding of the country of Vietnam than the troops did when they were there.
"Being there was a mystery to them because they didn't know the land, didn't know the terrain, if and where a trap might be set or if they were close enough to bomb companies and platoons," he said.
Mitchell said she found it sad that soldiers had no control on whether they would stay stateside or be sent across the sea.
Hoskins had contemplated joining the Army after graduation but is rethinking that, he said.
"I'm not very athletic and since the Army does most things on foot and are called upon to save people and move quickly, I don't know if I could handle the pressure," he said. "I'm thinking about the Navy. They're more into computers."
Retired Marion City Schools teacher Pat Lynch has a son, Sgt. Christopher Lynch, who is currently serving in the Marine Corps as a RECON (reconnaissance) Marine and is a team leader in Iraq, stationed in Fallujah but also does mission in other areas. Pat Lynch, a member of the Marine Corps Family Support Community, was present for Bock's presentation at Harding.
"The English class at Harding was very enthusiastic with their questions for Mr. Bock, our Vietnam veteran," Lynch said. "I think reading the book and watching the movie made everything real. Mr. Bock also read the book and watched the movie. He said it was very difficult to get through, since it brought back many terrible memories. I think Mr. Bock is trying to give to these Marines, something (support and praise) he never got when he served in Vietnam."
Brenda Donegan 740-375-5150 or bdonegan@marionstar.com
Ellie