thedrifter
02-20-08, 03:45 PM
League proves the motto, 'Always a Marine'
By Marianne Lucchesi Hamilton
Los Gatos Weekly Times
Article Launched: 02/19/2008 07:52:44 PM PST
On the third Saturday of each month, a small crowd converges on the Elks Lodge in Santa Clara. Roughly a third of the attendees make their way into the hall under their own steam. But for the rest, progress is slow: It takes time to maneuver walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, oxygen tanks and prosthetic limbs through the doorway and into chairs.
Save for a few members, the group is male. Nearly all are clad in bright scarlet jackets emblazoned with gold lettering; most wear "cover," or embroidered caps. A closer look also reveals a colorful array of stripes, stars, bars, ribbons and other insignia.
At this meeting of Detachment No.1122 of the Marine Corps League, heroism is not simply a concept. It is the guiding force that inspires and drives every last person in the room. As MCL Commandant Kevin Kimma calls the meeting to order and leads the assemblage in the "Marines Hymn," it is impossible not to be overcome with the enormity of the sacrifices these heroes have made for their country.
Los Gatos resident and new member Andy Hardin recalls his first league meeting. The former Los Gatos High School swimming and water polo coach had yet to learn much about his fellow members. Then he grabbed a doughnut and sat down with a quiet, unassuming man. "This guy had three stars, signifying that he'd been in three landings, including one on Iwo Jima," Hardin says. "He had a silver star, two Purple Hearts and I don't know how many other medals. I thought,'I'm in the presence
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of a real hero here.' "
Hardin himself answered his country's call at the age of 18, just as World War II was winding down. "I chased a few stragglers on Guam, but I didn't do half of the things that many of our members did," he says modestly. "Being in the Marines was one of the best things I ever did, because the GI Bill paid for my college education." After his tour of duty, Hardin received his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from San Jose State, then logged 28 years as a coach at Los Gatos High.
On Hardin's 75th birthday, his wife arranged for a return trip to Guam and Iwo Jima. Hardin was inspired to reconnect with his military life, and continue serving his country in some capacity. Doing some online research, Hardin found the Santa Clara MCL Detachment. After talking to public relations director (and former Los Gatos High athlete) Dick Whitaker, Hardin decided to join the organization.
"The league is a volunteer service organization," Whitaker explains. "We look after the needs of the families of Marines who've fallen on hard times, we attend the funerals of fallen Marines and we visit wounded vets up at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto. Whenever a fellow Marine is in need, we get together and do what needs to be done."
Whitaker himself spent eight years in the corps, attending officers candidate school during the Cold War. But like Hardin, Whitaker is quick to downplay his own heroics. "To be around these guys, it really gets you," Whitaker says. "Two out of three members have to be assisted to come to our meetings. They're all decorated combat vets, but they all say the same thing:'It could have been you, or me, or anyone. I just happened to be there at that point in history.' "
At each monthly meeting, history abounds. From Lt. Col. Lee Wimpee, who was wounded in both World War II and Korea, to longtime Los Gatos resident and fellow Korean War vet Jim Crawford, to ponytailed Ernie Belkam, who saw active duty in Vietnam--every Marine brings to the MCL his own private heaven, hell and memories. "For 20 years after I got home from Vietnam, I wanted nothing to do with the military," Belkam admits. "In 1971, it wasn't a popular thing to say you'd been in the Marines." But with age has come a wish to embrace his past, Belkam adds. "It's been really good to meet all of these guys and talk about the old times. No one else really understands what we've all been through."
In the course of each meeting, all recently fallen comrades are remembered with a playing of "Taps," while vets just returned from the Middle East are also honored. When a young lance corporal is introduced, painfully recounting the treatments he is undergoing for post-traumatic stress disorder related to his second tour in Iraq, a member immediately volunteers to cover the young Marine's membership fees in the league. Such fellowship among the Marines is typical, says Kimma, a Juniper Networks employee whose two sons are soon to deploy to Iraq as Marines.
"Our detachment exists to maintain Marine Corps tradition and to serve Marines and their families," Kimma says. "Whether it is the WWII veteran who landed on Iwo Jima, or the Marine who was shot up in Vietnam, or the wife or child of the Marine who was killed in Iraq, the Marine Corps League is there to help. Each of us has the same commitment to duty in their hearts. One can rest assured that every one of us would gladly step into the line of fire to protect the life of another, or to protect the life of a civilian. The words,'Once a Marine, Always a Marine,' ring as true today as they have for the past 232 years."
Whitaker says that the Santa Clara Detachment is small but growing. After six years together, the group hopes to find a permanent venue for its meetings, and a place in which to display its collection of military memorabilia.
"Basically we're homeless. But we're hoping there will be someone in the community who has a small restaurant or business where we could come in, possibly take over and run the business, and have our meetings in the back," Whitaker says.
Full membership in the Marine Corps League is open to any active-duty or retired member of the Marines. Non-voting associate membership is also available to any interested persons who espouse the principles of the League. For full details, visit www.usmcleague.com/index.htm or contact Dick Whitaker at RWhit0007@aol.com.
Ellie
By Marianne Lucchesi Hamilton
Los Gatos Weekly Times
Article Launched: 02/19/2008 07:52:44 PM PST
On the third Saturday of each month, a small crowd converges on the Elks Lodge in Santa Clara. Roughly a third of the attendees make their way into the hall under their own steam. But for the rest, progress is slow: It takes time to maneuver walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, oxygen tanks and prosthetic limbs through the doorway and into chairs.
Save for a few members, the group is male. Nearly all are clad in bright scarlet jackets emblazoned with gold lettering; most wear "cover," or embroidered caps. A closer look also reveals a colorful array of stripes, stars, bars, ribbons and other insignia.
At this meeting of Detachment No.1122 of the Marine Corps League, heroism is not simply a concept. It is the guiding force that inspires and drives every last person in the room. As MCL Commandant Kevin Kimma calls the meeting to order and leads the assemblage in the "Marines Hymn," it is impossible not to be overcome with the enormity of the sacrifices these heroes have made for their country.
Los Gatos resident and new member Andy Hardin recalls his first league meeting. The former Los Gatos High School swimming and water polo coach had yet to learn much about his fellow members. Then he grabbed a doughnut and sat down with a quiet, unassuming man. "This guy had three stars, signifying that he'd been in three landings, including one on Iwo Jima," Hardin says. "He had a silver star, two Purple Hearts and I don't know how many other medals. I thought,'I'm in the presence
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of a real hero here.' "
Hardin himself answered his country's call at the age of 18, just as World War II was winding down. "I chased a few stragglers on Guam, but I didn't do half of the things that many of our members did," he says modestly. "Being in the Marines was one of the best things I ever did, because the GI Bill paid for my college education." After his tour of duty, Hardin received his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from San Jose State, then logged 28 years as a coach at Los Gatos High.
On Hardin's 75th birthday, his wife arranged for a return trip to Guam and Iwo Jima. Hardin was inspired to reconnect with his military life, and continue serving his country in some capacity. Doing some online research, Hardin found the Santa Clara MCL Detachment. After talking to public relations director (and former Los Gatos High athlete) Dick Whitaker, Hardin decided to join the organization.
"The league is a volunteer service organization," Whitaker explains. "We look after the needs of the families of Marines who've fallen on hard times, we attend the funerals of fallen Marines and we visit wounded vets up at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto. Whenever a fellow Marine is in need, we get together and do what needs to be done."
Whitaker himself spent eight years in the corps, attending officers candidate school during the Cold War. But like Hardin, Whitaker is quick to downplay his own heroics. "To be around these guys, it really gets you," Whitaker says. "Two out of three members have to be assisted to come to our meetings. They're all decorated combat vets, but they all say the same thing:'It could have been you, or me, or anyone. I just happened to be there at that point in history.' "
At each monthly meeting, history abounds. From Lt. Col. Lee Wimpee, who was wounded in both World War II and Korea, to longtime Los Gatos resident and fellow Korean War vet Jim Crawford, to ponytailed Ernie Belkam, who saw active duty in Vietnam--every Marine brings to the MCL his own private heaven, hell and memories. "For 20 years after I got home from Vietnam, I wanted nothing to do with the military," Belkam admits. "In 1971, it wasn't a popular thing to say you'd been in the Marines." But with age has come a wish to embrace his past, Belkam adds. "It's been really good to meet all of these guys and talk about the old times. No one else really understands what we've all been through."
In the course of each meeting, all recently fallen comrades are remembered with a playing of "Taps," while vets just returned from the Middle East are also honored. When a young lance corporal is introduced, painfully recounting the treatments he is undergoing for post-traumatic stress disorder related to his second tour in Iraq, a member immediately volunteers to cover the young Marine's membership fees in the league. Such fellowship among the Marines is typical, says Kimma, a Juniper Networks employee whose two sons are soon to deploy to Iraq as Marines.
"Our detachment exists to maintain Marine Corps tradition and to serve Marines and their families," Kimma says. "Whether it is the WWII veteran who landed on Iwo Jima, or the Marine who was shot up in Vietnam, or the wife or child of the Marine who was killed in Iraq, the Marine Corps League is there to help. Each of us has the same commitment to duty in their hearts. One can rest assured that every one of us would gladly step into the line of fire to protect the life of another, or to protect the life of a civilian. The words,'Once a Marine, Always a Marine,' ring as true today as they have for the past 232 years."
Whitaker says that the Santa Clara Detachment is small but growing. After six years together, the group hopes to find a permanent venue for its meetings, and a place in which to display its collection of military memorabilia.
"Basically we're homeless. But we're hoping there will be someone in the community who has a small restaurant or business where we could come in, possibly take over and run the business, and have our meetings in the back," Whitaker says.
Full membership in the Marine Corps League is open to any active-duty or retired member of the Marines. Non-voting associate membership is also available to any interested persons who espouse the principles of the League. For full details, visit www.usmcleague.com/index.htm or contact Dick Whitaker at RWhit0007@aol.com.
Ellie