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thedrifter
11-10-08, 08:41 AM
Semper Fi, Marines — and happy 233rd birthday
By DICK JOHNSON, dick.johnson@globegazette.com

MASON CITY - They still whip guys and gals into U.S. Marines in the marshes of Parris Island, S.C.

Jim O’Brien remembers the heat, the sand fleas and the tough drill instructors all too well.

“There were times I’d look across the swamp to the mainland and think, ‘I’ve gotta get the hell outta here,’ ” said the Mason City man, now 86. “But I stuck it out. I like the Marine Corps very much because of the men I served with.”

While they say you go through heck to become a Marine, the challenge is alluring: About 19,000 recruits are trained annually at Parris Island, and more than 21,000 graduate from the Corps’ San Diego Depot.

Those who persevere are transformed. There’s an obvious strength of character, a “Git ’er done” spirit, a spirit of unity — “Semper Fi.”

“It takes the ability to bite your lip at times. And above all it takes physical strength and mental toughness, and probably a clear understanding of why you personally are doing it,” said ex-Marine Eldon Vine, 76, of Clear Lake.

Today is USMC Day — the Corps’ 233rd birthday.

Members of North Iowa Marine Corps League Detachment 859 celebrated last week with a banquet and ceremonies at The Music Man Square. The oldest and youngest Marines present received the first pieces of birthday cake.

O’Brien, president of the Iowa Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, recently spoke with young Parris Island graduates about life as a Marine.

He served six years during World War II at places made famous by the Marines: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway, Tinian, Okinawa, Wake Island.

He served in Korea in 1951.

“To me, it means a group that’s exceptionally loyal to America,” O’Brien said, “and if they’ve got a job to do, they’ll do it. When I think of Wake Island and the guys there, all they cared about was doing what they were trained to do.”

Vine admires today’s Marines, “simply because I have an appreciation for what they go through.”

As a “forward observer” on the front lines in Korea, he eagerly awaited an exchange of sick and wounded soldiers from both sides in April 1953.

Figured he’d see happy guys returning.

Instead, Vine saw “truckload after truckload of American prisoners who just sat there like zombies.”

“They had no visible reaction to anything. That was quite a shock to me. That was pretty stark,” Vine said. “But that’s the way it was.”

While a dozen family members joined the Army, Air Force or Navy, Vine chose the Marines.

Naturally, he’s proud of that choice.

“Hey, there were a lot of challenges,” he said, “and I rose to them all. That’s a good feeling.”

Dick Johnson writes about people, places and things on Mondays in the Globe Gazette. For comments or column ideas, call 641-421-0556.

Ellie