Glad you did some research to give you a little "insight" to what he did in the service.
We thank your Dad for his service to our country.
My dad was stationed at Camp Lejeune (New River) in 1960, after he retuned from duty in Japan as the coach of the USMC boxing team. Although he was the senior enlisted man in G2 (military intelligence) section, he remained the coach while at Lejeune. Having been a onetime golden gloves champ in Indiana, his duty as coach made sense, but I suspect his “real” job was a bit more covert with the boxing team allowing him to travel extensively without raising suspicion. I can remember going to several boxing matches in large venues and watching him corner fighters, but I’m sure the boxing was simply a cover while he was in Japan, although he would never admit it. I know he was in intelligence and “recon” at Guadalcanal and The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, so it didn’t make much sense that he was suddenly out of the spy business.
We lived near the base in Jacksonville and my most vivid memory of Lejeune was the night Hurricane Donna passed over. Even though I was only 5 years-old, I recall prepping for the coming storm and at the last minute my dad got called away to Camp Elmore (now Camp Allen) in Norfolk, VA, the Atlantic/Fleet Marine Force headquarters. I remember saying goodbye after dark when it was already raining and I was worried whether he’d be alright driving in a hurricane. A USMC Major picked him up in a military jeep and they were both wearing sidearms - it made a big impression on me. My mom and I spent that night with neighbors and I remember we went outside when the eye of the storm passed over.
Dad never returned from Norfolk, and we moved there within weeks (Marines loaded our furniture and belongings into a big green truck) and mom and I moved to Norfolk and rented a house for a few months until we bought a house in Virginia Beach. Dad was the first Master Gunnery Sargent (E-9, equivalent to Sergeant Major) since the Spanish–American War. He was the senior Staff Non-Commissioned Officer in the Operations Section of Headquarters of CINCLANT.
Though it took over 30 years to get him to breech the subject, he was involved in the formation and training of the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group (Brigade 2506) which invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961. He made several covert trips to Cuba to recruit Cuban refugees and take them to Guatemala for training. I’ve done a lot of research on the subject (without much help from Dad), and I do know that his codenames were Daniel and Carlos and his superior was Edgardo (CIA operative E. Howard Hunt). I’ve read in various books about the cloak and dagger stuff leading up to the invasion and by 2003 when Dad began showing signs of Alzheimer’s he confirmed a lot of it, but the subject was hush-hush for 30 years. After Dad died I inherited a box with a Brigade 2506 battle patch, some Cuban currency and a Cuban General de Ejército (Army General) Insignia Device from an officer’s dress cap. I’ve never learned how Dad came to have that silver shield, but I suspect the General who wore it didn’t give it up willingly.
My memories of Camp Lejeune are limited to those boxing matches and the night of the hurricane, but I have every reason to believe that the urgent call to HQ in Norfolk was the beginning of the Cuban mess which ultimately led to his retirement. He left the Marines because when he was sent into Cuba, he was told that if he was killed or captured he would be branded a traitor. After 20 years of service, I believe he felt that was a betrayal - but, he did his duty and when it was over he turned down promotion to commissioned officer and put in for retirement. He always said a Top Gun was worth a half dozen staff officers.
We thank your Dad for his service to our country.
Thank you for typing all that out, and to Kathy for posting the patch. Huge thanks to Mstr Gunny Drumbo for his service.
I was home from Lejeune on Christmas leave when the rare snow storm landed on the base. Well, to many areas, an inch or two of the stuff is nothing, but Jacksonville was snowed in. A fellow in my company who served lonely vehicle patrol duty during the holiday spoke of pulling - or trying to pull - idiots out of ditches who had their brakes locked down.
This was December of ‘89.
Good morning Drumbo ((HUGS))
Thanks for sharing that story.