Best Friends ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
During 1976-77 Major Walt Boomer, USMC (Retired), who in 1992 became the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, was my "boss" while I was an Instructor in the Management Department at the United States Naval Academy and assigned to Marine Barracks Annapolis. I observed Major Boomer and saw his dedication and drive. He offered a positive influence on my Marine Corps career. And when I was countering the call for my Medical Discharge by the Navy, Major Boomer was very encouraging as I tried to stay on active duty in the Marine Corps.
Best Moment Serving as an Instructor at the United States Naval Academy was a true privilege. I instructed First Class (Seniors) and Second Class (Juniors) in the courses of "Materials Management" and "Personnel Administration". While for the most part these were very dry courses, they were important topics for the career-oriented Navy or Marine Corps Officer. Therefore, my goal during my Sessions was to show both their importance and their relevance. Via my career as an Officer in the Marine Corps I saw the importance of these topics in writing Command Daily Diaries, Fitness Reports for those under my command, and in dealing with budget requirements and restrictions in the various positions that I had held.
For those Midshipmen who were interested in selecting the Marine Corps on "Service Selection Night", the Marine Corps Publication Committee at the Naval Academy published the MARINE Outlook on a periodic basis. This publication offered information about various areas of interest concerning the Marine Corps, plus a listing of all Marine Corps Officers assigned to the Naval Academy including their MOS – Military Occupational Specialty - with their contact information. While assigned to the Naval Academy I had the privilege of working on this publication as an Assistant Editor with Captain Ken Estes. The Editor of the MARINE Outlook was Major Bob Kirkpatrick.
Ann and I truly enjoyed living in the Annapolis area. We bought a new house out towards the Bay Bridge off of US-50 in a coastal area near the Chesapeake Bay called Cape St. Claire. While I worked at the Naval Academy with an office first in Isherwood Hall and later in Michelson Hall, Ann obtained a job working for a mortgage banking company – James T. Barnes & Associates. Her office was located near Parole Plaza. We try to visit Annapolis periodically (especially during the Navy football season or a Class Reunion). It has been interesting to see how the area has changed over the years. This is especially true out near Parole Plaza. Each visit offers something new to see. Of course when we would go to a Navy vs Wake Forest football game and we would take Jessica & PJ with us, I was always in a 1-3 minority when cheering for Navy because Ann would join with Jessica and PJ. Now that they live in Fort Collins, CO and Wake is not on Navy’s schedule “peace” has returned to the family.
Worst Moment After returning from Christmas leave in 1976 and a whirlwind trip where we visited our families in Atlanta, I started loosing weight for "no reason". My Marine Winter Green uniform that I wore to work every day started to “hang” on me, so Ann decided that I needed to gain weight by eating more…so pasta – spaghetti, lasagna, macaroni salad - 3-4 nights a week became part of our main course. This “fix” did not work, and I continued to lose weight. I finally went to see a doctor at the Academy, and in February 1977 I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. I was admitted to the Naval Hospital in Annapolis to help get my diabetes under control and to introduce me to shots, insulin and blood tests.
Being diagnosed with Type I diabetes was quite a shock to this Marine Corps Captain who had plans to be a career Marine Corps Officer. After fighting to stay on active duty for several months, I finally received a Medical Discharge in August 1977. At the time of my discharge there was no true explanation for how or why I developed diabetes. It was a disease that was not in my family, and it was definitely not an over-weight issue. Prior to developing diabetes I was 160+ lbs., and today I am still about 160+ lbs. In fact, I periodically wear my Dress Blues for special occasions. Those special events: Memorial Day, 4th of July, Veterans Day and the Marine Corps Birthday are a real joy for me, especially since I am wearing the same Dress Blue uniform that I was issued in 1971 – without alterations. Another more personal point of interest about receiving my discharge in August 1977 is that I signed the paperwork enlisting in the United States Marine Corps for 3 years in August 1965. I started Parris Island on 16 September 1965.
In 2012 I talked with a Marine that I had gone through The Basic School (TBS) with, Major Mike Boyce, USMC (Retired), and he suggested that I go to the Veterans Administration for an evaluation of the cause of my diabetes. He said that there was a class-action lawsuit against the government in the mid 1990's demanding the government take ownership of the many Agent Orange problems that veterans were having. He said that the VA was now identifying servicemen with various physical problems who had been in Vietnam and had been exposed to Agent Orange. During the summer of 2012 I went to the VA in Atlanta for an evaluation of the possibility that during my short time in Vietnam I was exposed to Agent Orange. Being a Combat Engineer and a Heavy Equipment Operator it was highly likely because I did “play in the dirt” a lot. In 2013 the VA determined that both my diabetes and my coronary heart disease were both Agent Orange related. However, the VA only took my claim back to 2012 when I made my initial Agent Orange claim instead of going back to 1977 when I received my initial medical discharge.
It was good to know that the U.S. government finally took responsibility for the human harm they had caused via the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. However, because my Marine Corps career was abruptly brought to an end, I was greatly disappointed that the Department of the Navy was not more flexible in allowing me to stay on active duty while my diabetes was further analyzed. I believe my case was “swept under the rug” like so many other veterans who had a more severe impact on their life by Agent Orange than I did. I now believe the government knew the cost of standing up and assuming responsibility for the use of this toxic agent. The various scandals that have been brought forth about the VA makes you wonder how long have they known.
Chain of Command Commanding Officer Marine Barracks Annapolis - Major G. R. Christmas Senior Marine at USNA - Colonel Bruce B. Rutherford Head of the Management Department - Major Walt Boomer (1992-1994 General Boomer was Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps)
Other Memories From my enlistment to my discharge is a picture of a Marine Corps career coming full circle. My Marine Corps career started when I enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 1965 and concluded in August 1977 with a Medical Discharge while I was a Captain in the Marine Corps and stationed at Marine Barracks, Annapolis as an Instructor at the Naval Academy. As a child in 1956-57 it was my dream to attend the United States Naval Academy. After my family moved to Georgia in 1961 I graduated from Henry Grady High School in 1964, I thought/knew that my dream of going to the Naval Academy had passed me by. But via a unique path which included going to Parris Island, being an enlisted Marine and going to Vietnam and then to the Naval Academy Prep School, I was able to attend and graduate from the United States Naval Academy. On 9 June 1971 after graduating from the Naval Academy, I returned "home" and received my commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Then in 1977 while stationed at Marine Barracks, Annapolis and assigned as an Instructor at the Naval Academy, I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. It was then that I received a Medical Discharge from the Marine Corps. The irony is that it was during my time as an enlisted Marine that developed me into the person able to be accepted first to NAPS and then to the Naval Academy. As an enlisted Marine (1345 - Combat Engineer, Heavy Equipment Operator) in Vietnam I was exposed to Agent Orange while "playing in the dirt". And it is this exposure that has been designated as the cause of my Type I Diabetes and more recently (2006) my open-heart by-pass surgery (coronary heart disease). God has given me a wonderful adventure. I also know the path that I have followed through the years has been laid out by Him. Isaiah 30:21 still applies: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." I continue to listen for His voice to guide and direct me. I know I do not always stay on the path He has put before me, but He also speaks to me to bring me back to the course He wants me to follow.
