In
1992 Camp Lejeune, North Carolina was crammed with desert tan vehicles which
had just come back to the U.S. from Operation
Desert Storm, the first invasion of Iraq.
Outside our Seabee Camp Cobra
it seemed every pine tree had something under it. Our unit was there for annual training for
duty called TACON-92. I’d transferred
from the Marine Corps Reserve Support Center (MCSRC) in Overland Park, Kansas
where cutbacks had terminated my billet.
It was my first summer camp with the Bees.
When
you transfer between services, you end up taking pot luck. First, I lost a rank. Next, I ended up in Supply doing heavy
lifting, but I’m not complaining because the move saved my career. Without the help of Navy forklifts my job
would have been impossible because Seabee construction boxes are heavy. So there in a sand pit with the trucks is
where you found me. I marveled at the
huge pine cones the size of footballs scattered about the area.
Of
course, Camp Lejeune is big and we had many visitors. I remember clusters
Jeep Cherokees, Marine Corps and Navy observers, umpires, and gaggles of
officers who you’d never see normally.
Women had just been integrated in the Bees and were in our ranks as well
as being among the officers who stopped by on business. Curious civilians were there too.
All
this activity and variety of people did not escape me because I have a natural
inclination towards observation. Call it
a peculiarity. When I was with MCRSC
part of my duties was to call mobilization stations in the West. Once, I talked to an officer whose last name
was Kesselring. I couldn’t help asking,
“Say. Are you related to Albert
Kesselring, the German commander of the Afrika Korps?” She was his niece. Another time at formation and roll call with
the Bees, someone called out “Petty Office Earhart”. Afterwards, I couldn’t help asking,
“Say. Are you related to Amelia Earhart?” He was a cousin.
There was this tall black stranger who approached our sand pit to watch the
beginnings of our encampment. He was
there suddenly like the mountain man above the gorge in Deliverance. He was probably
6 ft. 6” at least, but his features were different. He looked black to me, but was he? There was something odd about him. I had to ask, “Say. Are you black?” In a matter of fact way he replied that he
was Sioux and a grandson of (the) Red Cloud.
I don’t remember his first name, but his last name was Bear and he was a
retired Marine living on the base. If
you want to know what he looked like, he looked like the Red Cloud in the U.S. postage
stamp. You never know until you ask.