News|Old Corps

CC member Frank Walker and his wife, Karen, reside in Costa Rica.  Periodically he sends updates on their lifestyle to friends. He and Karen have been on several of the CC cruises.  In this, he relates the experiences of his Marine dad in World War I.

Frank Walker's father, Anan Walker

My dad, Anan Orville Walker, as a Sergeant of Marines served with Company “B”, 11^th Marines, American Expeditionary Forces during WWI.  He never talked much about his experiences in the Corps but you could hear the pride in his voice and could see that certain gleam in his eyes when he did.  This was his favorite story:

Shortly after the Armistice which was signed on November 11, 1918 Company “B” found itself ordered to settle in on the out skirts of a small French village.  The 11^th Marines were a machine gun outfit back then, not the artillery outfit they are now.

An army unit was also ordered to the same village but someone was thinking and put the doughboys in a field on the opposite side of town.

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Eagle-eyed Don Knight spotted Chuck Beveridge during an ABC news piece about the return of Iwo Jima veterans 65 years later to the the island. Cy O’Brien is also on the tour but not shown on camera. (Note: The video below takes a long time to load. Be patient… I SAID Read more…

CC Lifemember Frank Real

PBS recently aired an “American Experience” segment entitled “The Kennedy’s.”  In this particular segment, Ted Kennedy’s plane had crashed near Southampton, Mass in 1964.  CC Life Member Frank Real’s sons spotted their dad in one portion, taped it and sent several still photos of it to their dad.  Frank tells of his involvement. 

Frank Real caught in background.

These pictures were gleaned from the recently aired PBS program American Experience. The segment was “The Kennedy’s.”  My sons, Kevin and Brian spotted me in the film. copied it and sent me a copy Brian has purchased a DVD copy of the segment, Ted Kennedy’s plane crashed in an apple orchard in Southampton, Mass. in June 1964 while he was on his way to attend the Democratic State Convention in West Springfield. He was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton with a broken back and other serious injuries. The pilot and an aide died in the crash and U.S. Sen. Birch Byeh of Indiana escaped with minor injuries. Bayh’s wife, Marvella, also suffered back injuries. It was reported that Ted Kennedy nearly died in because of his injuries.

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The final edit of the Independent Film Week teaser for the documentary film “Chosin” is now available on YouTube. Produced by Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler. Directed by Brian Iglesias. For more information see www.frozenchosin.com

The front page of the Daily Press, Sept. 18, 2009.

by Don Knight, Awards Chairman

Cy “Obie” O’Brien wrote hundreds of stories about his fellow Marines during combat on Pacific islands during World War II.

That was more than 60 years ago. Today, it’s a different story.  It’s all  about this 90-year-old warrior, the former sergeant and newspaperman who carried a  typewriter and rifle to the beaches of Guam and Iwo Jima in 1944 and 1945.

O’Brien is not looking for the spotlight but when his hometown newspaper heard about his wartime exploits a reporter and a photographer came to his apartment seeking an interview and a photo. They got both. The story and large headline (“Former Combat Correspondent Looks Back on World War II”),  and the color photo dominated the front page of the Silver Spring , Md. Gazette on Sept. 9.

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MajGen. Herbert L Wilkerson USMC Ret. speaks with a Marine veteran.

On Aug. 12th 2009 the Marines Memorial San Francisco hosted the 67 Anniversary of the battle for Guadalcanal.

 The keynote speaker was MajGen. Herbert L Wilkerson, USMC Ret. Gen. Wilkerson recollected his memories of the battle as a PFC rifleman in 1/7 (LtCol. “Chesty” Puller, commanding and the eventual capture of Guadalcanal. He subsequentially served in combat again with the 1st Marine Division in both Korea and Vietnam where he commanded the 1st Marines, the oldest Regiment in the Corps.)

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My trip to Houston was a choice assignment. Following the end of WWII, our government passed a law to rebury those who died overseas during the war with Japan if the next of kin requested the reburial.

The Marine Corps put out an important bulletin addressed to all commanders. Frankly put, the letter said to send the best Marines for assignment to accompany the dead Marines. My commander, LtCol. L. B. Cresswell, selected me and wrote a glowing letter of commendation. I was honored.

Practically by return mail, I received notice to leave China and embark for Camp Pendleton to join a group who would train as escorts of the dead. There were others there who had been selected as the best of best. The lowest ranking was Sergeant who would accompany all dead of lesser rank. Others, of higher ranking, were selected to accompany higher-striped dead.

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Former U.S. Marine combat correspondent Cyril O’Brien (3rd from left) presents a plaque honoring the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in ceremonies at Grand Falls , Newfoundland , on June 17. The plaque was presented on behalf of the U.S. Third Marine Division Association to regimental veterans (from left) Colonel Jim Molloy, Gunner Robert Rideout and Jiggs Borland. (Photo by Sue Hickey, Grand Falls/Windsor Advertiser)

A plaque displaying the U.S. Marine Corps emblem now hangs on the wall of a branch headquarters for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in Grand Falls , Newfoundland , Canada .

It got there because a former U.S. Marine captain and combat correspondent, Cyril J. O’Brien, of Silver Spring, Md., a member of the Lucas Chapter, USMCCCA, believed it was time to pay formal tribute to members of the Canadian regiment who fought beside Americans in both World Wars and are  fighting today alongside Third Division Marines in Afghanistan .

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CC Tom Russell should have gotten the byline for the story, "The Tsingtao Queen."

Very early in my Marine Corps career one of my WWII mentors gave me some great advice:  “Paxton, you can call a man an SOB but you better make sure you spell his name right.”

Fortunately for me I remembered it well… Well, at least until a year ago when we ran a great yarn in the newsletter, “Now hear this” about a China Marine CC who worked with the Tsingtao Queen back in 1946.  It was a good story and we even ran the CC’s photo with it 

But, unfortunately we made a slight mistake:  We credited the story to CC Tom Rutherford.  The real writer, to our embarrassment, was Tom Russell.

Tom lives in Dallas, TX so, if you are ever in his neighborhood, get him to tell you about the Tsingtao Queen.  Makes us wonder, though, why Tom Rutherfod didn’t let us know about the goof.   — Jack Paxton, executive director

To read the original story with the CORRECT byline, click on the “Read more” link below.

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