Chapter 19

FORGETTING THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEHIND.

(From Sunday 24 August 1969, thru reporting in to The Basic School at U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico, Quantico, Virginia, in late September, likely the 23^rd, 1969)

The morning following Saturday’s university graduation, I wore my dress white uniform to my home church in Vernon, with those shiny new gold 2^nd lieutenant bars on each shoulder, and Army jump wings pinned onto the left side of my chest. Comments were made, to briefly state the case. I ate Sunday lunch with family at Daddy’s house, and soon drove out to an isolated area on a dirt road to be alone with God; thanking Him for the abundant blessedness I felt over the accomplishments and gains He had so graciously given unto me since the time I went out from my father’s house. Looking ahead, I also pleaded with God for His Protection amidst the dangers of military life ahead, and the Viet Nam war I am likely to enter.

Returning to Daddy’s house, I packed work clothes for roofing work, and soon left. I drove to a small Free Will Baptist Church in a rural area near Carbon Hill, Alabama for their Sunday evening service. Evangelist Bobby Jackson was preaching revival services there. Likely this was the last night of their revival. I listened to Brother Bobby’s good preaching, and talked to him after church. His words from God helped reassure me of my salvation in Christ, which I wanted to be certain of at this crucially pivotal time in my life, when this farm boy was stepping out into the big, complicated world, possibly into intense military combat.

It wasn’t until this night (24 August 1969) that I became fully assured of my salvation in the Saviour of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, and have never since doubted it. As I write this at age 78, looking back on my childhood and youth with my present God-given wisdom, I believe that I became a born-again child of God when I was about 7 or 8 years old. How regrettable that many times during the following 15 years or more, I was much in doubt about that most important matter, and was most miserable due to being in doubt.

Departing from that church, it was about a 2-hour drive to Mr. and Mrs. Mars’ house in Birmingham. Likely I arrived there between 9 and 9:30 PM, and chatted with those 2 friends briefly before we all 3 retired for the night.

The next morning, I joined them for their weekday early breakfast. Mrs. Mars soon left for her office job. Soon after, Mr. Mars and I went to a roofing job for the day. That night at supper in their house, they spoke kindly to me concerning me getting my university degree. I greatly appreciated their kindness to me, just as if they were my parents. Previously, I wrote that their only daughter entered Auburn University. But she later dropped out to get married, and did not graduate.

I think it was exactly 4 weeks from this day, when I left their house on a Monday morning for Quantico, Virginia. During those 4 weeks, I did roofing work 5 or 6 days each week, desirous to take advantage of all available opportunities to earn wages to better my financial condition. After all, I now have an expensive car to pay for.

We worked on roofs in the Birmingham area for a few days. But I spent 2 weeks or more putting a new roof on a school gym in the scenic mountains of eastern Tennessee in the town of Crossville. When Mr. Mars and I traveled from Birmingham to Crossville, Tennessee, he asked me to take my car. So, I followed him as he drove his car. Three other men who lived in the Crossville area (and worked for Mr. Mars) presently had his “roofing” truck in Crossville. Upon arriving in Crossville with me “in tow”, Mr. Mars spent 1 or 2 nights there to get us 4 men started on this new job doing an expansive gym roof, explaining exactly how the job was to be done. Then he returned to Birmingham, leaving me as the straw boss.

I ate my meals in cafes and spent the nights in a motel room. I enjoyed the mountain scenery, and passed a pleasant time there working hard 6 days a week. Daily the joy of having graduated from a university flooded my soul. Daily, the joy of my salvation flooded my soul atop that large gym, taking in the lovely surrounding mountain scenery as I worked, many thoughts of my life’s future plans floating vigorously around inside my skull. ‘I’m going to exert both mind and body to the fullest extent, to become the best Marine officer I can be.’ But at this time (more than ever before), I start looking forward to serving my Lord in whatever way He leads, after serving only one term in the Marines.

Likely I spent 1 weekend in Crossville, Tennessee. Mr. Mars came back to Crossville for the last few days of that job. When we finished that gym roof, he and I returned to his house in Birmingham to again do roofing in that area.

I think I went back to Daddy’s house only once more (on a weekend). I spent that Sunday with family, packed the few clothes and such that I would need to take to Quantico, bade Farewell to family and friends, and drove back to Mr. Mars’ house on Sunday night, to do roofing one more week. I spent my last weekend in Alabama at Mr. Mars’ house, attending Huffman First Baptist Church with Mr. and Mrs. Mars. There I saw their pastor’s daughter who was a student at Auburn and ate in my dining hall on campus. She recognized me at church here, and gave me a cool greeting. She considered herself to be “Somebody”, and in the cafeteria at Auburn, she seldom said anything to “Nobody” Me.

I enjoyed leisurely spending that last Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. Mars. Early weekday breakfast the next morning was followed by Mrs. Mars giving me a somewhat emotional Farewell when she left for work. Mr. Mars was on his own time. So, he and I spent over an hour together, as I waited for Birmingham morning rush hour traffic to end. Then I bade him Farewell and drove away in mid-morning. Likely that was 22 September (1969).

From his house in northeast Birmingham, I took the most direct route to Interstate 20 East, and cruised it in style toward Atlanta, Georgia on that broad expressway. This point in time brings me to my 2^nd major change in life, each change bringing several “improvements” that I heartily welcomed and am most thankful to My Gracious Lord for them.

2a A new, safe, nice looking, powerful car reliable for long trips.

Due to Daddy’s poverty, he owned old, somewhat unreliable (somewhat dangerous) cars while I was growing up. At times, our car’s engine would not start. At times it would start only if the whole family pushed it with all our might to get it rolling. We children would push against the back of the car with all our might. Daddy would be pushing against the frame of the driver’s open door till we got up sufficient speed. Then he would hop into the driver’s seat, push in the clutch, put the car into low gear, and pop the clutch. If the engine didn’t start the 1^st time, we had to wearily push it again with all our might.

It was embarrassing when we had to push-start our old jalopy in town or at church in the presence of several people. Men at church would join in and push with us. Boys at church enjoyed doing that, them not having the opportunity to do so with their reliable family car. Sometimes the car’s engine would quit as we were chugging along the road. While driving, a “blowout” or a tire slowly going flat was not rare. Daddy would jack up that wheel and change the tire.

I won’t continue with the long list of problems Daddy had with his old cars, including him spending much time trying to repair worn out parts and things on the car, and dickering much with the engine to get the car to run or to keep it running. The bottom line is that it was embarrassing, frustrating, unsafe, and consumed much time that could have been used for productive farm labor.

Previously, I told you of my own 1^st and 3^rd cars “breaking down” on the highway as I was driving, leaving me “stranded”. The 2 Falcons I owned before buying this T-Bird back in late May, were the better of the 5 cars I had owned before getting the T-Bird. Neither of them gave me any specific trouble. But I never once took one of the little Falcons out onto an Interstate highway, because their engines were too small to hold up to high-speed driving for much of a distance.

From the time I bought this T-Bird (back in May 1969), until I leave from the Memphis airport for Japan at the very end of November 1973, I will do much long-distance driving in this T-Bird. I thank God that it is well up to the task. Its large 429 cubic inch engine has more than the necessary power, durability, and speed. It is reliable, safe and comfortable.

“And the girls like it!”

‘You don’t have to keep mentioning that.’

All the time I drove the previous 5 cars I owned, the thought of them likely breaking down while I was on the road was always in the back of my mind. That produced a nagging unsettled feeling. Now it is reasonable to assume that this T-Bird will hold up well for many long trips. That is most “mind settling”. Also, the 5 speaker, 8-track tape player makes for pleasant listening. After living with Daddy’s old cars and my previous 5 cars, I am most thankful to God for this good car.

I thank God for saving me from my tentative, vain plan to buy a Corvette. That little sports car is a most impractical vehicle, a cramped cockpit-like interior with only one passenger seat, scant luggage space, low on the ground, and far too much power. Likely it’s somewhat noisy and “rough” riding inside a Corvette. My large roomy T-Bird hummed along quietly, smoothly, and most comfortably, with room for 5 nice passengers. It made traveling most pleasant!

2b Finished with the roofing job.

A rooftop is not a natural workplace. It’s extremely hot in summer and extremely cold in winter. We often used aluminum paint. It is poison to a human body. It got onto my skin, into my nose, and thus into my respiratory system. I breathed dust that we stirred up on flat “industrial” roofs that contained unnatural particles that were poisonous. Those 2 things, and a few other “chemical” roofing products we used, were harmful to my health. To save time and money, we did not take adequate safety measures. Thank Thee, Lord, for preventing me from getting injured, especially with those 2 close calls when I almost went off the roof.

In general, I do not care for service sector jobs like that roofing job. (But the pleasant task of serving girls in a campus dining hall is an entirely different matter.) Often being Mr. Mars’ straw boss, I had somewhat direct dealings with customers who were difficult if not impossible to please. I was relieved to be finished with this job for that reason also.

I took the roofing job and kept it throughout college because it was essentially the only job I found. All the while I worked it (for just over 5 years), I stayed on the lookout for a job that did not have the negative factors of the roofing work listed 2 paragraphs back, and a job that was not hindered (cancelled) by “bad” weather. I lost many hours of pay when the weather often prevented us from working.

I wished I could have found a job as soon as I finished high school that I could have worked 6 days a week 12 hours a day, for an hourly wage, with time and a half for overtime. And I wished I could have worked that job every day (except Sundays) that I was not in class at Auburn University. I was young, healthy, strong, and able, for that many hours of work per week. Such many hours of pay would have tripled my income during my college days.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8) That is about the only explanation I have regarding my “dissatisfaction” with the roofing job. I now feel greatly relieved that my life as a roofer is now past history.

I put my few roofing shirts, trousers, and one pair of shoes into the garbage can at the Mars house. That apparel had plenty of black coating and aluminum paint stuck to them permanently. Like a serpent shedding its old skin, it was sheer joy to put them into the garbage in B’ham, and put that life behind me.

Now, considering the positive aspects of that roofing job, Mr. and Mrs. Mars became like parents to me. After starting to work for him, the time soon came when I would go stay at their house any time I chose. I felt totally at home there, and they both welcomed me. That hospitality continued until each of them passed away (and I will continue to tell you of that). I am most thankful for those fond memories with the Mars family.

At that stage of my life, it helped me greatly that Mr. Mars conversed with me much, as opposed to Daddy’s rare words to me. Also, I believe I became a most important friend to this couple, especially to Mr. Mars. He was a man most upright in his thinking and most kind to, and fair in his treatment of any other person on earth, no matter high or low the status of that person. I profited by observing his general kindness and fairness to all people, and applied it to my life.

Along with that, he was most outspoken about what he believed was fair and just in people’s actions. My opinion is that he clearly and dogmatically voiced his strong beliefs often, when the occasion did not necessitate him doing so. His strong words resulted in people shunning him much, likely even his own 3 grown sons. He had few close friends. By God’s grace, I befriended him, and to some degree became like his son. No doubt that enriched his life, and I am most thankful that it did. Their love for me, and their much hospitality to me, certainly enriched my life. I’m most thankful to God for making me one of the Mars family.

It is a giant leap from the sheltered and simple life of an old-fashion farm, out into the hustle and bustle of the complicated “world”. It greatly broadened my narrow horizon (while working for Mr. Mars), to travel much, to have to deal with various people out in public, and to supervise a work crew of men. It gave me valuable maturity that I needed.

2c No Job Search upon graduating from university.

Lazy, slouchy, slightly chubby, drinking, joking, party boy student Chuck worked in the dining hall with me at Auburn. I think he graduated at the end of May 1968. Chuck majored in education, and thus upon graduating, he began to search for a job as a schoolteacher. Slouchy in appearance, he partied much at Auburn and studied little, resulting in failed courses and low grades along the way to graduation. In the dining hall, I had to endure his much talk of partying, and of the painful misery and despair of failing courses.

If Chuck was dumb enough to think most any school would be glad to hire such a graduate as a new teacher, come Job Search Time, Chuck collided with stark reality. No school hired him. In frustration, he finally went to work at a gas station. I think he was from Montgomery, and got that job there. That was just about an hour’s drive from Auburn. One day during my last year at Auburn, Chuck drove over and dropped into the dining hall to see us (his old buddies). He was trying to make light and humor about him being the only gas station attendant in Montgomery with a university degree.

Pumping gas is a noble, upright occupation. But Chuck didn’t have to first waste much of his parents’ money, and 4 years of his young life drinking and partying on a university campus in order to obtain such a job. He could have started pumping gas right out high school, and thus have gotten a 4-year head start on that career, to hasten his advancing up the gas pump ladder. As I write this, 56 years after he graduated from university, I wonder if he has come to own several gas stations by now, or maybe even a petroleum company? How far did chubby Chucky climb up the gas pump ladder?? (Honestly, I expect Chuck has died by now, as I re-edit this in 2024. He was born in 1945, or possibly 1944. His sinful vices and chubby carcass did not tend to long life on earth.)

Back in Chapter 12, I wrote that (to date, year 2024) basically I haven’t had to hunt for a job since February 1965. Reader Friend, that one factor alone is most blessed!! I reiterate that topic here to throw in Chuck’s example, and to call on you young folks not to be like him.

(It was a most simple “transfer” for me, from college student to Marine Corps officer on active duty, coordinating everything in advance with the Navy ROTC office on campus, receiving my written orders from there, and now ever so comfortably cruising along this Interstate Hwy in my T-Bird, when it is time to report for duty at Quantico.)

Young Reader Friend, glean wisdom from chubby Chuck’s bad example. Now let me throw in Bill’s example also. When I started working at the girls’ dining hall at Auburn, Bill (1 or 2 years older than I) had already been working there for some time. Tall and slender with black rim eyeglasses, he had a bland (but ox goad abrasive) personality. Also, he stubbornly refused to do his job as properly as he should have. As an employee and worker, Bill was a problem to “management”. Thus, Bill never advanced above “serving line worker” in the dining hall (the basic job where each worker starts out).

When Bill saw me (a freshman) get promoted to line supervisor so quickly at the start of my 2^nd full quarter working in the dining hall, being jealous, he made himself into my adversary. He almost never greeted me normally. “Little Goodie Two Shoes” were the words he directed at me most often, with sarcasm and venom in his voice, tho he was working under younger me. Ha, Ha, Bill! (I had never before, heard that derisive expression; “Little Goodie Two Shoes”.)

Well, Sour Bill Little Baddy Two Loafers, being GOOD is exactly what put novice me into a management position over you so rapidly, putting me in a position to give orders to you, me being a “Little Goodie Two Shoes”.

Bill naturally coveted the easy, good paying job of cashier (as most workers did). After I became a cashier and a time came when the dietician boss was to appoint a worker as an additional cashier, I was in her office getting my cashbox out of the safe when she commented to me with amusement: “Bill called me on the phone this afternoon, and made it most clear to me that he is available and willing to take that cashier’s job.”

Both the dietician boss and I had a good chuckle together over Bill’s generous offer to her (and on the phone, at that). Because of poor job performance, stubbornness, arrogance, and such, the boss would not consider Bill for this “better” job he craved to get. As best I remember, he never got any promotion in the dining hall. But because My Lord had made me into a diligent worker, I was head cashier for a year or more, and that was the job I was most desirous to have. Thank Thee, Sweet Lord Jesus.

I know nothing about Chuck and Bill’s separate upbringings. Likely they were 2 of the many kids who didn’t have to work while growing up. Except for their schoolwork, possibly they did little else, except for the things that amused them (like playing, lying on the sofa or carpeted floor in front of the TV, and such).

My upbringing was much different. I was made to work hard while growing up. I worked in the fields growing the food we ate. I fed our livestock and got chicken meat, eggs, pork, and beef to eat, and cows’ milk to drink, from that labour. I liked to eat regularly. That gave me incentive to work hard at such daily toil. Also, we sold much of the crops we grew, and much of the livestock. The harder I worked at those jobs, the more money our family would receive in our dire poverty.

So, it just came naturally, that I had much incentive to work hard and properly while I was growing up. And it is most amazing that upon Daddy suddenly, unceremoniously and totally releasing me from his strict taskmaster’s rule over me when I finished high school, I didn’t begin to play and to be idle all day every day, tho I had then gained the freedom to do so, if I chose to do so. Hard work during childhood and youth made me into a hard, diligent, profitable, and trustworthy worker. I thank God for that, and for the many benefits in life that have come my way from it ever since.

I was ever so blessed, being reared on a pore slave farm. Those guys were ever so cursed, being reared in a life of ease!!

Boy! Girl! Young man! Young woman! Do right! Be diligent and honest! Work hard! And many good and profitable things will come your way in life, that will not come to the sorry soul that will not do right and will not work diligently.

Parent, you have an obligation to God, and to your children, to train them up as diligent workers.

Please recall when I started working for Mr. Mars. In 3 or 4 days when his work crew went home for the weekend, he told straw boss Ed to leave 2 of those guys at home the next time they came back to the jobsite, because they were no account, sorry, lazy bums. In 2 years or so, I became Mr. Mars’ straw boss at age 20 (about the age of those guys when he fired them).

After working only 1 full quarter at the dining hall, I was promoted to a line supervisor while still a freshman (1^st year student). A 3rd or 4th year student usually filled such a job. Diligence will do much for you. Be diligent! Parents, you are responsible to their Creator, to train up your children to be diligent!

Listen to employers around you talking of having to constantly watch their employees in order to make them work, instead of dickering with their cell phones, or such. Listen to all such talk of problems with employees. And if you will just work right, you should always be able to find good work, and to advance well on your job.

“Little Goodie Two Shoes!”

Sure, sour dour Billy Boy, go ahead and spit it out with venom, envy, jealously, and spite, you sorry excuse for a labourer. As long as you are in the dining hall, you will just have to keep working under me, while watching junior me working the fine, higher paying job you covet. Your sarcastic words peel no skin off of me!

“Wow, Brand New 2^nd Lieutenant Yerby, your lightning speed promotions highly impress me. If I read on in this book, I expect to read of the Marine Corps promoting you to a General.”

‘Please do read on to see, but don’t hold your breath.’

(New subject) Fifty-two kids were in my high school graduation class at the end of May 1964. Only a few of us obtained a four-year college or university degree. Of the others who did so, most of them got their college degree at the end of May or in early June 1968. I did not receive my college diploma till late August 1969. (I thoroughly enjoyed each day on Auburn’s campus, and am most glad that I was special; a college student longer than usual.)

That tardiness kept me out of the Viet Nam war.

That tardiness was necessary for the slow developing mentality of my 3 brain cells to catch up. As I cruise up this highway to start performing the duties of a Marine commissioned officer, I am approaching my 24^th birthday. Likely my mental maturity is about the same as most 21-year-old males.

Also, that tardiness gives me more time in my home nation, before I soon go to Japan to live the vast majority of my life on earth in that land of idols. Looking back from this year of 2024 as I re-edit this in Japan, I am most thankful to my Lord for all the extra time He allowed me to live in my native land (from the time I left my boyhood home near Vernon in January 1965, until I flew to Japan in early December 1973).

Nearing Atlanta, Georgia, I take the NW beltway around the city up to Interstate 85 North; go thru South Carolina to cruise on into North Carolina. I feel most blessed in life as I cruise along ever so comfortable in this T-Bird. But the rich blessings of life that I have thus far related to you in this chapter were not as prominent in my young mind at that time, as they are now to this 78-year-old man. With age, we gain more ability to be thankful. If we do not, we certainly should.

When a person enters a new endeavor, taking that giant leap into the unknown future, there is naturally apprehension and anxiety of mind, in varying degrees (from small to great) with varying people, of course.

That cold, dark night in the 1^st week of January 1965, when I pulled my 1955 Chevy into First Baptist Church parking lot in the town of Auburn, Alabama, to spend the night in the cold car to save money in my poverty, I was full of uneasy, unsure, doubtful anxiety and apprehension, regarding entering a university.

1. Will I be able to finance my university studies???

2. Do I have the mental ability to make passing grades to graduate???

Gaining that diploma is necessary to my main goal of being commissioned as a Marine Corps officer. Embarrassing, dire poverty nagged me furiously from my start at Auburn, until I got that settlement for my injury in the traffic accident.

However, now in late September 1969, again for the 2^nd time, I am entering into a major, new endeavor, taking the next giant leap into the unknown future.

But this time, my outlook, condition and status in life is much better.

I am cruising toward Quantico, Virginia in luxury.

Tonight, I will sleep in a comfortable Virginia motel room short of my destination, instead of sleeping in my car.

Tomorrow night, I will sleep in the bunk the Marine Corps provides for me, also eating their chow 3 times daily.

I now have Marine Officers’ Candidate training successfully behind me, along with the optional bonus of Army Airborne Training.

I have my university diploma, and my Commission as a Marine Corps 2^nd Lieutenant.

I am heading for The Basic School where newly commissioned officers do their initial training.

My steady salary will start tomorrow, upon me checking in.

Knowing that all my Marine upperclassmen at Auburn who attended TBS, passed and graduated with no undue hardship, and comparing my mental and physical abilities to what I observed theirs to be the years we were together on campus, I now feel plenty confident of graduating from the Basic School, if only I apply myself to the greatest extent of my abilities. And I plan to do just that!!!

Thus, at this second major relocating (it being my 2^nd major new endeavor) in my short life, I am filled with joyful anticipation, of giving my all physically and mentally at TBS, with a goal of entering jet pilot training as my reward for doing so.

Because of my achievements thus far, to a great degree I now naturally and joyfully do what the following Holy Scripture speaks of.

FORGETTING THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEHIND

Thank Thee, Lord Jesus, for Thy Abundant Richness given so freely unto me thru out all my life. I will serve Thee, because I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me so abundantly. I desire to forget much of the past hardships, which were numerous.

I cruise thru North Carolina into Virginia, and am reminded of riding with Mike ④ and two other buddies, coming down this Interstate in the opposite direction as we left OCS at Quantico about one year and 3 weeks ago. Well after nightfall, I check in to a motel, eat at a café, and retire for the night. The next day (Tuesday), it is not a very long drive going on to The Basic School at Quantico. I guess this was September 23^rd, one month after I graduated from Auburn. Never before, have I driven such a long trip in my own car.

Thank Thee, Lord, for this reliable, powerful, and comfortable car.

We were ordered to report to Camp Barrett for duty on this day by a certain time, likely 2 PM or so. I think I arrived just before noon, showed my orders at a gate or a reporting “post,” was told where to park my chariot, was told at what time in the afternoon to be in which classroom. Then I went to the officers’ closed mess in Camp Barrett’s BOQ for a scrumptious Marine lunch (free).

2d Now a Marine officer and a gentleman.

I was commissioned “an officer and a gentleman” into the United States Marine Corps by an act of the legislature (congress) of the United States of America. The “gentleman” part of it was actually written into the fancy commission that I received on paper to frame, and to hang on the wall (which I never did), or such. I did keep it, of course. At that stage of our careers, we 2^nd lieutenants ribbed each other liberally about being declared a gentleman by an act of congress. “That’s the only way a skunk like you would ever be called a gentleman!”

Anyway, because we are now officers and gentlemen, there is no more debasing harassment like that heaped upon us at OCS last summer. The sergeants and all enlisted military men around us now salute us, and address us as “Sir”. Higher-ranking officers who train us here are strict, but they treat us as officers (lower ranking ones, of course). There are many other benefits to now being on active duty as a Marine Corps officer.

2e I gain a regular paycheck with 30 days paid vacation per year, plus most national holidays, off from work.

Upon checking in to Quantico Marine Base this day, my full-time pay starts on this date. I then receive a regular monthly salary until I am released from active duty in mid-February 1975. Rain, bad weather, or such never once robbed me of a day’s pay, as had happened too often when I worked on roofs. Also, I am allowed to take 30 days off from work each year with pay.

2f All necessary medical and dental treatment is totally free.

While on active duty in the U.S. military, I’ll receive all necessary medical and dental treatment completely free of charge. This is a tremendous help to a poor farm boy who suffered a good amount of physical pain growing up, due to not being able to afford a doctor and especially a dentist, when their treatment was needed. And even now with a regular paycheck, I would tend to skimp on needed medical and dental treatment, if I had to to pay for it out of my own pocket. Thus, receiving it totally free of monetary charge is a tremendous benefit.

2g I start my desired “career”.

From high school graduation up to now, every job I worked and all the studying I did, had all been a means to an end: achieving what I desired to do first and foremost in life at this time, having nurtured that desire since I was 15 years old or so. That was, to become a United States Marine Corps officer and jet pilot. (At this stage, I’ve yet to become a pilot, of course.)

Also, there is comradeship amongst us Marine officers now training together. We each chose to do this because it was our desire to do so. To some degree, this makes for “bonding” and eliminates certain problems and friction during the daily grind. It felt good to finally arrive at this point, to start daily training with fellow officers of kindred spirits, “pulling together” as we train together, encouraging and helping each other toward the same goal.

This day, I did all the prescribed “checking in” (paperwork) that got me onto active military duty, and onto the payroll from this date. Then at the set time in early or mid-afternoon on 23(?) September 1969, my training company of 241 young Marine officers assembled in a large classroom. One officer will not graduate. (Two chapters ahead, Chapter 21, I will tell you why he did not graduate.)

Most of us are 2^nd lieutenants, with a few 1^st lieutenants and 2 or more captains in our class. At The Basic School, Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia, we are Company C, Class 3-70, said to be 21 weeks of training.

For 2 hours or so, we were briefed on the few things we must be made aware of this very 1^st day. For training purposes, we are 1 company of 5 platoons. We all are placed into the 5 platoons in alphabetical order of our last names, starting with A in the 1^st platoon. So Yerby placed next after Wright, third from the end of the 5^th platoon, followed by Yingling and Zumwalt, who were the very last 2. There were 47 of us in 5^th platoon. Lt. Shaw was first man in the alphabet in our 5^th platoon. We were given a company roster to show us all that info. We were introduced to our 5 platoon leaders, who were first lieutenants and captains, and to the company commander who was a major, and to the executive officer that was a very senior captain, likely soon to become a major.

Because the war in Viet Nam brought on the need for more Marine officers, The Basic School training has been intensified and cut back in time from 6 months of training 5 days a week, to about 5 months (21 weeks) of more intense training 5 and half days each week, till noon each Saturday. Thus, one additional company is training here at The Basic School. But there is not room to house it at the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters at Camp Barrett, the main camp for TBS. So, at the start, each new company first lodges out at remote Camp Upshur for about a month.

Our company commander ordered us to each drive our own vehicles the 4 or 5 miles or so, out to Camp Upshur, following our platoon leaders in their cars. “Each of you will obey the 45 miles per hour speed limit on this Marine Base.” And we did obey it. Most all married Marines in my class lived off base with their wives. But they also drive out now to certify the location where they will have to report about 6:30 AM tomorrow. Then the married officers drove home to their wives.

We bachelor officers were shown the Quonset huts in which we would lodge, the toilets and showers we will use in an adjacent hut, and the chow hall nearby. The platoon leaders then left us and drove to their houses off base. I took my few belongings out of my car into the Quonset hut, chose a vacant bunk with its adjacent wall locker and footlocker, and made that my domain. Then I showered, ate supper at the chow hall (getting acquainted with some fellow single officers in my platoon), chatted more with them in our “hut”, and soon sacked out in my bunk to go to Dreamland in Marine Land.

“Good night, Poet Lieutenant Yerby. Sweet dreams in Marine Corps Land. And fast promotions to General Man.”

For the very First Time in my short life, I am now in my Number One Desired ELEMENT; Active-Duty Marine Corps Officer, aiming for flight training and becoming a jet pilot. It sure feels good; feels “accomplished”.

I will again experience this feeling of IN MY ELEMENT, and feel it even more strongly and much more bless-ed, rewarding, and fulfilling, on the First Day of August 1978; when I move into a rental house in rural, central Japan, likely to claim that small house as my main earthly abode, to HOLD FORTH THE WORD OF LIFE in that desired Element, for the remainder of my earthly journey to Heaven.

On to Chapter 20

Back to Table of Contents

Home