Skinner's Poop Sheet
JANUARY 2000 POOPSHEET
YO STABLE ABLE,
WE'VE CELEBRATED OUR 224TH BIRTHDAY, THANKSGIVING, CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR SINCE MY LAST INPUT. I GOT BY THE Y2K THING WITHOUT ANY CLICHES SHOWING UP. SHIFTY SHIFLETTE SENT ME AN INQUIREY FROM BILL BLASKO ASKING IF I KNEW A ROBERT GRAHAM. THE NAME "SKINHEAD" GRAHAM POPPED IN TO MIND. "SKINHEAD" WAS OUR 81MM MORTAR FORWARD OBSERVER FROM WEAPONS COMPANY, 1ST BN, 7TH MARINES. SEEMS TO ME HE WAS WITH US MOST OF THE TIME I WAS IN ABLE COMPANY AND I KNEW HIM PRETTY WELL AND THOUGHT HIGHLY OF HIM AND HIS EXPERTISE AT CALLING IN THE MORTARS TO SUPPORT US. .I MADE CONTACT WITH ROBERT GRAHAM AND HE IS "SKINHEAD". HE COMMENTED HE HASN'T BEEN CALLED "SKINHEAD" FOR QUITE AWHILE.
LEARNED HE BECAME A DRLL INSTRUCTOR AT SEA SCHOOL, MCRD, SD, ON HIS RETURN TO THE STATES.. HE WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE USMC AS A STAFF SERGEANT. THEN HE WENT TO THE CLAREMONT POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR 11 YEARS. THEN DUE TO HIS FATHERS POOR HEALTH HE MOVED BACK TO TEXAS. HE ATTENDED COLLEGE TO BECOME A TEACHER AND IS STILL TEACHING IN VICTORIA, TX. HE HAS BEEN ACTIVE WITH VETERANS GROUPS FOR MANY YEARS. HE HOLDS POSITION AS COMMANDANT IN HIS MARINE CORPS LEAGUE DETACHMENT. THEY DID ABOUT 2000 HOURS OF MILITARY CEREMONIES LAST YEAR, 1999. THEY ARE STARTING CHAPTER 3077 OF THE MILITARY ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART. HE ALSO BELONGS TO THE VFW AND AMERICAN LEGION. SURE PLEASED TO HAVE YOU ABOARD ROBERT! GEORGE BLAIR SENT ME A NICE EMAIL SOME MONTHS BACK. HE AND CHRISTINA HAD BEEN TO VIRGINIA TO VISIT HIS DAUGHTER AND GRAND DAUGHTER. WHILE THERE HE VISITED WITH HIS BROTHER, MAJOR LYNDE BLAIR, USMC, (RET) AND OUR COLONEL JOHN DONAHUE WHO HAD BEEN HIS PLATOON LEADER IN 1952.. GEORGE'S BEAUTIFUL BRIDE WAS DOING MUCH BETTER AT THAT TIME AND I HOPE SHE CONTINUES TO DO SO. RON ANDY JOYCE YORK AND THEIR SON DAN AND HIS WIFE, DAN'S A WEST POINT GRAD, WENT TO CHEHALIS, WA. LAST OCTOBER TO HEAR "THE PRESIDENT'S OWN" UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS BAND PLAY. THEY WERE AS PROUD OF THEM AS I WAS WHEN I HEARD THEM AND BELIEVE MOST OF US ARE TO HEAR THAT BAND. HE, ALSO IN OCTOBER, SPOKE AT THE EVERGREEN CHAPTER OF WASHINGTON STATE AT THE SEATTLE/TACOMA AIRPORT. FLOYD AND DOROTHY SWIFT WERE ALSO THERE. RON SENT ME THE BOOK "UNFORGETABLE MEN IN UNFORGETABLE TIMES". AWESOME MEN. THANKS RON. EXCELLENT ADDITION TO MY LIBRARY. WHILE ON SPEAKING AT AFFAIRS, MAJOR BUD HAMPTON WAS DUE TO GIVE THE "VETERANS DAY" SPEECH ON THE CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY AT CHAPEL HILL, NC. ON
11NOV99. I HEAR FROM THE SKIPPER OFTEN AND ALWAYS HAPPY TO HEAR FROM HIM. JOHN FRYER WAS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH HIS LEG THE LAST I HEARD. I DO HOPE
ALL IS GOING HIS WAY. HE AND MARY HAVE TWIN GRANDCHILDREN. SOPHIE AND PATRICK. MARY'S HAVING A WONDERFUL TIME WITH THEM. JOHN HAS INFOED ME THAT HE LOCATED FRED HAYGOOD. FRED'S ONE OF THE MARINES THAT CARRIED JOHNNY OFF THE BN OUTPOST THE NIGHT HE LOST HIS LEG. FRED BECAME A LAWYER AND LIVES IN LACOMBE, LA.
COLONEL BELL. DING DONG, KEEPS IN TOUCH. HE REGRETS MISSING RHODE ISLAND BUT WILL BE AT THE NEXT REUNION. HE MADE THE 199 REUNION WITH HIS NAM BATTALION, 1ST BN, 1ST MARINES. HE'S 81 AND DOING GREAT. HIS SON, DOUG, IS
IN THE ZONE FOR MAJOR. POSSIBLY DOUG WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO CAMP LEJEUNE AND IF THAT HAPPENS WE CAN LOK FORWARD TO MORE VISITS FROM THE SKIPPER.
COLONEL SMITH, ABLE SIX, DOES GOOD JOB OF KEEPING IN TOUCH TOO BUT NO WORD FROM HIM SINCE THE 1900'S..
JOE ABBAN HAD SENT ME SOME PHOTOS TAKEN DURING THE "MOUSE TRAP" IN CHUNCHON AND THE RESERVE AREA WE WENT TO AFTERWARDS. I WAS GOING TO HAVE THEM AT RHODE ISLAND FOR POSSIBLE IDING BUT DIDN'T MAKE IT. SORRY JOE. WILL SEND THEM TO SOMEONE GOING TO VEGAS AND MAYBE WE COULD GET AN ID ON THE LADS. JOHN, 'ONTI'. ONTIVEROS AND HIS LADY MARY JANE ATTENDED A BIRTHDAY BALL LAST BIRTHDAY AND ONTI MADE SURE THEY HAD A CHOICE TABLE SO MARY JANE COULD SEE ALL THE CEREMONY. IN THE PAST THEY HAD SAT WITH THE 1ST MARDIV THAT
ALWAYS HAD TABLES IN THE REAR BUT THIS TIME HE GOT THE GUNNY IN CHARGE AND MADE SURE THEIR TABLE WAS A DECENT ONE WHERE MAY JANE FINALLY GOT TO SEE ALL
THE USMC UNIFORMS. RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM ONTI ON 9JAN00 REPORTING THAT HE WAS GOING TO BE HOSPITALIZED FOR SEVERAL DAYS. I NOTIFIED SOME OF THE MARINES THAT KNOW HIM AND GOT AN EMAIL FROM EDDIE ARECIHGA THAT I REALLY ENJOYED READING SO GOING TO CUT AND PASTE IT INTO THIS POOPSHEET.
' Sarge, thanks for the update on Onti. I'm sending him a "sitrep"
immediately. I served with him. In fact I took over 3rd Sqd, 1st Plt., Able
1-7 from him. You can't imagine my surprise to have arrived in Korea in Nov
51 and finding him leading the squad I was assigned to. I had served a tour
with him before ... in the Boy Scouts! Yep, Onti and I served together in
Troop 409, Black Panther Patrol affiliated with Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic
Church in a tough Mexican Barrio in Houston, Texas. Father James Patrick
Delaney was Scoutmaster and he relied greatly on Onti because he was a few
years older and much bigger than the rest of us feather merchants. He was
tough and aggressive even back then!
Onti's Dad fought in the Mexican Revolution (1910) and he used to write
letters to Onti in Korea. The letters would offer detailed guidelines on how
to creep quietly at night in hostile country. He had many tidbits of
information on how to fight, kill and survive. Onti would get frustrated and
write back "Dad, there are no horses in the field anymore!" ... or "Dad, we
aren't allowed to have "soldaderas" follow us into bivouacs!" (Soldaderas
were the women who followed the soldiers and did cooking and laundry). We
got lots of laughs over that but you know, lots of his Dad's advice was as
good then as it was during the Mexican revolution.
Onti used to wake early when we held positions on hill 884, near Easy
Valley on the East Coast of Korea. He would welcome the day with an old
Mexican "grito," not unlike a "rebel yell." Onti would stretch, face north
and scream "Ay Ay Ay Ay AY!" ... by the end of the week, a North Korean
soldier began answering with a perfectly mimicked yell. This went on for a
couple of weeks and the two would "communicate" with each other like this
every morning. One night, we hit the gooks with a particularly heavy barrage
of artillery. The following morning Onti let fly with his grito ... no
answer. He tried over and over, for a few mornings. No answer. We all knew
the Korean had been a casualty. Strangely, we were all saddened.
Thanks again for the scoop. Nice to be kept informed.
Hold'em and squeeze'em...........Eddie Arechiga'
HARRY ALFEO REPORTS AS OF 12JAN00 THAT HE HAS BEEN IN CONTACT WITH ONTI. A GROWTH WAS REMOVED FROM HIS URINARY TRACT. VERY PAINFUL ORDEAL EVEN FOR A
TOUGH MARINE AS ONTI. HOPE IN THE NEXT POOPSHEET I CAN REPORT ALL IS WELL WITH HIM. FRANK LICAUSIE IS THE POINT MAN FOR VEGAS. HE MADE A TRIP OUT THERE TO LAY THE GROUND WORK AND IS REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT. FRANKIE ALWAYS SEEMS EXCITED BUT I THINK HE'S MORE EXCITED ABOUT THE UPCOMING REUNION. LARRY PAWELKA MADE HIS TRIP TO EUROPE AND HAD A GREAT TIME. LARRY WASN'T
QUITE UP TO PAR WHEN I LAST TALKED TO HIM BUT HOPING YOU ABLE TO SADDLE UP AND HIT THE TRAIL IN FINE FASHION NOW LARRY.. NOTE FROM "LUKE" LAIRD. HE AND HIS LADY DOING FINE AND HOPES TO SEE YOU ALL AT VEGAS. NOTE FROM AL JOHNSON, HE ENJOYED RHODE ISLAND AND VERY PLEASED TO CHAT WITH ABLE SIX, COLONEL SMITH. AL SAID HE KEPT REFERRING TO HIM AS "CAPTAIN" NOT REALIZING ABLE SIX IS A RETIRED COLONEL. I'LL TRY TO FIX THAT FOR YOU
AL. NEXT WAR WE'LL PULL YOUR LIBERTY CARD WHILE WE'RE AT SEA!!! MY MARIE MADE IT THRU THE HOLIDAYS WITHOUT ANY SERIOUS EPISODES FOR WHICH WE ARE GRATEFUL. MY LEFT HAND STILL PUNY BUT EXPECT IT TO WORK IT'S WAY BACK TO NORM SHORTLY. PREPARING THIS POOPSHEET FOR MY WEBSITE. WILL UP DATE IT FOR THE NEXT NEWSLETTER.
AS ALWAYS, I'M PROUD TO HAVE SERVED WITH YOU FINE MARINES AND CORPSMEN OF OLD STABLE ABLE ONE SEVEN. YOU WERE AND ARE SPECIAL TO ME. GOD BLESS OUR FALLEN AND THEIR LOVED ONES AND YOU AND YOURS.
SEMPER FI!
JIM
LAST MUSTER
AL PLACE: TOM SIZE TALKED TO AL'S WIDOW. AL WAS KILLED IN AN AUTO ACCIDENT IN 1973. HE JOINED STABLE ABLE IN JUNE OF 1953. OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO MRS PLACE AND HER FAMILY..